{"id":167445,"date":"2025-06-08T11:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T11:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/167445\/"},"modified":"2025-06-08T11:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T11:21:14","slug":"basketball-champions-league-nba-europe-is-coming-with-16-team-system-and-massive-cross-continent-matchups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/167445\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Basketball Champions League’ – NBA Europe is coming with 16-team system and massive cross-continent matchups"},"content":{"rendered":"

Potentially expanding to Seattle and Las Vegas pales when compared to the NBA’s biggest move.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the NFL gets closer to an 18-game season — with every team in the league playing an annual international game<\/a> — the NBA is considering a huge leap that will make The Association even more global.<\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Stephen Curry and LeBron James took over London in 2024Credit: Getty<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will try to even the ‘small-market’<\/a> NBA Finals in Game 2 on Sunday, following Tyrese Haliburton’s instant-classic dagger<\/a> from Game 1. <\/p>\n

But while the final round of the 2024-25 season plays out, plans are already moving forward for what could eventually become NBA Europe. <\/p>\n

“Call it a 14-to-16 team league with some number of permanent franchises in some number of cities,” NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum\u00a0told talkSPORT and others on a conference call this week. <\/p>\n

“And then an open competition for all other clubs to be able to participate in the top-tier leagues.<\/p>\n

“So, for example, whatever second-tier division there might be — which in the case that we’re contemplating would be the Basketball Champions League, for example — it could be the winner or the top-two finishers in the Basketball Champions League could automatically qualify into the top-tier league. <\/p>\n

“And then you could have sort of a play-in tournament for all the rest of the teams in Europe to play into this league.”<\/p>\n

Tatum emphasized that having the ability to “play into the top-tier league,” is a key piece of the NBA’s overseas puzzle.<\/p>\n

Promotion and relegation are missing from American sports, but they’re at the core of the Premier League<\/a> and European football. <\/p>\n

There could also be eventual cross over between the NBA’s 30 teams and the league’s new European association. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

The NBA has bigger plans than the FinalsCredit: getty\"Adam<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Adam Silver, left, is balancing potential expansion in the US and international growthCredit: Getty\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

The King might be able to cross the pond again before he retiresCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

“I think that’s one of the interesting things that you could see here,” Tatum said. <\/p>\n

“You could see a series of NBA clubs coming over and playing preseason games against European clubs. Sort of what we used to do with Europe Live.<\/p>\n

“We’d have a lot more incentive to do that, clearly, if we were operating in the top-tier league in Europe. And we could have those European clubs come into play in the US. <\/p>\n

“Well down the road, you could see things like having the winners or the top-two finishers in the European League come enter into the NBA Cup<\/a> and get injected to the NBA Cup. <\/p>\n

“And then really down the road, once supersonic travel happens, you could see a division of the NBA in Europe.”<\/p>\n

Improving the state of basketball in England<\/a> is critical for the NBA’s international vision. <\/p>\n

NBA’s Greatest<\/p>\n

\"\"LEAKED audio reveals LeBron James’ comments about Stephen A. Smith after ESPN host refused to repeat exchange<\/p>\n

“There are no top-tier teams in the UK,” Tatum said.<\/p>\n

“We think that there has to be, because we know that the demand –that the number of fans in the UK, that the size of the market — that we have to service those fans.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, London and Manchester have arenas that could factor into the NBA’s future plans.<\/p>\n

“I did meet with Mayor Sadiq Khan<\/a> in September, and we discussed our shared ambition to expand basketball in London,” Tatum said. <\/p>\n

“He was clearly pushing me for return of games back to London. And I do think that that’s something that will happen in the not too distant future.”<\/p>\n

While Todd Boehly is\u00a0primarily focused\u00a0on Chelsea’s return to the Champions League and ushering the Dodgers to another World Series trophy, he’s also a part-owner of a\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>\u00a0team that features\u00a0LeBron James<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Luka Doncic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Victor<\/a><\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama could become the international face of the NBACredit: Getty<\/p>\n

“I think what you’re going to see is more and more professional sports, like the\u00a0NBA<\/a>, come to Europe,” Boehly\u00a0said in March at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London.<\/p>\n

Boehly’s expansive sports portfolio provides him with a\u00a0unique global view<\/a>\u00a0of the athletic world.<\/p>\n

He’s a 51-year-old from Connecticut with an estimated net worth of $8.5 billion.<\/p>\n

“I think the NBA is going to be a really interesting thing to watch over the next 20 years,” said Boehly<\/a>, while discussing the difference dealing with European football and American sports agents.<\/p>\n

“Because I think the NBA is going to become much more global, right? And then I think you’re going to see kind of the evolution of that agent market, as the NBA really becomes global.”<\/p>\n

Rising star\u00a0Victor Wembanyama<\/a>\u00a0was showcased with regular-season games in Paris earlier this season, before an injury placed the\u00a0San Antonio Spurs<\/a>\u00a0sophomore on the shelf.<\/p>\n

But Boehly is thinking much bigger than just a couple midseason contests in an overseas country.<\/p>\n

He made it clear that the biggest move for the NBA could be across the pond and beyond.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s going to be a fascinating thing to observe,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Potentially expanding to Seattle and Las Vegas pales when compared to the NBA’s biggest move. While the NFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[70006,70005,885,393,2000,299,5187,70009,5597,70011,51780,538,13698,20815,12056,65022,65023,65021,70007,70008,65026,18493,5761,70010],"class_list":{"0":"post-167445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-adam-silver","9":"tag-basketball-champions-league","10":"tag-chelsea","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-eu","13":"tag-europe","14":"tag-european","15":"tag-fiba","16":"tag-finals","17":"tag-game-2","18":"tag-indiana-pacers","19":"tag-las-vegas","20":"tag-lebron-james","21":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","22":"tag-nba","23":"tag-nba-europe","24":"tag-nba-expansion","25":"tag-nba-finals","26":"tag-nba-global-expansion","27":"tag-nba-in-europe","28":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","29":"tag-seattle","30":"tag-todd-boehly","31":"tag-when-will-nba-expand"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114647484788671673","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}