The information has been following one another for several months and the path is now clear: the NBA will soon land in Europe with a new league. Last December the news came that the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced that, starting from January 2026, contacts would be resumed between the parties for the creation of the new pan-European men’s professional basketball league. In this phase, the NBA and FIBA will involve the teams and owner groups interested in participating in the project. And so, at what point is the NBA Europe?
How to enter the future NBA Europe: licenses and sporting merits
In addition to permanent positions, lThe new league will offer all teams from FIBA-affiliated European national leagues the chance to qualify annually based on sporting merit, through FIBA’s Basketball Champions League (BCL) or through a qualifying tournament at the end of the season. The league calendar will be aligned with that of the national domestic championships and international competitions of national teams, allowing athletes to represent both their club and their national team throughout the entire sporting season.
NBA Europe: new resources for clubs too
Under the new league, The NBA and FIBA also plan to allocate resources and financial support for the development of the entire European basketball ecosystemincluding national leagues, club youth systems, and existing NBA and FIBA programs dedicated to the growth and development of young players, coaches and referees at all levels.
Andreas Zagklis and Adam Silver: united towards a new era of basketball in the Old Continent
“Pushing forward this joint project between the NBA and FIBA represents a big step for the European basketball community,” said FIBA General Secretary Andreas Zagklis. “The format respects the principles of the European sporting model, offering any club with ambition within the continent a fair route to access the highest level. The project was conceived to strengthen the sustainability of the entire continental basketball ecosystem – from players to clubs, from leagues to federations – generating a ripple effect that will bring concrete benefits to basketball fans across the European continent.”
Obviously there was no shortage of words from my American colleague, Adam Silver, a fundamental character in the creation of this new league of the future: “Dialogues with various stakeholders in Europe have strengthened our belief that there is a huge opportunity linked to the creation of a new league on the continent,” said the NBA Commissioner. “Together with FIBA, we look forward to engaging in dialogue with potential clubs and owner groups who share our vision of the growth potential of basketball in Europe.”
Adam Silver is a project with many dreams and just as many risks
While waiting for further updates from the NBA and FIBA in the coming months, let’s focus on the biggest proponent of the NBA Europe project, Adam Silver. Commissioner of the most important basketball league in the world since 2014, he has always been very keen to continue what his predecessor David Stern had started, organizing one/two regular season games in Europe every year (since 2011). A project that paved the way for bringing, in a couple of years, the name of the NBA definitively into the world of basketball on the Old Continent. During the last NBA Cup final, between San Antonio and New York, Sivler reiterated the importance of exploring Europe as a new growth opportunity for the league, not hiding a bit of annoyance at finding a certain difficulty in our local interlocutors due to a different approach from the American one, less linked to entertainment and more to support, which in certain places seems to be able to prevail even over a project – judged by some to be “out of scale” – like that of NBA Europe. However, the commissioner has noted interest from various sources, including football clubs with or without basketball teams (Manchester City?) and organizations already involved in the Euroleague.
NBA Europe in Italy: Milan and Rome, which would start (almost) from scratch
In Italy, for example, there is a lot of talk about Rome as a possible destination for a team in the next NBA Europe, in addition to Milanwhich wouldn’t have the problem of creating a team from scratch if Olimpia wanted to be part of it, but there was also talk of Milan as a possible club interested in being in the pan-European league.
The hypothesis of a return to high-level international basketball is gaining ground in the capital, thanks to its inclusion among the 12 “blocked” cities to participate in NBA Europe in the 2027-28 season. However, to access this prestigious competition, Roma must first earn a place in Serie A and to do so it is necessary to find funds and/or owners ready to invest. To date there are three possibilities to make this happen: one concerns Aldo Vanoli, president of Cremona, who seems willing to withdraw from the club and sell the right to a possible buyer to “give” Serie A to Rome again. A second linked to the owners of Trieste, already interested last year in the situation of Cremona always with a view to a future commitment to Rome and another which refers to the fund linked to Zoran Savic, former GM of Partizan Belgrade. At the moment only hypotheses, among which the one that would seem simplest has also emerged, namely bringing Virtus Roma 1960, currently involved in Serie B, to Serie A through the acquisition of a title; but this seems to have faded due to the desire of the Capitoline society to carry out the climb without help or dismemberment.
Another cumbersome name in Italian basketball also made its way around Christmas: Ettore Messina. Having given up his role as coach of Olimpia Milano and currently occupied “only” in the role of President of Basketball Operations of the Milanese team, he could be the key to laying the structural foundations necessary to begin the Capitoline activities in the 2026-27 national championship, in order to be bridges for the future in the NBA in the following year. Messina would have been taken into consideration both as a managerial figure and as a technical guide, for a return to the bench after a handful of sabbatical months. If Cremona is not the one to sell the title, as mentioned, it could be Trapani, which after the corporate crisis has effectively reached the end of a cycle: this can potentially free up space for the grafting of Rome what a new reality in view of a future in NBA Europe.
