League commissioner Adam Silver says the NBA’s efforts to launch a brand new league in Europe with the assistance of the FIBA governing group are ongoing, in response to an Related Press article on ESPN.
Given the huge quantity of logistics required by leagues on each side of the Atlantic Ocean to make this dream a actuality, Silver warns that nothing is imminent, however that doesn’t imply progress isn’t taking place.
“We’re not less than a pair years away from launching,” Silver says. “It could be an unlimited enterprise. And whereas we wish to transfer ahead at a deliberate tempo, we additionally wish to be sure that we’re consulting with all the suitable stakeholders, that means the present league, its groups, European gamers, media firms, advertising and marketing companions.”
The aim for the brand new league could be to include 16 groups, and Silver mentioned that the NBA has been in contact with the EuroLeague and particular groups inside it for partnerships. Silver says there’s a need for some quantity of collaboration with the present league, and that the 2028 Olympics might be a superb measuring stick for progress.
“That is likely to be a superb launching pad for an announcement round a brand new competitors,” he teased. However, in the long run, endurance goes to be a very powerful factor. “There’s a number of work to be completed.”
We’ve extra from around the globe of hoops:
- As somebody with a wealth of expertise in each the NBA and EuroLeague, Pau Gasol is intrigued by the concept of the NBA increasing into Europe, writes the Eurohoops workforce. Like Silver, he understands that it’s a protracted course of, however expressed cautious pleasure about what such a collaboration might provide. “I see an initiative to enhance the European basketball mannequin, and it’s a possibility for our sport to develop. We’ll see the way it shapes up and the way it progresses,” he mentioned, per Dídac Piferrer of MARCA. Nevertheless, he cautions that European basketball must grow to be extra secure earlier than such a enterprise will be profitable. “The European basketball mannequin should evolve and enhance. Economically, it’s not sustainable, and the overwhelming majority of groups are shedding cash,” he mentioned.
- With Doris Burke‘s place in ESPN’s announcer rotation unclear shifting ahead, Pacers’ head coach Rick Carlisle has voiced his assist for the longtime broadcaster, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Carlisle praised Burke for her significance in laying a basis for feminine broadcasters to observe, and was disenchanted that the rumors of her unsure future solid a shadow over Recreation 1 of the NBA finals. “I don’t know what’s going to occur with all that stuff, however I simply wish to say thanks to Doris for the instance that she has put forth for younger ladies like my daughter and all these people who find themselves altering the sport,” Carlisle mentioned. “She has modified the sport, and that’s the rationale that she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Corridor of Fame a pair years in the past.”
- Former Laker and Warmth guard Kendrick Nunn has acquired the EuroLeague Gamers Affiliation’s Payers’ Selection Awards MVP for his play with Panathinaikos in Greece, writes Eurohoops.web. Nunn averaged 21.2 factors, 4.3 assists, and three.6 rebounds whereas taking pictures 42.6% from three on 7.2 makes an attempt per sport because the workforce went 22-12 in EuroLeague competitors and reached the Last 4 of EuroLeague playoff competitors.
