London Lions owner claims capital can emulate Toronto to become new basketball hotbed

It’s easy to get excited about the future of British basketball given the current level of interest being shown in the sport on these shores - but without funding, it can only go so far.

Enter 777 Partners, who own the London Lions and purchased 45 per cent of the British Basketball League for £7million on December 20 2021.

Adam Weiss, Vice President of 777 Partners, believes the development of British talent can help drive basketball forwards and further legitimise an oppressed sport in the United Kingdom.

“If the rapid development we’ve overseen since coming in continues, we should be in the NBA by next season! It’s been pretty exciting,” Weiss exclusively told The Mirror.

“We're putting the infrastructure in place to ensure the success of the game - we're literally incubating the sport here in the UK.

"There's a fertile environment of talent that's walking around London, just as it was walking around Toronto 30 years ago, and now Canada is producing as much NBA talent as any other city in the United States.

“The most important part is to develop the foundations of this British talent coming through.

"The talent is walking around; if you're a 6ft 4ins 10-year-old in the US or in Canada or elsewhere, someone's putting you on a basketball court - but that doesn't happen here. Players are diverted away from the basketball court.

“It’s about giving talented players the access and the coaching, as players leave at a young age because they cannot develop their game here.

"There’s just not that secondary or tertiary level here, so it’s about creating that infrastructure not just in London but all over the country. We want all the teams in the league to have that pathway to produce players.”

It is not just the men’s game