"Is Bon Jovi more important than IST?" - NBA podcaster speculates Adam Silver influencing Lakers to hoist In Season Tournament banner

The LA Lakers are hoisting the NBA In-Season Tournament banner in the rafters on Dec. 18. After winning the inaugural NBA Cup, there were questions regarding where the Lakers would place the banner.

J.E. Skeets on his podcast “No Dunks” opined that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver influenced the Lakers’ to hoist the tournament banner.

While Skeets was not very enthusiastic about hanging the banners in the rafters, his co-host Tas Melas cosigned with the Lakers. Melas said that although it was not a championship banner, the IST banner would make the fans care more about it.

Here's what Skeets said:

“I think it’s hilarious because I am pretty damn sure this is Adam Silver’s doing and not really the Lakers’ decision. I don’t care if it’s going up there. I mean other stadiums put hey Bon Jovi came through a 100 times…Is Bon Jovi more important than IST?”

The Lakers won the IST after defeating the Indiana Pacers 123-109 on Saturday. The knockout round had the playoff intensity and gave fans something to get excited about.

Adding IST at least provided NBA fans with some high-intensity entertainment. Perhaps, hanging the banner might actually make the tournament a massive success in the future.

---

Adam Silver speaks on NBA team expansion

The rumors of the NBA adding another team to the league have been circulating in the media for over a year now. However, there has been no clarity on when it might happen.

The last time a team was added to the NBA was the Charlotte Hornets (then known as Charlotte Bobcats) in 2004, which became the 30th team in the league. Since then, it has been almost 20 years and now the expansion talk is getting picked up again.

Recently, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver finally addressed the idea and said on Sirius XM Radio:

“Well, No. 1, I'll say is there are no inside candidates. Lots of players, former players, well-known wealthy people out there have expressed interest in having a Las Vegas franchise. What I've said to everyone publicly and privately is that there is no process in place, no secret discussions, no commitments to anyone."

Silver also added that the league has to first look into the media deals before even thinking about the expansion. The current TV deals are set to expire in 2024, which would require striking a deal for the league.

Las Vegas has been a frontrunner in the expansion talks. It already has a WNBA team in Las Vegas Aces, who recently won the WNBA championship.

The NBA also organized its successful NBA In-Season Tournament Semifinals and Final in Las Vegas. Moreover, there have been talks of expansion in Mexico City as well.