As the NBA continues to grow its presence overseas, commissioner Adam Silver outlined a bold vision for the future that could see teams from other continents playing United States-based franchises in the regular season or postseason.
In addition to its grassroots efforts in Europe and Africa and its NBA Global Games series, the NBA is in the process of launching a new league in Europe that could begin play in 2027 or 2028. And it may not be long before international play pits European squads against existing American teams.
Silver envisions tinkering with the NBA Cup or perhaps the NBA playoffs to begin introducing international teams into the league's schedule. From there, regular-season play across borders could be a feasible next step.
"We have something we call the NBA Cup, a midseason tournament," Silver said at the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Forum. "You could imagine teams from Europe, potentially Africa, competing in that tournament. You possibly could see teams coming into our playoffs, top seeds from other leagues."
The European league could pull existing successful clubs to build its membership. Silver this summer reportedly met with Real Madrid about potentially joining the league, and the interest may be mutual given the club's foray into American sports with its agreement to host an NFL game this season.
Basketball's rapid growth in Europe and the massive influx of European talent into the NBA in recent years indicate the potential for the proposed league to find immense success.
"Over time, certainly in Europe, as plane travel gets faster … when I think of the flight from New York to L.A. for example, there's no reason if we had 14 teams in Europe you couldn't travel, play the Knicks or Nets, travel to London, play three, four times in Europe, come back home," Silver said. "I think it's very doable in our league."
Crossing international borders for regular-season play is not a novel idea for the NBA given that the NBA Global Games series has sent teams to Japan, Mexico, England and France for decades. Germany is set to join the mix this season when it hosts the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic on Jan. 15, 2026. But the idea of playing meaningful games against teams from those countries and beyond is brand new.
The push toward international play is an emphasis for Silver, who earlier this year said the NBA has its sights set on a new All-Star Game format that features a more nationalistic flair somewhat akin to what the NHL debuted last year with the 4 Nations Face-Off.
"I don't think a straight-up USA vs. World makes sense, but of course that's not what they did in the NHL either," Silver said this summer. "I think there'd probably be some different teams we form, but, whether it's some regional basis for how we combine certain groups of players -- because USA players, I talked about [this] earlier, that international is 30% of the league, American players are still 70% of the league. So I think we can play off that nationalism."
