NBA – Adam Silver’s big admission about the Lakers: “They decided not to…

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver (left) and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James (right)

One of the most important markets in the league, the Lakers are therefore the subject of particular attention, regardless of their sporting situation. This has been especially the case in recent hours, as part of Adam Silver’s visit to Los Angeles.

From a completely neutral point of view, the fact that they are having a good season a priori serves the interests of the league. After all, NBA ratings generally only do better when the Lakers play leading roles in the West and make long playoff runs. Not sure, however, that the current team will manage to achieve such a journey, which is in 10th place in its conference (20-21).

Adam Silver’s unexpected revelation about the Lakers

If the success of the Lakers would therefore tend to do the business of the NBA, this can sometimes turn against it and the franchise. The latter was recently accused of favoritism after an arbitration controversy. The fact that Adam Silver went to Los Angeles this Tuesday raised a few eyebrows, but was only intended to announce that the city will host… the 2026 All-Star Game:

It is with immense honor that I am here to announce that the 2026 All-Star Game will be hosted here in Inglewood at the brand new Intuit Dome. (…) Steve (Ballmer) keeps calling this building “basketball heaven”. That’s also what we called the All-Star Game, so we’ll have to come up with a new name. We can also say that basketball heaven will be held in basketball heaven!

As was recently the case in 2004, 2011 and 2018, the superstars of the league will meet for a few days in L.A. in 2026. During previous occurrences, however, Clippers and Lakers had worked hand in hand to the organization of such an event. However, this time, the Purple & Gold would have preferred to leave the monopoly of operations to their local rivals, as Silver announced:

There were other events planned at the Crypto.com Arena. As a result, the Lakers decided not to take part in this “All-Star experience”. But I’m sure ultimately they’ll put some things in place to have events throughout that week. They will find ways to do it. They will also be able to use their huge fanbase to connect directly to these activities.

Failing to ensure the smooth running of this meeting, the Lakers must hope that some of their representatives will be invited. At this stage, however, it is difficult to say that LeBron James will still play on the floor when the time comes and that Anthony Davis will still defend the team’s colors. For the moment, however, all these uncertainties have little importance for the franchise.

Despite holding the 2026 All-Star Game in Los Angeles, the Lakers should not be very involved from an organizational point of view. A choice made knowingly by the Angelinos, who will therefore let the Clippers take care of operations.