It is not certain that the NBA will return next season to Paris, declared Wednesday the commissioner of the North American League, Adam Silver, on the eve of the first match between San Antonio and Indiana scheduled in the French capital.
Questioned during a press conference in Paris, he notably mentioned the marked interest of other European metropolises in hosting relocated NBA matches. “We are not sure we will be back in Paris next year“, he said on the eve of the first of the two confrontations between Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs and the Indiana Pacers scheduled for Thursday then Saturday at Bercy.
“On the one hand, it is very difficult to organize regular season matches outside the United States“, he said. But on the other hand, explained the NBA commissioner, “many European cities are interested in hosting these meetings“, like Berlin or London.
A European week in the pipeline?
In the longer term, he added to a small number of media, there is “no doubt“that NBA matches will once again take place in Paris, which has hosted meetings since 2020. Adam Silver also raised the idea of a “European week“: the matches would be set”a break“in the United States” and several NBA franchises would travel to Europe to play matches in several cities.
“These are things under studyhe said, adding however. Our current configuration, with 82 matches on a fixed schedule, does not allow us much flexibility at the moment.”
-Finally, regarding the recurring question of an expansion of the NBA in Europe, the boss of the North American league rather mentioned “the possibility of creating a league independent of the NBA“, like the African Basketball League, even if “the form it could take is not yet clear“.
“The reason we are treading carefully is that we want to respect the current basketball ecosystem.“, he added.
“We want to be sure we have heard all parties to best understand the opportunity before us.“, added the commissioner, who took advantage of his Parisian week to meet existing leagues and clubs but also media groups and broadcasters,
