NBA hoping to hear from European league investors by ‘end of March’

LOS ANGELES – The National Basketball Association (NBA) is forging ahead with plans for a European league and expects initial responses from potential investors by the end of March, the league’s deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said on Feb 12.

“We’ve told the potential investors we need to know their level of interest by the end of March,” he told a group of journalists in Los Angeles ahead of the NBA’s All-Star weekend.

“That’s the timeline where we’re expecting these dozens of investors to come back and say, ‘Yes, we’re interested in this market, at this price’,” he added.

The league aims to finalise the project by autumn 2027, Tatum said.

The proposed competition would feature 12 permanent franchises and four qualifying teams, created in partnership with FIBA, basketball’s global governing body.

Target cities include Paris, Lyon, London, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, Manchester, Munich, Athens and Istanbul.

The plan has sparked tension with the EuroLeague, Europe’s top competition, which recently named Spaniard Chus Bueno as president.

Tatum, though, is optimistic that Bueno, a former NBA executive, will help the league come to fruition.

Meanwhile, the NBA took aim at “tanking” on Feb 12, fining the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers over “management of their rosters” amid intensifying scrutiny on struggling teams thought to be focused on draft position rather than winning.

The Jazz were fined US$500,000 (S$632,000) for conduct detrimental to the league in games against the Orlando Magic on Feb 7 and the Miami Heat on Feb 9.

“During those games, the Jazz removed two of the team’s top players, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr, before the beginning of the fourth quarter and did not return them to the game, even though these players were otherwise able to continue to play and the outcomes of the games were thereafter in doubt,” the league said in a statement announcing the fines.

The Pacers were fined US$100,000 for violating the player participation policy in connection with a Feb 3 game against the Jazz.

“Following an investigation, including review by an independent physician, the NBA determined that Pascal Siakam, a star player under the policy, and two other Pacers starters, neither of whom participated in the game, could have played under the medical standard in the policy, including by playing reduced minutes,” the league said.

The draft system means the teams that finish lowest in the standings have the best chances of landing the top prospects. But it has long contributed to “tanking” – lowly teams throwing in the towel long before the regular season ends in hopes of landing a franchise-altering player in the draft.

On the court, LeBron James nabbed another NBA record on Feb 12, becoming at 41 the oldest player to record a triple-double (28 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists) as he propelled the Lakers to a 124-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. AFP