The NBA is considering taking its All-Star Weekend overseas and Europe would be the likely host over Asia given the shorter amount of travel involved for players.
With Toronto hosting the league's first All-Star Weekend held outside the US this weekend, NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that finding ways to stage its midseason showcase overseas was being discussed.
"We're always talking about it," Silver said. "It's logistically more difficult than it may seem because there's a ripple effect in terms of the number of days we take off on the rest of the schedule."
The NBA currently plays its 82-game regular season schedule in about 162 days and has recently made strides in reducing the number of times a team plays on consecutive days or a more gruelling stretch of four games in five nights.
But Silver said the league was talking to the NBA Players Association about the length of the season, which ends in June, and the pre-season.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"If we travel overseas for All-Star ... players will need additional time to adjust their sleep patterns and to get re-acclimated when they come back to the States," said Silver.
"So the problem is if we leave the country for All-Star, it puts pressure on the rest of the schedule.
"It's something we'd love to do one day. It's not going to happen in the next two, three, four years, but I think down the road it could be a really exciting element for the NBA."
The NBA, which had 100 international players from 37 countries and territories - including seven Australians - on opening night rosters when the current campaign began last October, has played a number of regular season games overseas, mostly in London or Tokyo.
But the NBA, which is the only American sports league with a significant following throughout Asia, said getting the All-Star Weekend there could prove too difficult to pull off.
