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NBA lays platform for Britain to lead way in European expansion
10/10/2007 |
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The significance may be lost on the 18,000 crowd that attends this evening’s pre-season NBA friendly between the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves at the O2 Arena, in East London, but they may be witnessing a key moment in the history of modern British sport.
Not for the first time, the NBA has decided that Britain represents one of the last great unconquered territories, only this time, buoyed by the pending 2012 Olympic Games, the success of the Great Britain team and the state-of-the-art facility in Docklands, it insists that it is here to stay.
In the short term, that means the NBA relocating its European headquarters from Paris to Hammersmith, West London, and playing regular-season games in Britain; in the medium term, it will result in the NBA offering its support to the Britain team as they prepare for the London Olympics. And in the long term? Possibly London forming part of a European division of the NBA - the world’s first global team sports league.
“I think, ultimately, there will be NBA franchises in Europe,” David Stern, 64, who has been the NBA commissioner for the past 23 years and accepts that such a development will come after he retires, said. “An amazing thing is happening.
“The stars are aligned because British Performance Basketball, the British Basketball League [BBL], the sports ministry [UK Sport] are all looking to the NBA to help them build on their newfound cooperation and collaboration. We have felt that the UK was a market that lagged behind [the rest of Europe], but now it seems we are coming into a much more receptive audience, helped by the national team’s success and visibility.”
Stern and the NBA had carried out research that convinced them that the lack of NBA-quality arenas in Europe would make it economically impossible to place franchises in the Old World. However, the O2 Arena will soon be followed by similar venues in Berlin, Rome and Madrid, with Real Madrid at the forefront of the drive to have European franchises simultaneously included in the NBA.
In many ways, London is the most logical choice because there would be little competition from the domestic league, which is poorly funded and supported, while there are obvious cultural and transportation links between England and the United States.
“I really think London could support a team,” Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, who met Stern yesterday, said. “If we can get into schools, if kids can see a career path through this game, I see no reason why not.”
A London team may struggle to sell out 41 games a season, although tickets for this evening’s game went in less than two months. Steve Bucknall, the first British player in the NBA when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1989-90 and now coach of the London Capitals, of the BBL, has no concerns. “There are so many people in London,” he said. “So much money, so many diverse cultures, so many Americans, so many banks and corporations. The endgame for the NBA is money.”
This evening, the focus will be on Kevin Garnett, whose £240,000-a-week contract makes him the sport’s best-paid player, because he appears for the Celtics, his new club, against the Minnesota team from whom he was traded in the summer. Garnett joins Ray Allen, the former Seattle Supersonics All-Star, who spent part of his childhood living with his family at RAF Bent Waters, near Ipswich.
(Source: Timesonline.com)
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