On the sidelines of the NBA Global Games last week, commissioner Adam Silver met numerous club leaders in London this Monday, in a meeting dedicated to his project for a new “NBA Europe” league.
As a reminder, NBA Europe should be made up of 16 teams, including 12 permanent teams (the other 4 via qualification).
We already know the cities where these 12 teams will be located, namely Athens (Greece), Manchester (England), London (England), Lyon (France), Paris (France), Madrid (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Rome (Italy), Milan (Italy), Munich (Germany), Berlin (Germany) and Istanbul (Turkey).
What we do not yet know is whether these cities will be represented by already existing basketball teams (which play for example in the EuroLeague) or by the creation of new teams (in particular through the major European football clubs). But given the presence of certain leaders in London at the start of the week, we are starting to see things a little more clearly.
Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, two soccer and basketball heavyweights, Olimpia Milano, Panathinaikos, ASVEL, Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin all took steps toward NBA Europe on Monday.
Owners of Manchester City and AC Milan soccer giants also want to get in on Adam Silver’s new… pic.twitter.com/kt8no28dJm
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) January 19, 2026
According to Joe Vardon the The Athletichere are the European basketball clubs which were represented by one or more of their members:
- Real Madrid (in advanced discussions with Adam Silver)
- FC Barcelona
- Olimpia Milan
- Panathinaikos
- ASVEL (Tony Parker’s club)
- Bayern Munich
- Alba Berlin
- Fenerbahce (meeting Adam Silver in Berlin last week)
And among the heavyweights of European football who could invest in NBA Europe, we have:
- Manchester City
- Milan AC
- PSG (in contact with Adam Silver)
In addition to this list of clubs, other little information has leaked concerning the functioning of the future NBA Europe: former Lakers star and FIBA legend Pau Gasol could become a key leader of this new league, the launch of the latter could be boosted by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, while Amazon Prime could be the official broadcaster and Nike the main sponsor.
Slowly but surely, NBA Europe is taking shape.
