PARIS - US basketball legend Michael Jordan has hailed European players as mastering the fundamentals of the game and said the addition of European teams to the NBA would be a "very good idea."

US basketball legend Michael Jordan, seen here addressing a press conference in Paris, has hailed European players as mastering the fundamentals of the game and said the addition of European teams to the NBA would be a "very good idea."[AFP]

"It's obvious that European players master the fundamentals better," Jordan told reporters here on the fancied US team's disappointing bronze medal-winning display at last month's world championships which Spain won with a 70-47 defeat of Greece.

"They have taken this aspect of the game to a higher level," said the former Chicago Bulls superstar who retired in 2003.

"In the United States, we're too focused on the highlights, dunks and passes. It's not that we don't have the players we need, but putting together a team becomes difficult under these conditions.

"But I think things are going in the right direction today."

Jordan, who in June became a part owner of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Bobcats, said that adding European squads to the NBA was a good long-term concept.

"In the long term it's a good idea. The distance and the travelling would be a problem, but it's obvious that European teams are increasingly competitive.

"If that were to continue, the project could very well come to fruition.

"Basketball as a whole has progressed enormously, and one of the reasons comes from the interest the NBA is fostering in Europe.

"European basketball has become very strong and their players have contributed a lot to the development of the game. The United States now has problems beating them."

NBA league commissioner David Stern said last week that a conference of European teams is at least another 10 years in the making, and depends on a city's willingness to build a mutli-million dollar stadium.

European expansion has long been an idea for Stern and other NBA officials but the logistical and travel headaches and more importantly a need for newer arenas had been presented as major obstacles.

The only current European venue seen as NBA-worthy is the 19,000-capacity KolnArena in Cologne, Germany.

But there is an arena opening in London in 2007, and there are also plans in Berlin, CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid. Should those plans become reality, those city teams could form the heart of an NBA Europe division.

Jordan said he would occupy a management role at the Charlotte Bobcats similar to the one he had with the Washington Wizards as a part-owner between 2000 and 2003.

"I will not necessarily be there daily," Jordan said. "My role will be to supervise everything that has to do with basketball, to help build a team that will eventually be capable of winning the championship.

"My experience in Washington is going to help me a lot in that."