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Report: Vegas Mayor 'Damaged' Chances of Becoming NBA's Bubble-City

Last week, Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman participated in a controversial interview on CNN, which has reportedly damaged the chances of Vegas becoming NBA's bubble-city.

Justin Grasso

When will the NBA return to action? Your guess is as good as mine. As a matter of fact, Adam Silver's guess is as good as yours. Over the last few weeks, Silver has been entirely honest when discussing the status of the currently suspended NBA season. And the commissioner has made it clear he obviously doesn't know whether the season will resume or not.

Nothing is off the table as of right now. There's a chance the season picks up where it left off, but there's an even better chance we've seen the end of the regular season and will skip to playoffs. While the NBA hasn't officially stated that every team has hosted its last game in their respective arenas, a 'bubble-city' concept for the NBA is more than likely going to happen.

If you were to ask anybody where the NBA might play out the rest of the season before last week, the clear-cut answer would've been Las Vegas, where the league has familiarity. However, Vegas' mayor, Carolyn Goodman, recently participated in a controversial interview with CNN, which caused tons of backlash from Americans over the last week.

As expected -- the NBA was paying attention. And of course, it doesn't sound like the interview sat well with league power brokers, according to Sports Illustrated's own, Chris Mannix. "The NBA has a longstanding relationship with Las Vegas, and to be clear, Goodman can't open so much as a Bonanno's on the Strip, which is outside of her jurisdiction," Mannix wrote on Friday. 

"But I've talked to a few people this week who have strongly indicated that interview resonated strongly with league power brokers -- and not in a good way." Interestingly enough, just days after Goodman's controversial interview, reports started popping up regarding the NBA's potential of continuing the season at Disney World in Orlando. Does that mean Vegas is officially out of the running to become the NBA's bubble-city if the season resumes? Not entirely. However, Goodman surely didn't help the city's case.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_ 

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA

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