NBA expansion has emerged as one of the hottest off-court subjects of late. In that discussion, a handful of cities are being hailed as possible destinations for expansion teams. League Commissioner Adam Silver has also talked openly on NBA expansion in recent months. He has made it known that the NBA fully intends to grow the league. Now, the talk of furthering the NBA’s growth beyond North America is driving the conversation even further.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the season, Silver publicly acknowledged on\u00a0<\/span>ESPN’s Pat McAfee show<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that the NBA was highly interested and moving in the direction of expanding on the league’s 30 franchises. Las Vegas was one potential market. The noise surrounding Vegas was hyped by LeBron James<\/a>‘s interest in being an NBA owner. Other cities that entered the conversation were Seattle, Kansas City, New Jersey, and, for all the die-hard Canadian fans who love the NBA, Vancouver.<\/span><\/p>\n However, the NBA brand expands past the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, Silver’s comments on Europe are as interesting as they are exciting. He discussed the topic on\u00a0<\/span>Shaquille O’Neal<\/span><\/a>‘s podcast,\u00a0<\/span>The Big Podcast with Shaq<\/span><\/a>, regarding the NBA’s growth inside and outside the U.S.A.\u00a0<\/span>[24:50 mark]<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things we\u2019ve been discussing is whether, before adding NBA franchises in Europe, there\u2019s an opportunity to create an independent league there. This could leverage the enormous interest in basketball in major European capitals like Paris, London, Berlin, and Madrid\u2014and other major cities that love basketball,\u201d <\/em>Silver continued, “One day, maybe it\u2019ll be my successor, but I can definitely see a division of NBA teams in Europe, and I think it would be an incredible thing for the game.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The NBA is already North America’s largest sports influence in Europe. However, one could argue that the NHL is equal to, if not greater, considering the amount of elite professional hockey leagues scattered across Europe. Hockey’s presence in Europe surpasses basketball, but the NBA is a greater brand than the NHL. That, however, is another topic for another story. With the growth of international talent coming out of European countries now represented in the NBA in America, there should be little doubt that expansion growth in the cities that Silver prospected wouldn’t succeed.<\/p>\n Silver also mentioned a location just below America:\u00a0Mexico City. The NBA’s presence has already stretched down to Mexico, which Silver touched on.<\/p>\n \u201cMexico City is a market that we\u2019ve been playing regular season games and not just preseason games for a long time. I think that\u2019s potentially doable. There are other issues involved, it\u2019s not about to happen overnight, but I think that\u2019s a real opportunity.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nGood for the NBA, Good for Europe<\/h3>\n
Next Door Neighbour<\/h3>\n