Walter Wang, chairman of the New Taipei Kings. CNA photo June 22, 2024

Taipei, June 22 (CNA) Walter Wang (王文祥), chairman of the New Taipei Kings, said Saturday that he planned to establish a new basketball league that would comprise at least 10 professional teams, including one from Southeast Asia.

At a press conference, Wang said four of the six teams in Taiwan’s P.LEAGUE+ (PLG), including the Kings which he founded, have signed a letter of intent to join the proposed new league.

In addition, all five teams in Taiwan’s the T1 League have signed on, while a professional team from Southeast Asia is also expected to join, Wang said, adding that he was still working to convince the other two PLG teams to participate.

Taiwan’s professional basketball has been attracting the interest of teams from Singapore, which came to watch the recently concluded championship games between the Kings and the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots, he noted.

It is now time to take Taiwan’s professional basketball to the next level by forming a new league, Wang said, adding that he has been in discussions with many team owners on that proposal.

He expressed the hope that Taiwan could learn from the example of the United States’ National Basketball Association (NBA), which was formed by merging two organizations and later grew at a rapid pace.

The teams in Taiwan that have shown interest in the new league will work together to come up with a name and to hash out details such as the rules, regulations, rights and obligations, Wang said, adding that the names of the those teams will be revealed later.

Meanwhile, T1 League Secretary-General Wang Chih-chun (王志群) issued a statement Saturday, saying that the T1 was open to cooperation and was committed to improving Taiwan’s professional basketball environment.

On Thursday, the New Taipei Kings captured the 2023-2024 PLG title, after beating the Pauian Pilots 4-1 in the best-of-seven series. It was the Kings first championship in the league, which was launched in the 2020-21 season.