January 2026 will be a key month in the development of NBA Europe, the new league by NBA (different from the league in North America) that will feature existing teams (clubs like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Fenerbahçe or Galatasaray have been rumoured for years) and new franchises created in big European cities without major teams, like London or Manchester.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the NBA Cup final on Tuesday (Wednesday night in European time, where New York Knicks beat San Antonio Spurs), NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that he expects January 2026 to be a month where talks will go "to the next level".
The NBA will go to Berlin and London next month, where Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies will play a pair of regular season matches. Silver will use that window to "take this to the next level now, start having more specific conversations" Silver told Amazon Prime Video.
"We might say, 'Alright, you said you're interested, exactly what market are you interested in? How would you operate a team? Would you play in an existing venue? Would you build a new arena?' That's where we are."
"I would say we're casting a very, very wide net right now and essentially saying to anyone who's interested, come see our bankers, explain to us why you're interested, how you view the opportunity, what resources you would put behind opening a team, and then we're taking all that information back. And then I think sometime in late January, or in January, we'll be in a position to have more serious conversations with those interested parties."
Are you excited about the possibility of a NBA Europe? If all goes well, it could start for the 2027/28 season...