The German basketball runner-up will no longer take part in the Euroleague in the coming season.
Alba Berlin in the NBA Europe? The German basketball vice champion will leave the Euroleague in the coming season and could possibly start perspective in the planned European branch of the best league in the world. As the Berliners announced on Wednesday, they will initially take part in the Champions League organized by the World Association FIBA in the 2025/2026 season.
According to the Alba press release, Berlin’s admission to the Champions League “will further strengthen the competition and support the FIBA in its vision to redesign the club competition system in Europe.” Furthermore, this step “on the joint announcement of FIBA and the NBA of March 27, in which the course was set for the possible establishment of a new professional men’s league in Europe.”
“With participation in the Basketball Champions League, we set off into an exciting new time and thus take account of the changing European basketball landscape. We have a long tradition with the Euroleague and we always want to play in the best possible competition,” said Alba managing director Marco Baldi. The conditions for a Euroleague starting area have “changed extremely in the end.”
Furthermore, Alba is of the opinion “that the European competitions under the roof of the FIBA will develop strongly in the next few years,” continued Baldi. As the Bild newspaper reported, Alba should actually be in conversation for the intended NBA league in Europe, which is to be raised in collaboration with the FIBA. Exact details on a possible “NBA Europe” are not yet known.
Alba has been playing in the Euroleague, the privately organized elite league in Europe for years. Unlike Bayern Munich, however, Berlin has no A license, is not a constant member. The past two seasons had clearly completed the albatoses with five wins and 29 defeats as the bottom of the table. Euroleague and Fiba have long been in the clinch. Both organize several European cups, the European tournament landscape is fragmented.