‘Interest from Montreal’ for NBA expansion, commissioner says

Could the NBA be coming to Montreal or Vancouver?

While making an appearance on the Boston Celtics’ broadcast during their game Monday against the New York Knicks, NBA commissioner Adam Silver seemingly opened the doors to the possibility of expansion north of the border in the future.

“That’s become a great basketball market,” he said. “I will say the Toronto Raptors have done a good job… of making themselves Canada’s team. I know there’s interest from Montreal. There’s still ongoing interest in Vancouver.”

With 27 active Canadians in the NBA, putting their country on the map, Silver is taking notice of the rise in popularity of the sport. He mentions the recent success of the Canadian men’s basketball team, which came away with the bronze medal at the FIBA World Cup over the summer with an overtime victory over the United States, as an indicator of the talent that is reaching the highest levels of the sport.

No country outside of the U.S. has more NBA players than Canada. The group of Canadians taking the floor nightly includes 2022-23 All-NBA First Team member Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, NBA champions Andrew Wiggins and Jamal Murray, and Raptors forward Chris Boucher.

“It began so much as a hockey market when we first expanded there,” he told NBC Sports Boston’s Mike Gorman. “Young people love basketball now. Obviously, they still love their hockey there, but there will be more opportunity over time.”