NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to visit Indy, attend Pacers' season opener
The NBA Commissioner will be part of an announcement on Wednesday, then in the building for Pacers-Wizards.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will be in Indianapolis this week, his first of several visits this upcoming season.
Silver plans to meet on Wednesday with team and city executives ahead of the NBA’s premier event, All-Star Weekend, which will be held in Indy Feb. 16-18. A press conference has been scheduled for more All-Star related announcements to be shared on Wednesday afternoon. That will include Pacers owner Steve Simon, CEO Rick Fuson and more.
Silver will then be able to attend opening night for the Pacers as they tip off the 2023-24 campaign at Gainbridge Fieldhouse against the Washington Wizards for the second consecutive season. Seven of their first nine games are at home. (Click here to view the full schedule.)
The NBA season officially begins Tuesday with Lakers at Nuggets and Suns at Warriors.
Silver attends at least one Pacers home game each season. And last year, he was at The Fieldhouse for Pacers-Heat on Dec. 12, 2022. During that visit, he spoke with team employees but did not meet with local reporters.
A few months later, at All-Star Weekend 2023 in Salt Lake City, I asked Silver about Herb Simon's contributions to the NBA (he’s the longest-tenured NBA owner) and Indianapolis finally getting its All-Star weekend after a three-year postponement.
“So I’m thrilled that we were able to reschedule that Covid All-Star Game to Indianapolis. I know Herb Simon and his son Stephen are here. Rick Fuson, (Pacers Sports & Entertainment CEO), is here, together with a team of people from the Pacers and Indianapolis, to study the great things that Ryan and Ashley (Smith) are doing here and the community is doing here.
“And, as I love about our teams, seeing if they can up it yet another notch when we get to Indianapolis. So I’m already looking forward to it.”
Herb Simon is celebrating his 89th birthday today.
Click here for tickets to opening night.
The 2024 All-Star Game will be held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, but events on Saturday night will be over at Lucas Oil Stadium.
