Could the NBA have a team in London? Paul Pierce says yes

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

The National Basketball Association has generally been stationed in the United States of America with the exception of the Toronto Raptors, but they are located so close its not too big of a problem. How about a team overseas though? How about a team based in London? 

Paul Pierce thinks it can happen.

"The NBA is expanding. Definitely in the next 5 to 10 years you could probably have an NBA team here (in London)."

via Mike Mazzeo

Teammate Andrei Kirilenko had a completely different view.

Different takes on idea of NBA teams in Europe: Andrei Kirilenko: "it’s definitely not going to work coming to London, then coming back."
— Mark Woods (@markbritball) January 14, 2014

The biggest issue with a team based overseas, as Kirilenko mentioned, is the time it takes to travel there, play the game, and come back to the states. The team already has a five day gap between the London game and the one before in addition to a four day break between the London game and the following one (against the Knicks). Now imagine if every team had to travel to London to play that team, or vice-versa. Not to mention having the get adjusted to the time zone and then coming back to the States right when you are about to get used to it.

Brutal would be the only way to describe it.

Joe Johnson has already stated that its been hard getting some sleep once the team arrived there, as relayed by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.

“You know what? I haven’t been asleep,” Joe Johnson said after Tuesday’s practice while shaking his head. “Honestly. We got in yesterday, and I slept for five or six hours, and I’ve been up ever since. 

“I didn’t go to sleep last night. I’m on fumes right now. I’m gonna try to get caught up on my sleep tonight … but, for whatever reason, I just couldn’t sleep.”

Andrei Kirilenko also mentioned how it not only affects the sleep patterns of the players, but its also a pain physically.

“It is tough to travel, especially when you travel more than four hours,” Andrei Kirilenko said. “We’re spending the majority of our time sitting. You’re sitting on a plane, you’re sitting on a bus, your back starts to hurt, especially with being tall. 

“Like, look at KG. He’s 7-feet tall and, what, 40 years old? Like, he has to travel like that. Then he has to get on the floor … it’s tough to prepare yourself after that. But I think it’s a great time to have four or five days in between so we have a chance to recover.”

Whether the NBA does go through and manages to put a team in London has yet to be seen, but as of now it seems like a poor idea. It may go in the concept of globalizing the sport, but it'd be very hard for players to maintain their physical well-being while playing at a high-level. It would also induce a season with much fewer games per week. It'd be a hard idea to implement and would bring out a variety of problems.


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