Former NBA owner pursuing $1bn expansion franchise 3,5000 miles away from old team

Larry Tanenbaum is reportedly pursuing NBA Europe’s London franchise. According to a report from Sports Business Journal, the former Toronto Raptors minority owner has emerged as the leading front-runner to land the NBA franchise over 3,500 miles away from his former team, after putting together a bid worth $1 billion. Plans to push the game of basketball international via the construction of a new European league was announced back in October 2025 by the NBA’s deputy commissioner Mark Tatum, who revealed that they had an aim of launching the project in the second half of 2027.