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Adam Silver talks more about Vancouver, Montreal NBA expansion interest

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Nov 17 2023, 1:42 am
Adam Silver talks more about Vancouver, Montreal NBA expansion interest
@TheRaptorsShow/X

Ears perked up north of the border when NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke openly about Vancouver and Montreal on Monday.

The NBA is starting to think about expanding beyond its current 30-team league, and the two Canadian cities appear to be in the mix. So are a bunch of other cities in the United States, including Seattle and Las Vegas, in addition to Mexico City.

On Thursday, in a conversation with William Lou and Blake Murphy on Sportsnet, Silver was asked again to explain the situation, from a Canadian perspective. Silver indicated that both Vancouver and Montreal have expressed interest in having an NBA franchise.

“I was talking about cities that have expressed interest in having an NBA franchise, there are no active expansion discussions going on at the league right now,” Silver said on Thursday’s edition of The Raptors Show.

“We have heard from other markets, including Vancouver and Montreal, about their desire to have a team. I think at some point the league will turn back to expansion, but it’s not an active discussion we’re having right now.”

The NBA is expected to expand, likely by at least two teams, after its current broadcast rights deal expires in 2025.

When asked if ownerships groups were “ready to go,” or if merely cursory conversations had taken place, Silver chose the latter.

“They’re cursory, largely because the league has told interested groups, whether in Vancouver or Montreal, or any city for that matter, that we’re not ready to engage right now. Other than letters I’ve received, occasional calls, public officials in various cities, we’ve studiously avoided taking that next step because we want to be fair to everyone involved and at the point where we’re ready to address expansion. We want to have a fair and open process so that anybody who is interested has the opportunity to apply and understands the rules of the road.”

With a metro area population of over 4 million people, Montreal is the largest city in Canada or the United States without an NBA team. Seattle, which lost the Sonics to Oklahoma City in 2008, is close behind, also with a metro area population above 4 million. Vancouver, which lost the Grizzlies to Memphis in 2001, has a metro area population over 2.4 million.

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