Adam Silver’s press conference on the future of European basketball clarifies nothing. If anything, it creates even more confusion. There are probably two main takeaways: confirmation of the ongoing talks with EuroLeague and NBA Europe investors’ doubts over the prospect of launching the new competition as early as October 2027. Everything else remains shrouded in uncertainty.
The NBA and FIBA, however, are keen to clarify that the plans have not changed and that the goal remains to introduce the new competition in 2027. Silver explained that the initial product could differ from the league that is ultimately expected to operate at full capacity, but reiterated the intention to “bring the competition to market next summer.”
“Yes, we are in ongoing discussions with EuroLeague,” Silver confirmed. A significant step forward compared with the famous December 2025 press conference, when the NBA commissioner and FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis appeared side by side without even mentioning Europe’s premier competition.
For their part, the NBA and FIBA stress that the stated objective has always been to work together with the existing European ecosystem, including EuroLeague. Silver had already described the talks as constructive in February 2026 and, the following March, identified collaboration between the NBA, EuroLeague, FIBA and the domestic leagues as the best possible outcome for European basketball.
Good, then. But looking solely at Italy, what are the two Rome-based clubs and Pallacanestro Varese waiting for? An agreement between the NBA and EuroLeague would definitively close the door on their participation at the highest level of European basketball. Or has someone promised them something we still do not know about?
According to the NBA and FIBA, however, the new project would not completely shut out other clubs. The announced format would feature 16 participants, with 12 permanent franchises and four places awarded annually on sporting merit. In theory, any club within the FIBA ecosystem could therefore qualify for the competition on the court.
It is also difficult to imagine what common ground could exist between two seemingly opposing visions. The NBA is working on a 16-team league with 12 permanent licences. EuroLeague, meanwhile, appears determined to expand progressively until it creates a 24-team super league. One is built around exclusivity, the other around expansion. Bringing them together will not be easy—assuming anyone genuinely wants to do so.
The NBA and FIBA, by contrast, consider their proposal more inclusive and more closely aligned with the traditions of European sport than the current system, precisely because it would combine permanent licences with a sporting qualification pathway. It remains to be seen how this model could coexist with a potential 24-team EuroLeague.
The fundamental problem is that we still do not know what the NBA actually has in hand. In recent months, the American league has spoken of multibillion-euro offers from parties interested in investing in NBA Europe. Yet, for now, it does not appear to have convinced any of the continent’s leading clubs: not Real Madrid, not Barcelona, certainly not Fenerbahce, nor Panathinaikos or Olympiacos.
On this point, the NBA says advanced discussions are underway with selected clubs, controlling shareholders and investors in each of the 12 identified countries. The names are not being made public in order to respect the confidentiality of the selection process, but the league expects to announce the founding teams once the agreements have been finalised. Last June, deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said final offers had already been received and that there were “clear front-runners” in all 12 target cities, forecasting the largest influx of capital ever seen in European basketball.
Silver now adds: “As for the potential investors, I’m not sure they’re quite so impatient for next season.” And this is where the wording matters. The investors are still only “potential” and, apparently, they are not in any particular hurry. The multibillion-euro project that, according to some reports, was expected to revolutionise European basketball within a matter of months suddenly appears less solid and less imminent.
In the same answer, however, Silver reiterated his intention to launch the competition in the summer of 2027 and announced that further developments would emerge in the coming months. He acknowledged that some deals are taking longer than expected, but described NBA Europe as a once-in-a-generation opportunity that the league intends to pursue carefully.
One final question remains, perhaps the most significant of all: if the NBA and EuroLeague truly reached an agreement, what would be left for FIBA? At first glance, very little. After helping bring the NBA into European basketball, Andreas Zagklis could end up watching the two main players strike a deal that leaves his organisation on the sidelines. At that point, his resignation would be almost inevitable: he would go down in history as one of the worst strategists European basketball has ever seen.
The NBA and FIBA firmly reject this interpretation, however: there would be no scenario in which the international federation does not remain a partner in the project. Any potential agreement between the NBA and EuroLeague would therefore necessarily have to include FIBA.
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