Adam Silver

Adam Silver Defends 65-Game Requirement At Press Conference

February 17th, 2024 at 8:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

Commissioner Adam Silver defended the NBA’s 65-game requirement for players to qualify for postseason awards and All-NBA honors at his annual All-Star Weekend press conference, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. The new minimum was enacted to reduce the number of games missed by marquee players, and Silver is happy with the effect it’s had on the league.

“I’m not ready to say it isn’t working so far,” he said. “I can tell you that the number of games that players have participated in is up this season and interestingly enough, injuries are actually down. Whether that’s meaningful data yet, I don’t know. I think the right time to take a further look at this rule is at the end of the season when we sort of at least have a year under our belt.”

Vardon cites Sixers center Joel Embiid as an example of a player who was affected by the 65-game standard. A series of nagging injuries made Embiid unlikely to be eligible to repeat as MVP, even before he underwent surgery for a meniscus tear. Vardon also points to Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, who is trying to stay on the court while battling hamstring issues so he can make an All-NBA team and be eligible for a larger contract extension.

Silver stated that the players union agreed to the 65-game requirement with the understanding that “we needed to incentivize players, particularly star players, to play more games.” Vardon notes that 16 of the league’s top 20 scorers and 35 of the top 50 have played at least 45 games by the break, which is up sharply from last season.

There’s more from Silver’s press conference, all from Vardon:

The commissioner addressed the explosion of offense this season as the league average of 115.6 points per game per team is at its highest level in 54 years. Silver believes the increased scoring is a result of the high-level talent throughout the NBA and isn’t something that the league should be trying to control. “I want to dispel any notion that the league feels, or the league office necessarily feels that high-scoring games in the abstract are good,” Silver said. “I think what we want are competitive games. … The skill level is off the charts. Every player at every position has to be able to shoot the ball. … You’re seeing this global pool of talent coming into the league (with) some of the best athletes in the world who can frankly shoot the lights out. I think that’s partly what’s responsible for the increased scoring.”
Silver said the league is “in the process of reassessing” the G League Ignite, which was created to appeal to young players looking for an alternative to college. Silver acknowledged that NIL incentives have made the NCAA more lucrative for athletes and reduced the appeal of the Ignite.
The NBA is encouraging changes to the development system for American players, with Silver noting that 30% of the league was born somewhere other than the U.S. “It’s clear that the development is very different in many of those programs outside of the United States, more focused on practice and less focused on games, which seems to be the opposite of many of the youth programs in the United States,” Silver said. “We’ve begun discussions with the NCAA. … There’s no question (top American players) are coming into the league incredibly skilled, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into being team basketball players.”

Adam Silver Talks 65-Game Rule, All-Star Game, Mexico City, IST

February 13th, 2024 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The push-back from some players and fans over how the NBA’s new 65-game minimum for end-of-season awards has affected certain stars didn’t come as a surprise to the league, according to commissioner Adam Silver, who told Shaun Powell of NBA.com that he believes the policy has worked as intended.

One noteworthy case has been that of Tyrese Haliburton, an All-Star whose new contract extension would increase in value by more than $40MM if he makes an All-NBA team in 2023/24. The Pacers guard has already missed 13 games so far this season, giving him little margin for error if he hopes to remain eligible to qualify for that salary bump.

“In a league where contracts are fully guaranteed, there’s no reduction in salary for a player who doesn’t make the playoffs or plays a reduced number of games, whether it’s because they were injured or because rest was appropriate for some of those games. They get their full salary,” Silver said. “What these designations are essentially about, in addition to the respect and accolades that come from these designations, there are also financial consequences. And the feeling was the 65-game limit, playing 80 percent of games, seemed like a fair cutoff to be eligible.

“As a reminder, I think what gets confused in some circles is that we pay a fixed sum of money every year to 450 players. It’s 51 percent of the (basketball-related income). I think the only appropriate way to judge the effect of this rule is when this season is over, to see how that money is distributed. Then it’s a fair question to say was the outcome fair for everyone involved – including putting in place the appropriate incentives – to decide who gets bonuses and who doesn’t?”

While Silver didn’t mention Haliburton’s situation specifically, he went on to say that there may be individual cases that may seem unfair. However, he stressed that the league has seen a “significant” increase in the amount that All-Star caliber players are playing, which was the intended effect of the new rule.

