NBA Europe a ‘great avenue to grow the game of basketball’, says ex-NBA champion Ronny Turiaf

SINGAPORE – Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and Victor Wembanyama (France) are some of the leading lights of the National Basketball Association (NBA) today. But just two decades ago, players from Europe were a rarity in the United States-based competition.

In an era when Europeans are increasingly shaping the NBA, 2012 champion and Frenchman Ronny Turiaf, who was one of the continent’s successful exports to the US, believes an expansion of the league into Europe is overdue and would be a boost for the sport.

Turiaf – a 2.08m centre for the 2012 NBA Championship-winning Miami Heat side that featured stars such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh – is in town as an ambassador for the Sept 18-21 Fiba Intercontinental Cup (ICC) which is held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

“I think once everybody gets on the same page, it could be a great avenue to grow the game of basketball,” the 42-year-old told The Straits Times in an interview at the Pan Pacific Singapore on Sept 18.

“I think there is a chance for it to be a massive thing (for basketball in Europe). I can only see value in adding something different to this game that we all love by having all those great protagonists coming together at the same table to really provide something of value for the fans.

“The ultimate person who’s going to gain from that is the fan of basketball. It could also create other pathways for players. It’s a long time coming.”

Fiba Europe president Jorge Garbajosa said on Sept 13 he believes the NBA will launch its project to expand into Europe in 2027. He said that he fully expected a project backed by the US league would take shape in Europe.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in March that the NBA was looking into launching NBA Europe with world basketball body Fiba as its partner.

While the exact structure has yet to be finalised, initial ideas include launching the league with 16 teams. Cities under consideration for representation could include Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Berlin, Paris, London, Manchester, Milan, Rome, Istanbul and Athens.

While the NBA Europe league looks set to take shape in the coming years, what excites Turiaf is the wealth of young and promising French talent in the league today.

They include Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks), Alex Sarr (Washington Wizards) and Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs), already one of the NBA’s biggest stars at only 21 and with just two seasons in the league.

Wembanyama averaged 24.3 points and 11 rebounds a game in the 2024-25 season and the centre was on the way to winning Defensive Player of the Year and being named in the All-NBA team until his campaign was curtailed by deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, which required surgery.

While it comes as no surprise that Turiaf feels most thrilled about Wembanyama’s potential, he also urged patience.

“Firstly, I’ll remind people that it took plenty of players that have been described to be in the ‘greatest of all time’ department couple years before they won (the championship),” said Turiaf, who represented France in tournaments such as the 2012 Olympics and amassed more than 500 NBA games with teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and the Heat from 2005 to 2015.

“So let’s give (Wembanyama) time. I just want him to stay healthy and the rest of it is going to take care of itself.

“He needs to keep learning, keep applying, because he’s such a smart individual.

“I think the sky is not even the limit... this guy has all the tools to have a major impact, not only in France, but globally.”

Meanwhile, Turiaf is looking forward to some top-class action in Singapore as the five continental club champions and a representative from the NBA G League vie for honours in the six-team ICC.

On Sept 18, NBA G League United defeated Americas winners Flamengo (Brazil) 93-91 in the Group B opener, while European champions Unicaja of Spain started their ICC title defence with a 73-61 victory over African champions Alahli SC of Libya in Group A.

Japan’s Asian champions Utsunomiya Brex and Australian National Basketball League champions Illawarra Hawks will be in action against Unicaja and Flamengo respectively on Sept 19.

Turiaf talked up the importance of the event being staged in Singapore, the first Asian host of the tournament. Fiba and Sport Singapore had reached an agreement in 2023 for the ICC to be held here for three years.

He said: “I think it’s very important and a great opportunity to provide the fans a chance to discover great basketball from all over the world and I also think the very interesting, intriguing part for me is to be able to bring different brands of basketball to Singapore.”

Away from the sport, Turiaf runs the Heart to Heart Foundation, a platform he uses to spread heart health awareness and education to underprivileged children and families. The foundation raises money to provide medical services like heart surgeries and defibrillators to children in need.

He started it in 2009, four years after a successful open-heart surgery at Stanford Medical Centre to repair an aortic aneurysm. He had just been selected by the Lakers in the 2005 NBA Draft when he got the troubling news that he had an issue with his heart.

While there were initial fears it might prevent him from playing professionally, he had a speedy recovery after the surgery and started competing again.

Turiaf, who was born on the French island of Martinique, said: “When I was a young kid, and my mother, my little sister and I, we did not have money, we didn’t have anything. Other people provided stuff for us. People, out of the goodness of their heart, helped me at some point. So, who am I not to continue to do and help other people?”