History for British Basketball, London Lions will play against Trail Blazers, First British team to play against an NBA team in history!
First time in British Basketball history, a British Basketball team will face against an NBA team!
https://www.thelondonlions.com/news/london-lions-to-make-history-against-portland-trail-blazers-in-nba-preseason
London Lions think they are going to play the Blazers in a preseason friendly, what is actually happening is they are the 2026⁄27 Blazers, Dunden bout to trade all his current players and employ thebLions sonhe can save money.
We’ll find out later the Trailblazers took this as a “Guarantee Game”
Not that they’re paying the London Lions, but that the a Trailblazers received the money from the Lions
These poor mid-major programs have to get funds somehow
This game is feelers to assess the possibility of moving the Trailblazers to london
Tea Blazers
We’re gonna get cooked but we don’t care this is huge for the culture / British basketball
You never know. We thought the same thing when the Adelaide 36ers played the Phoenix Suns, but look how that turned out
How did that turn out? Skippy the bush kangaroo ran onto the court and started kicking everyone ?
Well the Suns had just come off a huge blowout game 7 loss to Luka and the Mavs, so they were supposed to be sort of contenders the next year. They played the starters 20 minutes each, but still lost 134-124 to the 36ers who had placed 7th out of the 10 teams for the NBL that season
The last NBA team to lose to a non-NBA team before that was OKC in 2016 against 17 year old Luka and Real Madrid
Ah yes Luka vs Luka Modric
The 36ers are a few tiers above the London Lions… the London lions are like a low tier NZ NBL team
Basketball growth in the British countries have been exploding recently, this will only add more into it.
I would not say exploding, more like a small bit of steam coming out of a kettle
it is 100% exploding among people there, Basketball became the second most popular team sport in the UK among youth.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nba-and-uk-government-announce-comprehensive-plan-to-elevate-basketball-in-the-uk
I have lived my entire life in the UK, I highly doubt that number.
According to this survey in 2024 its the second most popular team sport among kids, overtaking rugby.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/421571/children-11-15-sport-activity-involvment-england-uk/?srsltid=AfmBOorVmzrE0t11aTPFArym8oKBpSkawjMOjZrORYDw4nnZ-bShBlIs
Edit: as pointed out this is more of a children’s play survey so not super relevant but this government one that was linked below is more relevant to the conversation
Thats not organised sport though so its just what kids played at PE, lunch or at a local park, Dodgeball is more popular than Rugby or Cricket in that survey, aint like that is surpassing either of them either.
Only reason why basketball is high on that list is because it what you might play in PE (Gym class for the Americans) if it is too wet/cold in the winter.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nba-and-uk-government-announce-comprehensive-plan-to-elevate-basketball-in-the-uk The UK govrement itself is claiming what we do, its just objectively facts, Basketball in UK surprassed all the other team sports with ease (expect Football), and its just going to grow more.
Possible that Netball is finally dying a death in the UK and basketball is taking it’s place.
Hooping has always been stealthily popular in the UK, but just the wrong sort
False, let’s see which team sports actually are most popular shall we?
You know nothing about Britain and your only source is some press release 😅
respectfully, are you illiterate or something? everyone is clearly talking about most-played youth sports and you’re talking about crowd attendance at adult professional sports? that isnt relevant at all lmao
let him be hes coping, Basketball surpassed all other team sports in UK recently excxect Football/Soccer.
Practice some lateral thinking my friend lol. Bearing in mind that British basketball continues to fail to translate that interest into attendances, producing domestic talent or strengthening it’s leagues. If it’s so popular amongst young people, then that institutional disconnect seems pretty relevant to me right?
Huh are you blind
Citing some bullshit government press statement ain’t changing the minds of people who actually live here
i mean i can find you 10 different sources claiming the same, but the Govrement one is undeniable, its simply objective facts, you can cope or dont believe all you want but it wont change reality lol.
Cite them then. Basketball is definitely a familiar and practical team game for young people. Though do you think more young people will play informal games of basketball, which requires as little as two players—or rugby, which requires at least ten? It’s pretty fucking simple, because you need less players to play, amongst young people, basketball represents something much more convenient and easy than many other team sports around
Where have you lived though?
Every major UK city has basketball courts built into every social housing block.
It’s the most popular sport amongst young POC behind football.
The sport has been chronically underfunded and invested but that’s starting to change
It’s popularity amongst young people isn’t infeasible honestly. The minimum number of people you need to play an informal game of basketball is like two? Rugby and other team sports you need many, many more. Though across the country, basketball continues to attract less people than even ice hockey, there does seem to be a disconnect between young people passionate for the game and the basketball institutions Britain has
dude it is 100% true lmao, among youth in UK basketball only trails behind Football/Soccer thats it. Its growing rapidly
https://corq.studio/insights/basketball-is-the-uks-fastest-growing-sport-these-10-players-and-fans-are-leading-the-basketball-boom/
Basketball is not the second most popular team sport in the U.K. - I live in a city, we have no outdoor basketball courts, the courts in nearby places are grass courts…
In my 34 years living in the U.K. I’ve known two people who play basketball.
Talking shit 🤣
read the thread me and multiple people proved you guys wrong who dont believe in this, im going to post the link from the UK Govrement itself who claims the same… https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nba-and-uk-government-announce-comprehensive-plan-to-elevate-basketball-in-the-uk
One press release proves nothing. If it’s surpassed all other team sports but football, then why does the government feel the need to create policy, or to ‘elevate’ it’s status within Britain? Perhaps a better metric would be to cite the sports which draw in the biggest viewership, or biggest crowds amongst Britons?
