NBA Europe – NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league the NBA wants to launch in Europe—jointly with FIBA—remains on schedule, with final franchise bids due at the end of June 2027. The plan is tied to a surge of interest around Victor Wembanyama, as the Spurs prepare
SAN ANTONIO — The push to build a new NBA league in Europe isn’t being sold as a distant dream. Commissioner Adam Silver delivered it as a timeline that still feels alive, even as he stood before the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.
Silver said the NBA’s hope of starting an independent European league by the end of 2027 is “very much on schedule. ” describing a partnership that has been years in the making with FIBA. the sport’s global governing body. The commissioner tied the moment to Victor Wembanyama’s rise. noting how the excitement around the Spurs star is colliding with the league’s planning window.
For fans in France. even brutal early starts don’t seem to be slowing the buzz around Wembanyama’s first appearance in the NBA’s championship series. Silver acknowledged the reality of 2:30 a.m. start times in his native country, but said plans for watch parties and other gatherings are still moving forward.
“It is our hope and anticipation that that league will launch in the ’27-28 season in Europe. We are on track,” Silver said. “Final bids from franchises are due at the end of this month, at the end of the month in June. We’ve seen record interest and we’re very excited about the ongoing opportunity and working closely with FIBA. our federation.”.
Wembanyama’s impact reaches beyond the court. He was named the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year this season and has led the San Antonio Spurs to the finals. Silver’s confidence in the Europe plan comes at a time when the NBA is getting a surge of attention across the continent that long predated Wembanyama but has clearly accelerated with his superstardom.
The Spurs have been preparing for that next chapter at home in Europe. Wembanyama is going home to France next season. with San Antonio set to play two regular-season games against the New Orleans Pelicans—first in Paris on Jan. 14 and then in Manchester, England, on Jan. 17. Paris and Manchester are on the list of cities expected to be part of the planned European league.
That link between NBA marketing and Wembanyama’s pull in Europe isn’t theoretical. The Spurs and Wembanyama previously played a pair of games in Paris in January 2025. and tickets for those matchups against the Indiana Pacers were snapped up quickly. Silver said the NBA’s own interest in expanding to Europe goes back long before Wembanyama’s arrival. but his rise has brought a fresh layer of global focus.
When asked about the franchise-awarding process, Silver said it is something the NBA believes it can complete in time: “Presumably, we will be in position in the fall to award franchises.”
The commissioner also used the pre-finals news conference to revisit other expansion questions. including the NBA’s formal plans earlier this year to explore adding teams in Seattle and Las Vegas. Silver said “discussions are ongoing,” and that multiple groups are interested in having teams in both cities.
Still, he made clear that a decision doesn’t have a set timetable. Silver said he remains committed to deciding whether expansion will happen by the end of 2026—something he has said multiple times before.
“It’s not a foregone conclusion that we will expand … but what we’ve told all interested parties is our board will make a decision by the end of this calendar year,” Silver said.
So as the Spurs chase a championship in San Antonio, the bigger business question—where the NBA goes next—was answered in two directions at once: a European league still aimed at the 2027-28 window, and other U.S. expansion possibilities that will have to wait for the board’s calendar-year call.
NBA Adam Silver Europe league FIBA Victor Wembanyama San Antonio Spurs NBA Finals franchise bids Seattle expansion Las Vegas expansion Paris Pelicans Manchester Pelicans