NBA Commissioner Adam Silver revealed that the league is in serious talks with FIBA about plans to widen its reach in Europe. The continent has produced some of the best players in the league today. Three of the five members of the 2023-24 All-NBA First Team hail from Europe —Denver Nuggets center and reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic from Serbia, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic from Slovenia, and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo from Greece. Other European stars include San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama from France, and Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis from Lithuania.
NBA In Talks With FIBA For Europe Expansion, per Adam Silver
Silver stated that the league is looking to fulfill the “commercial and competitive potential of basketball in Europe,” with more serious talks with FIBA about potentially establishing an annual tournament or an NBA-operated league, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
“I continue to believe there’s enormous opportunity here. It’s not something where we’ll transform a league structure in the short term. But I think that there’s an appetite among our team owners for additional investment in global basketball.”
The 62-year-old executive pointed out the league’s current initiatives in both China and Africa, and he recognized that given the quality of European basketball, it would make sense for the NBA to do something in the region as well. Silver particularly traveled with Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum to Paris to watch the 2024 Summer Olympics and to discuss future plans with FIBA executives, local league executives, and other stakeholders, making his trip effectively a listening tour.
EuroLeague Teams Are Losing Money Each Year
Despite the high quality of basketball in the region, arguably the second best in the world behind the NBA, European clubs are bleeding money. Silver did his research on this issue and proposed plans to address it to create a more sustainable model in the future. Furthermore, the NBA chief also vowed to maintain the current infrastructure in place that makes European basketball unique.
“We certainly don’t want to do damage to the strong bones of the basketball infrastructure that are in place. On the other hand, in terms of regional and pan-regional competition here in Europe, it would be my sense — and again, I’m still studying — that lots of investors are losing significant amounts of money every year. And while this isn’t just about money, most things that continue to lose money without a trajectory towards profitability ultimately do not survive. And so, whatever we do here, I think it’s important that it’s additive to the European basketball structure.”
Financial challenges continue to be one of the major issues plaguing European basketball. In 2022, all EuroLeague clubs reportedly operated at a loss. During the 2022-23 season, EuroLeague winners Real Madrid Baloncesto lost €27.8 million ($30.3 million), while their rivals FC Barcelona Bàsquet lost €56.6 million ($61.7 million). The average EuroLeague player earns around $500k to $800k a year, while the highest-paid player in the league in 2023-24 was former NBA point guard Shane Larkin, who earned $4 million from Turkish club Anadolu Efes.
