By Stavros Barbarousis/ info@eurohoops.net
Euroleague Basketball CEO Paulius Motiejunas discussed several topics in a preseason press conference held in Dubai on Monday, one day before tip-off in the 2025-26 installments of EuroLeague and BKT EuroCup.
“We’re focused on growth. We’re not focused on the competition,” he replied to a question about the NBA partnering with FIBA to introduce a new European league, a project widely labeled NBA Europe.
“We have the best product in Europe. We have the best basketball league in Europe. We’re happy to bring that product outside Europe as well. We want to grow here and make a footprint. And if there’s any league, especially the one you mentioned, that wants to join and help basketball grow, we are happy,” continued Motiejunas.
“We have better numbers in TV revenue, we have better numbers in sponsorship, we have better numbers in attendance. If anybody wants to bring their brand and they know how to grow basketball in Europe and now in the Middle East through the team that we have here and other events, we’re happy to sit and discuss, but we’re not sitting and waiting for somebody to tell us what needs to be done,” he pointed out.
On the same topic, the Dubai CEO, Dejan Kamenjasevic, was asked why not wait for potential NBA Europe developments instead of joining Euroleague Basketball competitions.
“It’s an opportunity, and we took it. Being part of the Euroleague itself is a great opportunity. What comes in the future, we’ll talk when the time when when the time comes,” he mentioned, “You ask about something which is still not happening still and something which is happening. For us, it was very normal and a very real decision to take now because this is what is happening right now in Europe.”