The NBA board of governors meeting is on Wednesday, and I, there's a lot of interesting things on the agenda for the NBA.
The, Big one is probably expansion and what's gonna happen there, uh, but there's always little things that come up at these board of governors meetings.
What are, what are you most interested to hear about, I guess, uh, out of this board of governors meeting?
Well, look, I know we expect expansion to pass and therefore when it does, no one will be like, oh my God, how did this happen?
But I am interested to hear what they say about it because I don't think this is a good idea.
And before someone clips that up.
Let me finish my sentence.
I think Seattle should have a basketball team clip it right there.
Just end it.
I think Las Vegas should have a basketball team because the projection economically is if those two teams come into the league, they will be immediately among the top 10 in revenue generators for the league, and I don't care about how much money the league makes.
They make plenty of money, but that tells you level of interest and, you know, Seattle not having a team, I think has been heartbreaking for a long time.
I'm thrilled.
However, I think they should get those teams, and we've talked about it a bunch this year through relocation.
I think keeping two teams, and I'm sorry people, I love New Orleans, it's my favorite city in America, but keeping two teams in Memphis and New Orleans, when they both have arena deals coming up, Memphis is dead last in attendance, dead last.
That tells you the interest in that team.
And look, there is no one more diehard than diehard Grizzlies fans.
There just aren't enough of them.
And That's not like an argument on my point.
That is a numerical fact.
And I just think the overall health of the league, you heard Tracy McGrady say, Oh, I don't think there's enough talent for 32 teams.
You've had people, you know, the tanking thing, they're gonna, the two teams that come in will be tankers to the extent they are allowed to be for years.
So you're gonna have more terrible basketball games.
I, I just, and for the owners, they're always interested in money, and I get that greed rule.
All here and they're gonna get $500 million each, half a billion dollars each, these current owners from these expansion fees, but in the future they're gonna have to split all revenue 32 ways instead of 30 ways and, and I think at least that, I mean how much money do you need people?
You've got a bunch of billionaires in this league now as owners and I, I just, you know, look, this is a larger conversation about America, but.
I just your grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren, if you are a billionaire will not notice the difference of another half billion dollars.
They just won't.
It's not, I mean, you can only buy so much stuff and I, I just wish they were relocating instead of uh expanding and I'm interested to hear their reasons why and I hope someone at the press conference asked them.
I think it's, it's pretty obvious to me, it's short-term money.
It's that cash right in your pocket.
They're hoping to get $10 billion apiece for each expansion team.
I think that's more likely in Vegas than it is in Seattle, but they're hoping to get in that $7 to $10 billion dollar range.
And that's free cash into the pocket.
I do agree with you.
I think it's short-sighted because even though we're just in year one of this new TV deal, it's never too early to start thinking about the next one if you're the NBA.
And if over the next 10 years your regular season gets diluted enough so that it's just unwatchable for stretches like right now with 30 teams we've got nearly a third of the league that is not trying, not trying, and it's influencing the playoff standings in ways that even we're gonna talk about the New York Knicks.
The Knicks won 6 straight.
Because they played like 5 of those teams that were more than happy to kick, to drop kick a game away to them after this Pistons game, the Lakers play a ton of tanking teams.
Yes, it's like, it's just, and the Pistons are in rough shape right now.
So that's, but that's at least due to injury.
But like I just, I think, I think this is a mistake, and it's not because of the markets, and I'm sorry, Memphis and New Orleans, but It's not, again, it's not working.
It's not working.
It's definitely did not work in New Orleans, which has, I mean, they've had how many years to put a new arena down there, which is Smoothie King Center is bad.
The physical fitness facilities and staff, I mean, I know they changed training staffs out a while ago, but it hasn't helped.
I mean, players in that market are injured more than any other team, I believe that was the last number I saw.
It might have changed in the last 6 weeks, but it's just, it's unfortunate.
I agree.
