By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
According to the French newspaper “L’Equipe”, PSG and QSI are expected to submit a bid to get an NBA Europe franchise.
The company confirmed that it is working “positively and actively” on submitting a bid without giving any other details.
This is a development that can’t be considered surprising, since the NBA has long made Paris a priority in its European plans, and even recently, PSG minority owner Kevin Durant discussed the matter.
The other major connection between PSG and the NBA is Jordan Brand, which has a sponsorship deal with the club.
When talks first started, it was believed that Paris Basketball was a possible NBA Europe candidate, but this was not the case. Sources close to the talks about the NBA Europe project confirmed to Eurohoops that the involvement of former Timberwolves GM David Kahn as Paris Basketball president was a problem for the US side.
On the other side, PSG is by far the biggest sports brand in the French capital, having also a global reach, so things were obvious moving towards their direction.
It was to be noted that initially, there was information about Paris having issues with the involvement of Real Madrid in the NBA Europe talks, because the two clubs had totally opposing positions on the matter of the European Superleague of football.
However, Real Madrid seems to be currently involved more in the EuroLeague, and also recently they have officially renounced their plans about the European SuperLeague, putting an end to this debate.
This leaves Paris Basketball having practically only the EuroLeague option available, unless PSG wants to absorb them.
On the other hand, it was recently announced that Victor Wembanyama became a minority investor in Nanterre, the team where he grew up. Nanterre is a Parisian suburb and may be involved in the plans for PSG’s presence in basketball, because according to the agreement between FIBA and NBA, the NBA Europe clubs must also compete in their domestic leagues.
So a collaboration between PSG and Nanterre might be on the table in order to accommodate this demand.