On Tuesday, at the NBA board meeting, there was a special guest: Andreas Zagklis, FIBA Secretary General. To the 30 owners and Adam Silver, he presented how the interaction between FIBA, the NBA and the American Federation works worldwide, and his point of view on the possibility of continuing to develop the sport, not only in Europe, but also in the Gulf region, Africa, Asia and other regions of the world.
Adam Silver was asked about the relationship between FIBA and the NBA, and about possible projects underway. It should be remembered that the two bodies created the Basketball Africa League together and that they are partners in Basketball Without Borders events. A month ago, there was talk of creating a joint championship in Europe.
Create profitable competition
“As far as Europe goes, I think there is a consensus that the level of interest in basketball is not on a par with the commercial activity there.” explained Adam Silver. “The interest level is here (left hand raised), the business is here (right hand raised). For all of us, this is not just a business opportunity. We’ve been in this situation before in our leagues, where if you can’t demonstrate to the market that you can run a successful business, it’s not sustainable. For basketball to continue to grow, we need a viable series or league.”
It is not known whether the NBA is considering creating a championship with FIBA, but Adam Silver also mentions training, and perhaps it is necessary to consider the creation of a championship or a team, on European soil, with young Americans. A G-League “Made in Europe” to have playing time and quality training.
European players arrive in the NBA better trained
“We are already seeing, from a training perspective, that some of our best players are European international players who have gone through a development process similar to that of an academy and who arrive in the NBA very mature from a playing perspective.” he continues, before acknowledging that young Americans, however gifted they may be, arrive in the NBA less well trained than Europeans. “NBA coaches also tell us that when it comes to developing American players, the vast majority of them still come from the United States and are among the most gifted players in the world. On the other hand, as they come into the league at younger and younger ages, more and more players are not fully formed as basketball players.”
Another point is the lack of training for young people, and Doc Rivers and others had mentioned this problem: in the United States, we play more than we train.
“At the same time, there is a trend in our league that, because of the guidelines on rest and workload, teams are not training as much as they did in the past. As organizers, we and FIBA are asking ourselves what will be the best way to develop players in the long term.”
An international League Pass?
Finally, for the “marketing” part, the NBA seems ready to support FIBA in the creation of a sort of League Pass for the different competitions. “There is no specific plan at the moment in terms of Europe, other than we agree that we will look carefully at the possibilities that are available to us. I think right now we are trying to see the light by looking at all these new broadcast platforms. Obviously there is the advent of streaming, not only as a platform but also as a source for high-level sports. What would be the interest for us to do something together…. And also how we could integrate in the most user-friendly way possible into the existing ecosystem of regional tournaments, pan-European leagues and national leagues.”
