{"id":511791,"date":"2026-08-26T18:22:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T16:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=511791"},"modified":"2026-08-26T18:22:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T16:22:26","slug":"nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" tabindex=\"0\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"6c602f2e-9e8e-43ed-936c-0f577a6d457d\" data-turn-start-message=\"true\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-6\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\">\n<div class=\"fbskMG_root markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\">\n<p class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\" data-start=\"2849\" data-end=\"3130\">NBA Europe continues to receive support from figures within the NBA world. Kenny Atkinson, head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the reigning NBA Coach of the Year, has voiced strong backing for the project, highlighting the sporting and economic opportunities it could create.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3132\" data-end=\"3343\">Atkinson spoke about the project during the Basketball Without Borders Next Up camp in Istanbul, emphasizing the possibility for NBA organizations to establish closer connections with European players and clubs.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"16navip\" data-start=\"3345\" data-end=\"3416\">Kenny Atkinson: \u201cNBA Europe will bring us closer to European talent\u201d<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"3418\" data-end=\"3587\">\u201cI think that, through NBA Europe and in cooperation with FIBA, we will become even closer to players, particularly European players,\u201d Atkinson said, according to Sozcu.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3589\" data-end=\"3788\">The Cavaliers coach believes the new competition could allow NBA organizations to evaluate European talent more effectively while also developing closer relationships with clubs across the continent.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3790\" data-end=\"3909\">\u201cWe will probably be able to evaluate players better and establish closer relationships with the clubs here,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"ywhjm2\" data-start=\"3911\" data-end=\"3958\">NBA Europe could also create economic growth<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"3960\" data-end=\"4087\">Atkinson also believes that the presence of the NBA brand could have a significant impact on the European basketball landscape.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4089\" data-end=\"4228\">\u201cHaving the NBA logo on the league will naturally change certain things for the better. I think it will be great for the players,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4230\" data-end=\"4335\">The Cavaliers head coach also sees significant economic opportunities for players under the NBA umbrella.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4337\" data-end=\"4557\">\u201cFrankly, I believe it will also generate economic growth. Players will have the opportunity to earn more money and receive more opportunities under the NBA umbrella. I do not see any downside to it,\u201d Atkinson concluded.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"wbcrbc\" data-start=\"4559\" data-end=\"4599\">NBA Europe expected to launch in 2027<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"4601\" data-end=\"4769\">NBA Europe is expected to launch in October 2027. According to the source, the competition is reportedly set to feature a semi-open format with 12 permanent franchises.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4771\" data-end=\"4901\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">The project is designed to create a new European competition connected directly to the NBA and developed in cooperation with FIBA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cleveland Cavaliers head coach strongly supports the NBA Europe project, believing the new competition could bring the NBA closer to European talent, strengthen relationships with clubs and create economic growth across European basketball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":511789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[399],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-511791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d - Sportando<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d - Sportando\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Cleveland Cavaliers head coach strongly supports the NBA Europe project, believing the new competition could bring the NBA closer to European talent, strengthen relationships with clubs and create economic growth across European basketball.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sportando\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-26T16:22:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/nba-europe.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1672\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"941\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emiliano Carchia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emiliano Carchia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emiliano Carchia\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a8e1605c7c00973ec7ed2a30cb3f23b\"},\"headline\":\"NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-26T16:22:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":323,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/nba-europe.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"NBA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/\",\"name\":\"NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d - Sportando\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/nba-europe.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-26T16:22:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a8e1605c7c00973ec7ed2a30cb3f23b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/nba-europe.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/5\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/nba-europe.png\",\"width\":1672,\"height\":941,\"caption\":\"nba europe\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sportando\",\"description\":\"Risultati di basket, notizie di pallacanestro, classifiche, Basket mercato, statistiche, roster, rumors NBA e tanto altro sul mondo della Pallacanestro\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a8e1605c7c00973ec7ed2a30cb3f23b\",\"name\":\"Emiliano Carchia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d12c286faa101fb5b0816105e312be0d294856ef2715719c1ece2a3dd4cbb2ee?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d12c286faa101fb5b0816105e312be0d294856ef2715719c1ece2a3dd4cbb2ee?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d12c286faa101fb5b0816105e312be0d294856ef2715719c1ece2a3dd4cbb2ee?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emiliano Carchia\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sportando.basketball\\\/en\\\/author\\\/emilianocarchia\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d - Sportando","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d - Sportando","og_description":"The Cleveland Cavaliers head coach strongly supports the NBA Europe project, believing the new competition could bring the NBA closer to European talent, strengthen relationships with clubs and create economic growth across European basketball.","og_url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/","og_site_name":"Sportando","article_published_time":"2026-08-26T16:22:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1672,"height":941,"url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/nba-europe.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Emiliano Carchia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emiliano Carchia","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/"},"author":{"name":"Emiliano Carchia","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#\/schema\/person\/0a8e1605c7c00973ec7ed2a30cb3f23b"},"headline":"NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d","datePublished":"2026-08-26T16:22:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/"},"wordCount":323,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/nba-europe.png","articleSection":["NBA"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/","url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/","name":"NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d - Sportando","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/nba-europe.png","datePublished":"2026-08-26T16:22:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#\/schema\/person\/0a8e1605c7c00973ec7ed2a30cb3f23b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/nba-europe.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/nba-europe.png","width":1672,"height":941,"caption":"nba europe"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/nba-europe-kenny-atkinson-i-dont-see-any-downside\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NBA Europe, Kenny Atkinson: \u201cI don\u2019t see any downside\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/","name":"Sportando","description":"Risultati di basket, notizie di pallacanestro, classifiche, Basket mercato, statistiche, roster, rumors NBA e tanto altro sul mondo della Pallacanestro","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/#\/schema\/person\/0a8e1605c7c00973ec7ed2a30cb3f23b","name":"Emiliano Carchia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d12c286faa101fb5b0816105e312be0d294856ef2715719c1ece2a3dd4cbb2ee?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d12c286faa101fb5b0816105e312be0d294856ef2715719c1ece2a3dd4cbb2ee?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d12c286faa101fb5b0816105e312be0d294856ef2715719c1ece2a3dd4cbb2ee?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Emiliano Carchia"},"url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/author\/emilianocarchia\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/08\/nba-europe.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511791"},{"taxonomy":"rumors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rumors?post=511791"},{"taxonomy":"typology","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/typology?post=511791"},{"taxonomy":"posizionamento","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posizionamento?post=511791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}