Jordi Bertomeu opening comments
"Good afternoon. This is a special day for Euroleague Basketball for many reasons. In a few minutes, we will be watching in practice a project that has been growing over the last two years. And to recognize the impetus for that cooperation, it was an idea of David's two-and-a-half years ago. And from that point, the NBA and the Euroleague have been working together to define the series, to choose the cities and teams and to get ready. After the hard work of two years, it's great to be here tonight. Barcelona is our home and headquarters, and we are always welcomed by the city hall, which extends that welcome to the NBA also, tonight.
"Some people ask me why we are taking part in NBA Europe Live, and there are many reasons, but I want to mention two. First, we have a mandate, a mission, to make our fans enjoy basketball, and to hold games between the NBA and Euroleague teams is one of the best ways to accomplish that mission. Second, as you know, one of the objectives of the Euroleague over the next years is to meet a target of more visibility for our basketball. We want to make our basketball visible around the world. The Euroleague is already seen in 120 countries, and thanks to this platform with the NBA and David, we have the opportunity
to reach more of our target.
"We will continue the process of cooperation over the next few months, working on next year's sites and teams. And I'd like to address some speculation that I have heard by saying that the objective of our cooperation with the NBA is the promotion of basketball. I have always said that our obligation is to grow and keep growing. Our aim from this cooperation is to promote basketball and make the fans happy. Thanks to everyone, the NBA, David, the cities, the sponsors and the media for cooperating with us."
David Stern opening comments
"Thank you to the Barcelona city council and the mayor for having us. I was here in 1990 when we were part of the first game ever in this building, and it's great to be back in Barcelona and in Spain, home of the world champions of basketball. This is a spectacular country for basketball, and it is our great pleasure to be here and work with our friends in the Euroleague to promote and grow basketball. That is our mandate and we've watched with pride as Jordi and his team have worked so hard at the Euroleague to develop and professionalize and help the sport of basketball grow. It's our anticipation that we'll do it again in 2007, but this collaboration represents for us more than just a series of exhibition games. It also represents our teams coming to hold training camps in Europe, to be more visible and to be part of the community, and with players of the Euroleague participating in community events and projects that address the social responsibilities of the Euroleague and the NBA. It's part of who we are. I am happy be here to enjoy the game tonight. Tomorrow, I'll be in Rome with Jordi, the next night in Moscow, with Jordi, on Sunday in Paris, with Jordi, and then on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week for the double-headers in Cologne, Germany with him. We'll see who will be standing at the end of the visit. For us, one of the things that surprised us most since the 1992 Olympics were here with the Dream Team - the only Dream Team, because there will never be another - has been the growth of international basketball and the number of elite players who have begun playing our game. We have four Spanish players in the NBA, seven French players, and this year our first Italian player. The flow from Eastern Europe is extraordinarily strong, and per capita, the most intense representation in the NBA is from Slovenia, which has the most players from the smallest country. Players are coming from all over the world. I think it's a great opportunity to support the Euroleague's efforts to promote the growth of our sport. I want to thank the media for coverage and especially thank our sponsors. EA Sports has stepped up, and without them, we couldn't do this. We have Adidas in Europe and America, Spalding, the Las Vegas convention people - I know the mayor is here with some show girls, which isn't exactly an American thing, but a Vegas thing - plus Xbox, Game Stop, Champion and Sprite, and locally El Mundo Deportivo and Cuatro. Finally, I'd like to thank the mayor and the Euroleague for this terrific event."
Jordi Bertomeu on Europeans in the NBA
"I believe the main problem is not that players go away, because they go and come back, too. We have to grow and make Euroleague Basketball attractive enough that they don't go away. That's our job. The problem exists, however, with some players who are not yet playing at a good level in Europe and then go and have difficulty upgrading to a higher league. In some cases players get lost, even though others develop and integrate. So we must study every case, and if a player is getting lost, we should be joining together to avoid that problem for the sake of basketball. It's not about winning or losing, but about basketball."
David Stern on Europeans in the NBA
"A couple of things are happening. One, by raising the entry age to 19, we no longer take 18-year-olds. And very often young players are taken before our teams are able to see them in a stage of development. So taking a player young who doesn't develop and gets dumped should decrease, so that's good. A number of our teams draft players under contract and choose to leave them to play in Europe and develop. But I think the net result is that in the next few years there will be so many elite players being developed in the world that this problem is going to be much, much less. I believe that. But we're watching and doing case studies of guys who came and developed or failed and went back to Europe. There is now a good body of evidence that we are going to have to start analyzing."
Jordi Bertomeu on competition with the NBA
"I believe that the NBA is an organization that has worked many years with a global concept, as when David says there are 68 players from the NBA who were in the World Championships, so they don't need us as a go-between in global basketball. We don't see as competition anyone who is working for the good of basketball. We try to combine forces. We have some weaknesses here compared to professional leagues in the USA. In that sense, I would always bet on cooperatin. This is the way that David and I have been able to work together for many years, because we share ideas. Maybe one day we'll have to disagree. And we have, and we will. We talk a lot, but the way of cooperation is the best way. They are not taking anything from us. In this world, no one accomplishes anyone from fear. We always approach things from a positive perspective. I prefer to risk working that way than to having any fear."
David Stern on competition with Euroleague Basketball
"People have made the opposite question to me, that if our games are already televised all over the world, why would we want to support Euroleague Basketball? In my judgement, any league that is strong and promotes basketball is a good thing for basketball. And in the intermediate time frame at least, that is good for the NBA. We want the Euroleague to have great success, to fill buildings, to build new ones, to have worldwide TV arrangements. The rest will work itself out. We know there is potential, but talking about NBA teams here, it could be a decade away or never. But it's a nice subject for discussion, but I don't think those discussions would go forward without a good information exchange between the Euroleague and the NBA. Seen from the other side of the ocean, the major conflict in Europe was not with the NBA, but between ULEB and the Suproleague. I'm not taking the blame for that one. Many in Europe said the NBA is coming, the NBA is coming. The NBA didn't come. The Euroleague came. It's great that now there is a single league, and it's our obligation to do what we can to support the Euroleague. We have this agreement and we hope we will have another. I am comfortable talking about our meetings because everything is out on the table for everyone to see."