Silver: NBA Will ‘Explore’ European League With FIBA

Commissioner Adam Silver has officially declared the NBA’s pursuit of a new league in Europe.

“I’m particularly pleased today, along with my colleague Andreas, to announce that we’re ready to go to the next stage and that is to explore a potential league in Europe with FIBA as our partners,” Silver said Thursday alongside FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis. 

His announcement directly followed a meeting with the NBA’s Board of Governors. Silver said he received “enthusiastic support” from the team owners.

He added that “nothing has been agreed upon” with regard to the new league’s structure, but some of the current discussions involve honoring the traditions of European basketball. This includes playing a 40-minute game rather than 48 minutes and the potential for an “open” league, which would include a promotion-relegation structure most famously done in European soccer. U.S. pro leagues operate under a “closed” system in which teams maintain their spot in the league regardless of performance.

“I think given the opportunity to design a league from scratch, one of the things we’re looking at is what are the best elements we can take of both systems,” Silver said. The initial idea, according to Silver, is to have 16 teams—12 permanent and four spots for qualifiers.

In terms of which teams will join, he said the NBA is gauging the interest of existing European clubs. While Silver did not name any teams, The Athletic reported Thursday that four EuroLeague clubs that could move to the NBA’s new league are Real Madrid, Barca Barcelona, ASVEL Basket of Villeurbanne, and Fenerbahçe Istanbul. A new team could reportedly be founded in Paris by Qatar Sports Investments, owners of the soccer club Paris Saint-Germain.

Silver said part of the reason for announcing the decision to explore a league—and not to confirm that the league will be established—is for transparency with potential teams.

“We want to have very open and direct conversations with existing stakeholders and not have backroom conversations. It was our feeling if we announced our intentions, then we could openly discuss with existing stakeholders, existing clubs, what their level of interest is and the community would know that,” Silver said.

Silver added that one of the opportunities of a new league would be to “build more state-of-the-art basketball-style arenas in Europe.” Earlier this week, Todd Boehly, part-owner of Chelsea FC who wants to build a new stadium for his club, cited the NBA’s potential European expansion as a reason to build new sports infrastructure in the region.