For long, there have been constant murmurs about NBA’s expansion. However, Adam Silver has kept that discussion at bay, citing bigger priorities. “We’re not quite done with our media deals yet. But once we are, we will turn to consideration around expansion.” He said last year. But now that the league’s new $76 billion media rights deal has been finalized and set to come into effect next season, expansion talks have taken centre stage yet again.

One pivotal step in that direction is the NBA announcing a regular season game between Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons to be held in Mexico City later this year. Yes, the highly anticipated encounter will be played in Mexico City’s Arena CDMX on November 1. This move makes it evident that the league is focused on spreading its reach outside the thirty cities where the existing teams reside.

Of course, NBA shares deep ties with Mexico, as this will be the 34 game there since 1992. That’s more than any country outside of Canada and USA. Also, the occasion coincides with the country’s ‘Día de Muertos’ celebrations, which the league is planning to incorporate in their setup that weekend. Moreover, Mavs seem like the perfect choice to play in Mexico because they have strong ties with the place.

Per veteran insider Grant Afseth, Mavs renovated a basketball court in Monterrey, Mexico earlier this year with the help of franchise legends Rolando Blackman and Eduardo Najera. “Growing a presence in the country appears to be a clear priority for the organization.” Afseth remarked. Sure enough, Blackman and Najera were ecstatic to be a part of the process. “The Mavericks should be the team of Mexico. This was my dream, when I was playing with the Mavericks, to do this type of event in Mexico. We want to continue the growth of basketball, specifically with the Dallas Mavericks throughout this country. Hopefully, this will be the first of many courts across Mexico.” Najera remarked.

Rolando shared a similar sentiment, “With the Mavericks and Softtek, the kids now have this court, and it’s very important that the community continues to rally around the kids, so they can continue moving forward.” Apart from Mexico, Mavs have also donated for courts in Slovenia and Madrid in the past. But the Mexico ties seem close to heart as the upcoming Pistons clash will be the Mavs’ eighth game in the country. While the Dallas franchise continues to spread its wings, Silver is also planning for something big.

Adam Silver reveals major plan for NBA expansion highlighting interest among team owners

Well, Silver is finally ready to dive into expansion talks. During his annual press conference ahead of the NBA Finals, he revealed that the topic will be discussed at July’s board of governors meeting in Las Vegas. Moreover, he confirmed that there is significant interest among team owners about the potential expansion, “There’s been no lack of interest. I essentially have said to people from several different cities, ‘We’re just not engaging in that process right now.’ I want to be fair to everyone. So, I don’t want to have meetings with some and not others. So, if we were to say yes, we’re now going to move into a more formal exploratory phase. We would take those meetings, and in addition likely we would engage with outside advisers who would look at markets, look at economic opportunities and media opportunities, etc.”

Sure, a discussion in the meeting doesn’t confirm that there will eventually be an expansion. But this is the first time Silver has said something this concrete about the plan of action, which is a great sign. “I’d say the current sense is we should be exploring it.” He remarked. Moreover, he believes that there are several cities with the potential to house their own NBA teams, “As I’ve said before, expansion in a way is selling equity in the league. If you believe in the league, you don’t necessarily want to add partners. On the other hand, we recognize there are underserved markets in the United States and elsewhere — I think markets that deserve to have NBA teams. Probably even if we were to expand, more than we can serve.” Of course, Las Vegas and Seattle will be some of the top options. Maybe, even Mexico City will be in consideration, potentially making it the second city outside of US to have its own NBA franchise. Thoughts?