{"id":471800,"date":"2025-11-27T20:09:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T19:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=471800"},"modified":"2025-11-27T20:09:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T19:09:15","slug":"euroleague-ceo-paulius-motiejunas-discusses-future-format-changes-and-relationship-with-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/euroleague-ceo-paulius-motiejunas-discusses-future-format-changes-and-relationship-with-nba\/","title":{"rendered":"Euroleague CEO Paulius Motiejunas Discusses Future Format Changes and Relationship with NBA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Euroleague CEO Paulius Motiejunas gave a long and insightful interview to Sport24<\/a>, touching on several key topics \u2014 including potential changes to the current format of Europe\u2019s top basketball competition.<\/p>\n

What are your strategic priorities right now? What is at the top of your agenda?<\/strong>
\n\u201cStability. I would like us to have a little stability with everything that is happening. There are wars, there are external pressures on Europe. There are many issues on the table, but we need to calm down and look to the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Should we expect a change in the Euroleague format starting next season? There is talk of 24 teams, regional groups\u2026 Is that realistic?<\/strong>
\n\u201cYes. It remains on the agenda, and it\u2019s part of the plan. We believe it\u2019s the next step \u2014 ideally reaching 24 teams. If that\u2019s not possible, it could be 22, split into two groups, maybe with an additional mid-season tournament or an All-Star Game. We want to make the schedule a bit less compressed and maybe add some new elements to the competition. Everything is still under discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are there any teams you can anticipate as potential new entrants for next season?<\/strong>
\n\u201cLook, we must remember we have the EuroCup, a competition where teams can perform well and earn promotion. Not every club has the goal of becoming an Euroleague team. Many focus on developing young players and supporting the Euroleague system through that. We\u2019ll see. Our first reference point is always our second competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

You recently said that \u2018the only way is together\u2019 in reference to NBA Europe. What would be the ideal partnership from Euroleague\u2019s perspective?<\/strong>
\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to say what the ideal partnership would be. I\u2019ll understand that if and when we actually sit together and ask, \u2018OK, how do we grow basketball?\u2019 But we\u2019re not at that stage yet. So saying \u2018let\u2019s sit down and talk to grow the game\u2019 and then reading certain interviews\u2026 you can see we\u2019re still too far apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

How can that distance be reduced?<\/strong>
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of approach. If you look at Mark Tatum\u2019s latest interview, where he says, \u2018we want to dominate this market\u2019\u2026 Listen, we are in Europe. We don\u2019t want to be dominated. We want cooperation \u2014 that\u2019s the mindset. If someone arrives saying \u2018we want to dominate\u2019\u2026 well, even the Greek Sports Minister clearly said, \u2018we don\u2019t want that.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have our own culture, our own kids going to the NCAA, and we have the NBA wanting to come here, dominate, and take the best players \u2014 like Giannis \u2014 back to America. We don\u2019t want that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is understood, then we can sit down and talk. If not, I\u2019m sorry \u2014 we will continue on our path, trying to maximize what we are doing instead of waiting for someone to come and say \u2018save us\u2019 or \u2018help us\u2019 and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n