By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
As discussions about a potential NBA-backed competition in Europe continue, Hapoel Tel Aviv star Elijah Bryant offered an in-depth look at the state of European basketball in a personal blog post.
The former NBA player reflected on the EuroLeague’s structure, the relationship between clubs and the competition, using Partizan and Crvena zvezda as examples of teams that help drive the league’s popularity despite not holding ownership stakes. From there, Bryant expanded the discussion to the NBA’s growing involvement in European basketball and what it could mean for the continent’s future.
Bryant believes European basketball already has a unique identity built on tradition, rivalries and passionate fan bases. At the same time, he acknowledged that the NBA could help the sport grow as a business, as long as the essence of the European game is preserved.
“Europe already did the hard part. The rivalries, the buildings, the meaning. You cannot buy that, and the NBA knows it,” Bryant wrote while discussing the unique atmosphere and traditions that define the continent’s basketball culture.
The EuroLeague First Team selection believes the NBA and European basketball bring different strengths to the table.
“The NBA brings what European basketball has never had at scale. Capital, a global distribution machine, and decades of turning a sport into a business,” Bryant explained. “The EuroLeague brings the part money cannot buy. A product that is already real. Rivalries that go back generations. Buildings where every game feels like it matters.”
Rather than viewing the NBA’s arrival as a threat, Bryant sees an opportunity if the essence of European basketball remains intact.
“The NBA has the better business. But it does not have this. You cannot buy a hundred years of someone’s grandfather hating the other team,” he wrote.
Bryant also pointed to the long-standing divide between EuroLeague and FIBA, suggesting that a future agreement involving all parties could mark a significant turning point for the sport.
“If the 2027 deal happens, it would be the first time all three are aligned since before most current players were in high school,” Bryant noted.
Ultimately, the former NBA player believes cooperation is the best path forward.
“What Europe might need is help turning a great competition into a great business. And that is the one thing the NBA is better at than anyone on earth. So maybe need is the wrong word. The real question is whether they are bigger together. I think they are. As long as the NBA grows the business without flattening the soul, this is a yes for both sides,” Bryant wrote.
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