Fadeaway World participated in a media roundtable with Mark Tatum, Deputy Commissioner of the NBA, and saw a number of pressing topics to the league be discussed.
One of the key ones was the question of a possible expansion of the NBA, something that has been hinted at over the course of the season, with LeBron James even indicating his interest in being part of an ownership group in an expanded NBA.
Tatum ruffled the concerns about an expansion in the immediate future but did explain the conditions under which they will start assessing the subject and what factors will make potential destinations viable.
Ishaan Bhattacharya, Fadeaway World: Right now with the playoff setup, you have 30 teams in the league and 16 make it to the playoffs. I just want to ask whether there is possible interest in adding two expansion teams and making it a nice 32 to 16, and are there any potential markets that the NBA is looking at if they were willing to expand?
Mark Tatum: Right now, expansion is not right at the top of our list. I will tell you that we got our CBA deal done. That’s our agreement with the Players Association. So that was just recently completed and announced, you know, two months ago or so, and the next big thing that’s on our agenda is really getting through the national media rights deal. We’ve got two years left on that. We’re starting the process of engaging with our current incumbent partners. To talk about the future of our media rights. We won’t really focus on expansion until that point. At that point, I think we’ll do an assessment of whether or not it makes sense for us to look at that. As I talked about, the amount of talent in our league is incredible, and you know we really do have 450 of the best players in the world, as evidenced by here the interest in global basketball. The talent, 25% of our league is now born outside the United States. There is certainly enough talent to go around, but it’s not a priority right now, I’d say.
In terms of markets, we have to go through an extensive analysis and process. For looking at places that have the right facilities. So is there an arena? Are there practice facilities that can accommodate an NBA team? The infrastructure, you know, the accessibility, to that arena for the fans to get the games. Is there parking and public transportation? Security is a factor. Attendance and fan interest. Obviously, we need to be able to demonstrate that the team can sell tickets and can sell merchandise, and sell marketing partnerships. And then travel. We have to take into consideration where we go that all other teams are gonna have to travel in and out of that market. So, those are the factors that we look at. But, like I’d say right now, it’s not on the immediate list of things that we’re trying to get done.
"Right now, it's not on the immediate list of things we're trying to get done."
Deputy Commissioner of the NBA, Mark Tatum speaks on the possibility of the NBA expanding to 32 teams.
@FadeawayWorld pic.twitter.com/FpnOttKxFW
— Ishaan Bhattacharya (@IshaanBhatta) June 1, 2023
Tatum also addressed other topics while speaking on the media call. One topic of interest was the impending arrival of Victor Wembanyama into the league and the impact of the projected No. 1 overall pick from France.
Maxime Aubin, L’Equipe: You guys are going to welcome one of the most talented players in the next weeks, talking about the French player Victor Wembanyama. I was wondering, how are you guys preparing for such a historical moment like, what does it mean for the NBA and as well for the relationship between the NBA and the French market?
Mark Tatum: Victor is, I had the chance to meet him when I was in Paris in January. And everyone that has seen him play, all the basketball experts say that he’s an incredibly promising young player. He has all the attributes of what I would call could be a true game changer, as a once-in-a-generation. Once in a lifetime sort of player, you know. There’s a lot of expectations placed on him, and I think he’ll have to manage, you know, those expectations. We’ve already met with his representation in New York. Again, the fact that he came to the Paris game. That was all discussed with him. We wanted to make sure that we’re gonna welcome him warmly into our league but that he’s given the right amount of support to enter into the league and deal with the pressures of being an NBA player. We’ve been streaming his games on the NBA app, which has given basketball fans around the world the opportunity to actually see him and watch him, believe it or not. Victor Wembanyama was one of the top 10 most viewed players, including NBA players on NBA Social during the regular season. He was number 8 in terms of all players and an engagement with 350 million views. So, he’s coming in already with a huge following in a huge audience. I think on draft night, you know. If you haven’t heard of it, everyone will know who Victor Wembanyama is. But again, I want to make sure, and the last thing I’ll say is with the Olympics in Paris in 2024. You know, all the things that we’re continuing to do around the Paris game. We do anticipate coming back and playing regular season games in Paris again. I think that that market is just gonna continue to grow for us. But he’s a wonderful, talented young kid and young man, and we’re looking very much looking forward to having him in our league.
The Deputy Commissioner was also asked about the impact of having an African MVP, given Joel Embiid’s triumph in the awards race this season.
Sibusiso Mjikeliso, News 24 South Africa: What has been Joel Embiid’s impact? And what do you think would be the long-term impact of having him as the NBA MVP?
Mark Tatum: Joel is an incredible ambassador. I mean, incredible ambassador. He really was a volleyball player, you might know his story, and then he came to a Basketball Without Borders Camp, a camp that we do with FIBA in Africa, when he was about 15 years old and that set him on this journey to the NBA. Then he ends up becoming the third international player in the last five years to win the MVP award and leading his team deep into the playoffs and, you know, taking it to a Game 7 against the Boston Celtics. So, he is an incredible ambassador. I’ve spent time with Joel back on the continent. He continues to give back. He’s Cameroonian and he always loves to give back to the continent, and I think that’s a wonderful thing. We now have something like 14 players who were born in Africa who are in our league today. Another, you know, a total of 50 players who were either born in Africa or have one parent that was born in Africa, which is one of the reasons why we’ve decided to invest even more in growing the game of basketball in Africa because there isn’t the infrastructure that exists in other parts of the world around basketball. In Europe, in Australia, for example. We want to build that infrastructure. We want to continue to do grassroots programs like Junior NBA and Basketball Without Borders. So, Joel is an incredible ambassador. There are going to be more players like Joel, not only from Africa but from Europe, from Asia, from Mongolia, from everywhere in the world. We’re going to come into our league and have a positive impact both on the court and off the court.
The International Impact Of The NBA
The NBA is North America-based but a truly global league, as Tatum himself said while speaking with the media. The 2022-23 All-NBA team only features one American player, which was Jayson Tatum. He was surrounded by MVP Joel Embiid from Cameroon, Giannis Antetokounmpo from Greece, Luka Doncic from Slovenia, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from Canada. The league is truly international and the arrival of Victor Wembanyama further bolsters that.
Nikola Jokic is another international player who is currently in the NBA Finals, with his co-star being the Canadian Jamal Murray. They will be looking to continue their Western Conference success when they take on the Miami Heat, led by Erik Spoelstra, who has heritage from the Philippines. The NBA has been concerted in its efforts for international expansion, and it seems to have been bearing fruit.
Game 1 of the 2023 NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat will be available on ABC and ESPN+ at 8:30 PM (ET) on June 1. Fans in India can watch the game live on JioCinema, and Sports18 channels at 6:00 AM (IST) on June 2.
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