Former Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu told Reuters on Thursday that the competition’s clubs should not give up control over their future in any collaboration with the NBA’s planned European league.

The NBA is targeting October 2027 for the launch of NBA Europe, while Euroleague plans to expand its competition for the 2027-28 season.

Euroleague CEO Chus Bueno told Reuters on Monday that further fragmentation of European basketball would be “a disaster”, although both sides say they remain open to working together.

Bertomeu told Reuters that collaboration was in everyone’s interests, but the NBA’s current offer was not attractive to Euroleague.

Euroleague’s 13 shareholder clubs collectively own and govern the competition, giving them a say over its format, financial model and strategic direction. It is unclear what equivalent authority they would hold under the NBA proposal because its terms have not been made public.

“The terms being proposed, as they are being presented today, are not those of a collaboration, based on what we know,” said Bertomeu.

The Euroleague shareholders rejected the proposal at a meeting on October 6. Earlier this month a senior ​executive at a Euroleague club told Reuters that they expected the NBA to come back with an improved offer.

Euroleague and NBA Europe have both promised growth for the 13 Euroleague shareholder clubs.

Bueno says most Euroleague clubs would be sustainable within five years under its 10-year business plan, while NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum told Reuters on Tuesday that the NBA Europe model promised a “much quicker path to profitability”.

Asked about Tatum’s comments, Bertomeu, 67, warned that the path to improved economic results for shareholder clubs was no clearer under the NBA model.

“If European clubs move to a model that they are told will generate much more economic activity and much higher revenues, it is not guaranteed.”

Bertomeu said the potential trade-off could not be measured solely in financial terms.

“In exchange, they would give up control over their own future. And if, three years from now, what they have been promised does not happen, they will not be able to change anything.”

“In 26 years (of Euroleague), I was there for 22. During those 22 years we made mistakes, but we had the ability to correct them. We decided to change course and made our own decisions. (In NBA Europe) that would no longer be the case.”

The NBA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Bertomeu led Euroleague Basketball from its creation in 2000 until stepping down in 2022.

He said the NBA could make its biggest contribution to the growth of Euroleague clubs in commercial operations and stadium infrastructure.

“I have no doubt that the NBA could do an extraordinary commercial job. That is where the NBA could do great things.

“I believe these should be the points of collaboration between the two parties,” said Bertomeu, adding that format changes and economic reform were unnecessary.

Anthony Edwards scored 45 points as he and the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves spoiled Giannis Antetokounmpo’s debut with the Miami Heat in an emphatic 131-106 season-opening win Wednesday night.

Edwards became just the third player in NBA history to record multiple 40-point games in season openers, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.

Antetokounmpo scored 35 points and grabbed six rebounds after joining Miami in an offseason trade with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Edwards checked out with 3:51 remaining and Minnesota leading by 28. He shot 16-for-29 from the floor, including 9-for-17 from 3-point range, and added 10 rebounds.

His 45 points were the most by a Minnesota player in a season opener and marked his 125th career game with at least 30 points.

LaMelo Ball, making his Timberwolves debut, hit five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points and six assists. Jaden McDaniels scored 17 points, and Rudy Gobert grabbed 15 rebounds for Minnesota.

Antetokounmpo checked out with seven minutes remaining after hearing MVP chants from the home crowd early in the game. He shot 13-for-19 from the floor but also airballed a free throw and was assessed a flagrant foul after elbowing Terrence Shannon Jr. in the head on a drive.

Antetokounmpo was Miami’s most productive scorer. Bam Adebayo had 15 points, Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell added 11 apiece, and Mitchell also dished out 11 assists. Klay Thompson scored 10 points in his Miami debut.

Minnesota made 21 3-pointers, compared with eight for Miami.

Edwards and Antetokounmpo each scored 21 points in the first half, but Minnesota carried a 10-point lead into the break.

The Timberwolves opened 11-for-14 from the floor and led 27-19 after eight minutes. Miami pushed back in the second quarter and briefly took a 50-49 lead on a 3-pointer by Bobby Portis Jr.

Minnesota controlled the final five minutes of the half. Shannon hit a pair of corner 3-pointers, Edwards recorded a steal and an easy dunk, and Ball scored on a drive and added two free throws to make it 69-59.

The momentum carried over into the third quarter. Edwards and Ball each hit a 3-pointer in the opening 2:30. Edwards added another as Minnesota extended its lead to 78-61, and the Timberwolves remained in control the rest of the way.

Josh Giddey battles in a disastrous Chicago Bulls season opener against the Toronto Raptors.

Josh Giddey battles in a disastrous Chicago Bulls season opener against the Toronto Raptors.