EuroLeague CEO makes shocking admission as he hopes to reignite conversations with NBA about European expansion
As the NBA considers a brand-new basketball league in Europe, EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas said he’d like to meet with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
The NBA is considering a European NBA league. That league would not be an expansion - it would be a separate league entirely, and the NBA teams in the United States and teams in Europe would not play each other. This is just an idea at the moment, but it’s one that the NBA is hoping to make reality at some point in the near future.
NBA expansion in Europe is still in its early stages, but some crucial details have emerged 🔥
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) January 30, 2025
With powerhouses like Real Madrid, PSG, and Manchester City involved, the project has the potential to reshape European basketball landscape:https://t.co/ca87EC9k8G
As they consider this idea, EuroLeague’s CEO Paulius Motiejunas had some thoughts on the matter. Considering there is already a basketball league in Europe, he’d like to open conversations back up with the NBA about European expansion.
EuroLeague CEO hopes to talk with NBA about European expansion
Surprisingly, Motiejunas said that the EuroLeague and NBA hadn’t engaged in any serious discussions for ten years before he became the CEO in 2023. And though there have since been some discussions, Motiejunas admitted that they had recently been diminishing and that he’d never personally met with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
“For ten years, these two leagues had no communication,” Motiejunas said. “In my 1.5 years as EuroLeague CEO, I haven’t met with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver even once.”
Motiejunas said the EuroLeague would like to re-establish the conversations with the NBA about European expansion though.
“When I took over, I wanted to change that,” said Motiejunas. “I had meetings with Mark Tatum and the head of NBA Europe, though the head of that position has since changed. But after a decade without dialogue, there is a lack of trust between us, which makes it difficult to make significant decisions together.”
🏀 🏀 #NBA #Olympics #Luka #Doncic On playing in the NBA vs. Europe 🏀🏀 pic.twitter.com/MRDiG43pMI
— AS USA (@English_AS) July 27, 2021
Motiejunas said that the NBA had made an offer to EuroLeague in the past, but that the teams rejected it. But the new idea of an NBA league in Europe concerns him, as it would threaten the EuroLeague as well as basketball throughout Europe.
“We don’t need to save basketball in Europe. Basketball here is already at a very high level,” said Motiejunas. “What we need is to continue promoting it and growing it even further to compete with other sports.”
“Everybody respects the NBA because it is one of the most influential sports organizations in the world,” he went on. “But ever since I became CEO, I have consistently said that we need to sit at the same table, communicate, and agree on how to grow basketball not only in Europe and America but worldwide.”
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