Right now, EuroLeague and NBA Europe will continue down separate paths. EuroLeague clubs rejected the proposal presented by the NBA to create a single European project, a decision reached during a meeting on Lake Como after more than two years of work by the American league on the new competition.
The rejection, however, does not stop the NBA’s plans. The goal remains to launch NBA Europe as early as the 2027/28 seasonwith a 16-team league ready to compete directly with EuroLeague for fans, television rights and sponsors.
The NBA has reportedly already received significant offers for new franchises in several European citiesand the owners of American teams, who were updated on the project during the latest Board of Governors meeting in New York, continue to support the initiative.
It’s a 20-year project. And that’s how we’re approaching it
NBA Owners
That is how one NBA owner explained it to ESPNperfectly capturing the perspective with which the league is looking at Europe: not simply a new competition to launch within a few months, but an investment intended to reshape the balance of European basketball over time.
The EuroLeague front may not be as united as it seems
The most interesting part of the story, however, comes from what is reportedly happening behind the scenes. According to high-level European basketball executives involved in the negotiations, a significant number of EuroLeague’s 13 permanent clubs have expressed interest in NBA Europe.
For now, the clubs have presented a united front in rejecting the NBA’s proposal, described by several European media outlets as something close to an acquisition offer for EuroLeague itself. Negotiations, however, are expected to continue, and the situation remains much more open than the vote on Lake Como might suggest.
That is also indirectly confirmed by comments from Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopouloswho addressed the position of teams opposed to the NBA project through his Instagram profile.
Some teams were against the expansion toward the NBA. The only logic behind that position is that they are being treated well today or that they believe they would not be selected to take part in the expansion. Or both
Dimitris Giannakopoulos
Giannakopoulos then broadened the discussion to the future of EuroLeague as well, returning to the situation involving CSKA Moscow.
Before anything else, CSKA should return because, beyond the rivalry on the court, Real Madrid, Panathinaikos and CSKA represent European basketball. Without them, there is no true European champion
Dimitris Giannakopoulos
How NBA Europe would work
The model being studied by the NBA would allow teams to continue competing in their respective domestic leagues on weekendsleaving NBA Europe games for weekdays. To make the double schedule sustainable, rosters would be expanded, and a significant part of the project would be dedicated to the development of European players.
The scenario that the NBA and EuroLeague want to avoid is the one European basketball already experienced in 2000/01, when the creation of the ULEB competition led to two separate continental tournaments existing for one season. That economically unsustainable split ended the following year with a reunification that gave rise to the current EuroLeague.
More than 25 years later, European basketball could therefore be facing a similar crossroads. EuroLeague has rejected the NBA’s first proposal, but the NBA Europe battle is far from over: the project will move forward regardless and, above all, some of the clubs that rejected the agreement today could be the same ones negotiating directly with the American league tomorrow.