IMG President Adam Kelly discussed the possible arrival of the NBA European expansion, saying that "There will always be noise", adding that there are too many uncertainties to determine its potential.
IMG President Adam Kelly discussed the possible arrival of the NBA European expansion.
He argued that at the moment, there are too many uncertainties to determine how it could change the European basketball landscape.
"There will always be noise in and around sport, particularly at the moment when there's so much capital floating around, and people wanting to deploy that capital into sports assets," Kelly told Michael Long from SportsPro.
"So will the noise go away? Will the NBA launch? Will they do that on their own? Will they do that with us? Will they do that with EuroLeague? I think there's still so many open questions," Kelly continued.
EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas, who recently confirmed that the EuroLeague is in talks to sell a minority stake, shared similar views.
"I understand the NBA's approach and I appreciate how big they are – it's the number one basketball league in the world," Motiejunas told SportsPro. "But I don't like the mentality that, 'Oh, we'll come and we'll teach everybody how it's done'."
"Obviously, everybody wants to listen to the NBA or wants to see what they can offer. But to have five leagues [would mean] we're forgetting the fans," Motiejunas continued. "You turn on the TV and you don't know what team is playing what competition."
Meanwhile, Kelly maintained that his main focus is on the present.
"What I'm focused on is how do we deal with what's present, what's happening, what's available today?
"How do we maximise and build your assets for the short, medium, and long term? I've got enough to worry about without making up stories of things that might not happen.
"Deal with the here and now, deal with the present, and deal with the reality, as opposed to the speculative," the IMG President said.
Does he believe NBA Europe will be a success?
"If other people want to launch new leagues, I wish them the best. But show me a brand-new league that has launched successfully without major challenge and major funding," Kelly stated.
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