The NBA is back in Paris, Thursday January 19, for the NBA Paris Game between the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons. Enough to allow France to develop its collaboration with the prestigious American basketball league, as Ralph Rivera, general manager NBA Europe, explained to CNEWS.
The NBA returns to France, three years later. Why so much waiting time?
It is a real pleasure for the NBA to return to France and Paris. We came in 2020 with a great poster between the Charlotte Hornets and the Milwaukee Bucks. It was a very nice party. Everyone was happy with this beautiful evening. And even the week before the game. Unfortunately, a few months later, the world was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Which kept us from coming back before. But the NBA is very happy with this return.
France and the NBA is a love story…
We know that there are a lot of basketball and NBA fans in France. This is a country that has loved basketball for years. The fans are numerous, we know that. In 2020, we were able to measure how many there were. So it’s normal for us to come to Paris. It’s primordial. Both for the fans but also for the development of basketball in France and the NBA.
Especially since, for the past few months, the NBA spotlight has still been on France thanks to Victor Wembanyama, who should be the No. 1 choice in the next Draft.
He’s an incredible player and the whole NBA is already a fan of him. The greatest players talk about him, the old ones too. His best actions are now broadcast in the United States on the NBA application and the League’s social networks. It is also a good thing for the promotion of the French basketball championship.
Before Paris, the NBA had also achieved something historic by going to Abu Dhabi for the first time.
We are extremely happy to have been able to organize a pre-season game for the first time in history in the Middle East (last October there were two Milwaukee-Atlanta games in Abu Dhabi). We had been trying to organize this event for a while. The process was long but the result exceeded our expectations. Even much better. We had wanted to settle in the Middle East for years. Abu Dhabi turned out to be ideal for the event. It was truly a resounding success.
Has the feedback been good?
It was a great and amazing experience. The players were happy, there were also legends present like Shaquille O’Neal. For a week, ten days, the fans were numerous. The children were happy. There have been partnerships forged for the development of basketball in the United Arab Emirates. We will go back, that’s for sure.