It does tho since its from the govrement itself who controls and knows everything LMAO… You cant be this delulu
Controls and knows everything 💀 Tell us, which sports draw the biggest attendances in Britain?
no idea if you are just ragebaiting or actually troll. Ill just ignore it from now on, you can deny it or w/e, but it wont change the reality and the truth lmao. And whats even better its going to grow only more and more this London Trail Blazers game proves it…
lol that would be great. I love basketball. I don’t have an agenda against it, I just don’t think you’re very intelligent at all if you think you can understand a country through is governments press statements. You need two players at a minimum to play an informal basketball game. No wonder it’s popular with younger people. The most popular sports amongst all Britons though, that’s a different story
It’s not cricket, is it mate?
NBA Europe project with UK teams involved, Sadiq Khan building links with the NBA and securing investment.
Jordan brand hosting annual events in London and bringing through Jayson Tatum.
OG Anunoby now minority owner of the London Lions and visiting for summer camps.
UK basketball is definitely growing and in the best position it’s ever been in. Only time for GBB to help develop talent to make it pro and into Europe or US colleges.
Just this year Lawal drafted by the Dallas Mavs, last year Amari Williams drafted by the Celtics, also Sochan and OG in the league.
All this only helps visibility and interest at grassroots level
The govrement of UK claims the same as we here do… Its number 2 Team Sport in UK by far https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nba-and-uk-government-announce-comprehensive-plan-to-elevate-basketball-in-the-uk
The participation numbers have never really translated to watching the games on TV. Even when they were on linear TV they weren’t really viewed the way you expect. I’ve been to a good few Eagles games and I love it, SLB is great. A game a week on FTA linear TV would do wonders, even if it is free nobody has DAZN
Yeah that tracks. Like I managed to catch my small local town’s team playing rugby league on either BBC 1 or 2 last week. Meanwhile I don’t think I’ve ever seen any basketball on any free to air TV save for maybe some alternative Olympic coverage on iPlayer.
Given FIBA had to intervene, and the BBF went into liquidation; I think imploding might be more appropriate than exploding. I’m a little out of the loop with it all now, but I recall there being doubt over whether or not the most recent season would even go ahead or not.
i meant like popualirty of the sport, it isnt Niche sport in the UK anymore Basketball became the second most popular team sport in the UK among youth…
Ah fair enough, sorry. Yeah definitely seeing more people out and about with Jerseys on and stuff.
Do you have data for it being second most popular though? I’d be curious to see it.
Yes here from the UK govrement itself! https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nba-and-uk-government-announce-comprehensive-plan-to-elevate-basketball-in-the-uk
Where is the data then?
The data is here:
https://www.sportengland.org/research-and-data/data/active-lives/active-lives-data-tables?section=children-and-young-people-surveys-section
In the types of activity spreadsheet:
Football is first and basketball is second.
This is just a statement, is there a link to the actual dataset?
Lies
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nba-and-uk-government-announce-comprehensive-plan-to-elevate-basketball-in-the-uk no im not lying, the UK govrement is claiming the same thing as i do lol… Its facts
There are a lot of fans. But the country won’t invest in basketball because we have zero chance of ever winning a medal at the Olympics which means there’s no development so we have zero chnave of ever winning a medal at the Olympics.
Going from 0% to ,10% isn’t exploding
Aye this is sick.
Hopefully the Blazers are still in Portland by then!
October 2026 is just a smidgen before October 2030.
Team from London vs a bunch of guards in red.
Lobsterbacks vs. Lobsterbacks
who should we watch for from the Lions?
Devante Jones
Yeah definitely Devante.
Tarik Phillip won DPOY last season and Joel Scott was an MVP candidate before getting injured and missing 3 months.
Are any of the English league games streamed? Be interested in watching some bball not at 2am
If you have DAZN you can watch them on there for free.
Typical tip-off times (U.S. Eastern Time) are:
Friday games: 2:30–3:30 p.m. ET (7:30–8:30 p.m. UK) Saturday games: 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET (6:00–7:00 p.m. UK) Sunday games: 10:00–11:00 a.m. ET (3:00–4:00 p.m. UK)
You a real one, thank you
You don’t know how the time zones work, do you ?
Are you stupid? You’re making some snarky comment when clearly he is in a country where nba games are at 2am. Not everyone lives in the US, idiot.
which county is he from
That’s really cool, anyone have any idea how brits will be able to watch it?
Pay your tv loicence, mate.
London Lions probably paying for everything, only way Dumbdumb accepts this
The London Lions are a tough squad. Even when they’re down big they’re still innit
Trail Blazers owner is going to try send the team over by boat to save on travel expenses.
It feels like NBA Europe is soft launching the Lions as one of the franchises in the new league. They’ve been head and shoulders above the rest of the league for a few years. It makes sense for them to move to the new league rather than start from scratch
That could be a tiny bit one-sided
final score 394-13
Come on, the Blazers should top 20 easily
Would be even bigger if they could play this in London, but what a cool moment for these guys! Love it
Good dry run for the London Trailblazer 2030
Hell yeah
Blazers are moving to London /s
Nice. Wonder what Joel “The British Bulldog“ Freeland, and Ex-Blazers player is up to.
Love this
Maybe Dundon is going to move the Blazers to the UK. The Birmingham Blazers has a nice ring to it
lol they are going to get spanked! British basketball sucks