By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With the NBA Paris games just around the corner, Adam Silver discussed the possibility of the long-rumored European expansion in Shaq’s podcast.
Echoing the recent Eurohoops report, Silver didn’t discuss any specific plans but confirmed the league’s interest in specific European cities and the creation of a league.
As the NBA commissioner said: “One of the things we’ve been discussing is whether, before adding NBA franchises in Europe, there’s 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— and other major cities that love basketball”.
However, as Silver explained, there are still many logistic issues that prevent a full European expansion of the NBA: “Then, there’s the issue of technology. Shaq, as a technologist, you’ve always been ahead of the curve. Part of the challenge is air travel. When I was younger, there were supersonic flights from Kennedy to Charles de Gaulle in Paris, but we no longer have those. I’ve read about new supersonic jets in development, and if air travel between the U.S. and Europe became faster, it would make a European NBA division much easier”.
The bottom line is that the NBA has decided to focus on Europe and in the far future even a European expansion of the current league is on the cards.
As Silver said: “One day, maybe it will be my successor, I can definitely see a division of NBA teams in Europe and I think that will be an incredible thing for the game”.
It remains to be seen what can be done in the near future.