{"id":464498,"date":"2025-12-22T14:18:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T14:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/464498\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T14:18:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T14:18:55","slug":"nba-chief-delivers-update-on-proposed-new-european-basketball-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/464498\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA chief delivers update on proposed new European basketball league"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA<\/a> and FIBA are poised to launch a new European basketball league, and will commence the process of engaging teams and owners next month.<\/p>\n

This ambitious joint venture aims to reshape the continent’s basketball landscape, offering both stability and a clear path for emerging talent.<\/p>\n

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The proposed league structure will incorporate permanent team placements and a “merit-based pathway” for annual qualification.<\/p>\n

This system allows teams to earn their spot through FIBA’s Basketball Champions League or a dedicated end-of-season tournament, ensuring any club within a FIBA-affiliated European league has an opportunity to compete.<\/p>\n

Andreas Zagklis, FIBA secretary general, affirmed this approach: “The format of the league respects European sport model principles by offering any ambitious club in the continent a fair pathway to the top.”<\/p>\n

\"Europe<\/p>\n

Europe has produced some of the NBA\u2019s biggest stars, including Nikola Jokic (AP)<\/p>\n

While a formal start date is unconfirmed, October 2027 remains the working target for the inaugural season.<\/p>\n

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Discussions have explored a 16-team model, featuring 12 permanent franchises alongside four qualification spots.<\/p>\n

This initiative follows years of deliberation, intensified recently around the 2024 Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n

The continent is a hotbed of talent, producing many of the NBA’s current superstars, including Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic, and Lauri Markkanen; approximately one in six NBA players hail from Europe.<\/p>\n

Momentum for the new league has accelerated since a New York news conference earlier this year, where Zagklis and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver publicly committed to the project.<\/p>\n

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Financial advisory firms JPMorgan and the Raine Group have since been enlisted to assist with the venture’s economic framework.<\/p>\n

Silver expressed confidence, remarking: “Our conversations with various stakeholders in Europe have reinforced our belief that an enormous opportunity exists around the creation of a new league on the continent.”<\/p>\n

Key target countries for the NBA-FIBA collaboration include Britain (London, Manchester), France (Paris, Lyon), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona), Italy (Rome, Milan), Germany (Munich, Berlin), Greece (Athens), and Turkey (Istanbul).<\/p>\n

This development comes as the NBA continues to foster its European presence, with regular-season games scheduled for mid-January in Berlin and London, featuring the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NBA and FIBA are poised to launch a new European basketball league, and will commence the process…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":464499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[211550,1339,211549,10480,3368,3526,3135,1260,3369,3121,62,14863,67,132,68,4714],"class_list":{"0":"post-464498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-andreas-zagklis","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-basketball-champions-league","11":"tag-fiba","12":"tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","13":"tag-lauri-markkanen","14":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-nikola-jokic","17":"tag-orlando-magic","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-the-nba","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-victor-wembanyama"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115763660543861594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}