By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
NBA Europe director Giorgos Aivazoglou announced recently a list of potential target cities for NBA Europe, and Panathinaikos coach Ergin Ataman addressed the elephant in the room.
In some of those cities, the mainstream interest in basketball is nonexistent.
After the latest Panathinaikos win in the Greek League, Ataman addressed the issue, starting from the recent viral moment of Valencia‘s coach, Pedro Martinez, in Paris.
No reporters were present in the press room after Paris’s win over Valencia for the EuroLeague. Martinez was visibly surprised when asked to do a press conference without the press; he just repeated the result and left.
Pedro Martinez’s facial reaction once he realizes that ZERO reporters are attending the press conference
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) November 15, 2025
“In Europe, there is a lot of transfer in the market for players, for the coaches, and I think that can also open transfers for journalists because you have some very good questions here”, Ataman said in Athens on Sunday, jokingly.
As he elaborated, speaking about his experience since Panathinaikos played in Paris for the EuroLeague last Tuesday: “There are a lot of people here in this press conference. Last week, I held a press conference in Paris with zero journalists. And after me, you know, Pedro Martinez from Valencia, he also had zero. So maybe EuroLeague can transfer some of you guys there”.
And while the mood was light, the point of Ataman was dead serious: “So I am very curious. NBA Europe announced some cities, like Paris, London, and Manchester. If there’s no interest in basketball in these cities, how can you make a strong league? So first you must get interest, and this will come from the journalists. A EuroLeague team having no journalists in two games, this is something I saw for the first time in my life. So NBA Europe should also consider this, this is a very dangerous situation for European basketball”.