Kanter said he feared he could be attacked or killed over his opposition to Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if he were to travel to London. Istanbul-based newspaper Daily Sabah reported that an arrest warrant was issued for Kanter by Turkish prosecutors on Wednesday.
Silver, speaking ahead of Thursday's game, says "it was never a suggestion from the league that (Kanter) was not welcome on this trip."
"There are significant issues that he is dealing with, and I recognize that for the NBA, by virtue of the fact that we're a global business, we have to pay a lot of attention to those issues as well," Silver says.