NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The NBA has finally decided to consider expanding past its current 30-team footprint, with the league’s owners voting Wednesday to start exploring the process of adding franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle.
It was not a surprise move; expansion has been a consideration for years, and it’s been clear for some time that those two cities 鈥� both with longstanding ties to the NBA 鈥� are the ones that are now a significant step closer toward joining the league.
Las Vegas, the league’s summer home for years and site of the first NBA Cup championship games, has been clamoring for an NBA team since at least the late 1990s, if not even longer. And Seattle has been waiting for the SuperSonics to return for nearly two decades.
The ball is essentially now in their courts.
鈥淚 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,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “No knock on any other markets. Those are just the markets we鈥檙e focused on.鈥�
What the league’s board of governors voted to approve is being called an exploration of 鈥減otential team expansion.鈥� Prospective ownership groups will now be tasked with putting together their bids and plans in an effort to prove to the league that they’re worthy of owning NBA franchises.
Expansion is not guaranteed, Silver reiterated. The league could add no teams, one team or two teams. And there was discussion of what adding teams will mean both economically and on the court; stockpiling two new clubs with players means existing teams will lose some talent in that process.
鈥淭here are some owners who felt that we just frankly don鈥檛 need to expand,” Silver said. “They didn鈥檛 necessarily seem concerned going forward, but they felt we鈥檙e at a very solid place with the 30-team league we have now.鈥�
The league said investment bank PJT Partners has been brought on 鈥渁s a strategic adviser to evaluate prospective markets, ownership groups, arena infrastructure, and the broader economic implications of expansion.鈥�
Governors react
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson applauded the vote, saying 鈥渢he time is right.鈥�
Seattle had an NBA team from 1967 through 2008, when the Sonics 鈥� who won the 1979 title 鈥� left to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Various groups have lobbied to bring the team 鈥� or a team 鈥� back ever since.
鈥淏ringing the Sonics back is a top priority, and the state will be a strong partner in this effort,” Ferguson said. “I plan to be there at tipoff with thousands of fellow fans when the Sonics return.鈥�
Las Vegas has been part of the league for decades. The NBA鈥檚 Summer League is held in Las Vegas each year and has become a can鈥檛-miss event for league executives, coaches, media, agents and even players who aren鈥檛 taking part in the games.
And the city used to play host to the occasional regular-season game; for example, in 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers broke the league鈥檚 career scoring record in a game against the Utah Jazz 鈥� who used Las Vegas for some of their home games at that time.
The idea of putting a franchise there might have seemed unlikely a couple of decades ago. Not anymore, especially not with the NFL鈥檚 Raiders, the NHL鈥檚 Golden Knights and the WNBA鈥檚 Aces all already there and with Major League Baseball on the way.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 vote by the NBA Board of Governors is a testament to the incredible growth we鈥檙e seeing in Southern Nevada and our state鈥檚 business-friendly environment,鈥� Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo said. 鈥淟as Vegans have already shown unwavering support for our professional sports franchises, and a new NBA team will provide even more entertainment, more jobs, and more small business growth for the region.鈥�
What鈥檚 next
Now that this step is complete, there are many issues to decide. A partial list:
鈥� The expansion fee, which is expected to be at least $6 billion.
鈥� The timeline for adding the clubs. It seems like the 2028-29 season would almost certainly be the earliest that could happen.
鈥� The ripple effect. If both Las Vegas and Seattle get teams, they would certainly be in the Western Conference. To avoid having 17 teams in one conference and 15 in the other, the league would look to move a current West team into the Eastern Conference. Geographically, New Orleans, Memphis or Minnesota would be the most logical candidates to move into the East.
Players, coaches react
New Orleans guard Dejounte Murray was 11 years old when Seattle last had an NBA team. He grew up with hopes of being like Gary Payton, Ray Allen and Shawn Kemp, and even remembers a rookie who played for the SuperSonics named Kevin Durant.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a basketball city, basketball culture, so it鈥檚 mandatory I think that they get it back over there,鈥� said Murray, a Seattle native.
Added Orlando’s Paolo Banchero, another Seattle native: 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 been a long time coming for the city. I think everybody was pretty bummed out when they left. And since then, it鈥檚 just been waiting and hoping that one day they will come back. I鈥檓 sure with the news, everybody鈥檚 excited. I know I鈥檓 excited for all the kids growing up because Seattle鈥檚 a really big basketball city.鈥�
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said the SuperSonics were 鈥渙ne of the iconic franchises in the NBA.鈥�
鈥淚 was shocked when the league left Seattle,鈥� Kerr said. “Incredible fan base. Great basketball market. A ton of talent coming from Seattle. Top 10 media market. Incredible sports city. So, it was kind of shocking to all of us when the league left Seattle. And I think we all hoped it would be a lot sooner than 18, 19 years, whatever it鈥檚 going to be, before they got back in the league.
鈥淭hey belong in that city, and a team belongs there,鈥� he added. 鈥淭hose fans deserve it.鈥�
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AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney and AP Sports Writers Schuyler Dixon in Dallas and Joe Reedy in Cleveland contributed to this report.
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