Imports, Pathways, Power: NBL vs NBA Europe

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The moment Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan stepped on the court at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, the basketball world changed.

In just over a decade, the NBA had gone from a tape-delay broadcast league to a global entertainment, revenue-generating money-making machine. Magic vs Bird elevated the NBA out of US sporting obscurity in the '80s and "Air Jordan" launched it into the stratosphere in the 90s.

The Dream Team, the greatest NBA team ever assembled (plus Christian Laettner), of course, easily won the gold medal without calling a single time-out during the tournament.

Since then, it was almost inevitable the NBA would expand into Europe given the US proximity to the European continent. It takes about seven hours to fly from New York to London and about six to fly from New York to Los Angeles.

NBA managing director for Europe and the Middle East George Aivazoglou has revealed NBA Europe could be playing games in a new league starting October 2027.

Importantly, it is not an "expansion", it will be a new league with the potential of an NBA Cup-style tournament between the two leagues.

Aivazoglou revealed 12 European cities have been identified for permanent franchises and four "merit-based" teams in a 16-team competition, foreshadowing a relegation and promotion system much like football on the continent.

"We're thinking of London and Manchester for the United Kingdom, Paris and Lyon for France, Madrid and Barcelona for Spain, Milan and Rome for Italy, Berlin and Munich for Germany, plus one each in Athens and Istanbul, to also strike a balance with values ​​like history and tradition," Aivazoglou said at the Football Business Forum in Bocconi in Milan, Italy, organised by Gazzetta dello Sport.

"(It will be) a semi-open formula of 16 teams, 12 permanent and four based on sporting merit: one could be the winner of the Basketball Champions League organised by FIBA, which is our partner, and the other three spots could come from the winners of the national leagues."

What does it mean for the NBL?

October, 23 months away, NBA Europe could potential start at the same time as the NBL in Australia and the EuroLeague in Europe.

The pessimist would see doom for both leagues, the optimist, immense opportunity.

So far the plan is rich on concept and scant on detail. The who, what, where and when are still in "thinking of" stage, the salary cap, amount of games, players per roster, will it impact the G-League, or Japanese B.League, whose seasons also run from around October to post March are all questions to be answered.

For the NBL, its reputation for creating NBA-ready talent grows every season via the Next Stars program and simply our athletes playing professionally and going to the Draft Combine. This won't change given the sheer volume of emerging, elite young basketballers in Australia.

It will be potentially tougher to recruit imports, the fringe NBA players or elite college standouts wanting to stay in the NBA system, only in Europe instead of the G-League, and instead of the G-League do NBA teams send their two-way players to Europe instead to play in front of raucous home fans.

This poses another question, do NBA teams have a European affiliate and if so, how is it decided given the amount of NBA teams will outweigh the number of NBA Europe teams.

Enter innovation.

The NBL and NBA already have a growing relationship with the New Orleans Pelicans playing against United and Phoenix here in Australia last month. It was a history-making and smashing success.

There is no reason why NBL clubs can't form affiliations with NBA Europe teams, much the same way English Premium League club Manchester City has done with Melbourne City, nor lobby to be an invite to the mooted "NBA Global Cup" tournament:

• Two NBA Finalists
• Two NBA Europe Finalists
• NBL Champion
• B.League Champion
• EuroLeague Champion
• South American Club Champion

There is undoubtedly enough elite basketballers in the world to sustain multiple leagues, thousands of college kids coming through, just as many professionals. The focus on imports in the NBL is sharper because of the three-player cap rule and the expectation, built of years of history (Loggins, Green, D-Mac, Copeland, McClain, Cotton), is each of them need to be flat out great, not just good, but great.

More opportunity for more players is what it's all about. It will force deeper scouting and team building as opposed to paying the most talented star available the most amount of money to get them Down Under.

The NBA is a Global League

Legendary Panathinaikos head coach and three-time EuroLeague champion Ergin Ataman bristles at the notion the NBA champions aren't "World Champions" as they are dubbed every year in the US.

"I told people these things, if you took out one star player from these NBA teams, I believe that many EuroLeague teams can beat the NBA teams," Ataman told basketball.com.au in an exclusive interview.

The new NBA Europe, combined with the NBA and the potential of a Cup tournament would put Ataman's argument to rest and that can only be good for the game.

Imagine the 2029 NBA Global Cup Final being played at Wembley Stadium on a warm spring day in London in front of 100,000+ fans: The Los Angeles Lakers vs Barcelona ... not on tape delay.

Basketball is truly a global game and the world just got smaller ... and better.

About the Author

Peter Brown is the head coach of the Sydney Comets Women’s Youth League team in the Waratah Basketball League in NSW. He is also the assistant coach for the Comets NBL1 women’s team in the NBL East Conference. Peter is a 30-year journalist, starting as a sports reporter at the NT News in the early 1990s. He played junior basketball for the Northern Territory at national championships from U16 to U20 and for the Territory’s senior men’s team at numerous international tournaments. Peter has been a basketball fan since the early 80s, especially the NBA. Basketball is his passion — and his opinions his own. Email peter.brown@basketball.com.au with feedback.