Orlando Magic beat Memphis Grizzlies to the delight of the thousands of fans at the Uber Arena in Berlin, fans of the Berliners Franz and Moritz Wagner, 118-111. It was part of two international games of the NBA regular season: on Sunday, January 18, they will face again in London, with the Grizzlies acting as locals.
NBA executives used the international games to arrange meetings regarding the future NBA Europe, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver "continues to be enormously excited about it", although he didn't offer any tangible update in his press conference on Thursday.
"We've been meeting with clubs that are interested in participating in our league. We've been in discussions with other potential stakeholders, including media companies that would like to cover it, potential media partners and traditional sponsors who want to work with us on the league. We're looking at the opportunity to grow the arena infrastructure, not just here in Germany but throughout the continent", Silver said, adding they are partnering with FIBA on this.
The commissioner also praised that basketball is apparently "the fastest-growing sport right now in Germany", pointing to recent victories of the German national team in World Cup 2023 and EuroBasket 2025.
The potential teams of NBA Europe
While NBA is working to start the new league in October 2027, they first need to create new teams, because as of now, most of the bigger basketball clubs in Europe have remained loyal to the EuroLeague, including Barcelona.
The current plan is to have a mix of new teams and existing teams, with 12 permanent spots and four available through qualifying, with at least one from the following cities:
London (UK)
Manchester (UK)
Paris (France)
Lyon (France)
Madrid (Spain)
Barcelona (Spain)
Rome (Italy)
Milan (Italy)
Munich (Germany)
Berlin (Germany)
Athens (Greece)
Turkey (Istanbul)
In this league, funding would come, at least initially, from the member clubs of the league, and Silver warns that, "similar to any start-up venture", participants would be the investors, and it would take time to have a return of the investment, specially in cities where new arenas should be built.
"I think if we were to successfully launch this new league, it will take a while, I think, before it is a viable commercial enterprise. I think all the participants recognize that this is not for those who have a short-term perspective", Silver added.
Are you excited for a potential new NBA league in Europe in 2027/28 (at the earliest)?