Commissioner Adam Silver, at finals, says NBA continues to move toward league in Europe

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The NBA’s hopes of starting a new independent league in Europe by the end of 2027 are on schedule, Commissioner Adam Silver said before the start of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.

That plan — a joint effort involving the NBA and FIBA, the sport’s global governing body — has been in the works for years, but is nearing a launch at a particularly exciting time for the game in Europe with the burgeoning superstardom of San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama.

The unanimous Defensive Player of the Year this season has led the Spurs to the finals, and even 2:30 a.m. start times for games in his native France aren’t totally deterring plans for watch parties and other gatherings to celebrate Wembanyama’s first appearance in the NBA’s championship series.

“We are very much on schedule,” Silver said. “It is our hope and anticipation that that league will launch in the ’27-28 season in Europe. We are on track. Final bids from franchises are due at the end of this month, at the end of the month in June. We’ve seen record interest and we’re very excited about the ongoing opportunity and working closely with FIBA, our federation.”

Wembanyama is going home to France next season, with the Spurs set to play two regular-season games against the New Orleans Pelicans, first in Paris on Jan. 14 and then in Manchester, England, on Jan. 17. Paris and Manchester are on the list of cities expected to be part of the planned league in Europe.

Wembanyama and the Spurs played a pair of games in Paris in January 2025, with tickets for those matchups against the Indiana Pacers getting snapped up quickly. The NBA’s interest in expanding to Europe goes back long before Wembanyama’s arrival in the league, but his rise to stardom has clearly sparked additional interest in the NBA over in that part of the world.

“Presumably, we will be in position in the fall to award franchises,” Silver said.

Among other topics Silver discussed in his annual pre-finals news conference Wednesday:

The NBA announced formal plans earlier this year to explore expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas, and Silver said that “discussions are ongoing.”

Multiple groups, Silver said, are interested in having teams in those cities. But there is no timetable for when expansion could happen, though Silver remains committed to deciding if it will by the end of 2026 — as he has said multiple times before.

“It’s not a foregone conclusion that we will expand … but what we’ve told all interested parties is our board will make a decision by the end of this calendar year,” Silver said.

The independent investigation into whether a $28 million endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard and a California-based sustainability services company allowed the Los Angeles Clippers to circumvent league salary cap rules is ongoing, Silver said.

But he sounds eager for a conclusion.

“My instruction to them is we can’t be investigating forever. At some point you have to wrap it up,” Silver said. “But at the same time, the most important thing is that we get it right.

“My job is to follow the facts and what essentially happens here is that a factual report together with findings will be made by this independent firm. That’s presented to me. It’s then ultimately my role to determine what the appropriate discipline, if any, should be meted out based on their findings.”

Silver added that he thinks the league is “close to the point now where I think we need to wrap this up” for a number of reasons, namely the Clippers need to know what — if anything — will happen, as do the league’s other 29 teams.

The Clippers have steadfastly denied wrongdoing since the story was first reported last year by journalist Pablo Torre.

The NBA still doesn’t have a major award named for former Commissioner David Stern, who retired in 2014 and died in 2020.

The league has wanted to change that for years. It’s an interesting dilemma — trying to find an award important enough to bear his name, Silver said of his former boss.

“I almost think there’s nothing that we can do in some ways that will ultimately feel that he’s getting his just due. … We’re going to come up with the right way to honor him,” Silver said.

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