{"id":603889,"date":"2026-02-15T03:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T03:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/603889\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T03:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T03:22:15","slug":"adam-silver-on-tanking-expansion-clippers-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/603889\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Silver on tanking, expansion, Clippers investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

NBA Commissioner\u00a0Adam Silver spoke<\/a> Saturday during All-Star Weekend about the league\u2019s hot-button issues, including tanking, the lottery, expansion and the league\u2019s pending investigation\u00a0into whether the Clippers arranged <\/a>a multimillion-dollar endorsement\u00a0deal for Kawhi Leonard to circumvent the salary cap.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When it comes to tanking, Silver, who fined the Jazz $500,000 and the Pacers $100,000 on Thursday for recently sitting star players in games, said he believes the problem is becoming increasingly pervasive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to look at some fresh thinking here,\u201d Silver said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing, what we\u2019re seeing right now is not working. There\u2019s no question about it. Yes, is there more I can do? Have I attempted not only to respond to behavior we\u2019ve seen but send a clear message that we\u2019re going to be scrutinizing everything we see going forward? Absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NBA NBA commissioner Adam Silver speak during the Emirates NBA Cup trophy presentation at T-Mobile Arena. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Silver added that the NBA Competition Committee began earlier this season \u201creexamining the whole approach to how the draft lottery works.\u201d When asked if there have been discussions about taking draft picks away from teams that tank instead of fining them, he didn\u2019t hesitate. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is talk about every possible remedy now to stop this behavior.\u201d Silver said. <\/p>\n

As for expansion, <\/a>when Silver was asked if reports were true about Seattle and Las Vegas being front-runners to secure new NBA franchises, Silver cautioned that nothing has been decided.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will make decisions in 2026,\u201d he said. \u201cI think in fairness to the cities, Seattle and Las Vegas in particular, I\u2019ve been very clear, I don\u2019t want to tease teams. I don\u2019t want to tease cities or mislead anyone. I think we wanted to get through collective bargaining, national television deals. We\u2019ve done that, and now we\u2019ve turned to it as a league.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy sense is at the March Board of Governors meetings we\u2019ll be having further discussions around an expansion process. We won\u2019t be voting at the March meeting, but we will likely come out of those meetings ready, prepared to take a next step in terms of potentially talking to interested parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silver also made it clear that the league isn\u2019t necessarily looking to add two teams specifically, clarifying that an expansion \u201cdoesn\u2019t have to be any number of teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, the elephant in the room of All-Star Weekend is that while Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is showing off his $2 billion arena (Intuit\u00a0Dome) that\u2019s hosting the events, he and his team are being investigated regarding allegations that they circumvented the salary cap to retain Leonard by helping secure him a $28 million endorsement deal with the company Aspiration.<\/p>\n

Ballmer and the Clippers have staunchly denied those allegations. And the NBA hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate the matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NBANBA Commissioner Adam Silver addresses the media prior to the game of the Memphis Grizzlies and the Orlando Magic as part of the 2026 Berlin Games on January 15, 2026 at Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t come to any decisions whatsoever yet on the Clippers matter,\u201d Silver said. \u201c\u2026 From everything I\u2019ve been told, the Clippers have been fully cooperative. But as I said, I\u2019m not involved day to day in the investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silver added that the situation is \u201cenormously complex.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a company in bankruptcy (Aspiration),\u201d Silver said. \u201cYou have thousands of documents, multiple witnesses that have been needed to be interviewed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will say, just in case anyone is wondering, the fact that All-Star is here this weekend has had no impact on the timeline of the investigation. Our charge to the Wachtell law firm is do the work and then come back and make recommendations to the league office, and that\u2019s where things now stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Silver was asked to what extent he\u2019s beholden to the CBA and the NBA\u2019s Constitution in regard to any punishment that would be handed out for a salary cap circumvention, he was definitive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am completely beholden to the constitution and the CBA,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe in the rule of law. I have broad powers in certain areas, but those are broad powers that are granted to me by those very documents.\u201d<\/p>\n

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