**The NBA could play a match regularly in London from as early as next season as basketball looks to widen its appeal ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.**The O2 Arena in Docklands hosted a pre-season match between Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz on Tuesday and NBA chiefs want to use the venue again.
“We’re running out of runway a little bit but we still hope to do it,” NBA commissioner David Stern insisted.
“Who knows We have not set the schedule yet for 2010 so we’ll see.”
Basketball now ranks as the second most popular international team sport behind football but has not fared well in Britain compared to mainland Europe, where there is a large following.
Tuesday’s match is the third to be staged at the O2 and Stern has called for governing body Fiba to give the sport further recognition ahead of next year’s World Championships.
“The run-up to 2012 is very exciting for the growth of basketball in Great Britain,” Stern said. “Team GB qualified for the EuroBasket and we hope that, in its wisdom, Fiba sees fit to give it a wild card.”