NBA and FIBA Discuss Possibility of Creating League in Europe: Report

The NBA and FIBA are seriously discussing the potential of creating an NBA-owned league in Europe.

The Atheltic was among the first to report. 

FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis said he and his staff would remain in “serious conversation” with NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his office about starting a new league that could initially compete with the Euroleague and top pro leagues in individual countries.

“There is clear interest (by the NBA) and there are ongoing discussions with FIBA,” Zagklis said during his annual, year-end news conference Monday. “We’ve been having and will continue having discussions with … the company that operates the Euroleague.

“It is something that has been on our radar. We tried to bring everyone together. This was not possible. So our job is to continue having serious conversations with our partners at the NBA.”

The NBA has never seen this many Euporoeans in the league. Many of the top players in today’s game are from overseas, and it’s clear they are more polished and seasoned than American players. 

Silver recently said that the NBA was considering a European venture. He added that he was studying how the top European clubs have developed academy-style training programs for youth players that better prepare them to play professionally than the current AAU system in the U.S.

The EuroLeague is arguably the top league outside of the NBA. It consists of 18 of the continent’s best teams, divided into two tiers of franchises, including 13 permanent members and five that must qualify.

Zagklis discussed the possibility of the NBA launching its own European league, saying, “FIBA has a very consistent approach.”

“We want the growth of our sport, but at the same time we want to protect what are the fundamentals of our ecosystem, which can not only relate to the rules of course, the calendar, but it is a question of respecting the national teams, the national leagues,” Zagklis said. “We have a very well developed ecosystem of national leagues and certainly (want to) protect the work not only of a few clubs, but of almost 500 or 600 clubs that are the pyramid that produces players and that has brought the sport of basketball where it is today.”

A lot needs to happen to get this going; however, Silver and his people, along with the people at FIBA, will do all they can to get the ball rolling. 

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