Ever since the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, there has been a lot of talk about the NBA potentially landing in Europe with a new league. Apparently, it had been an idea long-time in the making, but negotiations truly sped up during the summer, as commissioner Adam Silver revealed in the past months.
Now, LegaBasket Serie A President Umberto Gandini recently opened up about this possibility, and discussed the concerns of a possible NBA arrival could lead to the birth of a new league. “There is a lot of talk about it and it will happen,” he assured the press.
He couldn’t help but imagine the impact it would bring. “The point is that we don’t know how the NBA will decide to enter: a closed league, by creating franchises, or by relying on the big existing clubs, the big markets and where there are suitable structures?” Gandini wondered.
“We know that it will happen via a partnership with FIBA,” the executive shared. “We know that they do not intend to distort the European system, that they have met with some EuroLeague clubs, some of which have also football sections. Real Madrid is an example, and it is no coincidence that it has not yet signed the new EuroLeague license,”
The Italian league president then revealed that there will be a meeting held in March to analyze how viable the project really is. “We know that in March there will be a meeting with the franchises and we will have a more precise picture,” the 64-year-old said.
According to Umberto, his main priority is to protect the domestic leagues and matches being played on weekends. This was one of his main points when speaking to Silver and NBA vice commissioner Mark Tatum on the subject.”I told Tatum that in Europe, ULEB is a shareholder of the EuroLeague and the FIBA Champions League.
“We would like to be involved. European sport has precise characteristics that not even the EuroLeague has understood well because it doesn’t have sporting merit and solidarity. Obviously at the center of all development is the international calendar,” Gandini explained.
