It won’t be happening soon, but Adam Silver still thinks the NBA can expand by establishing four teams in Europe.
The NFL has already been bringing football to England for years with their annual games at London’s Wembley Stadium, but the NBA isn’t quite up to speed when it comes to European expansion. However, for a commissioner like Adam Silver who’s always thinking of how to develop the league, expanding to Europe is exactly what he’d like to see take place in the future.
With the recent changes Silver has made to improve season scheduling by cutting down back-to-backs, he’s shown that he’s been willing to take action since taking over from previous commissioner David Stern. Now, as has been reported this week by NBCSports, Silver has said it’s “premature” to talk about an expansion to Europe for the time being, but that it could happen in the future:
"Commissioner Adam Silver says it is “premature” to talk about an NBA expansion in Europe.Silver says he doesn’t think “it’s going to happen in the very near future” but “could happen one day.”Silver spoke in Madrid on Wednesday, a day before the Boston Celtics play Real Madrid in NBA’s Global Games tour."
So, while Silver has made it clear this won’t be happening right now, his emphasis of “very near future” does imply that it’s only out of the question for the time being. Although, that might not necessarily be the case in the not so near future. It’s obviously impossible to put a time frame on “could happen one day,” but even if it’s closer to happening within the next five years or a decade, it would still be a monumental change for the NBA.
However, the uncertainty of these comments is far from the beginning of Silver’s plans for European expansion.
Back in January of this year, Silver went as far as saying that he believes it is the NBA’s “manifest destiny to expand.” Owen Gibson of The Guardian reported Silver’s in-depth comments on the matter of establishing four teams in Europe:
"“My sense is that the NFL is a little bit ahead of us in terms of their timeline for having a franchise based in London. There are some aspects of their schedule that make it easier – they play once a week, they have fewer games,” said Adam Silver, who took over from David Stern as the commissioner last year.“It will be easier logistically for them to pull it off. It would be difficult for us to have one team in Europe. We’d have to put both feet down. That would mean having four franchises in Europe.”“We’re not there yet. I know that as much growth as we’ve seen, we have a long way to go before we can sustain four franchises in Europe,” said Silver, who has worked at the NBA since 1992. “On the other hand, I believe it’s our manifest destiny to expand.”"
Just as Silver reiterated this Wednesday, the NBA aren’t close to setting up four franchises in Europe yet. But with this goal in mind when looking back at his comments from January, it looks as though this isn’t just a hopeful idea. By saying again this week that it could happen one day, the possibility is still clear. Plus, considering the fact he believes it is the NBA’s destiny to complete this kind of expansion to Europe, this potential move isn’t something to be taken likely.
Even if that’s the case for “the very near future.”
With European superstars such as Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki who’s been a presence in the NBA since 1998, the impact of European players on the league has only increased. With more and more players coming from overseas, the idea of expanding in their direction seems like the next step (albeit a very major one).
For example, two of the top five picks from this year’s draft actually came from Europe in the form of Latvia’s Kristaps Porzingis (4th overall to the New York Knicks) and Croatia’s Mario Hezonja (5th overall to the Orlando Magic).
Obviously those are just two players in a draft featuring talent that mostly came from the U.S., but it can’t be denied that the opportunity for talent from overseas to make it to the NBA is increasing.
On the other hand, is it really a good idea to establish four teams in Europe? The immense traveling hours and jet-lag issues alone will cause concern for any team. Not to mention the fact they will be thousands of miles from their lives in America.
Before delving too deep into this possibility, though, we need to remember it’s just that: a possibility.
As Silver said this week, it could happen. And with his clear drive to progress the league and expand to Europe with as many as four teams, we can’t rule it out. However, in the meantime, NBA fans scattered across Europe will have to wait a good few years until they can consider the chance of going to watch their favorite teams live in possible countries such as England, Germany, Spain, Italy or France.
If it does happen, it will revolutionize the NBA as we know it for many years to come.