9月30日，体育新闻传来重磅消息，据《The Athletic》披露，美国职业篮球联赛NBA正积极与欧洲足球界的多支顶级俱乐部洽谈合作，旨在创立一项全新的欧洲篮球赛事联盟。
知情人士透露，NBA对欧洲顶级足球俱乐部的强大经济实力和显著品牌效应给予了高度重视。该联盟计划于明年秋季正式开启，旨在吸纳这些俱乐部成为"NBA欧洲"的初始成员。经过数月的积极谈判，近期的发展态势显示出强劲的推进动力。
In a significant diplomatic move, NBA Executive Vice President Mark Tatum, who serves as the league's chief representative in such matters, graced the European Club Football Conference on Tuesday. Hosted by the EFC and Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser, the event has sparked discussions not so much for what Tatum communicated, but rather for the presence of key figures and the host organization. This gathering points to the ongoing progress in potential agreements between the NBA and various European football clubs. Paris Saint-Germain, owned by Qatar, has long been seen as a prime candidate for establishing a basketball team. On Tuesday, Tatum, alongside NBA Senior Vice President of Europe and Middle East Operations George Avrazoglou, engaged in private discussions with the leadership of Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and AC Milan. All these football giants have expressed interest in joining the NBA's European venture. Notably, neither Paris Saint-Germain nor AC Milan currently operate a basketball team.
知情人士透露，即将于下周在意大利举行的欧洲顶级篮球赛事——欧洲联赛的股东大会，将讨论NBA提出的收购欧洲联赛并实现与NBA欧洲分部的合并计划。在哥本哈根的一次会议上，一位来自对此次合并表现出浓厚兴趣的足球俱乐部的官员表示：“显而易见，若俱乐部事务处理不当，他本人将不会收到与会邀请。”
在EFC的盛大的年度大会上，欧洲众多足球俱乐部的管理层齐聚一堂，共同参与了一场交流、讨论和演讲的盛会。在这一类似于TED演讲的环节中，塔图姆登台亮相，而在此之前，电子游戏行业巨头艺电的首席执行官安德鲁·威尔逊和可穿戴技术企业Whoop的联合创始人威尔·艾哈迈德已经分享了他们的见解。当轮到塔图姆走上讲台时，观众们热切期待着他能传达出一些他们能够共鸣的内容——那就是一项有望为欧洲带来巨额经济收益的重要运动——篮球。然而，塔图姆深知这一领域，他深入探讨了足球的深远影响、欧洲球迷的狂热以及欧洲体育体系的独特魅力。
塔图姆迅速减速，强调欧洲篮球在吸引欧洲球迷消费方面并未获得应有的比例，该比例仅占整个欧洲体育市场的1%。他解释说，这主要是因为在欧洲一些最庞大、最富有的国家，顶级篮球运动并不突出。这正是NBA欧洲计划介入的领域。
在周二的讲话中，塔图姆并未透露出太多新颖信息，他透露NBA欧洲计划以12支创始球队和4个开放席位为起点。据悉，这12支创始球队预计将分别坐落于伦敦、巴黎、罗马、米兰、柏林、慕尼黑、伊斯坦布尔、马德里、雅典、巴塞罗那、曼彻斯特以及里昂。
The Celtics star also touched upon the NBA's initiative inspired by European football leagues and clubs: "For years, we've gleaned numerous insights from European football, leading to the creation of the NBA's Midseason Classic. This concept was directly borrowed from European football and European sports, where you have these cup competitions throughout the season. We thought, 'Why can't we do this?' So, we applied it to our league. I believe what we're trying to do with the European Euroleague is replicate some of the great experiences you've built here. Football is clearly the biggest sport in the world. European football is one of the largest commercial entities globally, and we just want to learn as much as possible from the people here."
The Celtics star noted that the NBA's adoption of sponsor patches on team jerseys was an idea borrowed from European soccer: "Just as Manchester United could remove their name from the jersey and put a sponsor's logo there, the Chicago Bulls could also add a small patch to their jerseys. We presented this concept to NBA owners nine years ago."
塔图姆强调，NBA有意在欧洲广泛区域增设篮球设施，他提出，联盟渴望加大对篮球成长、运动员进步、青少年培训学院及基础设施建设的投入，以此创造一个商业上的有利可图的前景。
