While expansion talks in the NBA have largely centered on new cities and the long-standing issue of tanking, Stephen A. Smith believes something far more strategic is at play. According to Smith, Commissioner Adam Silver may be using the league’s expansion plan to quietly dismantle a financial dynamic that has long worked in favor of billionaire team owners.

Speaking on ESPN’s First Take, Smith suggested that the real brilliance of expansion isn’t about balancing competition- it’s about shifting power and economics behind the scenes. Joined by former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins, the discussion initially revolved around whether expansion would worsen tanking. But Smith quickly pivoted to a deeper perspective.

“Well, you know what, to me personally, I don’t think it hurts it. I don’t think it hurts it, because I don’t think that it could have gotten much worse. I think the fact is that folks were shamed into course correcting because it was just too flagrant,” Smith opined.

While tanking remains a visible concern, Smith’s take hints that Silver’s latest move could be targeting a far more calculated system- one that has quietly benefited the league’s wealthiest owners for years.

Smith added, “And to be honest with you, that’s what made expansion even more palpable, because, here’s the deal—if you don’t go out there and give a full-fledged effort anyway—how difficult is it to match what you bring to the table?”

He highlighted how the teams and the talents have become too business-minded, and rather than being driven by passion, they are driven by money. This commercialization of America’s future is a major concern. It has clearly affected the quality of talent produced by the system and also affected their basketball IQ.

“You’re seeing cats that want to go out there, that certainly want the money. You want to get paid. You want to be, you know, rewarded for your exploits and all of that other stuff. But make no mistake, these guys got a passion to play the game. And what has happened is business, the business of basketball has invaded the world of sports so much that because cats got such a business mentality, that some of the time they look like they’ve forgotten where their passion once was.

I’m not saying most or all—I’m just saying a few, but the few can contaminate the many,” Smith added while speaking about America’s change in cultural shift and rise of commercialization. Recently, Stephen Curry also had a similar thought when asked about America’s basketball problem. He touched upon similar topics and called the lack of basketball IQ an epidemic.

The analyst believes that expanding two more teams will stop the rot. He believes that there’s still a lot of talent in America’s basketball systems, where players play with that passion and want to be on the court to showcase their skillset, rather than opting for a pay-to-play culture prevalent among young players, as they are more submerged in sponsorships, shoe deals, and media influence, rather than improving their skillsets. With more competition, Smith believes that things could take a turn towards a better future.

“Anytime you’re talking about expansion, you’re talking about addressing that with a fervor that it deserves, reminding people that there are an abundance of youth out there who love playing the game—who want to be on the court—who want to showcase their skill set. And if you got two additional teams, two additional cities, particularly in Vegas and Seattle, that you can add to the equation, hell yeah, I think that would be good for the league, I think that would be good for the sport. And I don’t think it would dilute the product one bit.” Smith stated.

While there are talks about Seattle and Las Vegas getting the new teams, Smith has a completely left-field choice of a city where he wants the new team to be. While it remains to be seen whether the expansion gets approved, the aforementioned cities are definitely ahead in the pecking order for the newer teams.

Stephen A Smith campaigns for this particular city amid Adam Silver’s expansion initiatives

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has been extremely committed to making the league a more global product. He has already had plans in motion to capture the European market while also expanding the NBA into 32 teams, just like the NFL. The NBA could add two more teams for the 2028-29 season, with an important meeting scheduled around it next week.

According to ESPN, Seattle and Las Vegas will be the two cities where the new teams could be based. However, Stephen A Smith has thrown in an interesting name into the mix for Silver to consider. He believes that the city of Nashville should be involved in the expansion talks.

While there’s already a team from Tennessee in the Memphis Grizzlies, Smith believes that Nashville has a different appeal to the Grizzlies. “Nashville is a growing city. A lot of people love Nashville. Obviously, they’re fine, you know, they’re a very successful city right now. They are a thriving City in the United States of America. I’m certainly not advocating that Memphis loses a team because I don’t want that to happen, but in the same breath, you wonder about Nashville, comparing that to Seattle and wondering what kind of possibilities may present itself in that regard,” Smith said during ESPN‘s session with Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst.

The NBA has not had an expansion team since 2004, when it added the Charlotte Bobcats (now known as the Charlotte Hornets) as the 30th team in the league. If this expansion gets approved, then we will see two new teams in the league, possibly from Seattle and Las Vegas.