The project of the European NBA league continues to silently take shape behind the scenes, and last week a meeting between FIBA, NBA, and EuroLeague took place in Geneva. It is rumoured that this new league would include 16 teams, with some new franchises but also some of the top basketball clubs in the continent.
We’ve had reports of Real Madrid, Barça, and Fenerbahçe being approached by NBA, and now another Turkish club, Galatasaray, says to have received an “invitation” by the NBA Europe, according to president Dursun Ozbek: “They wanted Galatasaray to be a part of it. It hasn’t been finalized yet, but we received an invitation to such an organization. We will provide information at every step”, he said (via EuroHoops), although this “invitation” is reportedly a discussion about the league and not a formal invitation yet.
Interestingly, Galatasaray doesn’t participate in Europe’s top tier club continental competition, EuroLeague, and instead plays since 2020/21 in FIBA’s Basketball Champions League, considered third tier after behind EuroLeague and EuroCup.
Another team reportedly asked by NBA Europe is Alba Berlin, which, which left EuroLeague last year after to also join Champions League. If they join NBA Europe or not remains to be seen, as there will likely be frictions with the current private EuroLeague, which has recently expanded to 20 teams. NBA Europe wouldn’t start until 2027/28 at the earliest.
Live Media / Shutterstock