The NBA wants to expand into Europe. And fresh from getting his Championship ring, London-born OG Anunoby is seemingly on board.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has proposed NBA Europe as a way to expand basketball’s global footprint and to help existing team owners realise some of the value of their investment without a sale. The proposed league is slated to launch in 2027, by which time it hopes to have roped in EuroLeague, the top basketball league on the continent.
EuroLeague boasts a number of teams who are better known for their soccer interests – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, AS Monaco, Olympiacos and so on. It is also the league where some of today’s NBA stars first made their names. Luka Doncic cut his teeth at Real Madrid before moving to the States, and Europe’s influence on the sport in the US is growing more broadly, too. Anunoby was one of 71 Europeans on NBA teams’ rosters in 2025-26, out of a grand total of 135 international players.
Anunoby is now one of a growing club of Europeans to have won the Championship. His heroics in Game 4 of the series against San Antonio Spurs – which saw him score 33 points and execute the now-iconic block on De’Aaron Fox – have gone down in New York Knicks folklore. Speaking after their triumph was confirmed in Game 5, OG said: “Game four is probably the top of British basketball history. Amazing for Britain and the UK and everyone who loves basketball in the UK.”
As quoted by BBC Sport, Anunoby – who was previously a minority shareholder in the London Lions – also spoke about the prospect of NBA Europe, to which the NBA itself is said to be dedicating north of $3bn in start-up costs.
“I think London, especially, is an untapped market. There’s so much talent and so many people playing basketball, so I think it would be amazing to bring a team to Manchester and London and continue growing in England. As time goes on [basketball in the UK] is going to grow more and more. I think over time more and more [young boys and girls] are going to pull up at the NBA or WNBA. I want them to see that someone from where they are from is doing this. There is a lot of untapped potential and hope it’s going to grow. It will mean exposure, growth, more leagues, more excitement for the game.”
Various formats for the new league have been proposed, including 12 permanent franchises and four spots available via promotion from other leagues. London, Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Athens and Istanbul are all being eyed as host cities.
Could Anunoby be next to acquire a stake in a European franchise? It would not be without precedent. Doncic has already acquired a stake in Italian outfit Vanoli Cremona, with a view to relocating the franchise to Rome upon the launch of NBA Europe.
The involvement of soccer’s big clubs adds another layer of intrigue. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, AS Monaco and Olympiacos, this season’s EuroLeague champions, already have a foot in the door through their basketball arms.
Whether they become fully fledged NBA Europe franchises remains to be seen amid fraught negotiations with EuroLeague.
“The big football brands are looking to become multi-sport entertainment destinations,” says Professor Kieran Maguire, a football finance lecturer at University of Liverpool, speaking exclusively to HITC.
“They want to reposition themselves because you play fewer than one match per week at home, which doesn’t cover your bills. Extending the brand of your football club into something like basketball has potential benefits.
“That said, we have seen clubs attempt to use e-sports in this way with mixed results. It’s been similar with NFTs, which has been an unmitigated failure.
“Trying to persuade football fans to become basketball fans won’t be easy because it is expensive enough already to support a football club. But you could use the football club as a Trojan horse to attract fans in general into the new sport. It’s an intriguing position and there is certainly scope for big cities in the UK to take advantage.
“Is there an audience? That’s the main question. The broadcast landscape is so dominated by domestic and European soccer, so you’re fighting for eyeballs. Are there enough eyeballs to justify the setup cost?
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
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