NBA London in doubt for 2020 as Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Hornets head to Paris for regular-season clash

The annual NBA London game appears unlikely to take place in 2020 after confirmation that the world's premier basketball league is to stage a first regular-season contest in Paris next year.

It was announced on Friday that Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks would face the Charlotte Hornets - who are owned by sporting icon Michael Jordan - at the AccorHotels Arena on January 24.

“Our NBA Paris Game will showcase the continued global growth of basketball in one of the world’s greatest cities," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.

"With France leading a record number of players from Europe in the league, we look forward to bringing together basketball fans from across the continent for the NBA’s first regular-season game in Paris."

While the NBA have not stated definitively that there will be no game in London, Silver intimated before the Washington Wizards beat the New York Knicks 101-100 at the O2 Arena in January there would likely remain only one regular-season affair staged in Europe in 2020 for logistical reasons.

“I think that it’s still a very labour-intensive undertaking to bring regular-season games over to Europe,” he said.

“Right now, we’re still thinking that the format would probably be to have one game next year, but it’s something that our London office is continuing to explore.”

Having previously received a small number of pre-season games, London has hosted a regular-season NBA clash every year since 2011 bar 2012, when the season was shortened by a lockout.