NBA News: Commissioner Adam Silver Jealous of European Football

No doubt, NBA has been one of the most successful leagues in the world as far as the game of basketball is concerned, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is jealous of the champions league (football), which is an elite club football competition in Europe.

The NBA might be earning huge revenue with the league, but the game of basketball still lacks behind football, which is one of the most popular sport in the world.

"The Champions League is a fantastic concept, one we are always looking at," Silver told BBC Sport.

No doubt, NBA has been one of the most successful leagues in the world as far as the game of basketball is concerned, but its commissioner Adam Silver is jealous of Champions League (football), which is an elite club football competition in Europe.

The NBA might be earning huge revenues with the league, but basketball still has a tough time competing with football.

"The Champions League is a fantastic concept, one we are always looking at," Silver told BBC Sport.

The Champions League witnesses teams from all across Europe battling for the prestigious title, for which they need to qualify from their respective domestic leagues. There is a lot of money in the offing as well for the teams which qualify.

"There is so much that happens in European soccer that I'm jealous of."

"I just think that the depth and loyalty of the fans, it's almost a religious aspect to fandom," he added.

With the game being popular all around the world, top clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich receive worldwide support. These fans support the club like no other, travelling across various countries to watch their games.

The NBA have various competitions, which includes the regular season from where top teams fight it out for the playoffs.

Apart from this, they also have the NBA All Star event which is completely different as it is a three-day event with a lot of glamour. The NBA All Star is just an annual weekend event, where top players of the NBA come under one roof to participate in various other competitions such as three pointer and slam dunk contests.

The weekend is wrapped with a star-packed game between the Eastern Conference and Western Conference, which is watched globally.

But Silver does not think that something like this would work in English football.

"It's a great event," he said, adding, "My reluctance to recommend (sic) it to the Premier League is that they are such a well run league.

"With English soccer, it is 'the' sport. People like rugby and other sports but they have their team."

"Here, I grew up in New York City for example, I support the Yankees, I'm a fan of the Giants, I'm a fan of the Rangers and the Knicks."

English fans take the clubs they support very seriously. One never hears one club's fan supporting the other, in fact, they hate them. But in the US there can be a case of divided loyalty as well.

"There's a lot of choice here and a lot of divided loyalties," Silver said.