At the crossroads of two narrow streets, shaded by Haussmann buildings, hundreds of colorful basketball jerseys form a queue that stretches over more than 400 meters. It is 5:00 p.m., and the most avid NBA fans, arriving at 2:30 p.m. this Sunday, walk through the front door of the Grand Rex, the legendary Parisian cinema, one of the largest in Europe. Nearly 2,500 have bought their place (€25 single price) to attend two matches in the first round of the play-offs, New York-Cleveland (7 p.m.) and Golden State-Sacramento (9:30 p.m.). And above all to enjoy a memorable evening.

The evening, hosted by TrashTalk, the leading French media on American basketball, and sponsored by beIN Sports, Parions Sport and the NBA itself, is not the first of its kind. There were almost a dozen, including the first, much more discreet, before the Covid-19. “It was in a 100-seat room, smiles Bastien Fontanieu, co-founder and publication director of TrashTalk. It’s always been a success because usually people experience the NBA alone. It’s something you watch at night, from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m..”

The explosion of social networks had already allowed nocturnal lovers of US basketball to meet by interposed screens. “So when we give people the opportunity to come together, they are proud, rejoices Bastien Fontanieu. They show their beautiful jerseys, their collection, their passion.

We had no doubts about the atmosphere, because if the 2,500 tickets sold out in less than ten minutes, it was not fair to watch sports on the big screen, or for the jerseys offered after a quiz at the relative level. Roar over a Cleveland dunk, hysteria over a late-game Sacramento basket: the walls of the Grand Rex kept shaking, and the glutes often flew off the seats.

All in a good-natured atmosphere driven by TrashTalk, king of chambering as its name suggests. “For Dallas fans (not qualified for the play-offs after a catastrophic end to the season), the evening of laughter is at the Folies Bergères, not here”, launches Bastien Fontanieu in front of a hilarious audience.

This evening is only a new page in the love story between the NBA, the best basketball league in the world, and France. Three months ago, a regular season match was played in Paris, between Detroit and Chicago. The first since Covid-19, preceded by a Milwaukee-Charlotte in January 2020. The NBA in France, “it’s not just bringing it back physically, it’s also doing events”, explains Nicolas Bermond, director at the NBA’s media department.

“There are a lot of people who want to live this passion for the NBA together, supports Bastien Fontanieu. When you see the filling speed, the presence of people on time… This evening is an exclamation point of what the NBA is in France. The US league has pushed for it, whose weight in the United States remains light next to the NFL (American football), but which crushes everything in the game of internationalization.

This season, every weekend, 2 or 3 NBA matches were scheduled in the evening for the Europeans (early afternoon across the Atlantic). The pleasure is prolonged in the play-offs where the matches are more intense, where the legends are written.

This craze on Sunday, “it’s encouraging”, appreciates Nicolas Bermond. “We will certainly do evenings like that again in Paris, he adds. The goal is to develop this kind of event in the medium term, and not just in the capital. And not just for the first round of the play-offs? “A lot of people ask us for the finals,” says Nicolas Bermond. However, these final matches will not dislodge at the classic times, namely 2 a.m. or 3 a.m.

“It’s still quite complex in terms of logistics, security, alcohol consumption,” warns Nicolas Bermond. Complex but not impossible. The Super Bowl, the NFL grand final, was also broadcast at the Grand Rex last February. The match (kick-off at 12:30 a.m.) brought together 1,800 people in the Parisian hall. Certainly, with the potential of basketball and the arrival of Victor Wembanyama, a tricolor phenomenon, the NBA can push the limits in France.