Adam Silver Pledges NBA’s Loyalty to Memphis, With One LeBron James-Inspired Wrinkle

Adam Silver said that the NBA has no interest in the Grizzlies leaving Memphis, but admitted he’s intrigued by the idea of games in Nashville. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Expansion is top of mind for the NBA these days. After years of putting off discussions, the league is now openly exploring the possibility of adding Western Conference teams in Seattle and Las Vegas. The belief is that the league would add new teams to these markets, but comments made by LeBron James during a YouTube golf show earlier this month put an existing team’s home in the spotlight, opening questions about whether the Grizzlies should leave Memphis.

James, appearing on “Bob Does Sports,” argued that he was speaking for many around the league when he said that he hates playing on the road in Memphis. “I’m not the first guy in the NBA to talk about this. We all like, ‘You guys have to move,’” he said. “Just go over to Nashville. You got Vanderbilt over there, you got f---ing NASCAR, you got a stadium. Don’t they got a hockey team too?”

The quotes set off a wave of discussion about Memphis as a basketball market, the accuracy of James’s comments and, of course, whether the league would actually consider relocating one of its small-market teams when it has its eyes on two new franchises. Commissioner Adam Silver said at the time that while the league was examining all options, it did not have plans to relocate any teams. When asked about the situation during an appearance on Pardon My Take, Silver reiterated that the league believes in the Grizzlies’ ability to succeed in Memphis.

The Memphis Grizzlies aren’t going anywhere pic.twitter.com/u6yyNHW17C

— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) April 22, 2026

“Players I talk to all the time like playing in Memphis,” Silver said. “I’ve never heard that issue of players not wanting to be in Memphis, number one. Number two, the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, a guy named Robert Pera, has no interest in moving the team out of Memphis. He’s made that clear.”

Of course, he also made a nod towards Nashville, acknowledging that he’d love to see the Grizzlies play some games in Tennessee’s largest city.

“Obviously, Nashville’s a city on the rise. There’s incredible things happening there. If it were up to me, I’d love for them to play a few games a year in Nashville and sort of be Tennessee’s team to the extent they can. But Memphis has been a great market historically for the NBA. There’s amazing history in that city, amazing culture, and it’s a big country. As I look out at our 30 teams, we want teams to do well everywhere. ... From my standpoint there’s no reason why the Memphis Grizzlies can’t be successful.”

There is precedent for NBA teams moving some home games to new markets

The Spurs played a pair of home games in Austin this year, a similar arrangement to the one that Adam Silver floated for the Grizzlies and Nashville. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

While it hasn’t been as well-publicized as the NFL’s aggressive wave of international expansion, the NBA has played several games overseas, primarily in Europe. More locally, the Spurs have experimented with expanding their reach throughout Texas and across the southern border.

The Spurs played a pair of February home games in Austin’s Moody Center this year and have previously played in Mexico City.

The Austin arrangement is similar to what Silver seems to have in mind, though that is a much less drastic situation than James’s plea for the league to move the Grizzlies to Nashville full-time. The franchise has held training camp events in Nashville in recent years, but has not moved home games three hours up I-40.

On paper, a move would present advantages for the NBA. Nashville is one of the fastest-growing markets in the U.S., and currently ranks as the 26th-largest media market in the country, one spot below Indianapolis and two above Salt Lake City. Memphis is currently 51st, the smallest market in the NBA.

The Grizzlies do have a looming arena issue that could make things interesting in a few years

The team’s lease for the FedExForum, the Memphis arena that opened in 2004, is up at the end of the 2028–29 season. So far, discussions between the team and the city have reportedly been positive.

"We'll see," Memphis Mayor Paul Young said in March, per the Commercial Appeal, when asked whether having a deal by next spring was realistic. "I mean, we're working real hard on the Grizzlies lease. I feel real good about where it's going. I don't want to put a timeline on it, but I feel confident that we're gonna get it done."

At the same time, there are plans for $550 million in renovations to the arena. The Grizzlies are the only full-time professional team to use the building, which they share with the University of Memphis’s basketball programs.

The Grizzlies have had a tough three-year stretch, making one playoff appearance since back-to-back years as the No. 2-seed in the Western Conference in 2022 and ‘23. Before that Ja Morant-fueled run, Memphis was a playoff staple from 2011 to ‘17, reaching the conference finals in ‘13 and the semifinals in ‘11 and ‘15. Those “Grit and Grind” Grizzlies built an impressive bond with their home city, one that has not eroded even with a recent cold stretch, as evidenced by the furious response to James’s comments.

It would be short-sighted to give up on a proud city and culture like that, even with bigger untapped markets out there.

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