King James To NBA Commish Silver: Get An NBA Team In Las Vegas

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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer 

The NBA is playing preseason games in the Middle East Thursday and Saturday. The association has plans to play an exhibition game in India.

And one day, the NBA might just have a team in the Las Vegas market.

LeBron James, in Las Vegas for Lakers preseason action, advised NBA Commissioner Adam Silver about helping approve an NBA team in the Las Vegas market: “So, I want the team here, Adam. Thank you.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver

LVSportsBiz.com has reported on James’ previous interest in the Las Vegas market hosting an NBA team and has noted previously that James has an investment stake in the Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins and even the Liverpool soccer club in England.

Keep in mind, an arena development company, Oak View Group, has announced plans  to build an NBA arena as part of a $3 billion hotel-casino/arena/amphitheater proposal at Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road (northwest corner)./

The NBA already has its 30-team summer league event in Las Vegas every July.

One day, the NBA will have a team here in Las Vegas. But don’t expect a team to be approved until a collective bargaining and TV rights deals are done during the next two years or so.


 

Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.