Adam Silver admits that the All-Star NBA format was “a young lady”; Does not give any time sequence to expansion
NEW YORK – The NBA Adam Silver commissioner started his press conference on Thursday with a great announcement. After almost a year of exploratory interviews throughout the continent, Silver said the The championship is officially going with its plans to explore a new basketball league in Europe.
But it was not the only news that came from the silver after the meeting of the Board of Directors of the League. He also discussed where the NBA was in terms of expansion, what is the next All-Star game and more.
Changes provided for All-Star game
Silver admitted that the last attempt of the NBA in a new format for the All-Star game in February was not a success. The championship created a tournament with all-stars divided into three different teams and another team made up of the winners of the Stars match. He brought to complaints not only of the format but the way in which the night was staged and Silver admitted that the pauses between the games were too long.
“She was a young lady,” Silver said. “We are not there in terms of creating an all-star experience that we can be proud and of which our players can be proud of.”
The NBA will return to the drawing table again for the game of next year to see if it can find something that works. The League has tried a variety of formats in recent years, using an Elam ending, teams drawn up by two captains, the traditional concept of the eastern conference against the western conference and this year’s tournament.
Silver has hinted that the 2026 All-Star game could have an international flavor. The NBC will broadcast the game next season in the first year of an 11 -year -older’s rights agreement with the NBA. The network also has the rights of the winter Olympics, which will serve as lead-in for all-star game.
“People floated in the world of the United States,” Silver said. “I’m not sure it makes sense with the level of development, if it is right to put together all other countries these days. Maybe we can identify, there are some different national teams that can compete.”
Timberwolves, Celtics updates
The future groups owned by two NBA franchises continue to support the balance, but Silver said he did not have much to offer or on the minnesota Timberwolves nor on the Boston Celtics.
Last month, potential control owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez have won an arbitration hearing with the current owner Glen Taylor Continue along the path towards a majority participation in wolves and Lynx. A panel of three ruled the favor of Lore and Rodriguez for a dispute on the interpretation of the contract that the two sides signed to sell the team to the couple. Now they will have a 90 -day extension to close the sale.
Silver said Taylor is still weighing if you appeal to the hearing, but that he is also talking to Lore and Rodriguez. He said that the involvement of the League is suspended accordingly. The Board of Directors of the NBA should approve the sale of the control share before tradition and Rodriguez can take over.
While that more stadium sale takes place, the one in Boston is being reviewed by the League office. Boston Basketball Partners, the Celtics owner group, announced that it is I am selling the franchising to a consortium led by the investor Bill Chisholm with an evaluation of $ 6.1 billion In a two -stage transaction that would appreciate the team to over $ 7 billion in the second round of the agreement.
While both parties have announced the agreement, it is complex. WYC Grousbeck, whose family has a team control share, would have remained governor and CEO throughout the 2027-28 season according to the declaration he issued and Chisholm. Silver said they are still “working through this agreement”.
The current agreement would also include an investment of over $ 1 billion from Sixth Street, a private equity company. This sum could potentially run the rules of the NBA that affirm that the control owner must have at least one participation of 15 % in the franchise and more than a private equity company. Silver said that the League has not thought of changing its rules for Sixth Street in this sale.
He said the agreement was revised by the League’s office.
“I’m very early in that transaction,” Silver said. “We are just learning. We have not had the opportunity to not only potential potential owners, but to really dig in the details of the agreement.”
No time sequence for expansion
In the last year, the NBA has modeled how the expansion could be if the League should go on, but Silver said that there is nothing new on that front.
For now, the championship is still taking on the sale of the Celtics. If it passes, it establishes the record for the most expensive NBA team transaction and the North American sports franchise transaction.
“There is no doubt that an important transaction like that becomes relevant for expansion,” Silver said.
An area that has given a silver “break” is the state of local television broadcasts. The regional sports network market is atrophized in the last half decade and the League is trying to understand how the future could be.
“While we understand the panorama of the national media now, to the extent that we are looking at the expansion at national level, I think we would really like to understand what the opportunity for local media is, because it is a rather critical component of the economy of our teams,” Silver said.
He also said there is no time sequence for expansion. Silver had previously stated that the League would deal with his assistance after having ensured his agreements on media rights and a new collective bargaining agreement, but then made room to explore a new League in Europe and waited for the results of the sale of the Celtics.
This has left fans in some markets, such as Fans of Forlorn Supersonics in Seattle, in a state of paralysis.
“I would like to be more conclusive today and say, here it is, here is the time sequence,” Silver said. “There are events that are clearly outside my control. Part of it, as I said, is trying to evaluate the value in a way that it is right, also for a potential owner, and Fire for the owners existing in terms of what it means to add additional partners, different cities, to divide our media cake to be competitive to be competitive and economic in an economic way. As important for the other teams, the success on the floor.
“Having said that, however, I would only say to our numerous fans in Seattle, and I often hear about it, and the inheritance of the Sonics is still very strong and is a fantastic basketball market, it is that we do not focus much. That we are not ready to make public announcements with a specific time sequence does not mean that we are not very interested in those fans and we do not focus on the potential for the NBA to return to Seattle.”
(Photo by Silver: David Dow / Nbae via Getty Images)
