Incoming NBA commissioner Adam Silver says Bradley Center unfit for league

Milwaukee's Bradley Center opened in 1988 and seats just over 18,000 for basketball. (Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)

NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said the Milwaukee Bucks' home arena, the Bradley Center, is not a suitable NBA venue and that he supports the team's management in its efforts to get a new arena built.

The BMO Harris Bradley Center opened in 1988 and seats 18,600 for basketball.

“One obvious issue we all have to deal with is we need a new arena in Milwaukee,” Silver said, via the Milwaukee Business Journal, speaking of the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Silver will take over as NBA commissioner on Feb. 1, following the retirement of David Stern, who has been in charge of the league for the past 30 years.

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Silver toured the Bradley Center and said it was too small and still falls short on amenities, even though the arena received $3 million in upgrades last season. They included suite upgrades, a new hospitality bar and new theater-style seating sections.

“At the end of the day compared to other modern arenas in the league, this arena is a few hundred thousand square feet too small,” Silver said. “It doesn’t have the sort of back-of-house space you need, doesn’t have the kinds of amenities we need. It doesn’t have the right sort of upper bowl/lower bowl (seating) configuration for the teams frankly that Milwaukee wants to compete against."