Commissioner Says NBA Expansion Isn’t ‘Automatic’

NBA commissioner Adam Silver indicated Thursday that expansion may not be as much of a priority for the league as some fans are hoping, according to Joe Vardon and Sam Amick of The Athletic. Speaking at his annual news conference before the start of the NBA Finals, Silver said he doesn’t think it’s “automatic” that the league will decide to add more teams.

Silver has stated in the past that expansion would become more of a front-burner issue once the new collective bargaining agreement was in place and new media rights deals had been worked out. Both those things have happened, but the league hasn’t taken any action to expand.

Silver added that he expects the Board of Governors to direct the commissioner’s office this summer to “continue to explore” the possibility of adding teams. That action could involve meetings with prospective ownership groups, but Silver cautioned that there are concerns among the current owners about bringing in more partners to divide up revenues.

“It depends on your perspective on the future of the league,” Silver said. “You know, as I said before, expansion in a way is selling equity in the league, and if you believe in the league, you don’t necessarily want to add partners. On the other hand, we recognize there are underserved markets in the United States and elsewhere, markets that deserve to have NBA teams — probably even if we were to expand, more than we can serve.”

Fans in Seattle have been counting on a return of the SuperSonics, who left for Oklahoma City in 2008. Las Vegas has also been heavily rumored as a leading candidate for the next round of expansion.

Silver has been concentrating lately on creating a new NBA European league, and he framed that during Thursday’s presser as a type of expansion.

There’s more from Silver’s media session:

• The commissioner confirmed that changes are in the works to the All-Star Game, but it won’t be a straight U.S. vs. the World format, per Vardon and Amick. Silver noted that NBC plans to air the game on a Sunday afternoon amid its Winter Olympics coverage, which he expects to boost fan interest. However, he expressed doubt that matching a team of American players against a team of international players is workable.
• Despite concerns about television ratings, Silver said the league is embracing the small-market matchup between the Pacers and Thunder, the authors add. “We set out to create a system that allowed for more competition around the league,” Silver told reporters. “The goal being to have 30 teams all in a position, if well-managed, to be competing for championships. And that’s what we’re seeing here.”
• Playoff injuries to stars such as Jayson Tatum and Stephen Curry have led to calls for a shorter regular season, but Silver doesn’t believe that’s necessary, Vardon and Amick relay. The commissioner points out that there are longer breaks between playoff games than there used to be, and he said this season’s injury rate is the second-lowest in the past decade. “Money is part of it, there’s no question about it — we’re a business,” Silver said. “But having said that, I don’t really see the benefit to reducing the number of games. People used to say you should reduce the number of games because it will lead to reduction in the number of injuries. There’s absolutely no data to suggest that.”