Adam Silver in favor of lowering NBA’s age limit, ‘hopeful’ change will be made in upcoming CBA

LAS VEGAS — NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday he is “hopeful” there will be a change in the NBA’s age limit in the next collective bargaining agreement, calling it “the right thing to do.”

“I think there’s an opportunity [to change it],” Silver said during his annual news conference at the conclusion of the league’s board of governors meetings during summer league.

“It’s [based on] larger conversations than just whether we go from 19 to 18, but I’m on record: When I balance all of these various considerations, I think that would be the right thing to do and I am hopeful that that’s a change we make in this next collective bargaining cycle, which will happen in the next couple years.”

This isn’t the first time the idea of changing the age limit has come up in recent years, including negotiations between the NBA and National Basketball Players Association a few years ago that ultimately broke down.

But Silver said changing the age limit will “clearly be on the table” in the upcoming collective bargaining talks, which have gotten underway between the league and players’ union, led by a new executive director in Tamika Tremaglio.

Silver noted the talks are still in their early stages.

The two sides both have the ability to opt out of the current deal this winter, which would set up the potential for the CBA to expire next summer. That said, both sides have expressed plenty of optimism that, like in 2016 — the last time the league was in this position — an agreement will be put into place before that opt-out deadline.

Silver himself admitted that, in the past, he favored increasing the age limit to 20, in theory meaning players would spend two years between high school and the NBA. But, after seeing how things have evolved over time — including, he said, the proliferation of NIL deals and “a lot of societal changes,” and the recommendations of the NCAA committee led by Condoleezza Rice on the subject — he has changed his mind.

“It may be the case that it’s in all of our interests that we start impacting with these young players, especially because in our sport they are identified at such a young age,” Silver said, “and begin working with them on their development then, not just basketball skills but increasingly there’s a focus on their mental health, their diets, just helping them build character and all of the important values around the sport.”

The NBA changed its age limit from 18 to 19 in 2005, after a run of…