Thousands in the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lillie watched Brazil’s inspiring win against Japan at the Paris Olympics. Bruno Caboclo stitched together one of the games of his career. Every person in the crowd relished the night. However, there were a few faces who weren’t there purely for the ecstasy of Olympic basketball. Adam Silver was reporting for business in France.

Yes, the NBA commissioner was present at the game between Japan and Brazil at Lillie. But what was his reason for visiting, many might be wondering. Well, some of it might be to enjoy intense basketball action. The rest of it was all concerned with growing the NBA in Europe.

In his short trip, Silver witnessed the mad craze of basketball that’s there in Europe. From the infamous EuroLeague to the high turnout at the Olympics, the seasoned commissioner recognized the possibility of upscaling the NBA even further. He even spoke about his motives.

“I continue to believe there’s an enormous opportunity here. It’s not something where we’ll transform a league structure in the short term. But I think that there’s an appetite among our team owners for additional investment in global basketball. We have a huge initiative in China. We have a huge initiative in Africa. Given the quality of the basketball here in Europe, it would seem to make sense that we should be doing something here as well,” Silver was quoted as saying by the Basket News.

The NBA’s influence keeps growing around the world. Silver sees the opportunity to excel past their current structure and make Europe a target destination. The league has done similarly with China, where they established NBA China in 2008 and in Africa, the NBA operates the African Basketball League as part of its jurisdiction. They have also built several academies to foster the sport and help youth talents develop through expert NBA coaching.

Adam Silver’s vision is not too different for Europe. While it’s not clear if it will be a new league, Silver and his deputy Mark Tatum are hoping to talk with FIBA executives and others about the NBA’s next step.

Europe’s influence has captured the NBA

Europe has long been a basketball hub. It just lacked NBA representation for the longest time. That’s not the hurdle they have to face anymore. The likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid have redefined the scope of European basketball within the NBA. Additionally, the last two number-one picks, both belong to France.

As the talent has caught on, so have the fans. With an increasing number of players getting NBA nods, the fanbase in Europe has reportedly grown to 270 million. It’s among the reasons the NBA has held games in Europe consistently. In January 2020, the NBA held its inaugural Paris Games. The Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Hornets faced off in a regular season game. Since then, the NBA has held two more games in Paris over the past two seasons.

With Victor Wembanyama being, sort of, an anchor in the staggering growth of the NBA in Europe, Adam Silver already has something special in place. Next season, the Spurs and Indiana Pacers will play back-to-back regular season games in the Accor Arena in Paris. It has never happened in the history of the NBA so far.

How do you wish to see the NBA grow in Europe? Let us know your vision in the comments below.