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In a significant development for the European sporting landscape, Inter Milan chairman and CEO Giuseppe Marotta has confirmed that the club’s owners, Oaktree Capital, are closely monitoring the NBA Europe project. Speaking via video conference at the Motore Italia roadshow organized by Milano Finanza, the 68-year-old executive addressed growing speculation regarding a potential off-field derby between Inter and AC Milan to secure a franchise in the NBA’s upcoming continental expansion.
Sandro Mamukelashvili: “I would say, first, I want to play in Europe. I want to finish my career there. I want to live there most of the time, and hopefully, once I have kids, I want them to go over there with me and experience those emotions—being close to home, having it be easier for my parents to fly in, and easier for my friends to come visit. As far as developing basketball in Georgia, that is one of my goals. I think Zaza jump-started something amazing by creating his own academy. He does an amazing job developing kids, but I think there is still so much more to do, even on the professional level. We have a good league, and it is developing, but I think we can do so much better and grow it even more. There are kids who love basketball and want to become basketball players, and I think doing summer camps, bringing in coaches, and showing more of the talent level we have in Georgia will hopefully help us continue to develop.”
With the Nets hosting Portland — and rising Trail Blazers star Deni Avdija taking on Nets rookies Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf — Monday marked the first time three Israelis ever faced off in the NBA. “Yeah, it’s special,” said Nets coach Jordi Fernández. “When other countries outside the US and Europe can be represented with three players here, it means the world, and it’s a special day that everybody has to enjoy. And I think they are already. …I don’t know Deni, but I’m sure he’s excited to play. I know Ben and Danny are. “And that’s good. It’s one of the two times that we’ll see this and hopefully for many years, see how these guys grow. Obviously Deni, a career year and how much better he has gotten. And then our two young guys, they’re getting better. And I want to see this matchup over the years and how interesting, how cool it is to see them play against each other.”
Sources with direct knowledge of the investors’ plans have said the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which has a massive sports portfolio and started LIV Golf, is preparing to submit a bid for a new London-based team. Qatar Sports Investments, which owns soccer giant Paris Saint-Germain, is prepping one for a new team in Paris, and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital, which owns Italian soccer powerhouse AC Milan, will submit a bid for a new team in Milan.
Each of those bids for NBA Europe franchises, sources with knowledge said, is expected to be an independent bid to create new teams. There has been widespread interest from existing European clubs, such as Alba Berlin and ASVEL (near Lyon, France), but it was not known immediately whether those clubs might partner with additional investors to meet the NBA’s asking price for a license.
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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.
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.
Charlie Villanueva on Jokic saying he never wants to leave the Nuggets: "Most European superstars don't want to leave their team. These international cats don’t have the same mentality as a US born player where if sh*t don’t go right we want to leave, you know, they want to fix the problems.”
The superstar spoke openly about Europe, the NBA, coaches, and even his first purchase after signing a professional contract. When asked if he would ever return to Europe, Jokic did not hesitate, making it clear that his future is firmly in the NBA. "No. Nothing against EuroLeague or Europe, but I would not do it," he said.
President of the Italian Basketball Federation Gianni Petrucci confirmed in an interview with Giornale Radio Rai that the NBA Europe agreement will be announced in the coming weeks. "The NBA-FIBA agreement has already been finalized and should be officially signed by the end of March, as Jorge Garbajosa (president of FIBA Europe, ed.) confirmed to us when he came to Turin," Petrucci said. Petrucci also noted that NBA Europe will include two teams from Italy in the competition, from Rome and Milan. "This agreement will bring excitement, with two teams like Roma and Milan having NBA acronyms, while still playing in the Italian league and making their players available in the national transfer windows, which is a big step forward. I personally support this development," Petrucci said.
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Keith O’Brien on Larry Bird: I just loved that story of that summer that Bird spends with that traveling band of all-stars in Europe. There are some other big names on that team, including future NBA greats like Sidney Moncrief. That is the moment, in the summer of 1977, when Larry Bird really becomes Larry Bird, and it is really as a result of that summer traveling on that team, when Sports Illustrated decides to put Bird on the cover of the magazine in November of that year, which really is a turning point in his life. So I think that the entire summer and fall is just crucial to the narrative of Larry Bird. I believe the Larry Bird that we would come to know was born on a basketball court in Europe. I really do believe that. That is the moment when Larry Bird becomes Larry Bird.
League executives have spent the past month meeting with dozens of potential investors in franchises in Europe, including wealthy individuals and private equity funds. Non-binding bids for those teams are due in late March. I’m told the NBA wants franchise fees of about $1 billion, though some investor groups have balked at that number and have pushed for fees closer to $500 million. It’s possible the NBA Board of Governors could greenlight the sale of franchises in some cities, and thus the formation of the league, during its upcoming March meeting. The NBA has targeted October 2027 for the league’s debut. The NBA has held conversations with several media companies with global aspirations to broadcast the games, including Amazon and YouTube, according to sources familiar with the matter. Amazon and YouTube spokespeople declined to comment. No decision on a broadcast partner or partners has been made yet, according to an NBA spokesperson.
While a fledgling league without hard audience data will likely be limited in the media rights money it initially commands, the NBA hopes that anchoring permanent teams in Europe’s biggest media markets – many of which don’t have permanent teams in the EuroLeague, the continent’s top basketball league – will make the league interesting to big partners. Currently, some of Europe’s best basketball teams (including Turkey’s Fenerbahçe Beko and Greece’s Olympiacos Piraeus) aren’t connected to its largest media markets, dampening ubiquitous continental interest in the sport and lowering its television value.
NBA senior leadership has expressed hope the EuroLeague and NBA Europe can become partners, including the possibility of EuroLeague taking a stake in NBA Europe, an equity exchange between the two leagues, or perhaps even a merger, according to sources familiar with the matter.