NBA commissioner Adam Silver clarified there are no real talks about a potential expansion team in the NBA in the near future. The NBA has been open to an expansion, but, timing will be an important factor.
“Maybe there are people talking who are not at the league office about us potentially expanding after the 2024 season. We are not discussing that at this time,” Silver said.
The “at this time” is an important part of Silver’s answer. The NBA commissioner knows there are markets that are “thirsty” to become part of the league at some point, namely Seattle and Las Vegas.
“Expansion does create a certain amount of dilution. And even sort of adding another 30 players or so that are roughly comparable, there still are only so many of the truly top-tier super talents to go around. That is something on the mind of the other teams as we think about expansion,” Silver continued.
Silver still believes the league will have to expand in the future and add new markets when the talent is enough for all teams to have a chance to compete. The NBA will have options if the league decides to expand.
“As I’ve said before, we were in Seattle. I’m sorry we are no longer there. We have a WNBA team in Seattle in an almost brand-new building that’s doing spectacular. And Las Vegas, where we will be at our Summer League in July, has shown itself to be a great sports market as well.”
“We’ll be looking at it at some point, but there’s no specific timeline right now,” Silver ended up stating.
Comments