The NBA opens an office in London. What does this mean?

David Stern announced a week or so ago that the NBA was opening an office in London and moving some staff from its Paris European HQ to London. I sort of thought it was even hinted at the London office becoming the European HQ.

What is the motive here?

Is this good news for British basketball or is it more good news for British basketball that British basketball just fritters away as usual?

Or, getting into the spirit of the totally conspiritorially obsessed die-hard British basketball following, is this bad news for the Euroleague?

I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about this, but I have spent a bit and maybe a little bit every few days. Part of me really thinks this is a power play by the NBA to get a foothold in Europe, something it has been desperate to do for so long, yet never knows how to do it.

The television interview when he announced this was broadcast by Channel 5, albeit at something like 0300 in the morning, during playoff coverage. It was the only place I had seen so much of what Stern was thinking. He even mentioned "the domestic league". I'm not particularly sure he knew it was called the BBL, but at least he knew there was one.

Of course, it was all couched in helping the Olympic Games here in London and helping growing grassroots level support; but I was left with his comments regarding Great Britain being the last, only, industrialised unexploited market left for basketball.

A very bright man who has led the NBA for what they call 'donkey's years', Stern has to be aware, if not concerned with the explosive growth of the Euroleague and that means if kids are starting to buy CSKA Moscow jerseys, that means they are buying less Chicago Bulls jerseys. And if they grow up supporting Real Madrid or Valencia or Treviso, they are less likely to spend money on the NBA products.

Make no mistakes about it, the growth in merchandise sales is what fuels ALL sports. Not everyone can ever go see a game, even if they live locally. But they can buy merch. The value of this merch is immense and is growing exponentially. The badge of your team is the symbol of the new religion and people do not often change religions. It's for life.

It funds the body and as player wages go up and as the brand seeks new revenue it has to look overseas. NBA Europe Live is a sort of Faustian bargain that both the NBA and Euroleague play these days. The NBA sends over a few terrible teams (this year the Celtics, T-Wolves, Grizzlies and I forget if there's another) and plays some Euroleague teams. These games are of immense importance to the European teams that get to play them. It lends credibility to the Euroleague teams and it gives the NBA a chance to build its brand and sell more merch to what it hopes is a growing legion of new fans.

But not in London.

In London, the NBA is putting on an exhibition match between the T-Wolves (less maybe KG by that time?) and the Celtics. No Euroleague team invited or necessary, thank you.

For a great deal of GB hoops fan, this will be our first taste of NBA ball in years and for a first look at the O2 Arena; reputed to be the first NBA standard venue in Europe--the greatest indoor arena in Europe.

If you look at the Euroleague--where are the holes? Where is the chink in the ever greater armour?

There are two massive holes: London and Paris. NBA offices? London and Paris.

There have been rumours for over a decade about the NBA wishing to expand internationally. There were rumours that the D-League would be UK based, but that came to nothing. And before that, there were the rumours that there would be actual franchises in the UK.

I read a very interesting story about the founder of the Cook Group, which purchased Manchester United's old basketball team, the Giants. Of course, this old Cook was lamenting that he was offered to buy the football team for $30m back in the early 1990's, but instead bought their basketball team instead.

Why? He was quite open about it: He and his advisors were of the belief that the NBA were going to expand into the UK and they wanted a team on the ground when the time came. It was easier to spend about $2-5m on the Giants, get a foothold in, than buy an existing NBA team for 5X that or whatever. Or worse, lose then the bidding war started.

I wonder if this is what the Wrights, the Goldsmiths, et al, were thinking back then too. If they were, it was a spectacular idea, but the NBA didn't move and they lost their money.

What is happening today? Maybe the NBA sees their only chance of starting something in the holes of the Euroleague, which are admittedly MASSIVE holes: London and Paris. It's like Monopoly. If the Euroleague buys these last few properties, they can start building hotels on them. The NBA might be priced out forever.

Maybe it also explains why the Euroleague is so determined to get something happening in one, if not both of these cities. It cannot afford to waste more time letting the NBA have access to the biggest city in Europe.

Where is the Euroleague office in London? Will there be a response?

And how does the existing structure of British basketball fit into this? FIBA is at war with our government, our government is at war with England Basketball ("not fit for purpose" is the new catch-phrase that pays), our league is, well...our league and here we all are wondering what on earth is going on.

How do we make an impact? Will anyone call us up and tell us we are involved?

If I look at this objectively, I say that something has to be going on behind the scenes. Why should I know anything about it?

But then I stop and remember: the club I work for are BBL League Champions and Cup holders.