By Stefan Acevski/ info@eurohoops.net
Bostjan Nachbar, the legendary Slovenian basketball player and president of ELPA, spoke to “Meridian Sport” about numerous interesting topics in European basketball.
Nachbar discussed ELPA, the reduction of games in the EuroLeague, relations with the NBA, and much more of interest.
“The smarter ones listen and form their own opinions. Those who know less usually talk more. But if we at ELPA haven’t publicly talked about the calendar, it doesn’t mean we are not extremely active in discussions with the league. One thing we’ve learned so far is that nobody knows exactly what will happen.”
The story is indeed presented as listening to the voices of EuroLeague players about everything happening in European basketball and especially everything that should happen.
“EuroLeague calendar? It’s an axiom that 38 games in the regular season are too many, leading to excessive fatigue and injuries. “I agree the calendar is full. But if it hypothetically reduces to 18 teams, we will drop to 34 games. Have we made a change? No. There needs to be a more significant change in terms of club professionalism, travel, more medical staff… That’s the most important thing. To reduce to 28 games? That’s already a business risk of failure, and that’s no one’s goal because then there’s no profit. It’s very difficult, but I know that reducing from 38 to 34 games isn’t a solution that will save the world”.
The former Slovenian ace also mentioned travel as an eternal problem of EuroLeague basketball. Would players be willing to have their salaries minimally reduced, or club budgets for teams be smaller, in exchange for traveling everywhere by charter to have more rest and recovery time?
“I understand the question, but the right idea isn’t to reduce players’ salaries. It should be known that EuroLeague basketball salaries have consistently, except around COVID, increased. There should just be an adjustment on where that money goes, how much on charters, how much on better conditions. I think player salaries will continue to rise – maybe not exponentially – but that doesn’t mean they should become less. Rather, if they’re now 900 thousand, instead of jumping to 1.2 million, maybe they become 1.1…”
He continued passionately.
“I wouldn’t compare the EuroLeague to the NBA, because they are much more financially powerful. I compare it to the WNBA, which is much more similar financially. There they also have insurance, charters, ten people, and recovery machines, training complexes, each club has invested millions and millions… They realized one thing – if we invest in the players, we see it coming back to us. Look at how the WNBA has exploded in recent years. In Europe, you have to invest to get a return. We are way behind the WNBA.”
The NBA, FIBA, and EuroLeague are in discussions. Are the ELPA and NBPA, the players’ associations on both sides of the Atlantic, having similar negotiations?
“The NBPA doesn’t have a direct influence on the NBA in terms of business, and NBA Europe is a project of the league owners. Of course, they have information, and in terms of players, we have cooperation with them. Because there are more and more players moving from one league to another. There is an exchange of information, we help each other. Ultimately, our job is to ensure a better future for basketball players.”
The business side of the magical game under the hoops is very complex. One of the parts that will have to be considered is the compensation that is too small when players leave Europe for the NBA, and often they have to pay extra to the clubs that raised them on the Old Continent.
“I expect that this will be an important part of the negotiations between the EuroLeague, NBA, and FIBA. From our side – it has long been on the list! It’s a big problem for players and clubs. The compensations are not equivalent to the talents. We have Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Doncic, Bogdanovic… Imagine how much money they earned not only for themselves but also for the NBA league, and how little money the clubs in Europe received. And many players had to pay extra compensation to their clubs to go to the NBA. It’s not fair. This will be on the table when the three parties talk. I can even say that we from ELPA expect it as part of the negotiations!”