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Marc Stein: The league investigated in 2019 and found no rules were broken, but they said if further evidence compels us to look at this again, we will. That’s obviously going to happen now. And I like I said, I really think how the other teams react to this is going to drive it. Adam Silver ultimately has to answer to the other owners. And Steve Ballmer is already known as the richest owner in the NBA, as an owner who has resources that no one else has. You saw the building that they've built. The Intuit Dome is the fanciest building on the NBA map. You see the system that the NBA now operates in those aprons. I mean, how many times there aren't many All-NBA shows that I come on that we don't have to talk about the aprons. It's a part of our daily vocabulary. That's a lot because of Steve Ballmer and the NBA's newest CBA has all these team-building restrictions for the first time because in large part because Steve Ballmer stands out as an owner who has the wherewithal to pay any just plain old luxury tax bill that would have landed on his desk.
John Gambadoro: This story is fascinating. From what I know from sources - when Kawhi signed with the Clippers the Toronto owner Larry Tannebaum was beside himself because he believed he bent over backwards for Kawhi - including calling three sponsors to meet Kawhi's demand of an extra $15 million in endorsement money. This was brought to the attention of Adam Silver as a concern over the cheating going on in the league being out of control. But no action was taken as it was thought Tannebaum didn't truly understand the rules - only a promise to get more serious about it in the future.
The Clippers responded to those allegations by sending the following quote to Torre: "Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration. Any contrary assertion is provably false." At the time of the 2019 investigation into Robertson, sources told Sam Amick of The Athletic that while no evidence of illegal benefits was found, NBA commissioner Adam Silver considers the issue "a cardinal sin of the NBA" and that the league would re-open its investigation into the situation if more evidence came to light.
NBA Communications: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement today regarding the passing of Basketball Hall of Famer and longtime Nike executive George Raveling: George Raveling had an influence on the game of basketball at every level and was a pioneering force behind its global growth. During his long and impactful tenure at Nike, George traveled the world - mentoring multiple generations of players and coaches and promoting the sport that defined his identity. He broke barriers as a college basketball coach and was a towering voice in our industry. I valued my friendship with George and admired how he led with poise, dignity and respect. He was simply one of the most revered individuals in all of basketball. "On behalf of everyone at the NBA, I send my deepest condolences to George's family, friends and the countless people he touched throughout his extraordinary life.
NBA Communications: NBA COMMISSIONER ADAM SILVER'S STATEMENT REGARDING THE PASSING OF CAROLINE KLEIN NEW YORK, Aug. 22, 2025-NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement today regarding the passing of Smith Entertainment Group Chief Communications Officer Caroline Klein: "The NBA family mourns the passing of our colleague and friend, Caroline Klein. Caroline was a leader within the Utah Jazz, Smith Entertainment Group, and across the league. Her passion, determination, and generosity left a lasting impact on everyone she met, and she played a pivotal role in making the 2023 NBA All-Star Game in Utah an unforgettable celebration of the Jazz organization and the Salt Lake City community. Even after her diagnosis, Caroline remained dedicated to supporting her colleagues and embraced every opportunity with courage and grace. She will always be remembered for the example she set and the lives she touched. "We extend our deepest condolences to her husband, Mike; her family and friends; Ryan and Ashley Smith; and her many colleagues at the Jazz and Utah Mammoth."
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Portland Mayor Keith Wilson met with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in early June to show the city’s commitment to keeping the Trail Blazers in Rip City. That’s according to Wilson’s quarterly calendar, which was released Tuesday. Wilson had a half-hour call with Silver on June 4. The meeting appears on Wilson’s schedule sandwiched between a discussion about a contract with the Salvation Army to run a homeless shelter and before an annual luncheon for the city’s chamber of commerce.
Gov. Ned Lamont is hoping to woo NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as Connecticut continues to make its case to keep its only major league team. The WNBA has still not yet approved a sale for the Connecticut Sun. The Mohegan Tribe repeated its statement that it’s pursuing investment opportunities and that it can’t comment on potential sales.
The Boston-based group reportedly offered a record $325 million to buy the team, while Lamont has said the Connecticut group’s offer is in that range. Today, he said he’s hoping to win over Silver. “Connecticut's right there as the birthplace of women’s basketball, I think we’re near the top of the list,” he said at the capitol.
