Adam Silver defended Memphis as a Grizzlies market on "Pardon My Take," pushed back on LeBron James' criticism and floated Nashville games.
Adam Silver wants to make one thing clear: the Memphis Grizzlies aren't going anywhere.
On Wednesday's "Pardon My Take" podcast from Barstool, the NBA commissioner defended Memphis as a league city and said he hasn't heard the complaints LeBron James put out there earlier this month. Silver did crack the door open to something else, though — the Grizzlies running a few games a year up the road in Nashville.
James set off the conversation earlier in April on the "Bob Does Sports" YouTube show, where he said many NBA players don't enjoy trips to Memphis and floated Nashville as a better home for the franchise. The four-time MVP noted Nashville already hosts the NHL's Nashville Predators and the NFL's Tennessee Titans, giving it a deeper pro sports footprint. James vented about staying at the Hyatt at age 41 and grinding through random Thursday night trips to Memphis. James claimed he isn't alone on this, saying other players feel the same way.
Silver told a different story when the subject came up on the podcast.
"Players I talk to all the time like playing in Memphis," Silver said. "I've never heard that issue."
The commissioner said Memphis carries deep historical weight for the NBA and praised the city's cultural identity. Any talk of a move, he noted, runs into an immediate roadblock. Grizzlies governor Robert Pera has no interest in relocating the franchise, according to Silver, which effectively takes the idea off the table.
Silver did, however, pitch a scaled-back version of expanded Tennessee reach for the team.
"Nashville is a city on the rise," Silver said.
He said he would personally like the Grizzlies to play a handful of games annually in Nashville and serve as the state's team to whatever extent possible.
The Spurs are already running this kind of regional play. This past season, San Antonio staged two regular-season home games at the Moody Center in Austin under the branding of its I-35 Series. But the Tennessee map doesn't line up as neatly. The Moody Center is about 77 miles from the Frost Bank Center, where the Spurs usually play. FedExForum to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville checks in at 213 miles, close to three times that haul.
The Grizzlies' lease at FedExForum runs through the 2028-29 season. The arena opened in 2004, three years after the franchise relocated from Vancouver.
Silver offered a firm endorsement of Memphis as an NBA market going forward.
"There's no reason why the Memphis Grizzlies can't be successful," Silver said.