Expansion may be coming to the NBA. Here's some of what you may want to know

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA is now officially looking at expansion, with Seattle and Las Vegas the two targeted cities.

A vote Wednesday by the league's board of governors — part of a two-day series of meetings in New York — cleared the way for formal talks between potential ownership groups in those two cities and NBA officials to take place, a process that likely will start before too long.

Commissioner Adam Silver wants the league to know by the end of 2026 if expansion will happen.

The league said investment bank PJT Partners has been brought on “as a strategic adviser to evaluate prospective markets, ownership groups, arena infrastructure, and the broader economic implications of expansion.”

Paul Taubman, the bank's chairman and CEO, has worked with the NBA on a number of matters in the past — and when former NBA Commissioner David Stern stepped down more than a decade ago to allow for the start of Silver's time as commissioner, Taubman even brought Stern on as an adviser.

Silver said the league hasn't struck any deals yet, which means the bidding is wide open at this point.

“If you are interested, and I’ll say that now to people who may be listening or watching this, if you’re interested, call the league office, call PJT Partners directly in New York," Silver said at a news conference Wednesday. "I just want to make sure everybody understands there’s been no handshakes on the side. There’s been no commitments. There’s no promises to anyone. This is a completely transparent process.”

PJT Partners and the league will vet candidates, find the best plans, then start the process of actually seeing if a deal can be struck. Given the expected expansion fee — $6 billion or more — it won't be a quick process.

Put simply, no.

There are no guarantees that the league will expand, first of all. And while it would create some interesting schedule scenarios if an odd number of teams were in the league — 31 instead of the current 30 — there have been unbalanced conference lineups before.

They could add both cities. They could add just one. They could add none.

Another unknown, but it won't be next season. And probably not the one after that, either.

The commonly held theory is that it would take at least 18 months if not longer to get a new team up and running.

That would suggest 2028-29 would be the earliest season in which new teams could be added.

“Our goal was in 2026 to resolve this issue one way or the other," Silver said. "So, my timeline — we weren’t so specific with the board — is that we need to know by the end of this calendar year what it is we’re doing. It may not be that every ‘I’ is dotted, but that would be our goal, this year.”

If the league decides to expand, it'll be selling equity in the current product.

And business in the NBA is booming, with franchise values soaring — the Boston Celtics recently sold with a valuation of just over $6 billion and the Los Angeles Lakers' valuation was $10 billion.

“The only discussion in the room was understanding the math around dilution in terms of projections and what’s the direct reduction in existing revenues to teams if we were expanding beginning in '28-29," Silver said. "We did not discuss franchise value per se in these meetings. Of course, certainly with our bankers, we have a sense of where we think that value exists, but at the end of the day, the marketplace will determine that.”

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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, second from front right, and forward Jarred Vanderbilt, right, react after a dunk by guard Austin Reaves, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) grabs a rebound in front of Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (2) and guard Aaron Nesmith during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Atlanta Hawks center Jock Landale (31) celebrates his dunk against the Memphis Grizzlies during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Golden State Warriors center Kristaps Porzingis, center, and guard Gary Payton II, left, react after guard Moses Moody (4) suffered an injury during overtime of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Monday, March 23, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Cleveland Cavaliers center Thomas Bryant (3) shouts after dunking over Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze (35) in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Cleveland, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

The NAACP, the oldest civil rights organization in the U.S., has hired a former Biden Justice Department official to head its legal advocacy work.

Kristen Clarke, who previously led the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, will be the NAACP's next general counsel, the organization announced Wednesday.

According to an announcement shared first with The Associated Press, Clarke will oversee the NAACP’s legal strategy and operations, and she will lead its litigation efforts on voter access, gerrymandering and the First Amendment, among other civil rights and social justice issues.

“The NAACP has stood on the front lines of justice for over a century, and I’m deeply honored to join this historic organization at this critical moment in our democracy,” Clarke said in a statement.

“Our communities are under relentless attack — from the ballot box to their wallets — and this moment demands that we use the full weight of the law to promote justice and accountability,” she said.

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said Clarke is “the legal mind this moment demands.”

“As we face unprecedented attacks on voting and civil rights, having Kristen Clarke at the helm of our legal operations brings strategic vision, disciplined leadership, and innovative advocacy,” he said in a statement.

The NAACP said Clarke’s appointment shows how it's mobilizing “legal firepower” to combat Republican efforts to dismantle voting rights protections that date back to the Civil Rights Movement, when Black Americans overcame legal suppression and intimidation, largely in southern states.

The NAACP sued nearly a year ago, arguing that President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to require proof of citizenship for voter registration violated the constitutional rights of states to regulate voting, and discriminated against voters of color. A federal judge blocked that order in June, siding with a group of Democratic state attorneys general that also challenged its constitutionality.

Clarke was the first woman and the first Black woman appointed to lead the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. Serving from 2021 through early 2025, she sought reforms in police departments over abusive practices, including in Memphis after the 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols. She also was part of the DOJ team that prosecuted an avowed white supremacist for hate crimes after a shooting killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo, New York supermarket in 2022.

Before joining the Justice Department, Clarke earned degrees at Harvard University and Columbia Law School, and served as president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which was founded more than 60 years ago to challenge racial segregation.

Since leaving federal service, she has served as a professor at Howard University School of Law, which she will continue to do while working for the NAACP.

FILE - Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division speaks during a news conference Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)