Rumors

The West has eaten the East’s lunch time and time again this century. Since 2000, in head-to-head matchups, the Western Conference has won the majority of inter-conference games in a staggering 23 of the last 26 seasons, according to Basketball-Reference tracking. The final tally has the West earning 6,316 wins against the East compared to just 4,997 victories on the other side.

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The 16 players that switched conferences to the East are collectively far worse than the 15 players that went the other way. According to EPM data from DunksAndThrees.com, West-to-East players registered an aggregated MINUS-14.6 EPM while the West saw that same total check in at plus-5.3. Said another way, the caliber of players that the West took from the East were 20 points better per 100 possessions than the ones that the East took from the West.

Yahoo! Sports

Mark Medina: NBA said that 75 million people watched the 2025 NBA Finals on ABC and said it was a 16% increase from last year. NBA added that Game 7 averaged 16.6 million viewers and that total playoffs averaged 6.13 million viewers per game.

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That is the paradox of the draft: the expected return in value of each pick declines the further you get into the draft, and some of the players who get picked deep into the first round will have better careers than the lottery picks. Generally, the NBA excels at selecting the right players early. However, it also struggles to ensure that these players are drafted at a high enough level.

New York Times

Marc Stein: Adam Silver will soon crown the ninth different champion in his 12 postseasons as NBA commissioner … and a record seventh new champion in a span of seven seasons in #thisleague. David Stern crowned eight champions in 30 postseasons. More: https://tinyurl.com/ywt4zywr

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Oh No He Didn't: Marc Spears: "I talked to a high-level person in the NBA today and they said it's leaning towards perhaps expansion coming soon this summer, but it's not a no brainer"

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The two leagues have had a frosty relationship over the last year after the EuroLeague turned down the NBA’s offer to partner with EuroLeague to run a European basketball league. But the relationship seems to have thawed in recent months. Former San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker, the owner of ASVEL, a French basketball club in the EuroLeague, has served as an intermediary between the two sides, and they have become more open to talks about their collective future.

New York Times

EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas also said that there may be a future together for the two sides in Europe. “It is becoming more obvious that we have to work together,” he told The Athletic. “I believe it is the first meeting of many where we should find ways to grow basketball. FIBA’s wishes are clear and simple and easy to get to. So it is up to both leagues to find ways to grow European basketball. Our history and fan base and teams would be a strong backbone to build on.”

New York Times

Alba Berlin, one of the top teams in Germany, announced that it would leave the EuroLeague, where it played under a wild-card entry, to join FIBA’s Basketball Champions League. That move has been viewed as laying the groundwork to eventually join the NBA’s future league. Tatum said it was a sign that Alba Berlin bought “into this vision of a revamped top-tier league in Europe that is going to service fans, the millions of basketball fans in Europe that currently aren’t serviced today.”

New York Times

Chris Mannix: Silver says he sees no reason to reduce the number of games. Says there is no data that suggests that the length of the schedule contributes to injuries.

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Scott Agness: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, intrigued by NHL’s Four Nations scores, says “we are looking at something that brings international flavor into competition” at the All-Star game. He does not believe USA vs World All-Stars makes sense. 2026 will be in afternoon due to Olympics.

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Marc J Spears: NBA commissioner Adam Silver the league “should be exploring” expansion and there are markets that “deserve to have NBA teams.” In July, Silver says NBA owners will explore expansion during meetings in Las Vegas.

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“I’d say it’s the single biggest opportunity (in Europe),” said George Aivazoglou, the NBA’s managing director for Europe and the Middle East (EME), speaking on stage at SportsPro Live at London’s Kia Oval last month. Details of the proposed new league are not yet fully defined, but the NBA’s laser-like focus on having teams in major European cities has been clear from the outset. In the UK, London and Manchester are being earmarked for representation in a 16-team competition that could also feature teams from Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Rome, Milan and Istanbul, according to Aivazoglou, when he spoke to EuroHoops.

New York Times

In their efforts to establish new leagues from scratch, the NBA and GBBL are effectively operating in parallel with a view to potentially launching in time for the 2026-27 season — though in an interview with The Guardian last week, Aivazoglou declined to commit to that timeframe. The summer of 2026 is the moment when EuroLeague’s current licence agreement with its 13 shareholder clubs expires, providing them with a window to opt out. Real Madrid and Barcelona are widely believed to be keeping their options open regarding a potential NBA defection, as is ASVEL Villeurbanne, the French club majority owned by San Antonio Spurs legend Tony Parker.

New York Times