Commissioner Silver addressed the state of the Association prior to G1. After the conclusion of the--complicated--new media rights deal "exploring expansion" is next on the league's agenda. But, it's not full steam ahead. The league has not expanded since 2004, Chazz. That's 20 years of stasis while franchise valuations have gone from the hundreds of millions to the multi-billions. But Adam's words were,

“By turning to expansion, it doesn’t mean that we’re going to announce that now we’re ready to add teams. It means that there will be a committee of NBA governors that will focus on it. ... I actually am looking forward to that. I think the league, it’s not preordained that we will expand this time, but I know there’s an enormous amount of interest out there”.

He's concerned about the dilution of talent that adding two more teams would result. Seattle and Las Vegas are right there but Adam has always thought big and and future:

"At some point, we'd like to look outside the United States, in addition to Canada," Silver said. "This may not be the right moment to do that, but I'm thinking long term, as well."

And he dealt headon, as he always does, with "societal issues":

...the Chicago Sky's Chennedy Carter on Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark dominated the news cycle recently, Silver said the hit -- which was later upgraded to a flagrant foul by the WNBA -- should be categorized as a "welcome to the league" moment and was the type of treatment that "heralded rookies" have gone through for years.

[Disagree. That was a non-basketball foul, a thugging from behind.

Silver said the "tremendous additional interest" that Clark and Chicago rookie Angel Reese have brought with them after highly successful NCAA careers has been "very healthy for women's basketball and the WNBA" but acknowledged that racial dynamics have seeped into the conversation.

"There's also some larger societal issues at work," Silver said. "There's no doubt. I don't want to hide from that. Some having to do with race, and they're very apparent. I think sports historically has been a platform for people to talk directly about these issues. I don't think we should hide from them."

He's wrong there too. There is racial jealousy by THOT Reese and THUG Carter to lily white, and slight, Caitlyn Carter. It's not business as usual for rookies; Carter's attack on Clark was manifestation of racial animosity. It was not a basketball play, and it was motivated by racial resentment. Adam's predecessor, David Stern, had antennae exquisitely finely tuned to racial targeting. I don't like Silver's comments on the mugging of Clark, there's nothing to "talk directly about". Clark is being singled out for abuse because her skin lacks a full does of melanin. If the WNBA were majority white and a supernova Black rookie entered the league and got the treatment Clark has received I more than strongly believe that Adam would have put an end to it with alacrity and unction. It can't go on. The women's game is ripe for an incident and it's the commissioner's responsibility to head it off NOW. He didn't do that and he may rue it. 

The Association should expand, I can't believe it has been 20 years, and this racial targeting in the renaissance year of the WNBA must not be allowed to be soiled by targeting the most popular player in the game, who happens to be white.