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Adam Silver says 'there was not as much discussion around Seattle' compared to Vegas after BOG meets
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the media on Tuesday following the league's Board of Governors meeting in New York. During the press conference, Silver spoke about league expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas, saying that there was not as much discussion around Seattle as there was around Las Vegas.
An NBA team coming back to Seattle has been a topic of conversation for quite some time now, and league commissioner Adam Silver provided an update on the situation following the Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday.
Adam Silver addresses NBA expansion to Seattle, Las Vegas
What they're saying:
At Tuesday's press conference, Silver mentioned that there was not as much discussion about expansion efforts in Seattle as there were around Las Vegas.
Silver cited the questions surrounding a move to Vegas, such as site location and arena construction, as reasons why the moment demanded more conversations around Las Vegas compared to Seattle.
"In Seattle, we have had operational groups out to Climate Pledge [Arena]," Silver said. "We clearly have a state-of-the-art arena there…but if we were opening in five weeks we could be ready in Seattle."
NBA Insider Shams Charania said on Tuesday that the NBA is in the "deeper stages" of conversations about expansion. He added that the process for Las Vegas has moved quicker than the process with Seattle, but added that "those Seattle conversations are continuing as well."
NBA Board of Governors vote to allow league to explore expansion bids in Seattle, Vegas
Eighteen years after the Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City, the NBA may be just one step away from returning to the city of Seattle.
Timeline of NBA conversations about expansion
Timeline:
Earlier this year, on March 16, it was reported that NBA owners were set to vote on whether the league should explore bids for expansion teams, exclusively in Seattle and Las Vegas.
On March 25, reports stated that all 30 owners voted in favor of exploration.
"I think Seattle and Las Vegas, in terms of their history and support of NBA basketball, are unique in terms of available markets in the U.S. right now. No knock on any other markets. Those are just the markets we’re focused on," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said at the time.
The commissioner also said that there were no handshake agreements in place with potential ownership groups, adding that he would like to have an answer by the end of the 2026 calendar year.
"We need to know by the end of this calendar year what it is we’re doing. It may not be that every "I" is dotted, but that would be our goal this year," he said.
Why Seattle?
The backstory:
The Seattle Supersonics joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1967, winning a championship just 10 years later against the Washington Bullets.
In 2008, the team relocated to Oklahoma City and was rebranded as the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Sonics leaving Seattle is attributed to a number of missteps, but most notably linked to the ownership of the team landing with Clay Bennett in July 2016, who was a figure the NBA effectively owed a favor.
Bennett bought the Sonics from an ownership group led by former Starbucks owner Howard Schultz in July 2006, who had become frustrated by his inability to get financing for a new arena through either the city of Seattle, King County, or Washington State.
The team's former arena, KeyArena, lacked space for luxury boxes, the footprint to add an NHL team, and revenue streams beyond the events themselves.
However, the renovation of KeyArena into Climate Pledge Arena changed the landscape as it finally gave the city of Seattle a building with the necessary infrastructure to host NHL hockey and NBA basketball.
What's next:
Silver said at Tuesday's press conference that he continues to pursue the goal of having a decision on expansion to Seattle finalized by the end of the year.
The Source: Information for this story came from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver at Tuesday's press conference, along with previous reporting by FOX 13 Seattle and ESPN.
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