For all the places basketball has taken him, 66-year-old Jazz coach Jerry Sloan never has seen the Eiffel Tower in Paris or Big Ben in London. As Sloan cracked before Wednesday's game, he's still waiting just to get out of southern Illinois.

That's all likely to change come October. Although nothing has been finalized, the Jazz are under consideration to play a set of preseason games in Europe, according to Helen Wong, the NBA's senior director of international communications.

"I go where the bus takes us," Sloan said. "I do whatever they tell us."

The Jazz would make the trip as part of the NBA's Europe Live tour, which is in its fourth year. Other teams under consideration include Chicago and Indiana, but the Jazz already have resigned themselves to being chosen.

There is still much to be determined, including the destinations in Europe. Originally, the Jazz were told that they would be heading to Istanbul, Turkey, which came as no surprise given Mehmet Okur's popularity in his home country.

But the Jazz will not be heading to Turkey, Wong said. The Jazz believe they will spend about a week practicing and playing preseason games in two of four possible cities: London; Paris; Berlin; or Madrid, Spain.

As one of the NBA's smallest-market franchises, the Jazz would gain international exposure with the trip. Yet they also make no secret of the fact that they wouldn't be heading to Europe were they not required to do so by the league.

The Jazz originally were scheduled to play in Moscow in October 2004, before the trip was canceled because of security concerns. At the time, Russia was reeling from a series of terrorist attacks, including a massacre at a school in Beslan that left more than 330 dead.

Two years later, when the NBA opted to return to Russia, the Jazz were told they were being passed over for a more marquee team. When that team turned out to be the Los Angeles Clippers, the Jazz resolved never to take part in Europe Live again.

However, they no longer have the option of saying no, thanks to a change in NBA rules. There is still a possibility the NBA will send only two teams instead of the four it has done in the past, but the Jazz are preparing to pack their bags come October.

Andrei Kirilenko, who was selected FIBA's European Player of the Year in 2007, welcomed the chance to play in Europe and said many fans only knew the 1990s version of the Jazz that lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals.

"They still remember Karl Malone, John Stockton, but they don't really know the modern Jazz," Kirilenko said.

"So I think it's a great opportunity to kind of present yourself, present the philosophy of the team. The way we play, being a very positive, being very organized team, and kind of show that."

Kirilenko said his preferred destination would be London. For all the logistical concerns of taking a team to Europe, Kirilenko said the overall experience would be better than sitting around a hotel in Boise, Idaho, where the Jazz hold training camp.

"It's going to be a little tough because of the flight," Kirilenko said, "but on the other hand, you're going to have good emotions."

The Jazz previously played two games in Japan to open the 1990-91 season. Sloan described the experience as one of the biggest challenges of his coaching career and said the pressure of having his team ready to play was greater than in the playoffs.

When the Jazz returned, Sloan was unable to hold a full practice for three weeks. "They looked like they'd already played 80 games," he said of his players.

New Orleans coach Byron Scott made the trip to Berlin and Barcelona, Spain, this preseason and said the experience was positive. The Hornets took a couple of sightseeing tours and were greeted by large numbers of NBA fans.

"I would say it would be real difficult to do that in the regular season, but in the preseason, I don't think it's that bad," Scott said. "You at least get back home, you get four or five days to kind of readjust yourself."

The NBA made the official announcement of its Europe Live participants in February and March the last two years.

rsiler@sltrib.com