NEW YORK - Adam Silver, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association, has announced in a presser today that the league is interested in expanding its market to the Philippines, Spain, China and Lithuania.

The NBA published a statement to the media that stated its interest to expand its reach globally. "The NBA is watched in over 200 countries. Basketball is truly worldwide. We plan to expand our league to big basketball markets in Asia and Europe."

"The level of competition will be the same, since the expansion won't mean that they'll be national teams. They will still have to draft and sign players in the NBA," clarified Silver. "We are taking this big step to truly make NBA a global authority in basketball."

The FIBA has announced their support for the move, saying that "the more these countries are exposed to basketball, the more they'll be interested in watching national teams compete against each other."

As part of the expansion to the four countries. Scouts have been encouraged to look for talent within the regions. Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. is seen by the Philippines as the one to spearhead the influx of Filipino basketball players in the NBA.

Parks, who was known for his heroics in National University, has been scouted by multiple NBA teams including the Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings.

The NBA gave the Philippines a taste of a league game when the Houston Rockets versed the Indiana Pacers in a preseason exhibition back in 2013 as part of its NBA Global Games world tour.