Rumors

Shams Charania: The 2026 NBA All-Star Game format is likely to feature a round-robin tournament consisting three eight-player squads of two USA teams and one World team, sources tell ESPN. NBA and players union presented format to the Competition Committee on Wednesday and response was positive.

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Pesic also emphasized on how strong the competition in EuroBasket is and that he wished that the tournament was held every two years like before. “Compared to the NBA or EuroLeague, this is the strongest thing you can watch in the world when it comes to quality basketball,” Pesic mentioned. “European basketball has experienced enormous development in the last ten years, its popularity is definitely soaring… This does not apply only to Europe, basketball is becoming a global sport like football. But, at the Olympic Games, three European teams were in the semifinals, and a year before that, at the World Championship, two European teams were in the finals… But, at those competitions, due to the system and qualifications, not all European teams can qualify. Now they have a chance. I miss that EuroBasket is not held every two years like it used to be. Because, after the NBA, the most popular sport and the greatest interest, from a sponsor and financial perspective, is European basketball.”

EuroHoops.net

The NBA's latest collective bargaining agreement spells out exactly how expansion teams will operate in their first few years of existence. During their first season, they have a salary cap equal to 66.7 percent of the league's actual salary cap that year. In their second year, they have a salary cap equal to 80 percent of the league's actual salary cap. From their third season onward, they operate under the same financial rules as the rest of the teams.

Bleacher Report

Handy also drew a clear contrast between the NBA and European basketball culture. “In the NBA, it’s a player-led league. Players have power and drive the brand — they earn the most, they hold influence. In Europe, coaches still hold real power. They control their teams, make key decisions, and players respect that. I love that about European basketball — the purity of the sport, the structure, the respect. Coaches here are still the kings,” Phil Handy concluded in an interview with Eurohoops.

EuroHoops.net

The West has eaten the East’s lunch time and time again this century. Since 2000, in head-to-head matchups, the Western Conference has won the majority of inter-conference games in a staggering 23 of the last 26 seasons, according to Basketball-Reference tracking. The final tally has the West earning 6,316 wins against the East compared to just 4,997 victories on the other side.

Yahoo! Sports

The 16 players that switched conferences to the East are collectively far worse than the 15 players that went the other way. According to EPM data from DunksAndThrees.com, West-to-East players registered an aggregated MINUS-14.6 EPM while the West saw that same total check in at plus-5.3. Said another way, the caliber of players that the West took from the East were 20 points better per 100 possessions than the ones that the East took from the West.

Yahoo! Sports

Mark Medina: NBA said that 75 million people watched the 2025 NBA Finals on ABC and said it was a 16% increase from last year. NBA added that Game 7 averaged 16.6 million viewers and that total playoffs averaged 6.13 million viewers per game.

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That is the paradox of the draft: the expected return in value of each pick declines the further you get into the draft, and some of the players who get picked deep into the first round will have better careers than the lottery picks. Generally, the NBA excels at selecting the right players early. However, it also struggles to ensure that these players are drafted at a high enough level.

New York Times

Marc Stein: Adam Silver will soon crown the ninth different champion in his 12 postseasons as NBA commissioner … and a record seventh new champion in a span of seven seasons in #thisleague. David Stern crowned eight champions in 30 postseasons. More: https://tinyurl.com/ywt4zywr

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Oh No He Didn't: Marc Spears: "I talked to a high-level person in the NBA today and they said it's leaning towards perhaps expansion coming soon this summer, but it's not a no brainer"

Twitter

The two leagues have had a frosty relationship over the last year after the EuroLeague turned down the NBA’s offer to partner with EuroLeague to run a European basketball league. But the relationship seems to have thawed in recent months. Former San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker, the owner of ASVEL, a French basketball club in the EuroLeague, has served as an intermediary between the two sides, and they have become more open to talks about their collective future.

New York Times

EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas also said that there may be a future together for the two sides in Europe. “It is becoming more obvious that we have to work together,” he told The Athletic. “I believe it is the first meeting of many where we should find ways to grow basketball. FIBA’s wishes are clear and simple and easy to get to. So it is up to both leagues to find ways to grow European basketball. Our history and fan base and teams would be a strong backbone to build on.”

New York Times

Alba Berlin, one of the top teams in Germany, announced that it would leave the EuroLeague, where it played under a wild-card entry, to join FIBA’s Basketball Champions League. That move has been viewed as laying the groundwork to eventually join the NBA’s future league. Tatum said it was a sign that Alba Berlin bought “into this vision of a revamped top-tier league in Europe that is going to service fans, the millions of basketball fans in Europe that currently aren’t serviced today.”

New York Times

Chris Mannix: Silver says he sees no reason to reduce the number of games. Says there is no data that suggests that the length of the schedule contributes to injuries.

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