US cooperation: Lilies at the NBA in Paris

Around 12 hours before tip-off of the game, the Lilien delegation went from Frankfurt to Paris, where there were a few appointments on the agenda before the game started. “The trip is another chance to strengthen our relationships within the joint cooperation. We’re looking forward to it,” Fernie explained before the trip began.

When we arrived in the city of love, we first went to the “NBA House”. Set up especially for the period of the two NBA games in Paris, the location offered the opportunity to learn a lot about the glorious history of the Spurs, test your own basketball skills at various stations or stock up on merchandising. The visit was also used for a short exchange with Jose Lizardo from SAFC.

Lizardo himself had visited the Lilies in Darmstadt the previous days and got an overview of the work of the SV 98 and the conditions at the Böllenfalltor. In Paris, the SAFC Operations Director was also accompanied by a delegation from the Spanish first division club UD Las Palmas, which is also linked to the Texas club on a cooperation level.

Following the impressive visit, the SS&E invited everyone to a joint meeting in their hotel. In addition to the representatives of the SAFC and the delegation from Las Palmas, the Lilies were able to have interesting discussions with Bobby Perez (Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel SS&E) and Joe Donnelly (Vice President of Corporate Development SS&E).

Perez: “It’s fantastic to meet our friends from Darmstadt here in Paris. Since the beginning of our joint project, we have been talking about the possibilities in the business sector, but of course also in the sporting sector. And in the short time we have worked together so far, we have already been able to address both topics. We can learn a lot from each other.”

From the hotel everyone then headed towards the Accor Arena, the venue for the NBA game in the evening. In addition to the sporting aspect, Victor Wembanyama in particular was the focus of interest around the game. The 21-year-old Frenchman and star player of the San Antonio Spurs was born not far from Paris and has now returned to his home region with his team. On the floor, the 2.21 meter tall giant was unimpressed by the hustle and bustle around him and contributed 30 points, eleven rebounds and six assists to his team’s 140-110 victory.

For the Lilies, the clear success of the Spurs was also the perfect end to a special trip with a great learning effect and special experiences, as Eilers explained on behalf of the team: “After an intensive day with lots of conversations, we ended the evening with this extremely interesting game. We would like to thank San Antonio FC and Spurs Sports & Entertainment very much for this very successful get-together and are happy to have met some new people.”