The NBA has seen a resurgence of headline news in recent days. Mainly due to the transient flow and movement of impact players ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. News of Luka Doncic to the Lakers and Jimmy Butler to the Warriors is likely to catch the attention of even the most casual of fans.
However, other stories were beginning to shake the foundation of the NBA and leave us wondering what direction the Association will take in the near future.
Golf fans will recall 2021 when panic washed over longtime fans of the PGA and traditionalists of the game. Beginning (metaphorically) with Greg Norman as the Captain and with Phil Mickelson as his XO, one by one, some of the PGA’s most recognizable names jumped ship. Multiple Major Champions such as Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, and Brooks Koepka signed with the Saudi-funded LIV golf circuit for massive, undisclosed sums and perks.
It seems that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) is continuing to move full steam ahead with its acquisition and ownership of the World’s greatest players. It has become commonplace for footballers like Christiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Naymar to cut ties with iconic European football clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain and leave for the Saudi Pro League, and contracts that hover just shy of $1 billion.
Similar to the PIF-supported LIV circuit, the Saudi International Basketball League has now positioned itself to entice some of the NBA’s star players to play in the Middle East. This could be very bad news for the NBA, which, despite a recent uptick in quarterly profits, is still scrambling to find ways to reverse the trend of declining viewership.
The ultimate battle for survival that the NBA appears to be facing is the fact that, according to The Financial Times, the PIF is in partnership with an investment group that includes the government of Singapore, Skype founder Geoff Prentice, and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, among many others. It has been speculated that the league sought roughly $5 billion in funding to launch effectively. It appears that they might have found the investors required to do exactly that.
The Saudi International Basketball League is already being advised by Lebron James’ longtime business partner, Maverick Carter. It seems that Mr. Carter is serving to advise on the structure of the league, both in terms of its financial backing and structure as well as its play and competitive format. Similar to LIV, The Saudi International Basketball League looks to have no interest in running a professional league in the traditional sense.
Perhaps it will closely monitor the viewership problem with the NBA, particularly in the US, and plan accordingly. Billed as the “F1 of Basketball,” the format could be presented in any number of ways.
It could be a 3 vs. 3 game, with the game’s greatest players competing in a fast-paced, full-court sprint that would require less regulated time. Or maybe we will see one-on-one tournaments in which superstars challenge each other to basketball’s equivalent of Gladiator battles.
The word is out, and the news of major funding and advisory coming from American and International investors has already caught the attention of the NBA’s biggest stars. There have been a variety of tweets in recent months from some NBA superstars, who have jokingly referred to the possibility of playing in Saudi Arabia. It seems like just a matter of time before the humorous jabs start to become serious headlines.
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