NBA, Adam Silver: “We don’t want to conquer Europe, we want to improve its ecosystem”

“We don’t want to conquer Europe, we want to improve its basketball ecosystem.” These attacks were the largest of Adam Silver’s interview with the Corriere della Sera in Italy. When asked about the previous period’s contacts with FIBA ​​and the EuroLeague, the NBA commissioner made it clear that the NBA does not expect to expand its tentacles to Europe to … play alone .

At the same time, he referred to the way the league (successfully) coped with the pandemic, but also to football, which gave him ideas for the future of the highest basketball league in the world.

Details of what he said in an interview with Corriere della Sera:

For discussions with FIBA ​​and the EuroLeague: “We are only at the beginning of these discussions, regardless of the fact that, thanks to the “Basketball Without Borders” program, we have been working with FIBA ​​for a long time and finally the African League, which has all the backgrounds. As for the EuroLeague, we’ve already played preseason games with some of their teams. We gladly accepted the invitation to a joint discussion. The goal is not to “conquer” Europe, but to work together to improve its basketball ecosystem. We look forward to the next dates“.

For the championship, despite the pandemic: “I believed that despite the high level of uncertainty caused by the pandemic, we would succeed. By working with medical experts, the Players’ Association and NBA organizations, we were able to find a way to continue to gamble safely and responsibly.“.

Whether football is an opponent or has a role model: “I study this sport and I can say that I am a passionate fan of it. We often discuss the possibility of an event during the season with teams and players, as is the case in football. We have learned a lot from football and the experience that came with it could be used in the NBA, especially with regard to international progress“.