Adam Silver

Earlier tonight, NBA Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver participated in a pre-Finals press conference. While there were plenty of reporters who live-tweeted several of the responses during Stern's question and answer session with the media, Hoopsworld's Yannis Koutroupis released a more complete transcript of Commissioner Stern's comments. You can read some of the highlights below. 

• Stern said that he has the "best job in the world" and that there is still much to be done in the months leading up to his retirement, also reiterating his faith in Silver as his successor. 
• As for instant replay, the concept of off-site review (as it's done in the NHL) is under consideration, and Stern will bring up the topic at the Competition Committee in San Antonio next week. Silver added that having officials in a broadcast booth somewhere to assess replays could even speed up the overall review process. 
• On the topic of flopping, Stern implied that it's still a complex challenge to deal with. While many of the flops of have been reviewed, the approach has been to punish even the most egregious flops very gently. While he said that suspensions could eliminate it altogether, Stern said that it'd be too severe of a punishment but concluded that it would be up to the Board and Competition Committee to handle.
• He will bring up the topic of resting players during upcoming board meetings with the owners, citing that it has a variety of layers to it and merits discussion.  
• Stern adamantly downplayed the effect of flopping fines: “It isn’t enough.  It isn’t enough.  You’re not going to cause somebody to stop it for $5,000 when the average player’s salary is 5.5 million."
• Regarding the more punitive tax penalties that loom over the next several years, Stern believes that the rules and exceptions put in place have been accommodating and allowed teams to gradually adjust accordingly: "So we, trying to deal with the entire situation, said let’s do it slowly, so we’ll build up to it, so that the luxury tax doesn’t click into the highest level until the third year to allow teams to do what they’re going to do.  And let’s allow an amnesty for one player who is then on the roster.  And let’s have a stretch, so if you cut a player you can do that.  You can stretch it out twice the length of the contract plus one."
• Stern referenced New York's decision to not match Jeremy Lin's contract offer, with Chicago's decision to let Omer Asik sign with Houston, the coaching changes, and decisions based around the salary cap as evidence that teams are starting to become more conscientious with management. 
• Expanding more on the topic of coaching changes, Stern alluded to it as "a natural consequence" of trying to assemble a roster along with the pressure felt by the general manager of being able to compete. Overall, he sees it as an important part of the overall pressure of a system in the NBA, where teams that aren't competitive and/or struggle financially have no choice but to do what they can to improve. 

NBA Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the media in a press conference prior to the start of Saturday night's All-Star Weekend events. He discussed a wide range of topics relating to the present and future state of the NBA (transcript courtest of NBA.com Media Central).

Stern on the Kings' future and possible move to Seattle:

I think it's fair to say that we have an application in house, as you know, from Seattle to both transfer ownership to the Hansen‑Ballmer group and an application to move the team to Seattle to play in Key Arena while the process goes on to get permission to build a new building in Seattle, and the various lawsuits and environmental impact and other things are dealt with.

And that's moving along.  I met with Mayor McGinn of Seattle, we have two committees focusing on it, the Relocation Committee and Advisory Finance Committee, and we fully expect to have that process completed for report to the Board of Governors at its April 18th meeting.

We have been advised by Mayor Johnson of Sacramento, parenthetically, who we have not met with and who we have no plans to meet with here, closed parens, that Sacramento will be delivering to us a competitive bid to the one that we have received from Seattle.  That will include the construction of a new building with a significant subsidy from the City of Sacramento, and other things that would bring the region together to support the team.

That's all we have.  The mayor has said that we'll have that likely well before March 1, which appears in our constitution for when we must receive applications to move.  It's sort of irrelevant exactly, but that was a good enough date, so we selected that.

Stern on the progress of HGH and other drug testing in the NBA:

I would say that we have a comprehensive drug testing program that has a long list, probably a hundred or so, I'm not even sure the number, of drugs that are prohibited, including HGH, subject to an agreement of the validity of an appropriate testing protocol.  And we expect that to happen, we really do, before the start of next season.

With respect to the biological passport, I think the blood test is the precursor to the biological passport.  And that's a subject for discussion with the Players' Association.

And let me say, our players have been front and center with us on this one.  They want to be and be perceived as playing in a drug‑free sport.  We have six unannounced tests a year.  Two of those are authorized out of season.  And we have an independent group of experts that adds drugs to the list of prescribed drugs.  And we test in a way that the samples get sent to an approved lab and we're there.

There will always be some kind of leap‑frogging there, as there was in 1983 which we were the first league to have an anti‑‑drug program and dealt with a variety of things.  So it's always subject to be improved.  But together with our Players' Association, which I think has taken a leadership role here, I'm sure will continue to improve it. 

Stern on the possibility of expansion:

[T]here's a large group of owners who believe that expansion is an economic matter, is a neutral thing.  At least the way we've done it to date, you get a lot of money in and in return for that you cut the new team in for a large and growing source of revenue from national TV, national licensing, and all things international and digital.  And then it doesn't really seem to make that much additional sense as the increased revenue that demands to the gross PRI and increased each player costs and the like.

So it has to be parsed and analyzed but right now given that we've just come through an intriguing collective bargaining negotiation and coupled it with specific revenue sharing, over $200 million, I think the sentiment is to let it all settle and assess how we are doing and what the projections are for how we'll do. 

Stern on the NBPA's leadership controversey:

I don't have any comment on the Players' Association situation other than we know as much as you do and nothing more.  We've seen Derrick Fisher's statements, and we await notification from the union as to who we should be dealing with, because it has been a principle of faith for us that we will deal with whomever the union tells us to deal with.  That's what we do, and it remains the same.

Stern on the progress of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement:

We think that the Collective Bargaining Agreement is working.  We think that it's yet to click in its fullness, which will happen next year.  We believe the revenue‑sharing projects together with the Collective Bargaining Agreement that our teams will have the opportunity to both compete and to be profitable.

Stern on the NBA's increasing international profile:

[O]ur international prospects remain as strong as ever.  We don't have anything to announce, but we're going to be doing lots of exhibition traveling, I have no doubt, this coming preseason.  Our digital footprint will become larger country by country, with respect to the websites that are going to be entering into partnerships and the like. Adam is heading off to China next month.  Heidi Ueberroth has me going to India in April.  And the march continues as our game continues to prosper and thrive.

Silver on the future of the NBA D-League:

I attended the D‑League Showcase this afternoon.  We think it's a wonderful event and I met with the D‑League owners yesterday, as well.  I think ultimately we'd like to have a 30‑team league, and we do envision a one‑to‑one relationship between every NBA team and a single D‑League affiliate.  We think it's the second best basketball in the world after the NBA.