Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather is working on making a move into the world of basketball by buying an NBA franchise, according to Sam Gordon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Mayweather is set for a return to the boxing ring, after announcing he would be taking on against Japanese mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakura in an exhibition bout.
At the announcement the American fighter spoke about his NBA interest. Mayweather said his team “have been working on behind the scenes with the NBA.” The 45-year-old refused to confirm where he was planning to drop his investment, adding: “I can’t say exactly where, but I’m working on getting a team.
Mayweather’s interest comes after NBA commissioner Adam Silver denied the idea of an expansion of the league ahead of this year’s finals. Silver was asked about a potential expansion, revealing that whilst the growth of NBA is expected in the future, it is not an immediate plan.
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Asked by the media about the NBA growing its roster the commissioner responded: “Just to answer the first part of your question directly, that talk is not true. At least maybe there are people talking who are not at the league office about us potentially expanding after the 2024 season.
“We are not discussing that at this time. As I said before, at some point, this league invariably will expand, but it’s not at this moment that we are discussing it.” If the expansion was to take place in the future, both Seattle and Las Vegas has been heavily tipped to play host to the new teams.
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