The Tebas-Garbajosa dispute over the NBA's FIBA ​​project: "I'm going to fight to keep it from going away."

The president of LaLiga , Javier Tebas , and the president of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) for Europe, Jorge Garbajosa , met at the congress of the Higher Institute of Law and Economics (ISDE), where they spoke about emerging sports and new formats. In this second section, the star issue was the Super League , which Florentino Pérez presented as his chiringuito , which was followed by the stampede of the rest of the founding clubs, except for FC Barcelona .

As Tebas' opinion on the Super League is well known, the attention spread and focused on the agreement that FIBA ​​has reached with the NBA , "to continue exploring the creation of a men's competition in Europe," according to Adam Silver , commissioner of the NBA, and Andreas Zagklis , Secretary General of FIBA, in a joint press conference held last May, and Garbajosa recalled at the ISDE.

"It goes against the European model," asserted the president of LaLiga , to which the president of FIBA ​​Europe responded that "our responsibility is to defend national lines, because without national leagues, there is nothing." "What this project opens is a window of opportunity," added the former Spanish international and former NBA player. "How so? In the context: where is football and where is basketball? For us, this is a step forward . One of the things we defend is an equitable, equal distribution of television rights and sponsorships. Something that doesn't exist today," concluded Garbajosa.

However, Tebas didn't give up and once again referred to the Super League, which is what really worries him . "National competition will lose value. I don't like the Euroleague model, but now the NBA model is blessed by FIBA. It's as if FIFA blessed the Super League . Closed competitions have killed interest in national competitions. Basketball hasn't grown like football, and that's a consequence of closed models. If you have Madrid and Barcelona, ​​who are in all the Super Leagues, are they going to want to play in the national league? "

The unique case of, among others, Baskonia and Alavés

When Florentino Pérez introduced the Super League and all the clubs began issuing statements against it, basketball teams belonging to football clubs criticized the Super League for its closed and elitist model, but continued to defend the Euroleague, which is precisely closed and elitist. These are the cases, for example, of Baskonia-Alavés, Asvel-Lyon, and Bayern Munich ; in addition to other cases such as Efes, CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos, and Olympiacos, which may not be owned by the same team, but are somehow linked.

" This NBA project with FIBA ​​has been almost unanimously welcomed , because we're coming from, I insist, a very tight competition with 13 clubs that want to set the pace for the rest, which is almost 600," Garbajosa explained. "We've been dealing with this problem for 25 years, and now our ecosystem sees a solution. And I'm not just talking about the fans, but about great NBA players like, for example, Pau Gasol, who blesses that competition. The football and basketball markets are different, and we can't do it in an analogous way, because they've been going on for 25 years and it's very different . We can't expect things to be the same tomorrow."

"FIBA didn't confront the Euroleague at the time, as football did with the Super League. It's not possible to negotiate," Tebas maintains.

Tebas continued to embrace the changes in football and the NBA's arrival in Europe: "I don't know how many countries go to the World Cups anymore. It's not an industry model. FIBA ​​didn't take on the Euroleague at the time, like football did with the Super League. You can't make deals . The solution isn't to create a completely closed league. I'm going to fight to keep it from happening. It's a dangerous precedent for football," concluded LaLiga's top official.

"Something must be done about the multi-million dollar losses. There were historical errors, and now the ecosystem sees a solution," Garbajosa replies.

But the debate did not end there and Garbajosa replied: " Something needs to be done about the multi-million dollar losses. There have been historical mistakes, and now the ecosystem sees a solution . We can't pretend football and basketball are the same. The most powerful teams lose 200 million euros, and the NBA is worried about the departure of new players from Europe. With those losses, who's going to get the next Doncic? National leagues see it as a window of opportunity; it's not perfect. In Europe, only 0.8% play 90 games. The rest want to play more."

Differences between the Euroleague and NBA-FIBA models

Like the Super League, the Euroleague model is closed and elitist, with select A licenses that dictate which other teams can play for a fee, with three-year or annual licenses, and without any profit sharing. The champions of the national leagues don't qualify; it's already known who will play. If, for example, Unicaja, Joventut, or Gran Canaria win the ACB, they'll never go to the Euroleague, while Real Madrid , Barça, or Baskonia, no matter how poorly they perform, have a place .

The NBA-FIBA Europe project is presented as an alternative and is still in development. It's not the Super League, although Tebas sees it as a threat.

It doesn't stop at the international match windows, except this past February and in February 2024, putting the player between a rock and a hard place. This has led to absurd situations, such as in the previous qualifying cycle for the 2019 World Cup , when the Euroleague tournament computer scheduled a triple Turkey-Spanish duel (Darussafaka-Gran Canaria, Efes-Baskonia, and Barça-Fenerbahce) with a Turkey-Spain match, and a Zalgiris-Milan match with an Italy-Lithuania match.

The NBA-FIBA Europe project is presented as an alternative and is still under development, although an option has emerged for a series of permanent spots (12?) and four open spots based on sporting meritocracy for national league champions and the BCL champion. Non-permanent players will participate in profit sharing, and there is a solidarity fund for European basketball, which is posted at the windows. FIBA ​​welcomes everyone at the House of Basketball. It's not the Super League, although Tebas sees it as a threat, as it could boost the latter.