Adam Silver: NBA Europe ‘On Track’ to Launch Next Year

SAN ANTONIO — The NBA’s prospective league in Europe is “on track” to launch next year, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. 

The comments came at  his annual press conference before Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday, where SIlver said the NBA is currently reviewing its first round of bids for the venture, with final bids due by the end of the month. 

“We are very much on schedule,” Silver told reporters. “It is our hope and anticipation that that league will launch in the ’27-28 season in Europe.” 

The league will consist of 12 permanent teams with four slots that “any club in Europe” could qualify for. The NBA has received bids multiple worth between $500 million and $1 billion and Silver said the goal is to spend the summer reviewing them and award franchises in the fall. 

In the meantime, some other aspects of NBA Europe still need to be ironed out. Silver said talks of a partnership with the EuroLeague are “ongoing” after multiple meetings between the two sides in recent months. 

“It’s our hope that we can find a way to integrate these operations with the EuroLeague, but we will move forward either way,” Silver said. 

Silver’s press conference came days after Lakers star Luka Dončić and former Mavericks executive Donnie Nelson bought Vanoli Cremona in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A with plans to put together a bid for NBA Europe. 

Dončić isn’t the only active player with ties to a prospective NBA Europe team. Rockets star Kevin Durant owns a stake in Paris Saint-Germain, which recently repeated as winners of the UEFA Champions League. PSG doesn’t have a basketball program, but could start one to help get the NBA into one of the continent’s biggest markets. The league and NBPA would have to agree on parameters for active players to have a stake, which Silver said wouldn’t happen until after franchises are awarded. 

“Part of the determination will be what the basketball relationship will be between these teams and call it NBA Europe and the NBA,” Silver said. “That obviously could complicate things if current NBA players are owners. So those are some of the factors we’ll be looking at.”

Bringing a ‘Sense of Celebration’ Back to the Finals

Silver was extremely animated when discussing Victor Wembanyama and the current vibes around the Finals. 

A year ago, Silver had fans coming up to him and asking him about ratings or complaining about the Finals’ lack of pageantry. To Silver and the league’s credit, they brought the Larry O’Brien trophy back onto the court and improved the broadcasts to reinforce the Finals’ importance. 

“But we heard loud and clearly from people that [the absence of the Larry O’Brien Trophy on the court] was just one indication of a lack of pomp and circumstance around the games. So we went to our network partner at ESPN/ABC and said we need to produce openings, on-air openings, and we need to add more trappings of the sense of celebration here in the Finals,” Silver said. ”I would just say, we try to listen and learn and acknowledge when we have made mistakes and try to improve.”

Silver was equally upbeat talking about Wembanyama. At a time when LeBron James, Durant, and Stephen Curry are all in the twilight of their legendary careers, Wembanyama sets the league up to have a strong ambassador ready to take the torch, especially as the Spurs young core begins its Finals run. 

The commissioner touted Wembanyama’s effort in February’s All-Star Game that helped improve the overall quality of the competition and praised him for his interest in the league’s promotional side. 

“I don’t want to put any more pressure on Victor,” Silver said. “I will say, he obviously is the No. 1 pick in the draft. He came in highly touted. He was somebody who even before he came into the NBA was blowing up the Internet in terms of his highlights. Did I have a specific expectation in terms of numbers of years it would take him to get to the Finals? No. But I would say just for, just trying to be an objective observer, he’s ahead of any timeline that people had in mind.”

Aspiration Investigation Is ‘Far Along’

Silver said the investigation into the Clippers relationship with failed environmental startup Aspiration remains ongoing. The league is investigating if the Clippers used the company to circumvent the salary cap and provide additional compensation for star forward Kawhi Leonard. 

If found guilty, Silver has the ability to fine the organization $7 million, strip the team of its draft picks, and void Leonard’s contract, among other penalties.

Since Silver last spoke to the media regarding the investigation, podcaster Pablo Torre won a Pulitzer Prize in April for his reporting on the matter. And this past week, Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in prison for two counts of wire fraud. Court documents indicate Sanberg cooperated with the NBA’s investigation. 

Silver suggested that the investigation, being conducted by New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, is in the home stretch. 

“I think the most important thing is we get it right….I certainly hear and read things all the time about the perception of what really happened or didn’t happen here, and I think my only reaction is I wouldn’t be doing my job if ultimately I issued a determination based on perception. My job is to follow the facts,” Silver said.  

“I think it’s clear they are far along. I think those reports are—reading all the time from people who are being interviewed by them, and I think they understand that you could keep going on and on, but I think we are close to the point now where I think we need to wrap this up, because you also need finality. The team has to understand what situation they are going to be operating under, and so do the other 29 teams. So that’s where things currently stand.”

Silver Tried to Broker Dolan-Oakley Peace Talks

Silver said he ran into Spurs legend Manu Ginobili on his way to meet with the media, adding how much he’s enjoyed seeing famous Knicks alumni such as Allan Houston and Patrick Ewing on the road with the team for the Finals. 

Oakley, another famous 1990s Knick, has been absent from it all as he’s been at odds with owner Jim Dolan since Madison Square Garden security forcibly removed him from a game in February 2017. The two sides have been locked in an ongoing lawsuit over the incident that has lasted almost a decade. 

Silver said he and Michael Jordan briefly brokered a truce between the two sides a week after Oakley was removed and banned from the Garden, but Oakley’s lawsuit undid all of their work. Jordan and Oakley played together on the Bulls in the late 1980s before he was traded to the Knicks. 

“It is a shame in that I tried, Michael Jordan tried, too, to broker peace between Charles and Jim Dolan,” Silver said. “Our efforts were unsuccessful. I think it’s unfortunate for the NBA that this is an ongoing situation. But as you know, it’s currently wrapped up in litigation. I tried my best. So I don’t really see anything else I can do at the moment.”