San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama meets a young audience as he dedicates a basketball court Tuesday in Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt, south of Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
PARIS — If you are an American-born NBA fan, you’ll be forgiven for thinking it’s a waste of time for teams to play games on European soil, while altering the inner body clock of their players. After all, why not stay the course and keep the National Basketball Association, well, national?
However, for European-born fans of the NBA, it’s anything but a waste of time. The league’s presence on the continent is, in fact, vital to keep interest in the region high and to build the game.
“Playing games outside of the U.S. and Canada is a critical part of the NBA’s year-round efforts to engage our passionate international fans, many of whom may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the excitement of an NBA game in-person,” NBA managing director, Europe & Middle East, George Aivazoglou told Yahoo Sports.
“While fans in Europe have around-the-clock access to live NBA games, programming and content on the devices and platforms they use most, there is no substitute for the live NBA experience, which is why we’ve played more than 215 games in more than 20 countries outside of the U.S. and Canada, including nearly 100 in Europe.”
Aivazoglou is right. As an NBA writer who has covered the league from Denmark for 17 years, it’s nothing short of necessary to see the league establish itself in Europe and dig deeper roots. By doing so, more basketball fans are created, which in turn means more players and makes the NBA product more global.
This week, the NBA Paris Games are upon us. Two games will be played Thursday and Saturday, both between the Indiana Pacers and, to the surprise of absolutely no one, the San Antonio Spurs, featuring French superstar Victor Wembanyama.
The event is marketed everywhere and rightfully so. Near Accor Arena, with game action still over 55 hours away, people were taking selfies with the NBA logo, which has been thoroughly planted in the concrete outside the venue.
Posters, both printed and digital, featuring…
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