Adam Silver addresses Clippers' punishment, Lakers sale, NBA expansion, more in Board of Governors presser

The 2026 NBA offseason has been one of the busiest in recent memory — and not just because of the flurry of player movement.

On top of new teams for LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown and LaMelo Ball, the NBA has dealt with the sale of its most famed franchise for the second-straight year, the final repercussions of a significant Clippers scandal, uncertainty about the Trail Blazers' future, a new WNBA commissioner soon, movement toward expansion to Seattle and Las Vegas, and potential involvement in Europe.

With all of those storylines still developing, commissioner Adam Silver gave his latest updates on various situations on Tuesday at his Board of Governors news conference.

Here's everything Silver said in his press conference.

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Adam Silver comments from Board of Governors press conference

Results from Clippers investigation

For the first time since the league docked the Clippers five first-round picks, among other punishments, for their involvement in a cap-circumvention scandal with Kawhi Leonard, Silver address the matter publicly.

"The core responsibility of the league is to have a set of rules that everyone agrees to operate under and the league's responsibility to enforce those rules," Silver said. "If those rules are found to be violated, there then will be appropriate consequences."

Per Mike Vorkunov, Silver said he didn't believe the NBA did "permanent damage" to the Clippers with its five-first-rounders penalty, "but there's no question this is a setback for the team."

"The ultimate goal in terms of these type sanctions are to ensure that other teams don't engage in this type of behavior in the future, so there has to be something beyond suspensions and financial consequences, and that has to go to regular competition," Silver said.

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) September 15, 2026

When asked if there's any possibility that the Clippers were not the only team committing cap circumvention, per Colin Salao, Silver said there was "no inkling like that" and that "we know around the lines there's been slippage over the years, but nothing of this nature that I'm aware of.”

The NBA commissioner said that at the recent Board of Governor's meetings, the Clippers did not have representation due to them being in the process of appointing an "interim governor."

Silver also address the statement Steve Ballmer released recently.

"Putting aside the precise words he chose to use, most importantly, he indicated a willingness to accept the league's decision in this case and the accompanying sanctions," Silver said. "So that initially was the most focused on, which is markedly different than the initial statements that came out of his organization.”

He also said he recently met with Kawhi Leonard directly, with the Clippers' punishment "final" as sides move on.

"I think we reached a fair outcome for everyone," Silver said.

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Latest on expansion to Seattle, Las Vegas

Silver said that as part of the Board of Governor's Meetings, "potential expansion around Las Vegas and Seattle gave reports on that topic." 

At the time, there are "several active groups” bidding on Las Vegas expansion teams," according to Silver, with a renovated T-Mobile Arena among the options for locations for the team to play.

Shams Charania also reported Tuesday that the next rounds of bids for the Las Vegas team are due Thursday, with an expectation to exceed $10 billion.

The latest on the expansion process in Las Vegas and Seattle for NBA Today: pic.twitter.com/wgGF94mgRG

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 15, 2026

Latest on NBA Europe

Additionally, at the Board of Governor's meetings, deputy commissioner Mark Tatum spoke about the discussions of NBA Europe, Silver said.

He added that he believes the NBA is "making progress" in talks to become a majority owner in EuroLeague.

“We believe that [NBA Europe] would be strengthened by joining forces with the Euro League," Silver said. "It doesn't have to happen, but I think we would all be better off as a unified front in Europe in terms of the potential investors.”

WNBA commissioner search

With Cathy Engelbert set to step down from her role as WNBA commissioner at the end of the season, and Silver in charge of appointing a new person for the role, he said the NBA is "in the process now of interviewing search firms" for finding a candidate.

"Once we hire a search firm, we'll begin the search in earnest," Silver said.

He went on to speak about how much autonomy the new WNBA commissioner will have.

“I would say we're constantly recalibrating. Having been involved now with the WNBA for 30 years, I think there are enormous benefits to running integrated operations, and there are also aspects of the league which I think are best run independently," Silver said. "Maybe say this a bit defensively: I don't think it's hampered the operation of the WNBA at all. I think the WNBA is by far and away the most successful women's league operating right now, by measure of viewership, by measure of ratings, by measure of franchise value, by measure of player pay.

Now, after the next collective bargain agreement, and I'm sure as we bring in this new commissioner, that person will have a view too, as to the appropriate operating structure of the league.”

Lakers sale/Mark Walter

With Mark Walter planning to finalize a sale of the Lakers just around a year after acquiring the team, amid a federal investigation into his insurance company's practices, Silver said there have been "no red flags" found by the league, including at the time when he first joined Los Angeles.

"I would say at the time that we've added Mark Walter to be the principal governor of the team again, he was already a part owner, a minority owner in the Los Angeles Lakers. We went through the full process we all do," Silver said. "We spoke to governmental agencies, we spoke to in the case of Mark Walter in a heavily regulated insurance industry. We spoke to other leagues in which he has investments, and we found no red flags. And again, even to this day, these are, you can call them allegations.

"There are issues that are now being looked into. But independent of Mark Walter choosing to sell his team right now. He was not being investigated by our league. I don't know what's happening in other leagues right now...I had no prior notion that he was intending to sell his team until I heard from the buyers that they had a handshake with him."

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) September 15, 2026

Silver on second apron, parity in league

The commissioner also offered his latest assessment of how the second apron/financial structure of the 2023 CBA has impacted the league, saying he "wasn't embarrassed" to say the NBA wanted it to be more like the NFL and that the league has viewed the parity as a success.

"The point was to design a system — I'm not embarrassed to say more NFL-like — where every team was put in a position where regardless of market size, they could compete for championships. Eight different champions over the last eight years," Silver said. "That isn't necessarily a sign of success. I'm fine if teams repeat, but I think over success of collective bargaining agreements and revenue sharing systems and other changes we've made, we've gotten closer to building the kind of parity of opportunity we want."

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) September 15, 2026

Silver on future of Trail Blazers

With the Trail Blazers facing an uncertain future in Portland, Silver said it would be a "failure" if the team didn't find a way to stay in the city.

“I would see it as a failure if we did not keep the team in Portland. I've spent a lot of time in that community over the years. They've shown amazing support for the Blazers," Silver said. "They're some of our best fans around the league.”

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) September 15, 2026