The coach, who is also president of Basketball Operations at Olimpia, comments on the previews of the new league: “The interest is proof of the appreciation for the commitment the Armani family has put into basketball. Sustainability and calendar, we cannot go on like this”
“We are open to hearing all proposals, then the owners will evaluate what we can do.” Ettore Messina, who is not only the coach of Olimpia owned by the Armani Group but also the president of Basketball Operations, intervenes, responding in a press conference after the success against Treviso, on the topic of a place for Milan in NBA Europe which George Aivazoglou spoke about on Friday at the Football Business Forum organized by the Gazzetta dello Sport in collaboration with SDA Bocconi, keeping the game open as to who could make the team.
RECOGNITION
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“The fact that it is an important objective for the NBA to have a participation in any way in Olimpia is something that I believe pleases the owners very much and once again is proof of the appreciation for the commitment that the Armani family has put into basketball and a nice recognition for the city and its history – says Messina -. The NBA is certainly intervening with energy on the communication level to make it known that it has a plan and wants to carry it forward also quickly enough”.
THE THREE THEMES
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Messina argued: “My position is very simple: in the Euroleague we have a very high level basketball product, with games that are second in intensity, plot and passion only to the NBA playoffs. But then you read in the newspaper that Real Madrid, the most powerful club in the world, loses 38 million to have a Euroleague season. And we also have a serious problem with the turnover of players, between the NIL which attracts players to colleges and the NBA which with ‘two ways’ increases the number of their contracts. Added to the very serious problem from an economic and sustainability point of view is the now obvious one that it is wonderful to have 20 teams, but from the end of September to now there have already been 60 injuries in the Euroleague.”
ECOSYSTEM
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Then Messina’s conclusion: “It’s obvious that all this can’t continue, we need a model – an ecosystem as we like to say – that manages to bring together the sporting needs which are beautiful with the economic ones, and I’m talking about sustainability, plus a harmonized calendar. We are open to hearing all the proposals, then the ownership will evaluate what we can do”. NBA calls, Olimpia responds.
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