Maccabi Tel Aviv's win on Friday evening may have first and foremost qualified the yellow-and-blue for the Euroleague final, but in the process it has also guaranteed the club four meetings with NBA teams this October.
Euroleague basketball CEO Jordi Bertomeu revealed on Friday that Maccabi will take part in a joint four team NBA-Euroleague tournament in Cologne, Germany, two days after it will play the San Antonio Spurs in Paris on October 8.
The tournament will feature the two Euroleague finalists as well as NBA teams Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers, with Tel Aviv assured one meeting against an NBA team. Maccabi is then scheduled to fly out to North America to play the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors, completing four games against NBA sides in less then a month.
Turkish side Efes Pilsen is set to join Maccabi in North America and is scheduled to play the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriers.
Last October Maccabi played two games in North America, beating the Toronto Raptors 105-103 and losing 93-79 to the Orlando Magic.
Bertomeu also spoke on Friday about the future of the Euroleague and had some good news for Hapoel Jerusalem. The CEO said that the Euroleague is looking into expanding itself, but stressed that the change won't happen before 2008.
The CEO said that the Euroleague would like more countries to have a bigger involvement in the league and that countries which already have four teams will not be getting any extra places.
Jerusalem has played in the ULEB Cup in recent seasons, but it's management has spoken many times of its wish to play in the Euroleague.
"We don't want an artificial expansion," said Bertomeu on Friday. "The league has value and whoever wants to join will need to pay."
Bertomeau mentioned that the fee for joining the Euroleague will be in the region of three million Euros. He also said that any teams joining the league will get a five-year contract which will guarantee them a place in the league. regardless of the its position in local competition.
