Former Major League Soccer star Brek Shea has spoken of his excitement over plans for English Premier League clubs to secure franchises in a new NBA Europe competition.
The ex-Stoke City midfielder, who also enjoyed a stellar career for MLS clubs such as FC Dallas, Vancouver Whitecaps and Inter Miami, singled out Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur as two key teams for getting a European version of the NBA off the ground.
Speaking to Jackpot City Casino, Shea explained the importance of London in any plans to make the new league a success.
“I think a team in London would be great,” he said. “Maybe Tottenham so they can get distracted a little bit, the fans. I know obviously Barcelona, Real Madrid, they have their team. It’s essentially like a Champions League NBA league? Yeah, yeah. Well, that’s cool. I mean, I know a lot of people in Europe love the NBA and stuff like that and basketball. It’s a great sport. So good. I don’t know. I think London would be the best place to have a team.”
Shea is a self-described childhood Arsenal fan and he set out why he wouldn’t want the club to be left behind by their North London rivals, Tottenham.
“I don’t think it hurts a club,” he said on the prospect of Premier League clubs becoming NBA Europe franchises. “I think it only helps them, right? So creating more fans, obviously the logo getting out more wherever it is and if you see a kid down the street wearing an Arsenal NBA jersey, that’d be kinda sick. I would buy one.”
However, Shea would like to see the existing crossovers between US sports and English soccer go further, especially in the case of NFL legend Tom Brady and his involvement in English Championship side Birmingham City.
“Look, what Ryan Reynolds did is unbelievable,” said Shea. “And I’m not expecting that from Tom Brady, but he created a notoriety. Like you can walk down the street and everybody knows who Wrexham is. But without that show, without Ryan Reynolds, no one would ever know who Wrexham is, you know, like to to be fair here.
“So that’s cool for me as a soccer fan, seeing a Wrexham shirt, you know, at the airport, and stuff like that. I think Tom Brady could do something along the lines of whether just to get more notoriety for Birmingham and hopefully one day they’re back up top. But you know, they were a big club and they were there for a long time. So I think for him, especially as an owner, you want your club to be successful ’cause right, then it helps your investment.
“If he can get more notoriety on the club, more fans and hopefully the club can do the right things inside, you know, it’d be a bigger club and bigger investment for him.”f
