FIBA Europe President Jorge Garbajosa discussed the NBA Europe project, hinting that 2027 could be a good year to launch it. However, he stopped short of confirming that the league will officially begin then.
On the eve of the EuroBasket 2025 final, FIBA Europe President and FIBA Europe Executive Director Kamil Novak held a press conference, in which the NBA Europe project was one of the main topics.
Garbajosa didn't want to confirm any reports or make a big statement, but hinted that the potential launch date in 2027 could be possible.
"I don't want to talk too much about the NBA Europe, but I have to do it, obviously," Garbajosa said. "This is what happened, and it's very clear: Mr. Silver announced it publicly. Mr. Zagklis announced it publicly. I did it also."
"It is not easy to create one competition, a big competition as we want to create, as the NBA wants to create in Europe. So, it's going to take a while, but this is going to happen, believe me.
"How and when, let's see. But this is what happened, no doubt about it. Then some prospects talk about 2027. I think it's a good year, but honestly, the NBA is working on it."
Credit AFP-Scanpix
"We are their partners, we want to be their partners, we want to be together with them because we truly believe this competition is going to be good, not for FIBA, not for the NBA, but for the basketball ecosystem in Europe. But believe me, there's no doubt that this competition is going to happen," Garbajosa noted.
Even though the NBA announced the partnership with FIBA regarding the NBA Europe, the EuroLeague is also included in the conversations.
However, Garbajosa didn't elaborate on what role he sees for the EuroLeague in NBA Europe, but confirmed that the dialogue is there.
"Since I had the honor to be elected as FIBA Europe President, I've been talking with the EuroLeague every 2-3 weeks," Garbajosa confirmed. "So the communication with them is open."
"Sometimes the goals that we want to achieve as different organizations are different or totally different. There is some distance between those goals and our goals. The communication is good, and the personal relationships are good.
"Again, the goals are not the same, but as FIBA and FIBA Europe, as the government body, we have the honor, but also the mandate of our boards to talk with every player in our ecosystem. The discussions are ongoing. We are very optimistic about the project in the NBA Europe and how this can impact our ecosystem.
"And EuroLeague is a great competition, nobody can hide it. And Mr. Silver said that the conversations and discussions are open, the dialogue is open, and that's it. There's a long way to work from today until whatever is happening about the NBA competition in Europe," he concluded.
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Edvinas Jablonskis
Edvinas Jablonskis began his basketball coverage career in 2017. Starting as a Daily Writer for BasketNews.lt, he steadily climbed the ranks and became a Daily Editor for BasketNews.com in 2021, a position he continues to hold. Over the years, Jablonskis has covered multiple EuroLeague Final Fours and international tournaments, including the FIBA EuroBasket, FIBA Basketball World Cup, and FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
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