EuroLeague CEO criticizes NBA's ambitious European plan as a 'bit of a broken record'

LONDON (AP) — European basketball often is a hot mess of passionate fandom, heated rivalries and financial problems.

Holding some powerful fiefdoms together is the EuroLeague. It’s not thrilled about the NBA’s plans to create a new competition on the continent.

It’s not concerned, either.

"We've only heard the plan or the fireworks of how amazing it will be, how much potential there is,” EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas said of the NBA’s proposed league. “But having a theory is one — and making it work is two.”

“We’ve been here for 26 years. We know how Europe functions."

With clubs like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, the EuroLeague is considered the best men's professional competition outside the NBA. The 20-team league is comprised of 13 “shareholder” clubs immune from relegation. The rest either qualify through their domestic leagues or through invitation.

The NBA, in partnership with FIBA, is eying a 16-team model with 12 permanent members — with a target start of October 2027. It has identified Athens, Istanbul, Paris, Lyon, Munich, Berlin, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, London and Manchester as potential host cities.

Attention is currently on three EuroLeague shareholder clubs that haven’t renewed their 10-year licenses — Real Madrid, Fenerbahce in Istanbul and the Tony Parker -owned ASVEL near Lyon. Parker has signaled his support for the NBA, and Spanish sports daily Diario AS reported that Real Madrid favors the NBA project.

Recent holdout Barcelona has indicated it will extend for another 10 years beyond this season.

"It’s a big deal, of course. It’s an important brand, and we’re happy that they committed,” Motiejunas said of Barcelona, which hasn’t commented publicly.

Motiejunas, in an interview with The Associated Press, said he’s confident all 13 clubs will stay.

“The NBA has been announcing and announcing things for a year but still it’s nothing that you can grasp on,” Motiejunas said. “As businessmen, these are team owners, they also begin to see it’s a little bit of a broken record of ‘we will announce later,’ ... The ’27 start is already around the corner.”

EuroLeague clubs reportedly have a 10 million euro ($11.6 million) exit clause, but Motiejunas would only say that through “consequences and legal teams” contracts can be broken. There's no NBA opt-out, he added.

The EuroLeague claims to still be open to some type of relationship with the NBA, whose executives have expressed similar sentiments. But in the meantime, the EuroLeague sent a letter to the NBA warning of legal action should talks with EuroLeague shareholders continue.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver shrugged off the threat Thursday in Berlin ahead of the Orlando Magic's 118-111 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA’s first regular-season game in Germany.

He also shrugged off the EuroLeague more generally.

“If I thought that the ceiling was the existing EuroLeague and their fan interest," Silver said, "we wouldn’t be spending the kind of time and attention we are on this project.”

Media reports indicate the NBA is looking for at least a $500 million franchise fee. Silver noted that any investors will have to be patient because “it will take a while, I think, before it is a viable commercial enterprise.” He added it will be "multi-decades in the making.”

Silver cautioned that “potentially” starting a new league is an “enormous undertaking” and described talks with Real Madrid and other Spanish clubs as “more in the category of fact finding.”

The European basketball landscape is similar to soccer. EuroLeague is like UEFA's Champions League in quality, though entry is more restrictive. Basketball also has several other international leagues — but they're lesser known than their soccer counterparts, so fans get confused. FIBA, for example, has its own Basketball Champions League, which would be a potential feeder to an NBA league.

Silver sees potential because basketball is the No. 2 sport in Europe after soccer.

“Rather than think of us as taking share from (soccer), I look at the commercial side of basketball as it exists now in Europe, and it probably represents about 1 percent of the commercial sports marketplace,” he said.

Many European basketball teams, including some in the EuroLeague, have struggled financially. The system has often relied on wealthy owners to cover team debts each year. EuroLeague has implemented spending restrictions to promote financial sustainability.

In a revenue boost, the EuroLeague last season took its “Final Four” championship outside Europe — to Abu Dhabi — for the first time. It brought a flavor of Euro hoops chaos, too, as Panathinaikos majority owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos was handed a 5-game ban for his "threatening actions” against referees.

EuroLeague also granted a multi-year license to a newly created Dubai team and recently extended its partnership with global sports marketing agency IMG.

