The NBA announced that they will return to London for a 9th consecutive year, to play their Global Game this coming January. Fans from all over Europe can be excited for a great matchup when the Philadelphia 76ers face the Boston Celtics. Two young, but up and coming teams that play exciting basketball.
Everyone interested, now has the opportunity to register at NBA.com/London for an early access to tickets, starting on October 18, 10am CET.
Former NBA Champion Gary ‘The Glove’ Payton talked about why the Global Games are worth watching and why London is a great host city.
Gary Payton on London:
GP: “It’s a great city. It’s a city that everybody in the United States wants to come to, it’s historic, things like that. They’re going to have fun, it’s going to be a fun thing. And then, you’ve got to think about it, as years go on, this city becomes more of a basketball type of city. That’s why we host games here because, if you think about it, it’s more like New York. They’re both the same, it’s almost like an American city, it’s great like that. I think this city is picking up more on basketball than any city in the world.”
On Celtics vs 76ers
“I hope that by January the young 76ers are rolling and that players like Simmons and Embiid are playing on a constant basis. I know the young kid folks are going to be pretty good. Then you’ve got to have Kyrie Irving, [Gordon] Hayward, [Marcus] Morris, [Marcus] Smart – all them guys are going to be doing well. I hope their team is really, really focused and young kid like [Jayson] Tatum, [Jaylen] Brown, I think they’re going to be great. I think that team is going to be really good. I think you’re going to have a lot of high energy and great excitement in that game.”
On why fans in the UK should go watch the NBA London Game 2018
“It’s going to be an exciting game. I think more young kids and UK people are wondering about basketball. This is a good way to go there and experience the feeling of basketball. Bring the same as you’ve got football over here, do the same as in basketball because you can get excitement. Excitement with the dunks, the threes. You’re going to have great players coming over here. You’ve got a lot of young superstars coming over here, you have to go see this because this is the only way you’re going to learn about basketball even more and see superstars that you might not get to see in the period time, now. Go see it because you’ve got six, seven, eight dynamic players who’s coming, go see it!”
