At the NBA House pop-up event in Montreal promoting the league final between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, a former champion expressed enthusiasm about the city one day hosting a franchise in basketball’s highest league.

Serge Ibaka, a 2019 champion with the Toronto Raptors, Canada’s only NBA franchise, said at La Nesra in Griffintown on Friday that the second largest market in the country “deserves a team.”

“The way things are here, it’s a beautiful city. I feel people love sport in general here,” Ibaka said.

The NBA has been slow to expand beyond 30 teams. It’s been more than 20 years since the league added a team, dating back to the 2004 arrival of the Charlotte Bobcats (since renamed the Hornets). The other Canadian team to join the Raptors in 1995, the Vancouver Grizzlies, relocated to Memphis in 2001.

Before the start of the finals, commissioner Adam Silver said the league hoped to reach a decision on awarding new franchises to Seattle and Las Vegas before the end of the calendar year.

Ibaka, of Congolese-Spanish descent, remains a fan favourite in Toronto and would’ve been one in Montreal as a bilingual player.

He said playing in a francophone market during his playing days would have been a great experience. Ibaka played 14 years, from 2009-2023, for five teams.

“I’m sure it would be amazing to live and play here,” he said.

The rise of Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama, a player from France who is quickly becoming the face of the league, could also help a make a francophone market like Montreal more attractive.

Wembanyama’s Spurs trail the Knicks 1-0 in the best-of-seven series, with Game 2 set for tonight at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

The NBA is looking to Europe as a way to expand its international footprint, with plans for an independent league to begin there by the end of 2027.

But the NBA is also keen to sow the seeds of growth in the Quebec market, according to Cheryl Sebastian, associate VP of global partnerships for the league.

But she added there are no plans for a Montreal franchise.

 ”Basketball is the fastest growing sport in Quebec right now. Our fandom in Quebec as a whole is up 30 per cent over three years, but expansion is not in the cards right now,” Sebastian said.

So why make inroads in the city with events like NBA House, where fans can shoot hoops, take photos with the Larry O’Brien and WNBA Championship trophies, as well as watch Games 2 and 3 of the NBA Finals on projections that cover entire walls of the industrial space?

The league regularly holds pre-season games here, and will be hosting regular season games involving the expansion Toronto Tempo of the WNBA on July 10 and 12 at the Bell Centre.

Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson and Groupe CH president France Margaret Bélanger are both part of the Tempo ownership group.

“The NBA Canada (pre-season) series comes here and I think that’s the plan right now from a league perspective. (With NBA House) we want to give the fans the opportunity to have something to celebrate, something to wrap their heads around,” Sebastian added.

The league also wants to strike while the iron is hot, with Sebastian singling out two key Montreal natives in the league that have helped grow the sport: OKC Thunder’s Luguentz Dort and Los Angeles Clipper Bennedict Mathurin. There’s also the curiosity surrounding towering 7-foot-9 college player Olivier Rioux, who’s from Terrebonne.

Sebastian, who works out of Toronto, said she could see evidence of the sport’s growth throughout the city.

 ”I was driving around yesterday, and I could see all the basketball courts. People are playing basketball, and the courts are full, which is great to see.”

The NBA House fan experience will be held from June 5-8 at La Nesra, 2020 William St.