PARIS — The NBA remains interested in bringing its brand to Europe through a potential new league, but it also wants to see some aspects of Euro basketball culture catch on back in the United States.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said American kids play too many basketball games and don’t practice enough compared to Europeans, which is partly responsible for the uptick in injuries to NBA players.
“I think that there’s sometimes too much of a focus on skill,” Silver said during remarks before assembled American and European reporters as part of the NBA’s Global Games series in Paris. “It’s not that they’re not working as hard — in some cases, I think they’re often too hard and need to be playing more sports at once. We think some of the injuries that our young players are experiencing are overuse injuries, not because they’re being too physical, but it’s from the repetition of certain things. And that’s why I think (NBA players from the 1980s and 90s), those players in the league also happened to be the best in every other sport in their schools (as children) because they play different sports depending on the season.”
Silver, whose news conference occurred before the first of two games this week between the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers, mostly fielded questions about his stated interest in potentially starting a new league in Europe.
Anticipation of momentum toward that goal, or even an announcement, was fueled by comments last month from Silver’s international partner, Andreas Zagklis, secretary general of FIBA, who said “the next month will show where we are headed in this matter.”
Most of Silver’s front office at the NBA is in Paris this week for meetings with various European stakeholders, including existing teams who compete in the Euroleague. He said stakeholders’ response to the NBA’s presentation was “very positive,” but made clear that he and his staff were still in an exploratory phase, with plans to update the NBA’s board of governors in March on what they’ve learned.
“We have no agreements in place, we’re not ready to make any additional announcements and we’re continuing to learn all we can and to see if there is a path to move forward,” Silver said. “We are looking very closely to see if there’s an opportunity to professionalize the game to another level here, to create a larger commercial opportunity, and not just because commercial opportunities suggest you can grow revenue, but because we believe that with markets, if you can create the proper incentives, you can get significant additional investment. And ultimately, that’s the way to grow the game at all levels.”
Earlier this month, The Athletic reported that the EuroLeague and IMG, a sports and media company that serves as the league’s business partner, agreed to extend their working relationship for another 10 years – which should keep the EuroLeague’s 13 permanent members together and tied to the current European structure for pro basketball through the 2035-36 season.
Silver didn’t say it explicitly, but a renewed commitment by Europe’s top existing clubs to the Euroleague format likely complicates the NBA starting a league on the continent.
Silver said marketing opportunities had not kept pace with the growth of the sport in Europe.
“The NBA is a unique league … it’s also a lifestyle brand,” Silver said. “That’s something that comes up in many of the meetings, that there’s a strong association with music, with fashion, with culture, with art. And I think there’s a real appreciation for that, that the NBA is even something a little bit different than basketball. It’s not just pure basketball. And I think the way to grow the sport is to appeal to people beyond those who are hardcore basketball fans. And that’s where our success has come in the United States and elsewhere.
“I think that the notion we’ve heard back is that if you can bring those elements of the NBA brand and bring those to Europe as part of some structured league, potentially, we think there’s a real opportunity.”
Silver said roughly 30 percent of NBA players were not born in the U.S. Many of them from other countries were schooled in European academies run by the pro clubs, which the commissioner and his staff are also studying for ways to enhance development of American youths.
In the European academy system, players are acquired as early as age 13. They often live in the city where the pro team plays, go to school and practice together most of the week – with a game or two on the weekends. Current NBA superstars like Nikola Jokic, Luka Dončić and Victor Wembanyama are all products of the Euro academy system.
In the U.S., children play for their school teams and then for AAU or travel teams, often playing four or more games in a weekend tournament.
“My feeling here is that there’s something to be said when young youth players are part of a singular organization, in some cases maybe 14 through 19, there’s much more of an incentive to bring players along as opposed to a win-now mentality,” Silver said. “And I think that’s something that if we can bring back to the states, working with the NCAA, potentially working with the EYBL youth program that Nike runs … we can do a better job and we can learn from European development.”
Silver also said the league was seriously considering holding a regular-season game in Berlin next year. It is unclear if a game (or two) in Germany would replace the series the NBA has held in Paris for the last three years.
(Photo: Franck Fife / AFP via Getty Images)
