NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke to the Italian newspaper 'Il Corriere della Sera' and gave some updates about the potential collaboration on a new European league with FIBA and EuroLeague.
"We're just at the beginning of the conversation," Adam Silver said. "With FIBA, we already work together for the program 'Basketball without borders' and for the African league that we started, which will develop in the coming years".
Silver explained that the NBA's plan is not to 'take over' European basketball but to work together to improve the situation.
"With EuroLeague, we already played several preseason games with their teams. We gladly agreed to the invitation for a common table: the goal is not to take over Europe but to work together to improve the basketball environment of the continent. We can't wait to resume the talks", Silver said to the Italian newspaper.
NBA is a global league, and Adam Silver is convinced that there's still a lot of room to grow outside of the USA.
"The opportunities to grow, especially outside of the USA, are huge. The goal is to focus on a business consumers-oriented and to engage the fans in a direct way through a more personal and interactive experience," the commissioner explained.
Silver, during the interview, also highlighted the fact that the NBA wants to reproduce the football model, creating an in-season tournament.
"I'm a football fan. With NBA teams and players, I often discuss the idea of creating an in-season tournament as it happens already in football. We learned a lot from football, and its experiences may be used in the NBA, especially in the perspective of our international growth".
