Former NBA commissioner David Stern’s grand vision for the L always included Europe, and the new guy in charge is determined to bring it to life during his reign.
Prior to a meeting between the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks on foreign soil Thursday, Adam Silver told reporters in England that expanding across the pond would have to be done with multiple franchises.
Silver says that it would require at least four NBA teams based in Europe for it to work.
Per The Guardian:
“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.”
He said that the arena infrastructure was improving across Europe with US-style arenas in place or under construction in England, Germany, France and Spain. […] “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.”