Bill Simmons: I wouldn't be surprised NBA Europe starts in the 2026-27 season
Bill Simmons on NBA Europe: I think this goes London, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Paris, Berlin and a Greek team as your definite seven better in this. I think Adam Silver has those seven in his pocket and I don’t know who the Greek team is yet. Maybe you could add Tony Parker's French team. You could add the Istanbul team. You could add Manchester City. All sudden, I'm at 10. Maybe there's an Israeli team down the road. Maybe there's a third Spain team. Who knows? But they could take this right away. And if you look at the way the Euroleague is, where you basically have this ownership. It's called Euroleague Commercial Assets. That's the company that runs the League of voting rights on league rules, financials, TV deals, etc. And then there's a B license that that's a one year thing that you got to play your way in based on results, and then a C license that's like, basically a wild card. They could challenge this. They could offer the sponsorship expertise better, TV deals. They could shoehorn some of the TV stuff into their things. They could do the schedule so that it complements the NBA schedule correctly and I think this is going to be like, I honestly wouldn't be surprised that this was going in the 26-27 season.
Bill Simmons: And what's really interesting about this, and I mentioned this a couple weeks ago that I felt like the NBA is drifting against expansion, which was a lock forever, until they got $76 billion from the media deal. Then suddenly, you know, the media money and the teams that, I mean, the owners don't need to give up the media money for expansion fees because they made so much. I think this is the apple of their eye right now, and I think that's why the reports are coming out this week. That's why Adam Silver is very publicly meeting with all these people, even though it's private, but it's not stuff's leaking out and and I think this is going to happen in a real way.
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Bill Simmons: So what's the NBA offering? Well, from what I've heard and from what's been reported, it's probably a 10 team league, but they could get away with eight. Maybe you grow it to 12. You get a guaranteed spot in the league. You get the voting rights, get better TV distribution, better sponsorship. You're not relegated. You don't to worry about, like, you know that I think there's 12 teams in the Euro league that are in there, but there's another six that you could get bounced out or if you don't have a good season, and there would be some sort of link to the NBA, which I think is the key here, their exhibition games, which I've already announced, A bunch of them, Manchester City, Paris, London. Maybe a tournament. And I've heard a couple different ideas for this, and I don't even know if they've decided on what they want to do yet, but you can have, maybe in October, you have the two best, three best NBA teams and the three best teams from this NBA early, they have little round robin. Maybe it's just champ versus champ Best of three. Maybe it's something. In February, with all the best teams, there's some sort of synergy thing. And it goes beyond just we're going to have some regular season games over there and some exhibition games, I think, big picture, 20 years from now. What does this look like? The leagues are probably a little more intertwined, not too intertwined, but a little intertwined.
Bill Simmons: And what's cool about it, I remember watching a bunch of Luka Doncic games when he was playing over there as a 17 year old. I can't remember what team he was on [Real Madrid], and the quality play was good. The crowds were great, but it was FIBA, so the style of it was pretty neat, and it was a good enough product. It was just the players weren't quite good enough, it just definitely felt second class. I think if you can move that up, where it's somewhere between first class and second class, and then you could also be a place. This could be a place where you park some of your retiring players. It's like, Oh, your last year, you're going to play for this team. And maybe, you go there, maybe they change the rules, where you could get a little bit of an ownership stake. If you go over for here, they could do some things with this league that they can't do with the NBA. They could bend the rules and make a little more European.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his chief deputies met with leaders from Spanish conglomerate Real Madrid on Thursday in Paris about the possibility of the club signing on with Silver’s planned European league. Membership from the soccer and basketball juggernaut would mark a significant step in launching the NBA’s overseas venture. Thursday’s meeting is part of a series of similar discussions Silver, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum and the league’s European and Middle East director George Aivazoglou are having in Europe this week with potential investors and teams for the NBA Europe league Silver is pursuing.
But the NBA’s sit-down with Real Madrid officials, disclosed to The Athletic by American and European basketball sources, is perhaps most important because of Real Madrid’s historical standing in Europe, its unlimited funding because of the success of its soccer operation and its tenuous relationship with the EuroLeague. Real Madrid is an “A” license holder in the EuroLeague, which is a championship-style series of games on the continent for the top clubs from each national league, with a few stakeholders guaranteed a spot in the EuroLeague each year. Real Madrid is one of those clubs with a guaranteed spot, but its license expires in 2026. Should Real Madrid join Silver’s new venture, other EuroLeague clubs would follow, European sources believe.
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