The NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, and the Secretary General of the FIBA, Andreas Zagklis, announced on Thursday the beginning of an agreement that intends the “expansion to Europe” of the American league, in a format and calendar yet to be confirmed.
“We have the opportunity to continue developing basketball in Europe. We are ready to take the next step, explore the creation of a League in Europe with FIBA as a partner. There is no agreement yet, we are exploring,” Silver said in a press conference in New York.
“In Europe there is an open system, but there are some teams that always play those competitions. By having the possibility to create a league from scratch, we want to take the best of each system,” Silver added and making Zagklis clear that it will not be an exclusive league and all European teams will opt for it, mentioning the competitions of FIBA and Euroleague itself, in a first idea of 16 teams, with 12 fixed and a promotion system.
“All European teams are members of FIBA. Some play in the Euroleague, others own that competition. Our role as an international federation is to join the basketball ecosystem to the maximum,” said the federative leader, revealing conversations with all the clubs.