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Q. What feedback have you received from Real Madrid? Is it the cornerstone of the project? George Aivazoglou: Look, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate President Florentino Perez on his recent re-election. I can't comment on any specific club and the interactions we've had. However, I would say that Real Madrid is one of the biggest and one of the best, if not the biggest, when we talk about their fan base, of all the clubs in the world. Who wouldn't want to have Real Madrid in a European League, right? So, and like I said, we've interacted with teams that have football programs, we've interacted with teams that have football and basketball programs, and we're very, very positive about how those conversations continue.
There have been many reports about the unity of the clubs/shareholders, and also reports about the opposite. How do you respond to that? EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas: I tend to focus on facts rather than speculation. The fact is that these clubs are shareholders of the EuroLeague, and none of them has expressed any intention to leave—neither to me, nor to the board, nor publicly. On the contrary, all indications, like the renewal of our collaboration with IMG, our commercial partner until 2036, or the approval of the new Financial Fair Play Regulations, point toward a shared commitment to growing the EuroLeague. In any case, what unites the teams is a strong project and growth perspective. I believe we have that, and that is our only priority. All reports agree on the fact that Real Madrid is the main target of the NBA’s European project. How is EuroLeague handling the situation with one of the pillars of the competition? EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas: Again, I don’t respond to rumors. Madrid is very important to us, same all the other shareholders and teams in the competition.
Some EuroLeague teams have expressed interest in potentially working with the NBA. European basketball sources have continuously pointed to Real Madrid as a club that could be interested in defecting to the NBA’s venture. The league would likely have teams in some of Europe’s most prominent cities: London, Manchester, Berlin, Paris and Munich are among those in consideration, though that is not a full list. The NBA may also play regular-season games in England and Germany in future years, among other markets on its shortlist, league sources said.
Luka Doncic was greeted by an old face as he took to the court to prepare for his latest Dallas Mavericks outing on Friday night. Prior to their NBA playoff game against the LA Clippers, the Mavs superstar shared a warm embrace with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who headed to Dallas' American Airlines Center to watch his former basketball player in action. Doncic, one of the top talents in the NBA today, began his professional career in Spain with Perez's Real Madrid before leaving for the big league in 2018.
It was a big day for Real Madrid today, as the club, not just football section, said goodbye to a great goalscorer Karim Benzema after 14 years and many accolades. President Florentino Perez gave an emotional speech, and during it made an involuntary mistake. Trying to name some of Benzema’s faithful teammates, Perez confused Croatian midfielder Luka Modric for NBA superstar Luka Doncic. For some reason, the Dallas Mavericks star was on his mind, but the mistake ended up working like a comic reality, as Perez imidatelly fixed it, with a smile on his face.
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Managing Madrid: Florentino Perez confusing Luka Modric and Luka Doncic 🤣🤣 @lukamodric10 @luka7doncic
Florentino Perez confusing Luka Modric and Luka Doncic 🤣🤣pic.twitter.com/QfTYPeWYI7@lukamodric10 @luka7doncic
— Managing Madrid (@managingmadrid) June 6, 2023
Orazio Cauchi: Florentino Perez on the future of @RMBaloncesto (via @okdiario ): "We play 80 games per season and most of them are not very competitive. Many countries are reflecting on what to do to make this more competitive. I have the dream to play in the NBA. Only two teams in NBA have more followers than Real Madrid, so we could give another important boost to the league and helping them finding a new dimension. We spend a lot of money in the team, so we want to play against the best teams. I want to play in the Eastern Conference... Flying from Madrid to New York it's not a big deal. I know that them (the NBA) consider this as an issue but we continue working to make this happen."
Anthony Randolph: Real Madrid is one of the top three, if not the best team in Europe. We fly private everywhere for the most part. We get free tickets to the soccer games. We get to mingle with the soccer players and get to know them. We are able to interact with the owner of Real Madrid [Florentino Pérez], have a relationship with him, and he is really down to earth. We have some of the best trainers. We have one of the best facilities I have ever seen, on par with some of the NBA’s best facilities. It’s a great experience. You get the car. You get the house. You get the money and everything else. They take care of your breakfast, lunch and dinner at the training facility. You have your own room at the facility. It’s a pretty amazing setup. There is Real Madrid City, where the soccer and basketball players train, and we have our own residences inside of it with a cafeteria. It’s like a mini apartment with a living room, bedroom and bathroom. Yeah, it’s dope.
In an interview with Spanish newspaper “El Espanol“, Florentino Perez admitted that keeping Luka Doncic after this season will be more than hard. “Every day that we can keep Doncic in the team is a luxury,” said Perez. “We are talking about one of the best players in the world, at the age of 18. We all want his professional life to be the best possible, but we will work with him to see if we can keep him a little longer.”
Silver will be spending some time with the Celtics when they face Real Madrid in the preseason, and the president of the prestigious club is going to ask Silver about joining the NBA, he told ABC.es (hat tip r/nba). “I would love that Real Madrid play in the NBA. Now comes the commissioner and try to talk to him,” said the leader. Real Madrid will face in early October the Celtics at the Palace of Sports and will then match Florentino Perez David Silver to make a proposal that would be revolutionary for European basketball.
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Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is getting involved in the Mirotic situation. They want to offer him a big salary to convince him to stay another year but they know he wants to go to the NBA next season.