A slip-up reveals when the NBA is moving to Europe

Time keeps passing, yet little is known—if anything at all—about the future European competition backed by the NBA. At least not officially. Since NBA commissioner Adam Silver and FIBA president Andreas Zagklis appeared together at a press conference on March 27 to announce their intention to work together on a new tournament in Europe, all that has followed has been rumors and vague explanations about where the process currently stands.

At first, the summer of 2026 was circled on the calendar as the expected launch date. The reasoning was straightforward: that was when the EuroLeague’s agreement with IMG, which managed the commercial rights to Europe’s top competition, was set to expire. Now, however, the EuroLeague has signed a new ten-year deal to secure its future—though some clubs, most notably Real Madrid, have yet to sign on. Before this extension, 2026 had been seen as the perfect opportunity to lure Europe’s biggest clubs away from the EuroLeague and bring them under the NBA’s umbrella.

In recent months, Silver has already dismissed 2026 as a realistic launch date. Instead, he has pointed to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics as the ideal global stage to promote the new competition. In his latest remarks, delivered yesterday, he again emphasized 2028 as a key target year for NBA Europe, though he did not rule out an earlier launch in 2027 on a more “ambitious” timetable. Either way, he insists that “the opportunity is now” and does not want to delay beyond the next two years.

Silver had been dropping these dates like breadcrumbs—markers along a path that still leads to an uncertain destination—when suddenly the new Great Britain Basketball League (GBBL) made its grand entrance. In a statement to the Yorkshire Post announcing that it would delay its debut until 2027, the GBBL revealed one of the reasons: waiting for the NBA’s arrival in Europe. The release read:

“GBB League Ltd. (GBBL) will launch the first season of its new British basketball league in September 2027, coinciding with the planned first season of NBA Europe, and to allow sufficient time to collaborate with the British Basketball Federation (BBF), the Home Country Associations, and the wider British basketball community in preparation for the launch of a new elite academy for young players who will represent the future of the Great Britain National Team. Two teams from NBA Europe, based in London and Manchester, will compete in the new GBBL.”

The GBBL statement leaves little room for doubt. It explicitly names September 2027 as the planned launch of NBA Europe and confirms, as has long been speculated, that London and Manchester will each host a team. The league is being spearheaded by Marshall Glickman, former interim CEO of the EuroLeague and former president of the Portland Trail Blazers.

The creation of the GBBL, however, is not without controversy. In the UK, clubs have been running their own league—the SBL—since last season. They have now taken legal action against the British federation for granting a license to the GBBL, setting up a conflict over the country’s basketball future.

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