Paris Basketball president David Kahn believes NBA Europe will take time to launch and is not going to happen in the fall of 2027, also noting that he would love for the NBA to find a way to incorporate the EuroLeague into this project.
Paris Basketball president David Kahn gave his thoughts about the noise surrounding the NBA Europe project on the latest episode of the Fullcourt Passport podcast.
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Kahn says there's still a lot of uncertainty surrounding NBA Europe and nobody really knows when it's going to happen, noting there's no chance it will launch as soon as fall 2027.
"I will say this: the idea of a new league in any form, NBA or NBA Europe, starting in the fall of '27—it's not going to happen," Kahn stated.
"Nothing is happening yet, so whatever we want to think, we have to prepare for at least two more years of something that feels EuroLeague. Unless, of course, as I said, there's a deal done between the NBA and the EuroLeague, and I have no knowledge of that."
Kahn believes Europe could use the NBA's expertise when it comes to generating revenue from media rights but wants the EuroLeague to be part of the NBA's plan for their project.
"Certainly, we could use the NBA's expertise, skill, and talent—particularly in generating revenue from media rights, which we're just way, way behind on here in Europe," he noted.
"Now, in fairness to Europe, there's a lot of complexity over here that doesn't exist in America, so it's not as easy as just snapping your fingers."
Credit Panoramic via ZUMA Press
"I would love the NBA to figure out a way in, and I would love the NBA to figure out a way to incorporate the EuroLeague as part of their plan," Kahn said.
"It would still give them room to add new cities, especially those in London and Manchester, and other places they may want to go. But I don't expect, by the way, that this will end up as two leagues competing head-to-head.
I think that would be really destructive, and I think everybody kind of knows that. But, like I said right at the top, I think there's still so much to come over the next weeks, months, maybe a year, before we kind of know what this looks like—and that's what we're all waiting to see," he added.
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