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Tim Bontemps
LAS VEGAS — For the first time, NBA commissioner Adam Silver laid out a definitive timeline for domestic expansion, saying that a decision will be made on whether to proceed or not with the project sometime in 2026.
«I’d say in terms of domestic expansion, that is something we’re continuing to look at,» Silver said at a news conference before the NBA Cup championship game between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night. «It’s not a secret we’re looking at this market in Las Vegas. We are looking at Seattle. We’ve looked at other markets, as well. I’d say I want to be sensitive there about this notion that we’re somehow teasing these markets, because I know we’ve been talking about it for a while.
«As I’ve said before, domestic expansion, as opposed to doing a new league in Europe, is selling equity in this current league. If you own 1/30 of this league, now you own 1/32 if you add two teams. So it’s a much more difficult economic analysis. In many ways, it requires predicting the future.
«I think now we’re in the process of working with our teams and gauging the level of interest and having a better understanding of what the economics would be on the ground for those particular teams and what a pro forma would look like for them, and then sometime in 2026 we’ll make a determination.»
The topic of expansion has been lingering for six years now, since Silver first acknowledged the possibility in a news conference ahead of the 2020-21 season — hence his comment about not wanting to seem like the possibility is being hung out there without any certainty of a resolution.
But like in that news conference, when Silver changed his public stance for the first time on the topic, he had never laid out a specific timeline for a decision to be made before now.
And, if the league chooses to move forward with expansion, the heavy favorites to land teams are Seattle and Las Vegas — the former having been without a team for almost 20 years since the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City, and the latter having been referred to as the «31st NBA city» for a while between hosting the NBA’s annual summer league every July and now the NBA Cup.
Silver did nothing to dissuade that notion Tuesday, either, heaping praise on both cities as part of his answer.
«I think Seattle and Las Vegas are two incredible cities,» Silver said. «Obviously we had a team in Seattle that had great success. We have a WNBA team here in Las Vegas in the Aces. We’ve been playing the summer league here for 20 years. We’re playing our Cup games here, so we’re very familiar with this market.
«I don’t have any doubt that Las Vegas, despite all of the other major league teams that are here now, the other entertainment properties, that this city could support an NBA team.»
In addition to expansion, Silver touched on several other topics, including:
• As the WNBA and its players remain engaged in protracted negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement, Silver said he and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum are willing to do «whatever is necessary» to help the two sides come to an agreement.
«I’m tracking things very closely,» Silver said. «We’re integrated at the league office. I talk to the people who are at the negotiating table on a daily basis.
«As I’ve said before, we, the NBA, WNBA collective, acknowledged that our players deserve to be paid significantly more than they have so far based on the increased success of the league, and it’s just a question now of finding a meeting of the minds in terms of what is a fair deal. It’s going to require compromise on both sides.
«I remain optimistic we’ll get something done.»
• When asked about future Hall of Famer Chris Paul being dramatically sent home by the LA Clippers a few weeks ago, Silver said that he had spoken to Paul, though not Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, about the situation and was «dismayed» it had gotten to that point for all parties involved.
«I’m particularly close to Chris because he was president of the [National Basketball] Players Association for many years,» Silver said. «… I would love to see him finish off the season on another team. He’s already announced this is his last season, so I’d love to see him finish strong.»
When asked if he would have liked the situation to be handled differently, Silver said that was not for him to say.
• In response to a question about injuries across the league, Silver pushed back on the notion that injuries are up across the league, as well as that the schedule has more density to it because of the NBA Cup.
«All I can deal with is the data itself,» Silver said. «And the data we have so far this season is we have the lowest number of injuries in the last three years.
«I’ll stop there and say, regardless where the level of injuries stands versus prior years, of course the soft tissue injuries concern us. All injuries concern us, for that matter. The most frustrating issue right now, and the one that we have seemingly the least control over, is keeping star players on the floor.
«I think we have made progress. We’ve made adjustments in scheduling. We’ve made adjustments in the sharing of information among teams. We’ve made adjustments in the care of players. But there are no silver bullets here.»
Silver touched on a variety of issues — including players specializing in a single sport at a far earlier age than in the past, the faster pace of play today than in the past and the year-round training of athletes — as all potentially playing a part, before saying the league is committed to studying the issue in every way possible.
«So the answer is it’s frustrating,» Silver said. «It’s frustrating for our teams. It’s frustrating for our fans. But I do think we have to be true to what the evidence is as opposed to saying there’s a narrative out there that injuries are up or injuries are up because of scheduling. They’re not.»