Move them to.
Vegas and Seattle.
You got two teams, by the way, then you wouldn't need a team to come east.
Well, Anthony Edwards would probably be upset.
I was gonna say it was my disappointment bummer for Anthony Edwards.
If he's looking at the Eastern Conference going, All right, it's, yeah, we don't get Oklahoma City for the next decade.
I don't get to go through Wimbayama for the next decade.
I get the Celtics, Pistons, and Knicks.
I can deal with that.
I can live with that.
Uh, I'm interested with the expansion.
Uh, narrative is, but I'm reasonably sure what's gonna come out of that is that we are getting close to adding those two teams.
What I'm interested in on Wednesday is if there's any further progress on this Clippers investigation, because, you know, when you talk to people around the league, they, every time we talk to them like, we think it's close .
We think it's close.
We, I heard a little bit after Christmas, there might have been an adjudication of this.
Then it was the All-Star game.
Then, all right, right after the All-Star game, because the All-Star game was in Los Angeles.
At Intuit Dome.
Now here we are in late March at the board of governors meeting, a significant moment for these top basketball officials, the NBA's top brass to get together and discuss something.
I wonder if the findings of this investigation.
are going to get revealed because at some point they're gonna have to.
I mean, you know, I, I guess you could say let's wait till after the playoffs, see what happens with the Clippers.
Let's not disrupt what's going on with this Clippers' season by dropping this bomb, if it is a bomb on the organization, but I'm interested to see if there are any updates, if anything was discussed about the Clippers.
Now, Adam's not going to tell.
You anything unless he's ready to reveal the whole damn thing.
But you know, when I talk to people around the league, it's, it's, let's circle this date.
This is the next date to look for when it comes to, uh, outcome of the Clippers investigation.
But are you hearing that because people are just impatient, or are you hearing that because people have intel around the league I think it's a little bit of intel.
I mean, I think there are people that, you know, again, it's, it's a largely the same people that have been saying like, I've been hearing this.
I've been hearing like there's just been a lot of rumblings that we're getting closer to the big reveal, whatever that may be, if it's.
You know, and I , I, I don't know what's in that thing, but there's certainly a lot of people speculating around the league in NBA front offices that something is coming, that some kind of, of punishment, whether it is a slap on the wrist or, you know, the basketball death penalty, I don't know, but a lot of curiosity right now about how close the NBA is getting to revealing all this.
And if they took draft picks away, what would happen?
Everyone just moves up and.
The order and it's a 31 way over my pay grade at this point.
You're, I am, but I mean that's relevant and it's also relevant in terms of the timing.
Well, it's relevant like Kawhi's contract.
Like if it turns out that, and now we're getting into the, the very speculative stage, but if Kawhi, if they decide that, hey, we might void Kawhi's contract because we deem it invalid because of how it all came together, there's a lot.
I mean, it's , it's, it is as talked about a thing in the NBA as anything right now.
Anything I hear about it every single arena I go to all the conversations I have with league and team officials, this comes up.
All right.
My last question on this is, is Kawhi subject to any punishment from the league?
Again, don't know.
It's like I mean.
I, I think it's more likely that there is, this is directed at the team because it's like with players and tampering.
Like they kind of, you know, 11 way it was described to me by a league official months ago.
It's like if there was something that was done illegal, it's like you, the players are, it's, it's like a, a, a adult versus child situation.
Like the child.
Asks for stuff and wants stuff.
No, they're not, but like in this, in this metaphor, the child asks for stuff and it's the.
Parents' job in this case, the front office bill to say no, to say you can't get that.
This is what you're gonna say to your baby when you get home, yes, and say Rachel Nichols, I see, I said I had to work and it's all Rachel's fault.
Um, so I'm curious about that.
What happens, um, on Wednesday if there's any kind of tangible update on that or if we once again get the same answer we got, um, at All-Star where it's, we're waiting to get the, uh, full.