Adam Silver, commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), didn’t shy away from hard-hitting questions at his annual news conference. This happened right before Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. Among the notable topics discussed was the potential for league expansion, as Silver noted a growing interest among team owners in exploring this possibility.
Silver hinted that we might see the NBA’s seventh straight new champion this year. This would be a league record for the longest period without a consecutive repeat champion in the league’s history. The key thing, I think, is picking the right champion. He asserted that the league is still deeply committed to making sure every team has a fair chance.
“I can’t say standing here that I’d envision we would have seven different champions over seven years,” – Adam Silver
Silver corrected that impression, saying the league does not want a “new champion every season.” Even with this historic run, the goal is still the same. So I would just say the point is not to have a new champ every year. Like we mentioned, it’s to have equality of opportunity. But he gave a nod to the excellent work being done in franchises like Oklahoma City and Indianapolis, whom he described as “incredibly well-run.”
The NBA is a league in flux. Silver anticipates franchise owners to advocate strongly for expansion talks to begin during the next board of governors meeting in Las Vegas. He pointed out the deep bipartisan hunger for expansion. He teased future locations in the process, Seattle and Las Vegas among them.
“I’d say the current sense is we should be exploring it,” – Adam Silver
Silver said, at the time, it was necessary to understand how team owners felt about expansion going into the July meeting. He said he is confident that enough of that 12 interest exists among them to move further on discussions of expansion to new teams. Silver understood the potential demand, both in underserved markets across the United States and indeed worldwide. He put a particular focus on giving these communities access to professional basketball.
The public debate over expansion proves Silver right. He’s not sure the collective bargaining agreement changes were specifically designed to level the playing field. He was firm in keeping the league’s purpose on track of creating competitive teams and not just changing wins to losses.
Here are a few other notable moments from Silver’s address that give insight into the future of the NBA. He firmly stated, “Money’s part of it, there’s no question about it. We’re a business.” He certainly doesn’t see an upside to playing fewer games in a season. She noted many have called for cutting down the number of games in order to limit injuries. Yet, contrary to the prevailing belief, the data overwhelmingly does not support this notion.
Silver’s insights reflect a broader commitment to ensuring a thriving competitive environment within the league while recognizing market demands and franchise needs. Whether the NBA takes its next step with actual expansion, future expansion or not, the attention to it all has the chance to dramatically change the league.
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