“We focus on ourselves,” Motiejunas said. “We will be able to adapt, there’s no question about it, and we will continue to fight.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) and Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (8) challenge for the ball during an NBA basketball game between Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) reacts during an NBA basketball game between Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Fenerbahce players celebrate winning the Euroleague final basketball match between Monaco and Fenerbahce in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Anadolu Efes' Shane Larkin in action by Real Madrid's Guerschon Yabusele during Final Four Euroleague finall basketball match between Anadolu Efes and Real Madrid, in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, May 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Barcelona's head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius gives instructions to his players during their Final Four Euroleague bronze medal basketball match between Barcelona and Olympiacos, in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, May 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

DALLAS (AP) — The mess in Texas may be just beginning.

Four-term Sen. John Cornyn and his allies spent nearly $70 million to survive the first round of the party’s nomination fight on Tuesday. He was slightly ahead of conservative firebrand Ken Paxton, the state attorney general, with more votes still being counted on Wednesday.

Both now advance to a May 26 runoff election that Republicans fear could be even uglier and more expensive than the first contest.

“It's judgment day for Ken Paxton,” Cornyn said on Tuesday night.

But whether any level of attacks can stop Paxton — who has long been shadowed by allegations of corruption and infidelity — remains unclear, especially as he fashions himself as the kind of Make America Great Again warrior President Donald Trump needs in Washington.

Paxton was defiant when speaking to a few hundred supporters at a Dallas hotel ballroom, a far different scene than Cornyn's small press conference.

“We just sent a message, loud and clear, to Washington,” he said. “We are not going to go quietly, and we are not going to let you buy the seat.”

Republicans are sweating the runoff because the 83-day sprint takes place as operatives in both major political parties acknowledge that Democrats have an unusually solid chance of winning a Senate seat in Texas this year, something that hasn't happened in nearly four decades.

Democrats nominated state Rep. James Talarico, who Republicans immediately attacked as a far-left extremist — even though they privately consider the 36-year-old Christian progressive to be a stronger general election candidate than his primary opponent, Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

The Texas contest is playing out as Trump fights to maintain control of Congress for his final two years in the White House. Republicans are more confident about keeping their majority in the Senate than the House, but a competitive race in Texas could scramble the map, or at least consume resources that the party needs in more competitive states like North Carolina, Maine, Ohio and Alaska.

Republican leaders in Washington insist that Cornyn has the best shot, especially after he finished ahead of Paxton in Tuesday's primary, with U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt finishing a distant third and conceding. Cornyn's campaign argued that a runoff wouldn't even be necessary if it wasn't for “Wesley Hunt's vanity campaign.”

“Paxton’s problems aren’t just an issue in a Republican primary; they also threaten to put the Senate seat at risk due to his lack of strength against Democrat nominee Talarico," a memo from Cornyn's team said.

But Paxton and his allies are showing no signs of backing down.

“The D.C. establishment has done its job: it rallied around its wounded incumbent, opened the fundraising spigot, and flooded the airwaves. But the results, the data, and the reality on the ground all point to the same conclusion: John Cornyn has no viable path to the Republican nomination,” the pro-Paxton Lone Star PAC wrote in a memo. “Cornyn should suspend his campaign, concede the nomination to Ken Paxton, and refuse to allow another $100+ million in Republican resources to be burned in a race that is already decided.”

The only person who might be able to forestall the intraparty fight, or at least limit its fallout, is Trump. But the president has declined to endorse a candidate in the primary, describing all of them as “great,” and it was unclear if anything would change in the runoff.

Without Trump's support, Cornyn made it clear that he would make the case himself. He told reporters that Paxton would be “a dead weight at the top of the ticket for Republicans" in November.

“I’ve worked for decades to build the Republican Party, both here in Texas and nationally,” Cornyn said. “I refuse to allow a flawed, self-centered and shameless candidate like Ken Paxton to risk everything we’ve worked so hard to build over these many years.”

Cornyn will face intense fundraising pressure, having already spent so much money in the first round of the primary. Aides said he had some small fundraisers planned but nothing in the days immediately after this week's vote as he returns to Washington.

In addition, Paxton's allies are confident that the political landscape will tilt in the attorney general's favor.

“The casual and moderate Republican voters who are most likely to support an establishment incumbent are the least likely to return for a runoff,” said the memo from the Lone Star PAC. “The committed conservative activists who form Paxton’s base are the most likely to show up.”

Follow the AP's coverage of the 2026 elections at https://apnews.com/hub/elections.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks during a primary election night watch party Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to the media Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Myer)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks during a primary election night watch party Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to the media Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Myer)