Paris Basketball president David Kahn discusses NBA Europe’s uncertain future, EuroLeague governance debates, Paris’ business-first strategy, major roster changes, budget realities, and the long-term vision of an ambitious and commercially-driven club.
In a season filled with noise, shifting power structures, and a steady drumbeat of public statements from across the European basketball map, Paris Basketball finds itself at the center of a moment unlike anything the sport has experienced in decades.
Paris Basketball / Schedule
The club’s president, David Kahn, has been hearing the same messages as everyone else: remarks from NBA Europe managing director Giorgos Aivazoglou, strong declarations from CEO Paulius Motiejunas, pointed interventions from Monaco CEO Oleksiy Yefimov, and the various public observations from figures as historically influential as Jordi Bertomeu.
Hence, the question naturally arises: where does all of this leave Paris?
Kahn’s answer is simultaneously simple and revealing.
“Sure, the statements—more statements than announcements—I’ve seen them. But has anything changed for us compared to last season? No. Because I think we are trying to build something in Paris for as long as basketball is played professionally in Europe.”
Credit Federico Pestellini/PsnewZ via ZUMA Press
This is the project Paris Basketball has been putting together since its foundation seven years ago. Entering the EuroLeague as one of the competition’s rising-market franchises has only sharpened that sense of purpose.
“When we started Paris Basketball in 2018, we didn’t really know what the European landscape would look like,” Kahn says.
“We were hopeful there would be some change because we felt commercially European basketball has underperformed. But we did not know exactly what the changes would be, and even today, I cannot tell you what the changes will be.”
In today’s climate, uncertainty is almost the only certainty. And yet Paris appears comfortable inside that ambiguity.
Building a business, not just a club
2-pointers this season
Paris Basketball
EuroLeague
Kahn’s ambitions for Paris go well beyond the traditional frame of European club basketball.
“Our project is to build a brand that is successful on the court and off the court,” he explains. “And notice I use the word brand. A business. More than just a club—a real business that is ideally one day profitable.”
Credit Panoramic via ZUMA Press
Few EuroLeague executives speak with this level of directness about the commercial nature of modern basketball. But Paris, located in one of the world’s most powerful commercial capitals, backed by significant investors, and with a clear understanding of its unique market positioning, has always been an outlier in its long-term thinking.
The strategy is not only to compete, but to stand out as a global basketball enterprise.
This is where the topic of NBA Europe becomes unavoidable.
NBA Europe: Smoke on the horizon
For months, the European basketball ecosystem has been rattling with speculation about the NBA’s plans. Clubs, leagues, broadcasters, and agents have all been tuning in to the same discussions. But the details remain elusive.
Kahn, for one, can see the potential upside.
“I think having the NBA, as I’ve said many times, involved in European basketball can only be positive. I’ll say it again: it can only be positive,” he says.
“But I don’t
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Giorgos Kyriakidis
Born and raised in Athens, Giorgos Kyriakidis turned his passion for writing and basketball into a career. With a BA in Communication & Media Studies and an MA in Sport, Culture & Society, he’s spent nearly two decades reporting, commentating, and interviewing for outlets like Athens Municipal Radio and TalkBasket. Since 2021, he’s been a staff writer for BasketNews.
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