NBA Commissioner stresses importance of relationship with FIBA on visit to House of Basketball

MIES - Adam Silver paid a visit to the House of Basketball in Switzerland on Friday, his first since succeeding David Stern as NBA Commissioner.

Silver soaked up the atmosphere of FIBA's headquarters.

"My initial impression is that I'm jealous," he said.

"When I think about our headquarters back in New York, we need to capture the essence of the game the same way that you have here at the House of Basketball."

Silver is an extremely busy man but he took the opportunity of making the journey to Switzerland after attending the NBA Global Game in London on Thursday. Visiting FIBA early in 2015 was a priority for him, after becoming NBA Commissioner on 1 February 2014.

"I thought it was important symbolically within my first year as commissioner to have been here, in the flesh, at the House of Basketball and it’s inspirational,” he said.

"It does signify how important the partnership is between the NBA and FIBA."

Basketball's world governing body and the NBA have strengthened their ties in the past year.

The NBA in now an integral part of FIBA, with NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum being a member of FIBA's Executive Committee and serving as the NBA Representative on FIBA's Central Board.

The two bodies started forging stronger links more than two decades ago when then FIBA Secretary General Borislav Stankovic and NBA supremo Stern reached an agreement that led to NBA players competing at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

After the visit of the House of Basketball, FIBA Secretary General and IOC member Patrick Baumann took both Adam Silver and Mark Tatum to Lausanne to meet with IOC President Thomas Bach.
 
FIBA