London’s basketball scene is set for a major uplift as Mayor Sadiq Khan and the NBA unveil a near £2 million investment aimed at improving facilities, developing coaches and creating new
opportunities for young people across the capital.
The announcement comes as excitement builds ahead of the NBA London Game 2026 presented by Tissot, which takes place at The O2 Arena on Sunday 18 January. The regular-season clash between the Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies will mark the NBA’s return to London for the first time since January 2019.
At the heart of the plans is a new Facilities Development Fund, launched by City Hall with an initial £500,000 to refurbish and upgrade community basketball courts across London. The fund will focus on making courts safer, more welcoming and usable year-round, including weather-proofing solutions at priority sites. Ten courts are set to be refurbished in the first phase, with City Hall working to leverage additional funding to double the pot to £1 million.
Alongside the facilities upgrade, the Mayor has confirmed a £1 million expansion of the London Coaches Programme, his flagship partnership with the NBA. Launched in 2023 as a three-year initiative, the programme is designed to upskill, employ and deploy young London-based basketball coaches aged 16 to 30. To date, it has helped create more than 500 new community coaches. The expansion will support a further 180 trainees, provide direct employment or internship opportunities for 90 coaches, and is expected to reach more than 50,000 young people over the next three years.
To keep Londoners active through the colder months, a new ‘NBA Court Time’ programme will also launch from February to April. Funded by the Mayor, the scheme will offer £1 indoor basketball sessions at six GLL (Greenwich Leisure Ltd) leisure centres. Delivered in collaboration with the London Coaches Programme, the sessions will cater for juniors, youth and adults, including women-only slots.
The investment responds directly to the findings of *State of Play*, a new report commissioned by the Mayor’s Basketball Taskforce, which set out recommendations for growing and strengthening basketball in the capital. The Taskforce itself was launched in September 2024 following talks between the Mayor and NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum, with further meetings held last year alongside NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to review progress.
The Mayor and the Taskforce have also backed new grassroots pathways, including a Jr. NBA 3v3 schools tournament delivered with London Marathon Events. The inaugural competition involved pupils from 174 London secondary schools, representing every borough. Notably, 31 per cent of participating schools were based in the most disadvantaged areas, and follow-up research found several schools went on to establish new weekly basketball clubs.
Basketball is now the second-most popular team sport among young people in England, with around 1.15 million playing every week. The sport’s appeal continues to grow, with NBA fandom among UK adults rising by 24 per cent in the past three years. London alone is home to more than 500,000 active players across schools, clubs and community programmes.
Since taking office in 2016, Sadiq Khan has made grassroots sport a key priority, investing through initiatives such as the £8.8 million Sport Unites programme and the Go! London partnership. Launched in 2023 with organisations including the London Marathon Foundation and Sport England, Go! London has already invested more than £10 million in over 200 grassroots groups, with total funding expected to exceed £22 million. By this year, more than 40,000 underserved young Londoners will have benefited from new opportunities in sports ranging from basketball and rugby to cycling and skating.
Basketball fever is already sweeping the capital as part of the build-up to the NBA London Game 2026. NBA House, a free interactive fan experience, opens today (16 January) at Magazine London and runs through to game day. Fans can take part in on-court activities, attend panel talks with NBA legends, see the Larry O’Brien Trophy up close, buy exclusive merchandise and win NBA-themed prizes.
Beyond the headline event, a packed week of development activity will see the NBA, the Grizzlies and the Magic working alongside Basketball England to deliver youth clinics, coach education and NBA Cares initiatives. Programmes including Jr. NBA, Jr. WNBA and Her Time to Play are expected to reach more than 5,000 young Londoners aged 12 to 16, leaving a lasting legacy well beyond the final buzzer at The O2. Photo by Ildar Sagdejev (Specious), Wikimedia commons.