INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Athletic polled more than 30 NBA players in Los Angeles for All-Star Weekend about a variety of issues around the league. Below, players weighed whether they would ever consider joining the NBA’s latest venture: a European league, which is slated to begin in the fall of 2027.
Would you consider playing in the upcoming NBA Europe?
Yes: 18
No: 6
NBA Europe does not, in practice, exist yet. But NBA commissioner Adam Silver and FIBA, the international governing body for basketball, are barreling toward a new, 16-team competition in the old country that starts in the fall of 2027 with serious money behind it.
Silver wants to put new teams in London, Paris, Rome, and Manchester, England, backed by soccer giants and the biggest investment funds in the world (the Saudi PIF has expressed interest). Existing clubs with similar financial backing are being targeted in Barcelona and Madrid, in Milan, in Athens and Istanbul, Berlin and Munich, and Lyon, France.
If Silver is (and in all likelihood, he will be) successful in bringing this new league on line, current NBA players said, overwhelmingly, they would consider, some day, playing in NBA Europe.
“Yeah, it would interest me a little bit. I think that’s pretty cool,” said Charlotte rookie and Rising Star Kon Knueppel.
Now, to be fair to the players, and to the situation, the basketball economy in Europe would have to change for most NBA players to actually consider an eventual move. For instance, Real Madrid, one of the richest European basketball teams, will pay all their players a combined $58 million this season, slightly less than the $59 million Steph Curry will make from the Warriors.
But Silver is not interested in the current European basketball economy. He intends to grow it exponentially. The commissioner is seeking a billion-dollar entry fee from the new London team, a lucrative media rights package, huge entrance fees in Paris and Rome, and NBA-ready arenas in all 12 of the cities where licensed teams reside (the other four spots are open to virtually any European club, through qualification).
While it’s true that NBA Europe revenues will go, in part, to NBA team owners in the U.S., it stands to reason that if Silver’s vision matures to reality, player salaries will grow to a point where aging NBA vets, or younger players who might otherwise be stuck on a bench in the U.S., might take a chance on the romance of becoming a star in Europe.
Kevin Durant could be the league’s Lionel Messi. Currently 37, Durant is a minority shareholder in Paris-St. Germain, the soccer conglomerate that is expected to start an NBA Europe team in Paris. He said after Sunday’s All-Star tournament, “once (NBA Europe) starts to form, hopefully I can be a part of it, pushing the game all around the world.”
He was answering a question about advising PSG, and not playing, but is it so difficult to imagine Durant lacing it up in Paris for a season or two, at age 40?
Younger, less-accomplished players can see it for themselves.
“I don’t see why not,” said Durant’s teammate on the Rockets, Reed Sheppard. “I think all of Europe is really cool. And, going over there would be cool to visit, but also be able to play basketball for sure.”
“That’s a great question right there,” Knicks All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns said. “I would (consider playing in NBA Europe). I would. I really, I love international basketball, love playing FIBA basketball as well. Obviously, not better than playing in the NBA. But it would be pretty cool to even see that get off the ground and actually operate. But, possibly, one day to be part of that would be pretty cool.”
“A hundred percent,” said the Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells. “I think an opportunity to play basketball across the border is just something that it’s beautiful. Just to celebrate basketball and show how much the game has expanded.”
NBA players born in Europe who answered The Athletic’s question, like Matas Buzelis, Egor Demin, Kyshawn George, and Yanic Konan Niederhäuser, were, of course, open to the idea. Zaccharie Risacher, No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft and a Frenchman born in Spain, was less enthused. He said, “I feel like I’m in a great place in Atlanta, and I want to develop myself as a player over there. For now, I don’t think about it, but that’s a good question.”
Among the “no’s” were Cavs star Donovan Mitchell, who said “I got to get a championship with the Cavs first before I do anything else, so I guess the answer is no.”
Bobby Portis, of the Bucks, said “I don’t know, man. I like the states. I like to live here. .. It would be tough for me to go over there. Intriguing, though — super intriguing.”
The Athletic’s David Aldridge, Sam Amick, John Hollinger, Jason Jones, Law Murray, Shakeia Taylor, Jared Weiss and Dan Woike contributed reporting for this story.