Silver: Owners likely to urge exploring expansion

OKLAHOMA CITY -- NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday nighttime that the NBA volition sermon enlargement astatine adjacent month's Board of Governors gathering successful Las Vegas and believes the league's owners volition urge the taxable beryllium formally explored.

Silver, speaking astatine his yearly quality league up of Game 1 of the NBA Finals betwixt the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers, said helium hopes to "take the somesthesia of the room" regarding enlargement astatine the July gathering and believes determination is capable involvement among the owners to instrumentality the adjacent steps successful the process.

"There's been nary deficiency of interest," Silver said. "I fundamentally person said to radical from respective antithetic cities, 'We're conscionable not engaging successful that process close now.' I privation to beryllium just to everyone. So I don't privation to person meetings with immoderate and not others. So if we were to accidental yes, we're present going to determination into a much ceremonial exploratory phase, we would instrumentality those meetings and successful summation apt we would prosecute with extracurricular advisors who would look astatine markets, look astatine economical opportunities and media opportunities, et cetera."

Silver has said respective times successful caller months that the league is opening to crook its absorption to expansion, which has been informally discussed successful league circles for the past respective years. But Thursday's quality league marked the archetypal clip Silver said helium expected enlargement to go a ceremonial treatment constituent astatine a gathering of the league's owners.

Silver did caution, however, that enlargement isn't a certainty.

"I'd accidental the existent consciousness is we should beryllium exploring it," Silver said. "I don't deliberation it's automatic, due to the fact that it depends connected your position connected the aboriginal of the league.

"As I've said before, enlargement successful a mode is selling equity successful the league. If you judge successful the league, you don't needfully privation to adhd partners. On the different hand, we admit determination are underserved markets successful the United States and elsewhere -- I deliberation markets that merit to person NBA teams. Probably adjacent if we were to expand, much than we tin serve."

The past clip the NBA expanded was successful 2004, erstwhile Charlotte returned to the NBA. Seattle and Las Vegas are considered the favorites to get enlargement teams if the process is agreed upon.

Silver discussed a fewer different cardinal issues astatine Thursday's quality conference:

• The victor of this year's NBA Finals volition go the league's seventh consecutive caller champion, the longest the league has gone without a repetition champion. Some person attributed this to the changes the league made successful its CBA to effort to level the playing field, but Silver said that wasn't needfully the constituent of them.

"I can't accidental lasting present that I'd envision we would person 7 antithetic champions implicit 7 years," Silver said. "I would lone accidental the extremity isn't needfully to person a antithetic champion each year. As we said, it's to person parity of opportunity. Hats disconnected to Oklahoma City and Indianapolis, 2 incredibly well-run franchises, apical to bottom, that merit to beryllium here.

"Whichever squad were to win, if they were to repeat, I wouldn't past beryllium saying this truthful isn't moving due to the fact that I didn't spell to a antithetic metropolis to manus retired the trophy. I'd beryllium saying that's the strategy we wanted to create, arsenic agelong arsenic there's a level playing field. Again, what we're focused is connected the process that goes into gathering the team, not the outcome. So the outcomes volition beryllium immoderate they are."

• Silver reiterated that the NBA volition apt displacement to immoderate benignant of Team USA vs. the World format for adjacent year's All-Star Game successful Los Angeles -- similar the NHL did this past play -- but said the circumstantial format hasn't been decided yet.

"I don't deliberation a straight-up USA versus World makes sense," Silver said, adding that planetary players marque up 30% of the league portion American players marque up 70%. "That's not what they did successful the NHL either. There astir apt volition beryllium immoderate antithetic teams we form."

Silver added: "I deliberation we tin play disconnected that nationalism. We are moving to NBC adjacent twelvemonth for the All-Star Game, wherever we utilized to beryllium galore years ago. We'll beryllium smack successful the mediate of Winter Olympic contention connected NBC. Our All-Star Game, which volition beryllium successful the day alternatively of the evening adjacent year, volition beryllium coming close retired of Olympic competition, going backmost to Winter Olympic contention aft the game."

• Silver changeable down the thought of reducing the NBA's 82-game regular season, saying it wouldn't enactment for a fig reasons.

"Money's portion of it, there's nary question astir it," Silver said. "We're a business. Having said that, I don't truly spot the payment to reducing the fig of games. People utilized to accidental you should trim the fig of games due to the fact that it volition pb to a simplification successful a fig of injuries. We person perfectly nary information to suggest that. If that were the case, you would deliberation you person much injuries successful April than October. We don't spot that. Or you would deliberation you'd spot much injuries successful the playoffs than you bash successful the regular season. We don't spot that either."