“We don’t want to turn the clock back and put players in position where they’re playing injured, but we have an obligation to our fans for players to play as many games as they reasonably can,” Silver said.

Here are a few more highlights from Silver’s conversation with Powell:

Silver, who indicated that the NBA reverted to the East vs. West format in this year’s All-Star game because it’s “what the fans wanted,” said that expanding All-Star rosters to 15 players (from 12) isn’t something the league is currently considering. “Part of the reason we’ve stayed at 12 is because it makes being an All-Star that much more special,” Silver said. “As you know, we just came through a collective bargaining cycle and (15-man All-Star rosters) were not high on anyone’s list. There’s a mutual interest with the teams and the players that being an All-Star remains that very special designation.”
Although the NBA has introduced a G League franchise in Mexico City and has spoken in recent years about the possibility of expanding the NBA south of the border, Silver doesn’t view that as a likely outcome in the short term. “In terms of Mexico City, we’ve played many regular season games in a first-class arena there,” he said. “It’s the largest market in North America and there’s a huge Hispanic and Mexican American population in the U.S. A potential expansion in Mexico City is on our radar. It’s probably not going to happen in the next wave of expansion but I think over time it would be very realistic.”
With a new media rights deal around the corner, the NBA wants to get feedback from its prospective TV partners before deciding on what changes it might make to the in-season tournament, according to Silver, who acknowledged that tiebreaker rules are one thing the league and players’ union will look at. “It’s too early to tell. I don’t want to make too many changes this quickly because people are just getting used to it,” the commissioner said. “Even the notion of a neutral site final four, we’ve only gone through one iteration of that. So, we’ll probably keep it roughly similar next season to get a better sense of whether that’s the right format.”
Silver also spoke to Powell about the league-wide increase in scoring, the NBA’s next media rights deal, and the high number of recent team ownership changes, among other topics. You can check out the full conversation here.

And-Ones: Dumars, Silver, 2024 Draft, Hill, Snell

February 2nd, 2024 at 9:24pm CST by Rory Maher

In an interview with Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports, NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars said that while he has sympathy for injured players, such as Joel Embiid and Tyrese Haliburton, who may miss out on postseason awards due to the 65-game requirement, he noted the rule was collectively bargained and approved by the National Basketball Players’ Association last year.

“You’re always gonna have unintended consequences, that’s the first thing,” Dumars told Yahoo Sports. “The second thing, you kind of knew that the first couple of guys that were going to get close to that mark, it will become an issue. So it probably was going to become a talking point at some point. It could’ve been a month from now. The number is what the number is. I’m not surprised, (though).”

Dumars also said the NBA has been talking to coaches, general managers and the competition committee about the rise in scoring over the past decade.

“The question is posed to each one of those groups: Is the balance out of whack? Do we need to balance this more to allow defenses to defend more, to do more on the defensive end of the court? And by and large, people are saying it wouldn’t be bad to have a little bit more defense,” Dumars said.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

The Ringer’s staff listed what they view as the 15 biggest challenges facing NBA commissioner Adam Silver over his next 10 years in office. Silver recently signed a contract extension that will keep him in charge of the league office through the rest of the decade. Perhaps the biggest challenge? According to Howard Beck, that will be finding the next “face of the league” when LeBron James and Stephen Curry retire.
Jonathan Givony of ESPN (subscriber link) recently released an in-depth notebook from a 10-day scouting trip across Europe, with potential 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher among the players covered. At 6’10”, Risacher possesses a tantalizing blend of two-way skills and has excellent basketball instincts, according to Givony, who says the French 18-year-old has an “incredibly high floor” due to his “confidence, productivity and efficiency” while also having considerable upside.
Grant Hill, a Hall of Fame player who is currently managing director of USA Basketball as well as a minority owner of the Hawks, is among a group of noteworthy investors who have agreed to buy the MLB’s Baltimore Orioles, per The Associated Press (link via ESPN.com). Longtime Orioles star Cal Ripken Jr. is another investor in the team. Hill has ties to the area, as he’s from northern Virginia, not far from Washington D.C.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports explains why former NBA wing Tony Snell has family and health reasons for wanting to make it back to the league. Snell needs one more year of service (10) to qualify for the union’s premium medical insurance plan for families; he’s currently the only one covered, but he has two sons with autism spectrum disorder (Snell is also on the spectrum). The 32-year-old has spent the past two seasons with the Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League affiliate.

