Basketball in Paris: the ‘new PSG’ of basketball

“If the Euroleague expands, it will be a good opportunity for us.”

This simple and short sentence is pronounced by Matthias PriezOperations Director paris basketballsummarizes the philosophy and intentions with which this French basketball club was founded in 2018. PSGand Become one of the ‘greats’ on the European scene.

Basketball, Paris ‘nailed’

Paris was the basketball capital of the world and the center of attention in the last few weeks and days. Chicago Bulls – Detroit Pistonsall media spotlights now turn on the French capital.

And that’s what Parisians like. And a lot. An ideal and long-desired scenario. A dream come true.

and it is well known French basketball fanand Your Choice Is Always Among Your Favorites in every tournament he participates in, some of his players Playing in (and emphasizing) the best leagues in the world, Nba.

At club level, however, the French league has yet to make its final leap forward, with the most famous teams sitting in a relatively small market (Villeurbanne or, formerly, Limoges).they are definitely missing some big city top team And, of course, in its capital.of Paris.

And the thing is that the “City of Love” already had a team of relative prestige for several seasons. Paris Basket Racingfounded in 1922, win the French league in 1997in addition to having the privilege of appealing open mcdonalds It was held in the capital of the same gala, where they played against the Chicago Bulls that same year. Michael Jordan.

Under various names (Racing Club France Basket, Racing Paris Basket, PSG Racing Basket, Paris Basket Racing), in 2007 Levallois Metropolitansbecame Paris-Levallois, now known as Metropolitan 92the team he plays for Victor Wenbanyamaone of the great promises of French basketball, Future number 1 in the next NBA draft..

new team in town

In this social and sporting context, a new club was born (as already mentioned, in 2018), again focused on the idea of ​​having an elite Parisian team. And with great intentions: paris basketballA team with an interesting history.

First of all, it’s surprising that the two big names behind this idea aren’t French ( Tony Parker and the asbel), but that of a few Americans: Eric Schwartz and David Kahn.

SchwarzThe primary owner of the team, he is a successful businessman, and his primary relationship with the world of basketball began a few years ago. Small Ownership of the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA.

KhanFor his part, he’s a household name in the NBA, where he Operations president of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Among other things, he became famous for Steph Curry’s ‘pass’ twice Choose Spanish in the 2009 draft…and before Ricky RubioAt Paris Basket Co-owner and President.

Schwartz and Kahn have long had the idea of ​​building a team and coming out on top. American style at its purest PSG style. European team but ‘Made in America’I made your way.and with the goal Established a company called Paris Basketball Investments.

new but with ambitious goals

And that opportunity appeared almost five years ago, as a result of the economic crisis, Hyeres Toulon, a French club that lost the category and had to be relegated to the second division of French basketball. They didn’t doubt it. They bought their place in Pro B (according to some sources, they had debts of nearly 1 million euros) and even 3 entities (Domrémy Basket 13, Ménilmontant Paris Sports and the Sports Club of the Finance) create by mergingunder the protection of the City Council, paris basketball.

New owners since their arrival Three main goals were set: After achieving stability with Pro B and moving to Pro A, one day, play in the euroleague with a new flag.

At the moment, two of them have already been achieved, and after several difficult years in the second category, long awaited promotion After the 2020/21 season.

In the past, first in French basketball’s premier category, they finished in a poor 15th place in the table…but they Invitation from the Euroleague to the Eurocupin the competitions they are participating in this season, have been quite successful: they are third in Group B with 8-4.

They currently occupy 11th place (8 wins and 11 losses) in the French league table. They still have a long way to go to become competitive at the sporting level: His best players are like two “semi-unknowns” Tyrone Wallace (17 points and 5 assists per game in the league) and Kyle Allman (16 and 5). Of course, they have just been ‘hardened’ by ex-ACB and ex-Euroleague, Michael Roll.

Euroleague, an impossible dream?

A priori, achieving the last objective seems the most complicated, but it may not be so difficult in your case. Mutual interests with the Euroleague (with the aforementioned invitation to the French team to play in the Eurocup, as already seen this season), would facilitate the inclusion of Paris basket in the best European competition in a relatively short period of time.

The second-best basketball league in the world (clearly behind the NBA) has never been bored with broadcasting. Paris again London form part of (along with a corresponding large market) euroleagueTo get more fans.

When considering possible expansion equipment, Marshall Glickmannew Euroleague CEO In an interview with French media, he commented on the possible inclusion of the Parisian team: “Paris now has two legitimate and credible groups that want a Euroleague team there. One of them is the existing ownership group of Paris Basketball.”.

These statements add to those recently made by the government. Mathias Priez, Operations Director, Paris Basketballhas made no secret that the club’s goal is to land in the Euroleague: “If the Euroleague expands, it will be an opportunity for us. Of course, this will require us to increase our budget, create new economic models and find new partners, but it will benefit everyone. The club was always ready.I needed it.It is for the Eurocup and if they offer us a place in the Euroleague it will continue.We will adapt We know what to do..

As part of this ambitious plan, the club will have a brand new Arena La Chapelleinstallation of approx. 8,000 seats.

Additionally, it is available in Paris Basketball. Accor Arenaspectacular view of the Bulls-Pistons The NBA mentioned above About 14,000 viewers.

“Our new pavilion can accommodate 8,000 to 8,500 spectators.”Pryce said. “We are approaching 10,000 people, and for the most important games we can always go to the Accor Arena, maybe four or five times a year.”.

So given the current scenario, in the near future Paris Basketball Playing in the EuroleagueThe team, which was born virtually from scratch, FC Barcelona, real madrid again Maccabi Tel Aviv Less than 10 years after its founding. And in Paris they still believe in ‘another’ dream: basketball.