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Hugo Gonzalez: “In the end, I’ve been playing in Madrid since I was about 10 years old, more or less, and playing somewhere that isn’t Madrid right now is something new for me. It’s true that I can say that the Celtics, in this case, are treating me in a way that makes me feel at home, and the truth is that so far the adjustment has been quite quick and they’re making it much easier for me, but it still feels strange not to be playing in white right now.”
Silver wants to put new teams in London, Paris, Rome, and Manchester, England, backed by soccer giants and the biggest investment funds in the world (the Saudi PIF has expressed interest). Existing clubs with similar financial backing are being targeted in Barcelona and Madrid, in Milan, in Athens and Istanbul, Berlin and Munich, and Lyon, France. If Silver is (and in all likelihood, he will be) successful in bringing this new league on line, current NBA players said, overwhelmingly, they would consider, some day, playing in NBA Europe. “Yeah, it would interest me a little bit. I think that’s pretty cool,” said Charlotte rookie and Rising Star Kon Knueppel.
Yabusele has a special affection for the Spanish club, as he made a name for himself in Madrid, helping the club win the EuroLeague in 2023. "Madrid is going to be, to be honest, I'm going to tell you, one of the first teams that we're going to have the conversation first to try to see how it's going to be," Yabusele revealed. "I'm not closing my door on anything else, but you know, my house is in Madrid." "I consider myself like somebody who lives there all the time and goes back in the summer. That would be special to be back there," the Knicks forward said.
Kenny Atkinson, whose wife is from Seville and holds a Spanish passport, also played for Real Canoe NC in Madrid, Vino de Toro Zamora, and Calpe Aguas de Valencia. The American also mentioned Fernando Marchante, a renowned coach in Spanish basketball. “I played for Vino de Toro in Zamora, and that was most of my time with Fernando Marchante , who is a great coach. All NBA coaches learn from Pedro. I see him; his teams are always innovative. He's had a huge influence on basketball globally. A great, great coach. I still watch his teams play, and I have a lot of respect for him as a coach,” Atkinson said about the current Valencia Basket coach , eager to speak despite the Cavaliers' loss to the Raptors (110-99), a team hampered by injuries.
Two of the potential participants are Real Madrid and Barcelona . "The fact that they're considering playing in this competition is a significant boost," commented the Madrid native. Both clubs are currently competing in the EuroLeague , which, despite its differences and nuances, has a model quite similar to that of the NBA : 13 owners and several participants with annual or multi-year licenses. The EuroCup champion also has a place in it.
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Paris, London, Manchester, and Berlin have hosted—or will host—NBA regular-season games. Another major European city, Madrid, might be joining that list in the future. Spain's capital, considered for a potential NBA Europe project, is home to the iconic Bernabeu Stadium, which was recently renamed after Real Madrid dropped "Santiago" from its venue's name for marketing and corporate purposes.
NBA Europe managing director George Aivazoglou confirmed that the project will launch in October 2027, adding that teams from Rome, Milan (Italy), London, Manchester (United Kingdom), Paris, Lyon (France), Madrid, Barcelona (Spain), Berlin, Munich (Germany), one team from Athens (Greece) and Istanbul (Turkiye) will be playing in the competition.
Jose Saenz de Tejada: Which player are you most looking forward to playing against? Hugo Gonzalez: Well, let's see, for what it means to Madrid, for any youth player, Luka Doncic, for sure. Yesterday, Derrick White played an incredible game, and the one thing that stands out most about him is his tempo control and how intelligent he is. He's one of the best in the league. Luka is another of the best in the league, if not the best at that kind of thing. I mean, seeing how he's able to create his space, with his physical tools, I want to see that and see how incredible it is to see him live.
Real Madrid suffered a setback on the road, falling to Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 90-75. After the game, Madrid's head coach Sergio Scariolo shared his thoughts on the NBA Europe project and the potential for collaboration between European basketball and the NBA. “We don’t have enough information. The NBA is an extremely serious and successful organization. European basketball cannot afford to be stubborn or have a superiority complex — especially when it comes to organization, marketing, business, and media rights. From that standpoint, there’s a lot to learn,” Scariolo said in a post-game conference.
In a recent interview with Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal, Doncic reflected on the possibility of ending his career in Madrid. “To play with Real Madrid, you have to be so good,” he said, before adding without hesitation when asked directly, “For sure. They raised me.”
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The first of two friendly games between Spain and Germany, taking place in Madrid, had the guests come out on top 106-105 in crazy OT fashion. The rematch is in two days in Cologne, Germany. Dennis Schroder led Alex Mumbru against his national team, finishing with 24 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds in the reigning World champions’ fourth victory on the road to FIBA EuroBasket 2025. Moreover, Franz Wagner added 19 points and 7 assists.
Bill Simmons on NBA Europe: I think this goes London, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Paris, Berlin and a Greek team as your definite seven better in this. I think Adam Silver has those seven in his pocket and I don’t know who the Greek team is yet. Maybe you could add Tony Parker's French team. You could add the Istanbul team. You could add Manchester City. All sudden, I'm at 10. Maybe there's an Israeli team down the road. Maybe there's a third Spain team. Who knows? But they could take this right away. And if you look at the way the Euroleague is, where you basically have this ownership. It's called Euroleague Commercial Assets. That's the company that runs the League of voting rights on league rules, financials, TV deals, etc. And then there's a B license that that's a one year thing that you got to play your way in based on results, and then a C license that's like, basically a wild card. They could challenge this. They could offer the sponsorship expertise better, TV deals. They could shoehorn some of the TV stuff into their things. They could do the schedule so that it complements the NBA schedule correctly and I think this is going to be like, I honestly wouldn't be surprised that this was going in the 26-27 season.
Tony Parker has confirmed a rebuilding phase for ASVEL Villeurbanne. In a long interview with Le Progrès, the team president listed multiple departures: Neal Sako is heading to Valencia after using his EuroLeague out clause, while Théo Maledon has reportedly signed a “big contract” in Madrid. Paris Lee and Joffrey Lauvergne are considered too expensive to retain, and André Roberson, who Parker “would love to keep”, is unlikely to stay due to rising EuroLeague salaries and the influence of Dubai-based teams.
The president of FIBA Europe, Jorge Garbajosa, and Luis Scola were in Madrid for the Sport Summit 2025 and talked about the NBA Europe plans and other basketball issues in Europe. “The foundations have been laid,” started Garbajosa,“Basketball wants to be the most practiced sport in the world.” “The NBA sees a weakness in Europe,” he added. “The national team is the most important thing in sports, but without the clubs there is nothing,” he pointed out, “We must strengthen domestic leagues, because that’s where the best players will come from.” “What can’t be happening is that the national leagues are not linked to the best European competition,” he furthered, “The good thing about this NBA agreement with FIBA is that teams can aspire to be the highest-level competition.”