And-Ones: Cauley-Stein, Rondo, Curry/Ionescu, Silver, Morant

January 30th, 2024 at 1:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime NBA big man Willie Cauley-Stein, whose last brief stint in the league came with the Rockets at the end of the 2022/23 season, has signed with Indios de Mayaguez, the Puerto Rican team announced (Facebook link).

The sixth overall pick in 2015, Cauley-Stein signed with Italian club Pallacanestro Varese last summer, but the two sides parted ways in December, freeing up the veteran center to join a new team.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Four-time NBA All-Star Rajon Rondo was arrested on Sunday in Indiana for unlawful possession of a firearm, drug paraphernalia, and marijuana, reports Jason Riley of WDRB.com. An initial court hearing has been scheduled for February 27. Rondo appeared in nearly 1,100 total regular season and playoff games from 2006-22 but hasn’t been in the NBA since finishing the 2021/22 season with Cleveland.
The NBA confirmed on Tuesday in a press release that Warriors star Stephen Curry and WNBA sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu will compete in a one-on-one three-point contest for charity on All-Star Saturday next month. Ionescu, who racked up 37 of 40 possible points in the final round of last season’s WNBA three-point contest, will shoot from the WNBA three-point line using WNBA balls, while Curry shoots from the NBA three-point line using NBA balls.
Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press lays out why Adam Silver‘s contract extension as NBA commissioner was seemingly a “no-brainer,” noting that that seems to be the consensus among players around the league as well. “Our league, from the time that I came in until now, it’s 10 times better,” Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “Everything’s more organized. … I think he’s done a tremendous job. He’s definitely a max player.”
Grizzlies star Ja Morant is launching an AAU basketball program called “Twelve Time” that will be based in South Carolina and Georgia. Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal has the story.

Stein’s Latest: Lakers, Murray, TV Deal, Tillman, J. Allen

January 28th, 2024 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

There has been “little to no” dialogue in recent days between the Lakers and Hawks about a potential Dejounte Murray trade, league sources tell veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein (Substack link). The clubs reportedly previously discussed the possibility of a deal that would include D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick, a pick swap, and possibly rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino.

As Stein notes, there’s still more than enough time before the February 8 trade deadline for the two teams to reengage, but he spoke to one source briefed on the talks who believes it’s “unrealistic” that Murray ends up with the Lakers.

One factor for the disconnect between the two clubs, Stein explains, is a gap in how they value Russell. The veteran point guard has been playing some of the best basketball of his career as of late, averaging 27.5 points and 6.4 assists per game since being reinserted into the Lakers’ starting lineup on January 13.

However, the Hawks appear to have no real interest in acquiring D-Lo and would want to flip him to a third team in a potential Murray trade. With Russell performing so well recently, the Lakers’ pursuit of Murray seems to have been “dialed back,” Stein writes.

Here’s more from Stein’s latest Substack article:

Some industry insiders think the NBA’s next media rights deal will be a shorter-term agreement than the league’s current nine-year pact, which is expiring in 2025. As Stein points out, a five-year media rights deal could put commissioner Adam Silver in position to lead negotiations on the next contract after that, before his new extension expires.
Grizzlies big man Xavier Tillman is a player to watch as a possible trade candidate in the next week-and-a-half, according to Stein. Tillman is the only one of 15 Grizzlies on standard deals who doesn’t have a contract for next season — 13 have guaranteed salaries, while Memphis holds a team option on Luke Kennard.
Stein also passes along some reporting from his podcast co-host Chris Haynes, who stated on his latest Bleacher Report live stream that the Cavaliers have zero interest in fielding inquiries on Jarrett Allen at this season’s trade deadline.

Commissioner Adam Silver To Receive Contract Extension

January 27th, 2024 at 8:16pm CST by Arthur Hill

Adam Silver is finalizing a contract extension that will keep him as NBA commissioner through the rest of the decade, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. He will remain in office to pursue the league’s next two major objectives, a new media rights deal and expansion, Wojnarowski adds.

