The NBA is “making progress” with its plans to launch an NBA Europe league next fall and has held discussions with the EuroLeague about a potential alliance, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said after Tuesday’s NBA Board of Governors meeting.
Silver did not specify the nature of those discussions with the EuroLeague or guarantee that a deal would be reached with the organization in which many of Europe’s top clubs compete, but he told reporters that “we anticipate additional NBA Europe announcements in the coming weeks.”
“Yes, we did discuss ongoing negotiations with the EuroLeague,” Silver said in response to a question about whether the NBA has made an offer to become a majority shareholder in a joint operation. “As I said earlier, we are making progress there. We believe that the (NBA) league would be strengthened by joining forces with the EuroLeague. It doesn’t have to happen, but I believe we would all be better off as a unified front in Europe.”
The NBA has held discussions with bidders involving several existing clubs and new ones for a potential 16-team league that would include 12 permanent members. The EuroLeague — with clubs that, in some cases, were founded a century ago — has served as the top competition on the continent since 2000. The NBA is proposing a structure that would feature 12 permanent franchises and four spots open to qualifiers from domestic leagues and FIBA’s Basketball Champions League. The NBA has considered avenues to partner with the EuroLeague but has conveyed its desire to move forward with its proposed competition with or without EuroLeague’s support.
“In terms of the potential investors, I’m not sure they’re so impatient about next season. I think if it were up to some of them at least, we’d wait longer to launch,” Silver said. “At the same time, depending on where we stand with the EuroLeague, I do think it’s important that we introduce competition into the market next summer. What the initial product that you’d likely see … a year from now will be different than when we ultimately have brought all the teams together and are formally operating the league.”
Last week, Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that the NBA was exploring a potential offer to buy a controlling interest in the EuroLeague. The Athletic reported on Monday that the NBA had not made that offer before the Board of Governors meeting. However, Silver confirmed that negotiations with the EuroLeague will continue and could lead to some sort of partnership.
While Silver talked at length about the league’s continued efforts in Europe, his updates on NBA expansion were much more limited.
The Board of Governors formally approved the exploration of potential expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle in March. Silver said there was more time spent among governors discussing Las Vegas than Seattle this week. Silver said that Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont, a Las Vegas resident, led the discussion about “potential sites” in Las Vegas.
The city is home to T-Mobile Arena, which houses the NHL’s Golden Knights and was the location of the NBA’s first three in-season tournament semifinals and finals. Silver noted that the venue, which opened in 2016, would require “some significant improvements” to host an NBA team full time. Of Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, home of the NHL’s Kraken and WNBA’s Storm, Silver said, “If we were opening in five weeks, we could be ready in Seattle.”
Silver said the next deadline for potential Las Vegas bidders is soon, but those are not the final bids from prospective buyers. The league’s timeline for decisions in both cities remains unchanged, though.
“It’s our goal to have decisions by the end of the year,” Silver said. “And that continues to be our goal.”