LONDON (AP) — The NBA will play at least six regular-season games in Europe over the next three seasons, starting with a pair of games between the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic this season.
The Grizzlies and Magic will play in Berlin on Jan. 15, then in London on Jan. 18.
The league will play games at Manchester, England and Paris in the 2026-27 season, then return to Berlin and Paris for games in the 2027-28 season. The games will be held at Berlin's Uber Arena, London's The O2, Manchester's Co-op Live and Paris' Accor Arena.
“Announcing the next three season’s regular-season games in Europe reflects the incredible momentum and appetite for NBA basketball in France, Germany, the UK and across the region,” said George Aivazoglou, the NBA’s managing director for Europe and the Middle East. “We look forward to welcoming the Grizzlies and the Magic to Berlin and London and to engaging fans, players and the local communities through the games and the surrounding events.”
The Berlin game in January will be the NBA's 14th in Germany since 1984, but the first regular-season game in the country — and will serve as a homecoming for Magic players Franz and Moritz Wagner, both of whom play for Germany's national team.
The London game this season will be the 10th regular-season contest in that city. Manchester has never played host to a regular-season game, and Paris has been the site of five regular-season contests — including two last season between the Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs. French star Victor Wembanyama plays for the Spurs, which made them a logical choice to go to Paris for last season's series of games.
The full NBA schedule for this season is expected to be released in mid-August. The dates and participating teams for the games in 2027 and 2028 will be announced prior to the 2026-27 and 2027-28 NBA seasons, respectively.
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FILE -Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant watches from the bench during the first half in Game 4 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, April 26, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Madison Keys planned to walk into the player tunnel at Rod Laver Arena in a quiet moment when nobody was watching, and take a photo of her name listed with the other champions at the Australian Open.
After beating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in last year's final at Melbourne Park to win her first Grand Slam title, Keys pictured the moment she'd return to the stadium for the first time as defending champion.
“I’ve always kind of remembered walking through that tunnel and seeing all the names,” she said Friday, two days before the first major of the year starts. “It was a little bit of a pinch-me moment where I was like, ‘Wow, I’m going to be up there.’
“I have not seen my name in the tunnel yet. I hope I can go in there when there’s no one else so I can take a picture and send it to my mom."
Before facing the media in Melbourne, she couldn't help but notice other evidence at the venue of her breakthrough triumph.
“There’s a really cool photo of me holding the trophy," Keys said. “Getting to see those, it’s something you dream of in your career.”
The 30-year-old American said it was easy to look back almost 12 months and think everything worked to perfection, but "also you think about, ‘Wow, I almost lost.’
"I was match point down. So many three-set matches. There were some ugly matches. I think it kind of just makes everything a little bit better just because it wasn’t issue-free.”
Keys won a tune-up tournament in Adelaide in 2025 before ending Sabalenka's 20-match winning streak at the Australian Open. At 29, she was the tournament's oldest first-time women's champion. She also set a record as the player with the longest gap between their first two Grand Slam finals — her first was the 2017 U.S. Open.
The Australian Open victory launched her into a Top 5 ranking the following month. After the breakthrough, though, she was ousted in the French Open quarterfinals, the third round at Wimbledon and had a nervy first-round exit at the U.S. Open. At the season-ending WTA Finals, she lost two group-stage matches.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, admitted Friday that the loss here to Keys last year was tough.
“She played incredible and overplayed me. Took me a little time to recover,” she said. “We had matches after that. I worked on my mistake on those matches.
“Going to this AO, I’m not really focusing on that last year result but of course I would like to do just a little bit better than I did last year!”
Sabalenka, who beat Keys in the quarterfinals last week en route to the Brisbane International title, plays her first-round match Sunday night against Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, a wild-card entry from France.
Keys also lost in the quarterfinals in her title defense in Adelaide earlier this week. But she's taking it in her stride as she prepares for another career first: defending a major title.
“Even though I’ve been on tour for a long time, this is also still my first experience as that,” she said. “I’m really just trying to soak in all of the really cool fun parts."
Seeded ninth and on the other side of the draw from Sabalenka, Keys is scheduled to open against Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine.
“Yes, I’m sure going on court I’m going to be very nervous," she said, "but I don’t think I’ve ever walked on court first round of a Grand Slam and not been nervous.”
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus waves to the crowd after winning the women's final match against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 6-3, at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Madison Keyes of the United States reacts during press conference ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