Silver, 61, spent eight years as deputy commissioner before being promoted nearly 10 years ago. He has operated in a less authoritative manner than his predecessor, David Stern, Wojnarowski observes, working to build a partnership with owners, management and players and becoming popular with all three groups.

Silver negotiated a new Collective Bargaining Agreement last March that will ensure labor harmony through at least 2029. The CBA also reworked the salary cap system by creating restrictive apron levels, giving teams in small and mid-sized markets a greater opportunity to remain competitive.

The commissioner radically transformed the NBA’s playoff system with the introduction of the play-in tournament, which provides more teams with a chance to qualify and limits the number of games in March and April with no postseason implications. The success of that innovation led to this season’s establishment of a mid-season tournament, which was a big hit with fans and players.

Silver has been tested by crisis during his time in office, Wojnarowski notes. He suspended the 2019/20 season for several months following the COVID-19 outbreak and helped to devise a system to finish the season in a bubble setting at Disney World in Orlando. The move allowed the league to crown a champion, even though it didn’t happen until October, and preserved television revenue as well as player salaries.

Draymond Green Says Adam Silver Talked Him Out Of Retiring

January 8th, 2024 at 9:46am CST by Arthur Hill

Draymond Green considered retirement around the time he was suspended last month, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver convinced him to keep playing, relays ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Warriors star explained the situation on the latest edition of his podcast, “The Draymond Green Show.”

“I told him, ‘Adam this is too much for me. … This is too much,” Green said. “It’s all becoming too much for me — and I’m going to retire.’ And Adam said, ‘You’re making a very rash decision and I won’t let you do that.’

“We had a long, great conversation — very helpful to me. Very thankful to play in a league with a commissioner like Adam who’s more about helping you than hurting you; helping you than punishing you. He’s more about the players.”

The podcast marks Green’s first public comments since Silver handed down an indefinite suspension on December 14 after Green was thrown out of a game for striking Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the face. It was the second suspension of the season for Green, who was also docked five games for putting Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert in a choke hold in November.

Green’s latest suspension was lifted on Saturday, but he still hasn’t returned to action. He’s currently working on his conditioning and could be back on the court by the end of the week.

During his time away from the game, Green underwent counseling with representatives from the league office, the team and the players association, as well as his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports. Green was reported to be “open and engaged” during the counseling sessions, which are expected to continue for the rest of the season.

The Warriors have publicly expressed support for Green throughout the process, but coach Steve Kerr said after the incident with Nurkic that Green “has to change and he knows that.”

Latest On Draymond Green

December 14th, 2023 at 9:04am CST by Arthur Hill

The players union wouldn’t have been on board with an indefinite suspension for Draymond Green if he wasn’t willing to accept it himself, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on a SportsCenter appearance (video link).

Green and his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, will meet today with Warriors general manager Mike Dunlevy Jr. to determine what kind of help Green will need to deal with the issues that are leading to his repeated suspensions, and sources tell Wojnarowski that Green has a desire to get counseling.

“I’m told he wants to get help to keep this from happening again,” Wojnarowski said, “to handle whatever issues he might have and whatever challenges he might have in his life.”

Woj adds that by making the suspension indefinite, commissioner Adam Silver is “trying to get to the root of the problem” rather than placing a number of games on Green’s latest act, which involved striking Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the head in Tuesday’s game. Sources tell Wojnarowski that Green is looking to deal with the underlying causes of his behavior, maybe for the first time in his career.

There’s more on the Green suspension:

The NBA office is sending a message to the Warriors that it’s tired of dealing with Green’s frequent transgressions and their effect on the league’s image, according to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. Kawakami points out that Green has already missed five games this season due to suspension and has been ejected from three others. If his current ban lasts for 10 games, he will have been either suspended or ejected from 18 of the team’s first 33 contests. He’s also just two more flagrant fouls away from another automatic one-game suspension. Green seems incapable of controlling his behavior, adds Kawakami, who speculates that the league’s response to a future incident would be “swift and thunderous” and may result in a suspension for the remainder of the season. If that happens, Kawakami notes that the Warriors’ could either try to get out of the remainder of the four-year, $100MM contract that Green signed this summer, trade him for little or nothing in return, or release him and take the financial hit.
Green’s latest incident could spark much-needed roster changes, suggests Sam Amick of The Athletic. The Warriors have lost 12 of their last 17 games and aren’t doing enough to justify a payroll that hovers around $400MM with luxury taxes. With Green unable to stay on the court and Klay Thompson‘s dramatic drop in production ahead of free agency, Amick sees a reduced chance that they and Stephen Curry will all get to retire with Golden State.
Green’s suspension will result in a financial benefit for the Warriors because it was imposed by the league instead of the team. Scott Allen of Spotrac looks at how much the organization might save depending on how long Green is out of action.

