NBA Rumors: Adam Silver says league could expand to Africa, China and India

With Adam Silver taking over as the new commissioner of the NBA, fans all over the world are watching intently to see if any drastic changes come to the NBA. Almost as soon as he stepped into office this month, the subject of expansion has been brought up on a daily basis, as fans want a team in Seattle and other major American market.

But Silver has been mum about rumors of bringing basketball back to Seattle and even offered up some quotes that Seattle fans may not appreciate. In an exclusive interview with Sam Amick of USA Today, Silver stated that he could envision the NBA embracing it’s global appeal by expanding to overseas markets like Africa, India and even China.

"“To me, the U.S. is less than 5% of the world’s population. So when I look at markets like the billion people in Africa, the over billion people that live in India, the (1.3 billion) that live in China, just those markets alone where we’re just barely scratching the surface, there is so much opportunity out there for us.”"

Of course, adding a team in China before bringing basketball back to Seattle would rub a lot of people the wrong way, but Silver may not be talking just about putting a professional team in other countries. He has a point when he states that America as market is small compared to the rest of the world, and bringing basketball to a higher stage makes sense.

Silver didn’t promise teams would be coming to Africa, China or India, but he clearly has a grand vision for the future of basketball, and that’s wildly encouraging to fans of the game.