David Stern is relaxed while expanding the brand [Al Jazeera]

Speaking in London at the launch of an NBA Cares initiative Stern stood at the back of a newly unveiled basketball court in an area of London overdue some good will.

The closest tube station, Stockwell, became famous when British police shot a defenceless Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes after mistaking him for a terrorism suspect.

In short it is not an area ever to be filled with Russian oligarchs and their riches.

But as Stern made his way to one end of the court while some millionaire basketballers of the NBA ran a coaching clinic for local star struck youth it seemed a long way from a city with glamourous areas more used to hosting international athletes with plenty of disposable income.

But in the modest surroundings it was perhaps fitting for the NBA supremo to talk about financial prudence.

In front of an expectant media he announced at the start of his press conference, "Ask me whatever you want."

This was in stark contrast to the carefully manipulated press conferences of many football clubs in Europe where directors hide behind media managers and spin doctors.

But Stern stood with the confidence of a man with nothing to hide and the answers at the ready.

And well he might as he is grounded in the belief that the strong financial regulation of the NBA stands it in good stead to survive any financial down turn.

'Spending to oblivion'

"We have adopted an approach of a salary cap, being used in conjunction with a debt cap and draft picks in order to even the competition and to prevent one owner's spending harming the integrity of the competition," he explained.

"In terms of debt caps, we have limits of $125 million in the NBA so no club can in effect mortgage its future with more than $125 million loan.

"We have a salary cap which not only limits the amount a team can spend on its payroll but the amount a team can spend to buy another player, so we think those tend to work well to limit the exposure," he continued.

The NBA's debt cap, a figure which Stern described as 'peanuts', is brought into perspective when it is seen against the current debt of English Premier League champions Manchester United whose current debt stands at $1.135 billion, nearly ten times the amount permitted by American basketball's governing body.

The fact that his sport has such barriers on spending is a factor which Stern believes may have seen American tycoons become involved in European football, such as Manchester United's Glazer family, as it permits them to become involved in "no holes barred capitalism."

"Some owners obviously want to be able to keep on spending until their team achieves success which is what Europe has offered them until now."

Stern was at pains to explain the NBA system was designed to stop owners from "spending to oblivion".

Of course he did not believe that the sport would come out of the current economic crisis scot-free.

"I think ultimately this will have a negative impact on every business. So I think there will be a negative impact of some kind……we haven't seen it yet, but I think it will occur," he said.

While European football chairmen's eyes watering when they see the debts attached to their football clubs skyrocketing as the assets attached dwindle before their very eyes and fans fret over the survival prospects of their club, the NBA model could well worth remembering as football seeks for a way to deal with its bloated balance books.

Cautious

Given the current financial climate Stern remains cautious about expansion into Europe at this point in time as he downplayed the prospect of an NBA team being based in Europe.

"It's a very long term agenda,'' Stern said.

Part of that agenda will likely include returning to Europe for a fourth straight year in 2009.

"We may already have plans, I can't be sure,'' Stern said.

"But I'm guessing that we're going to be back here because when we started Europe Live we decided it would be something that was our determination that we were going to be in the market on a regular basis.

"It's not about whether we have a league, it's about growing our sponsor relationships, our merchandise relationships, our television relationships, our online relationships.''

Boom time for women's game

Stern has also overseen the spectacular growth of the WNBA, an area which has provided a lucrative return on the initial investment.

"We are coming off our twelfth season," Stern said, when asked about the WNBA.

"For a league that by any standards is the most successful of any women's league in the world.

"We would like to travel with our WNBA players in the off season but the good news for them is that there is such demand in international markets with teams there that they can earn so much money by signing on with any team…..Korea, Israel, Russia, Europe; so it's hard to aggregate them in the off season. That’s a good thing," he continued.

The New Jersey Nets play the Miami Heat at London's O2 Arena on Sunday.