NBA Commissioner Adam Silver met with the media forward of the NBA Paris Video games and confirmed the league nonetheless has curiosity in creating a separate European League, that wouldn’t be as an growth of the NBA itself.
In his most detailed feedback on the matter up to now, Silver thinks there’s cash and progress being left on the desk by the Euroleague and thinks the NBA can step in.
“Whereas Europe continues to develop among the perfect gamers on the planet — a lot of our most up-to-date MVPs, after all, are European — we predict that the business alternative has not saved tempo with the expansion of the sport,” Silver mentioned.
“And what we do on the NBA is we run leagues. We, after all, run the WNBA, we’ve the [Basketball Africa League], we’ve the G League, we’ve a 2K video league. So we function 5 completely different leagues and we predict it’s an experience we’ve. And so we’re trying very intently to see if there’s a possibility to professionalize the sport to a different stage right here to create a bigger business alternative.”
He additionally confirmed that NBA franchises usually are not prime of thoughts.
“We’d finally have NBA franchises right here, nevertheless it’s not our precedence proper now,” Silver mentioned. “That’s not one thing we’re discussing in the mean time. We’d want supersonic jets to make it work.”
Silver went on to say it’s not going to be one thing that league rushes into and desires to do all the pieces appropriately and correctly.
“We’re transferring slowly to make sure that something we do is accepted by the present basketball ecosystem,” Silver mentioned. “We’ve been having direct conversations with stakeholders this week. We need to respect the traditions of European sports activities, it doesn’t matter what route we take.
“We’re speaking a few competitors – in all probability an impartial league separate from the NBA. It will be a European league. What type it takes remains to be being explored. We’re talking with varied teams to grasp what alternatives exist.”
READ MORE: Nikola Jokic Will get Sincere About Enjoying With Russell Westbrook
