• The return of the prodigal son "Doncic in Madrid is like Jordan"
  • To the kitchen Diagne, Ndiaye and an overwhelming Real Madrid

"I was at the new Bernabeu today, it's incredible. They gave me a demonstration, with the machines that lift the grass. It is a good idea to organize an official match there in the future, we will tell President Florentino Perez." In their visit to Madrid, Luka Doncic's Mavericks have been accompanied by Mark Tatum, deputy commissioner of the best basketball league in the world. The right hand of Adam Silver shared a round table with a small group of journalists at the Four Seasons Hotel in the capital, among which was EL MUNDO, and spoke about the possibilities of expansion of an NBA that does not stop looking at the world.

"We're a U.S.-based league, but we're global," Tatum said. Although he ruled out the expansion of more franchises in the league – "expansion is not on the table right now" – he did talk about the new markets, the importance they have for the NBA and the possibility that more official games are played in Europe, beyond London and Paris.

"We have a great opportunity to continue growing. The calendar is very condensed and the trips are long. Those matches are very intense, like All Star. We could do more and will continue to evaluate it. But there has to be a balance," said Tatum, who had earlier described his "incredible" visit to the Bernabeu: "I've seen the system with which they go up and down the grass, it's really a world-class stadium when it's completely finished. We would like to play there if the circumstances are given and for sure those talks will take place with Real Madrid."

Spain, "key" to growth

Tatum celebrated being back in Madrid. "The last time was in 2016 and Doncic was at Real Madrid. I remember that game, it was resolved in an exciting overtime," he recalled the duel against the Thunder, before talking about the Spanish influence on the development of world basketball. "The history of the NBA in Spain is long. The first game of a team here was 35 years ago (Larry Bird's Celtics). The culture and history of basketball here is incredible. We have seen the Spanish team, until recently the number one in the ranking. And Spain has been a key place for the growth of basketball, here the Dream Team was born, in the Barcelona Games, "he said.

The NBA Deputy Commissioner valued the European influence in its competition. "The last three MVPs came from Europe, the number one of the last draft (Victor Wembanyama), Germany is the recent world champion ...", Tatum listed, highlighting the "players who inspired us" and who are at the base of everything else, the pioneers, "Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzky".

The influence goes both ways. That's why this year the NBA will inaugurate the In-Season Tournament, an ACB Copa del Rey-style tournament that will culminate with a Final Four in December in Las Vegas. "We're educating fans in the U.S., explaining what it's going to be like. We think it's an opportunity for teams to win one more title, because the season is very long," said the Vietnamese-born manager. "25% of our players were born outside the United States and have played in systems with many competitions per year. They helped to talk to the rest of their colleagues and raise the benefits," he concluded.

  • NBA