{"id":131058,"date":"2025-03-27T10:41:46","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T14:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=131058"},"modified":"2025-03-27T10:41:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T14:41:46","slug":"kevin-durant-nba-europe-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/27\/kevin-durant-nba-europe-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Durant Is Key to NBA Europe Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA has been toying with the idea of a Europe expansion for quite some time. But it seems like things are heating up, and the NBA European League will be a reality in a few years. One superstar is in the midst of it all. Kevin Durant<\/a> might play a key role in popularizing NBA Europe thanks to his affiliations with other brands and organizations.<\/p>\n

Kevin Durant Is Key to NBA Europe Expansion<\/h2>\n

Recent reports <\/a>are that the NBA has formally approached Qatar Sports Investments, QSI, the main shareholder of Paris Saint-Germain about the possibility of an NBA franchise in Paris. A spokesperson from PSG confirmed the discussions and said the team has also expressed interest. Considering PSG\u2019s international reach and the financial backing from QSI, the club is an ideal candidate for collaboration.<\/p>\n

But where does Kevin Durant fit in all of this? The former MVP winner has talked previously about how much he appreciates the EuroLeague, watches it, and even hinted at the possibility of playing in Europe<\/a> one day. Yet, his role in an NBA Europe expansion goes beyond that.<\/p>\n

What is Kevin Durant\u2019s Role in NBA Europe Expansion?<\/h3>\n

The collaboration between the NBA and clubs like PSG will leverage branding and sponsorship opportunities. Durant, through Arctos, is a PSG minority shareholder<\/a>. He might be the poster child for branding and sponsorship opportunities, given his international stardom as well. As a minority owner of PSG, he does have a personal interest in turning NBA Europe into a successful story. He would surely be one of the first NBA players with ties to NBA Europe.<\/p>\n

What Will NBA Europe Look Like?<\/h3>\n

Momentum for the NBA Europe project has been building. In January, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi had a meeting in Paris before the NBA event in the French capital. Victor Wembanyama<\/a>, a rising NBA star and a PSG supporter was also present.<\/p>\n

Per reports, the NBA would love to establish a league with eight to ten franchises. The league will operate on a semi-open model, allowing up to four of the top Euroleague teams to compete. Franchises in major cities like London, Paris, Munich, Rome, and others could be valued at a minimum of $500 million. The proposal establishes that the NBA would own 50% of the league, with franchise owners holding the other 50%. At this week\u2019s NBA Board of Governors meeting, the league will explore the option of establishing a new professional basketball league in Europe in partnership with FIBA.<\/p>\n

Which Teams Can Make the Cut?<\/h3>\n

Looking at the recent EuroLeague Finals<\/a>, we can easily see the potential for teams that will likely make the cut. The NBA wants teams in big cities with established soccer clubs that can help with branding. That makes Real Madrid and Barcelona two locks because both Spanish teams have some of the most popular soccer clubs. Additionally, they are among the most successful EuroLeague teams. One of those two has been in the Championship Game in the last seven of ten Finals. From there, we have to go to Greece, and either one or both Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. Olympiacos is the more successful of the two, being part of four of the last 11 championship games. Their last win was in 2013, against Real Madrid. That makes four teams.<\/p>\n

Next, we have the Turkish teams, Anadolu Efes and Fenerbache, also among the most successful in the EuroLeague. The NBA has previously said that they want a team in Paris and London<\/a>, bringing the total number to eight. Zalgiris in Lithuania is also a possibility, Berlin from Germany, Monaco, and maybe one of the two Serbian teams. We will wait to see if the league expands<\/a> to Europe and which teams make it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Photo credit: \u00a9 Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NBA has been toying with the idea of a Europe expansion for quite some time. But it seems like things are heating up, and the NBA European League will be a reality in a few years. One superstar is in the midst of it all. Kevin Durant might play a key role in popularizing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5291,"featured_media":131065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62],"tags":[69,4669],"class_list":["post-131058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-kevin-durant","tag-victor-wembanyama"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131058"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131066,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131058\/revisions\/131066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}