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Reading: Adam Silver Met With Real Madrid To Discuss Defection To The NBA’s Planned European League
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Home > NBA News & Analysis > Adam Silver Met With Real Madrid To Discuss Defection To The NBA’s Planned European League

Adam Silver Met With Real Madrid To Discuss Defection To The NBA’s Planned European League

Commissioner Adam Silver reportedly hopes some big names in European basketball will defect to the NBA's new planned league.

Gautam Varier
Aug 2, 2025
4 Min Read
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Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The NBA plans to create its own European league, and commissioner Adam Silver has crossed the pond to hold discussions with some of the biggest names on the continent. The Athletic’s Joe Vardon reports that Silver met with Real Madrid this week to discuss defection to the NBA’s planned league.

“NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his chief deputies met with leaders from Spanish conglomerate Real Madrid on Thursday in Paris about the possibility of the club signing on with Silver’s planned European league.”

Real Madrid is an “A” license holder in the EuroLeague and is guaranteed a spot in the competition every year. The license expires in 2026, however, and with the team having a tenuous relationship with the EuroLeague, the NBA is looking to pounce. If Real Madrid does defect, the belief is that others would follow. 

“Sources on both sides of the Atlantic with knowledge of the NBA’s early talks are watching four existing EuroLeague franchises — Real Madrid, Barca Barcelona, ASVEL Basket of Villeurbanne, of which former NBA superstar Tony Parker is team president, and Fenerbahçe Istanbul — as potential defectors to Silver’s league.”

Silver has also reportedly held talks with the German basketball team Alba Berlin to join his league. He also wants a team in London and Paris.

“Silver’s new venture could include 16 teams with deep-pocketed investors, some defectors from the EuroLeague and new franchises in major markets like Paris and London. His new European league would include a mix of rights-holding franchises and slots for teams to play their way in by performing well in their national league or FIBA’s Basketball Champions League.

“The league’s funding model would be expected to include league ownership stakes for team investors, and it may take two or three years to bring his league online.” 

This is quite an ambitious project. It is also interesting how the pace appears to have picked up here, and an NBA executive shared an interesting theory for that with Sports Business Journal.

“I’ll tell you, you may think I’m crazy, but I think the catalyst of this [NBA Europe] going quicker is they’re worried LeBron and Maverick are going to get the Saudis and start like a league,” the executive said. “I think without a question, they [the NBA] think it’s direct competition.”

LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and Nikola Jokic’s European agent, Misko Raznatovic, met recently, and their discussions reportedly centered around Carter’s effort to launch a global basketball league. As for why the Los Angeles Lakers superstar would want to compete against the NBA, the executive believes a lot of money would be in play.

“LeBron doesn’t give a sh**,” the executive stated. “Not if Saudi gives LeBron $200 million in cash and calls it a night.”

It will be fascinating to see how this all pans out. You’ve got some very powerful players here who have big plans for the future of basketball around the world. Only time will tell who gains the upper hand in this clash behind the scenes.

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ByGautam Varier
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Gautam Varier is a staff writer and columnist for Fadeaway World from Mumbai, India. He graduated from Symbiosis International University with a Master of Business specializing in Sports Management in 2020. This educational achievement enables Gautam to apply sophisticated analytical techniques to his incisive coverage of basketball, blending business acumen with sports knowledge.Before joining Fadeaway World in 2022, Gautam honed his journalistic skills at Sportskeeda and SportsKPI, where he covered a range of sports topics with an emphasis on basketball. His passion for the sport was ignited after witnessing the high-octane offense of the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns. Among the Suns, Shawn Marion stood out to Gautam as an all-time underrated NBA player. Marion’s versatility as a defender and his rebounding prowess, despite being just 6’7”, impressed Gautam immensely. He admired Marion’s finishing ability at the rim and his shooting, despite an unconventional jump shot, believing that Marion’s skill set would have been even more appreciated in today’s NBA.This transformative experience not only deepened his love for basketball but also shaped his approach to sports writing, enabling him to connect with readers through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis.
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