NBA eyes Real Madrid, Barcelona and Tony Parker's French club as headliners in European league

The NBA is kicking off its overseas expansion with a new European league set to rival EuroLeague basketball and other prominent overseas leagues. The league will partner with FIBA, the governing organization for international basketball.

While no plans have been made official, the two organizations have already teamed up for the league's pitch, spearheaded by NBA commissioner Adam Silver and FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis. On Thursday, Silver announced plans to move forward with the overseas league, listing several teams as potential targets.

According to The Athletic's Joe Vardon, Adam Crafton and Mike Vorkunov, NBA and FIBA will target prominent EuroLeague teams Barcelona, Real Madrid and ASVEL, a French team popularized by the play of Tony Parker. The Hall of Fame point guard suited up in eight games for ASVEL during the 2011-12 lockout, averaging 22.0 points and 6.1 assists.

Silver is exploring a 16-team format for the league and has reportedly made the most traction with ASVEL, who has been speaking to the league and Adam Silver through Parker.

"We feel now is the time to move to (the) next stage," Silver said of the league proposal's status following Thursday's meeting.

Rumblings of the new league ignited back in January, but plans appear to be working their way to being solidified after a successful meeting.

NBA owners backing new European league

While discussing his feelings about the meeting following his proposal for the NBA's overseas league, Adam Silver said that owners around the league fully support the expansion.

Silver confidently stated that he and his team feel that now is the time to move to the next stages of working toward approval for the new league.

He added that owners have "enthusiastically supported" the league's plans to start a new European league. The league and FIBA moving forward with the project could present potential investment and partial ownership opportunities for some of the NBA's ownership groups.

In previous years, Silver worked adamantly to form a relationship and partnership with EuroLeague basketball, but his advances were unsuccessful, prompting plans for the league's overseas expansion.