NBA: What’s happening to British basketball amid NBA plans?

The NBA’s main opposition is the Euroleague, which currently runs Europe’s primary club basketball competition.

The EuroLeague is strongly opposed to NBA Europe and recently threatened the NBA with legal action if it approached the EuroLeague clubs about moving to NBA Europe.

“I’m here to develop basketball in Europe, to make it better,” Euroleague chief executive Paulius Motiejunas told BBC Sport in October. “Every once in a while you have these new projects or new ideas.”

“I truly believe this will only hurt the status quo, not make it better if it continues to be the way it has been presented.”

There are other stumbling blocks and logistical issues that need to be addressed, such as scheduling, ticket prices, format and travel.

If the league goes ahead with current proposals, it could see teams from potential franchises in London and Manchester travel as far east as Turkey and Greece for league games.

“I think that’s a good idea, it’s a matter of travel now. Can you do it logistically and how would you set it up logistically?” Isiah Thomas, a 12-time NBA All-Star, told BBC Sport.

“You know, 20, 30 years ago you didn’t have the kind of logistics that we have now in terms of moving around countries and moving around different places around the world.”

“Logistically you can easily organize tournaments now, and there’s enough talent in different countries as well where you can really have a pool of resources that you can constantly draw from because the game is learned at a very early age.”

NBA commissioner Silver also says the NBA Europe League may not be profitable in its infancy and may have to play games early in smaller arenas while larger ones are being built.

Silver also says that while the league may not initially turn a profit for several years, any early profits will go back into the continued development of the sport across Europe in line with the league’s long-term commitment to the NBA Europe project.

Early suggestions regarding NBA Europe ticket prices are that they will be in line with prices for European sporting events and therefore be accessible to a wide demographic of fans.