NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has again spoken about an expansion of the NBA and was asked straight up about whether Las Vegas is a legit candidate.
In exciting news for NBA fans and players alike, Silver says that Vegas will be a place that is under consideration.
“Well, number one, I’ll say there are no inside candidates,” Silver told SiriusXM NBA Radio. “Lots of players, former players, well-known wealthy people out there who’ve expressed interest in having a Las Vegas franchise. What I’ve said to everyone, publicly and privately, is that there is no process in place. There have been no secret discussions, no commitments to anyone. I’m obviously thrilled that people are interested. We have a long track record in Vegas. Not that it’s a competition, but before those other teams you mentioned were there, we played an All-Star game there. We brought our summer league to Las Vegas. Obviously now we have the WNBA Las Vegas Aces which are incredibly successful there. We’re bringing the in-season tournament semifinals and championship game there. So we like the market.”
He went on to explain how the next media rights deal is the priority before any expansion though.
“So, you know, we’ll see what the timing is on those national television agreements, Silver said. “You know, we don’t have to wait till the end of the second season to get those done, but once we do, we’ll turn back to expansion, or turn to expansion. And again, I made no secret out of it,” Silver said on timing of expansion discussions.
Besides Vegas, Seattle has also been the location that’s been thrown around for a number of years and Silver says it will be another place the NBA will consider.
“Las Vegas is one of those markets we’re gonna look to,” Silver said. “I know that the fans in Seattle have wanted us to get back there forever. No commitments, you know, to anyone. But we’ll certainly be looking at those two markets.”
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