Silver enthusiastic about plans for Warriors’ arena

NEW YORK — Fresh off his trip to the Bay Area this month, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday that the Warriors are “on track” to build a new arena for the 2018-19 season and praised the franchise’s latest plans for the stateof-the-art facility in San Francisco.

“In San Francisco, I’ve seen the plans, and I’ve sat with the ownership there,” said Silver, who attended the Warriors’ 128-114 victory over Dallas on Feb. 4. “I think it looks fantastic. It’s an incredible undertaking to build a new arena in San Francisco. They intend to privately finance it. I think that’s an incredible contribution on the part of these owners.

“It always amazes me in this day and age when there aren’t great, state-ofthe-art arenas in any major city, because these are multiuse facilities. Basketball is, of course, 41 regular-season dates and some preseason. Hopefully, in the case of the Golden State Warriors this year, there will be a lot of playoff dates. But the majority of the dates are used for other programming in the community, whether it’s the circus, ice shows, graduations, concerts, you name it.” Kerr chooses Aldridge: After considering Tim Duncan and Kevin Durant to start in place of the injured Anthony Davis, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr decided to go with LaMarcus Aldridge.

Still, one of the highlights of this weekend for Kerr, who along with the rest of the Warriors’ coaching staff is leading the Western Conference All-Stars, is getting to spend time with former teammate Duncan.

“I think the thing I’m looking forward to the most is coaching Tim Duncan,” Kerr said. “That’s going to be hilarious. We were teammates for four years. He’s going to look at me like I’m the ball boy or something. He’s going to look at me like, ‘What are you doing here? Why are you even here?’

“I’m sure I’ll have some choice words for him, too. Maybe I’ll even threaten to play him 42 minutes just to wear him down.”

The Warriors’ first game after the All-Star break is a home date with Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs on Friday. Hall of Fame finalists: Former Warrior guard Tim Hardaway and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson headline a list of 12 finalists announced Saturday for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Hardaway played seven seasons with the Warriors and hopes to join “Run TMC” mates Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond, who have already been enshrined. Johnson is the first player to have his jersey retired at Cal, and after playing 12 years in the NBA, he is now the mayor of his hometown.

The Class of 2015 will be announced April 6 before the NCAA men’s championship game. They’ll be enshrined in Springfield, Mass., on Sept.11. Boss is coming: Warriors owner Joe Lacob and Chesson Hadley shot a 3-under 69 on Saturday and missed the cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Lacob plans to fly into New York for Sunday’s All-Star Game.

“They intend to privately finance it. I think that’s an incredible contribution on the part of these owners.”

Adam Silver, NBA commissioner, on plans for Warriors’ arena in S.F.