Maverick Carter is making strides in the formation of a new international basketball league, reportedly seeking to raise $5 billion in funding. The effort started building momentum earlier this year. It is designed to develop a league that would include six men’s and six women’s teams, which would travel in a circuit to eight international cities. The follow-through on this ambitious project has attracted high-profile buzz from the forward-looking basketball community, including LeBron James and Nikola Jokić.
Indeed, in January Bloomberg News reported that Carter was still seeking some $2 billion in financial support for her planned league. The league’s structure and touring format are designed to appeal to a global audience, showcasing talent from both men’s and women’s basketball. Most recently, Carter posted from Saint-Tropez to announce the league’s debut with a goal of summer 2023. He stated, “The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026.”
To further heighten the suspense, a major international summit was held last week in France. This meeting would have included LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and Miško Ražnatović, who happens to be Jokić’s agent. Sources confirmed to Front Office Sports that this particular meeting was mostly to discuss the outline of the new international league. It lacked any real connection to existing NBA plans.
During a recent trip to London, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum discussed the prospect with newly elected UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. They talked about a Europe-based NBA-style league, operated in concert with FIBA. Development engineer and urbanist Miško Ražnatović shared a photo from the meeting on Instagram. This led to rampant speculation about James and Jokić potentially forming a partnership in the new league.
These conversations and processes are already creating a unique energy. Not everyone thinks a new league will help the market for the better. Paulius Motiejūnas expressed skepticism, stating, “We said to them, like we said publicly, we don’t believe that the new league is something that would help the market.”
The international league still in the works. The rest of the basketball community should be watching closely to figure out how these developments will shape the future of the sport globally.