OG Anunoby knows what a basketball boom looks like from the inside. He played a starring role in the New York Knicks' first NBA title since 1973 — capping a record NBA Finals comeback against the San Antonio Spurs with a tip-in basket with 1.2 seconds left that put the Knicks up 3-1 in the series. Now the London-born forward says the planned NBA Europe league could do for the United Kingdom what decades of grassroots effort have only begun to: take the sport to the next level. BBC Sport

Anunoby told BBC Sport that a European league featuring NBA-backed franchises in cities like London and Manchester would give British players a visible, year-round platform on home soil — something the sport has never had at scale. The NBA agrees. Laura Pinnell, the league's vice-president of Consumer Group and head of marketing for Europe and the Middle East, called the UK "one of the biggest opportunities" in the entire NBA Europe project. BBC Sport

The vision is concrete. NBA Europe is planned to launch in October 2027, running in tandem with the 2027-28 NBA season. The league is expected to feature 16 teams — 12 permanent franchises and four spots filled through a qualification process — with London and Manchester among the expected host cities. Reuters

The money is serious. The deadline for final bids to own NBA Europe franchises passed in June, with the NBA receiving bids between $500m (£372m) and $1bn (£745m) for each target host city. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league remains on schedule for its October 2027 tip-off, and the project is being developed with FIBA backing — FIBA being the international governing body for basketball — as a domestic league. Reuters

The groundwork is already being laid in the UK. London will host its first NBA regular-season game since 2019 in 2026, with Manchester following in 2027. The NBA and WNBA also held their first UK talent camp last summer, expanding the scouting footprint that has already produced a growing contingent of British players in the league. BBC Sport

Anunoby is the standout name in that group. He is one of four current NBA players with UK links, alongside Jeremy Sochan of the Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics center Amari Williams, and Dallas Mavericks guard Tobi Lawal. That quartet represents the deepest British presence the NBA has seen. BBC Sport

For fans in the UK, the stakes are straightforward. A London or Manchester franchise would mean regular, top-level professional basketball at home — not a one-off exhibition, but a full season of games with real stakes and NBA-caliber talent. It would also give young British players a local pathway to the highest level of the sport, rather than the current route through the American college system or European clubs.

Whether the EuroLeague — Europe's existing premier club competition — will be involved remains unresolved. Reuters reported in June that the NBA is prepared to launch with 16 teams regardless of EuroLeague participation. Reuters

Planning, Silver confirmed, remains on track. And if Anunoby is right, the tip-off in fall 2027 could be the moment British basketball stops knocking on the door and walks through it.