By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Mark Tatum met remotely with media from around the world to discuss the NBA Finals. However, one of the biggest topics discussed was the NBA’s plans in Europe and the future of the league, which the NBA is preparing in collaboration with FIBA.
As Tatum said, there’s no clear timeline for the project, something that may change in the summer, however speaking specially about the need to serve the fans in the UK, where’s currently there’s no top tier basketball club, the deputy commissioner gave an insight about how things may end up being in the future.
As he explained: “In the new top-tier league, we might get the two top teams from the Basketball Champions League to qualify, and a tournament for the rest of the open spots. And the top two teams of the new league in the future may end up playing in the NBA Cup. And when we have supersonic travel down the road, we might get a European division. So all this is very exciting”.
Speaking about creating top-tier clubs, especially in the UK, Tatum added that in the preseason, the NBA Europe Live tour format may return, with NBA clubs playing preseason games against European teams. “If we operate a top-tier competition in Europe, then we will have a big incentive to bring this back”, he clarified.
Once more, Tatum wasn’t negative about Eastern European clubs joining the project, even if he implied that they might fight for their qualification via the Basketball Champions League: “There’s a role in our league for teams from Eastern Europe. We want clubs from Serbia, Israel, Turkey, and Greece”.
However, once more, it’s obvious that the main interest of the NBA is Western Europe, where there’s currently a much more virgin basketball market with the UK, Paris, Berlin, and Milan being mentioned.
Speaking also about the recent meeting of FIBA, the NBA, and the EuroLeague in Geneva, Tatum hailed it as a positive step: “The meeting in Geneva was a great step. I am hopeful we will continue to make progress. For the first time, all the EuroLeague clubs that have a permanent license were represented. The meetings with FIBA and EuroLeague were very productive, and we will continue to talk”.