I think there are way too many obstacles. Not even going into the travel of it... But what about team management? Would they be able to draft players? Would they be able to trade players? Imagine you are a kid and instead of going to play for the Detroit Pistons but you have to head to Madrid instead...okay maybe not Detroit but the point is how would that be handled? Moving to another country is a big deal, it's what holds a lot of players back from coming over here. Okay so say they aren't able to draft or trade players...how will they be able to compete against NBA teams? You may as well give them their own league. Which they already have. A much easier idea is to have a annual club tourney. The NBA would have to shave off some games though but nothing like Championship league. Could be single game tourney like the NCAA to increase the chance of upsets for non-NBA teams. It works out for everyone. A big reason why Real Madrid would want to be in the NBA is so that they could sell tickets for when Lebron comes to town. But I think a Club tourney could really raise Basketball's popularity. It will never be what Soccer is globally, but it could be a really good alternative. I think there are too many obstacles right now for a intercontinental league.
Yes. I like the idea of an annual club tourney. Even a 4 team single-game tourney would be a good place to start. The format could be the top 2 teams from each league. So, we'd have something like using this past season's final four: Olympiacos @ Golden State Cleveland @ Real Madrid You get good cross-appeal. The NBA champion is ranked #1, The Euroleague champion is ranked #2. Each league's champion is guaranteed a home game. This way you get the LeBron James in Madrid hype-bonanza to sellout and pull crazy TV ratings. The Finals could be set at neutral non-home location that rotates between North America and Europe every year. Say the first final is held in London then swings to the other side of the Atlantic the following year. Plus the format is short enough not to seriously affect any of the teams' regular schedule.
Yes I agree with this especially as a starting point. A short 4 team tourney that only adds like at most 4 games to the schedule. This way NBA and Euroleague teams can see if it is worth expanding on. Obviously if it is a big hit you add more teams and maybe the NBA could see some benefit to shaving off some games. There has to be some small starting point because as off right now the NBA is not going to cut into it's schedule in a attempt to help Fiba or international ball. But I don't ever see a international league like that unless someone revolutionizes international travel. Instead the NBA, Fiba, and Euroleague need to get together and work out some kind of thing that would resemble Uefa Champions league but not bound by continents. With the end goal being like a 16 team tourney giving a spot to the best club on the other 4 continents and filling out the rest with NBA and Euroleague teams. I mean it would be intriguing to see the Chinese teams, you'd have stories like Marbury (or insert NBA drop out) trying to show he can still hang with NBA guys even as a low 8th seed and if the tourney is one game elimination it would have that any thing can happen vibe that soccer games have. But yeah, I think the league idea...I just can't imagine it working with travel/schedule and a bunch of other things.
All of this. Perez is a marketing and financial guy first, it's utterly obvious in their football situation. He does this solely to push them into a spotlight and to spark the "Euro teams joining the NBA" debate again. He 100% knows they won't join the NBA in the next years.
This is stupid. Real will be nothing without Barca. You can't take their archnemesis out or you will be taking the soul of the fandom out. Maybe it can work in England or Germany but not in Spain.
Funny, young guys could've just sign a contract with NBA team (Real) & play on NBA level for a year or two...and then got drafted having ton of experience by another team
Canada has just 1 NBA team, lets start with them, before going to Europe. Or better yet - don't change anything, no one likes the change. I wouldn't want European teams playing in the NBA and I'm an European. It would only lower the quality of basketball, both by spreading the talent to more teams in NBA, also by increasing need to fill the rosters using mediocrity. And by subtracting top Euro teams the overall Euro level would drop significantly.
It's gonna happen eventually and silver looks like the kind of guy that would like to make it his legacy. When it does happen the term "world champion" will actually mean it.
And after the NBA teams play in the international club tourney, they can face off against the AAU champs and a wheelchair basketball all-star team.
I could see something like this happening within my lifetime maybe, but not for a few decades. If some of those new super fast planes become viable and if a 10 hour flight to Europe would become like 4 then yea, sure.
Shorten the season, more days off for travel. Would be great but they won't accept lower revenues from fewer games
