The talk of potential expansion in the NBA has been picking up over the last couple of years and one of the main cities being mentioned is Las Vegas. With both the NFL and NHL having teams in Las Vegas now, it only makes sense that talks about the NBA would follow and former Los Angeles Lakers wing Metta World Peace is looking to get involved.
Of course, current Lakers superstar LeBron James has already spoken about his desire to see a team in the city and there have been rumblings that he could be much more involved as his desires to become an NBA owner are well known as well. But World Peace has made it clear that he would love to be a part of that ownership group as well.
In an interview with Arash Markazi of The Sporting Tribune, World Peace says that the Artest Management Group is very interested in getting involved in a potential Las Vegas expansion team, but also believes that the Maloof brothers would need to be involved as well:
“I’m very interested in talking with different groups to see if they would allow us the opportunity to get involved,” World Peace told The Sporting Tribune. “I think you have to somehow involve the Maloofs. I think the Maloofs set the tone for Las Vegas.”
Joe and Gavin Maloof are most known in the NBA as being the former owners of the Sacramento Kings from 1998 through 2013. They also own a minority stake in the NHL’s Vegas franchise, the Golden Knights, and played a huge role in that team becoming a reality through both their relationship with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and their ability to get local support for the team as they are based in Las Vegas.
World Peace actually played for the Kings during the time the Maloofs owned the team and thus does have a relationship with them as well. While he wouldn’t go into details about the discussions going on, he made it clear that he and his team are interested:
“I can’t really disclose what’s happening right now because so much is happening but what I can say is I am respectfully interested,” World Peace said. “My team is respectfully and humbly interested in everything that’s happening in Las Vegas and we are going to continue to pursue it.”
Exactly when expansion could take place is another discussion entirely, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said that the league’s new CBA deal must get done before any potential expansion talks occur. But when that time comes, Metta World Peace plans on being right there.
Lakers’ LeBron James pushes for NBA to bring a team to Las Vegas
James also made it clear that he wants to see an NBA team in Las Vegas during the team’s preseason trip there.
Following a contest, LeBron said that it would be amazing to have a team in the city and spoke directly to Adam Silver saying he wants a team there.
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