The well -known American analyst said in his recent podcast that both Olympicas well as the Panathinaikos They are among the potential target groups of the NBA Europe, the new European League designed by NBA in collaboration with FIBA.
Simmons’ statements, which are not missing Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, come a few days after the tour of NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, and his deputy, Mark Titum, in Europe, during which they held meetings with the leading European clubs.
This initiative is part of the processes for the creation of a new European professional league, under the umbrella of NBA and FIBA, which aspires to offer a more attractive, more commercial and high -level basketball product for the European market.
At present there is no official position on either side, but what Simmons said seems to confirm that the discussions have already begun – and the next steps will be decisive for the future of the event and the European basketball as a whole.
His words
“The project is expected to have fewer groups than those originally calculated. What does NBA offer? From what I have heard, it will probably make a league of 10 teams, it may be eight, it may be 12. It will give guaranteed positions, better television rights management and better sponsorships.
The NBA is trying to lock in Real and Barcelona, and both will be able to get out of Euroleague next year. They also have Milan with them, who does not currently have a basketball team. But calculate them. Beyond that, possible targets are Paris Saint -Germain, a London team that will be associated with the football sections of Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal, Manchester City, the two Greek teams, probably Olympiacos and Panathinaikos.
The league will go to London, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Paris, Berlin and Athens. I think Adam Silver has these seven cities in his pocket and may not yet know what the team from Greece will be. Perhaps he also puts Tony Parker’s team, Villerban. Maybe a team from Israel, maybe a third Spanish. “