And-Ones: NBA Media Rights, McLemore, Experiments, Jokic

December 13th, 2023 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Although the NBA’s current television/media rights deal doesn’t expire until the end of the 2024/25 season, most sources expect a new agreement to be reached by the summer of 2024, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico (subscription required).

There was some speculation in recent years that the NBA’s next media rights deal could triple its current nine-year, $24 billion contract in terms of total value, but most teams are expecting an increase in the range of 100-150% rather than 200%, says Badenhausen. The next agreement could include as many as five broadcast partners, including three on the “linear side” and two streaming services, Badenhausen adds.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

After parting ways with Greek team AEK Athens, longtime NBA guard Ben McLemore appears to be close to lining up his next destination in Europe. Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com reports that McLemore is in advanced talks to join Manisa Büyükşehir Belediyespor, which is 6-5 in Turkish League play so far, tied for fifth out of 16 teams. McLemore, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2013 draft, last played in the NBA in 2021/22 with Portland.
In an entertaining piece for The Ringer, Howard Beck rates the NBA’s best and worst experiments of the Adam Silver era, from the play-in tournament (five stars) to disasters like shirseys and the creation of an end-of-season awards show (one star apiece).
Elsewhere at The Ringer, NBA writers Beck, Danny Chau, Rob Mahoney, Zach Kram, and Michael Pina handed out their awards for the first quarter of the 2023/24 season. The only award they fully agreed on was Most Valuable Player — all five votes went to Nuggets star Nikola Jokic.

Raptors Respond To Knicks As Legal Battle Continues

December 12th, 2023 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

While two Atlantic Division rivals competed on the court on Monday, their legal battle raged on off the court, with the Raptors responding to the claims made by the Knicks in a court filing last month, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPN.

To recap the events to date, the Knicks filed a lawsuit against the Raptors in August, alleging that former employee Ikechukwu Azotam illegally took confidential files with him when he was hired by Toronto. The Raptors called the suit a “baseless” PR stunt and sought to have it dismissed, insisting that commissioner Adam Silver – rather than the courts – should arbitrate the dispute between two NBA teams.

In November, the Knicks responded by questioning Silver’s impartiality due to his friendship with Raptors governor Larry Tanenbaum and contending that the courts should handle the case because the Knicks are seeking more than $10MM in damages, which is the maximum amount the league can penalize a team.

In Monday’s filing, according to Holmes, the Raptors accused the Knicks of dragging out the case for publicity and – for the first time – raised the possibility of filing a countersuit against the Knicks for defamatory public statements once this case is resolved. The Raptors also challenged New York’s claim that Silver is biased, insisting again that the NBA commissioner arbitrate the dispute.

“The NBA Commissioner is not biased and he is the best person to adjudicate this dispute because of his ability to identify what, if any, information is confidential and proprietary such that its misuse may harm a Member like the Knicks,” the Raptors wrote. “The Knicks’ aversion to his jurisdiction is simply because they know they will not like his determination. Although it is inevitable the Knicks’ claims will fail on the merits in any forum, this proceeding permits the Knicks to keep their allegations in the public media, causing harm to the Named Defendants.”

As Holmes details, the Raptors have maintained throughout the legal process that the information Azotam took with him to his new position wasn’t confidential and that head coach Darko Rajakovic and the Raptors never saw any of the Knicks’ trade secrets.

“Coach Rajakovic — with nearly 15 years’ experience as a head coach overseas and in the NBA’s G-League and another decade as an assistant coach in the NBA — never needed, wanted, or saw a single piece of Knicks’ proprietary information,” the Raptors said. “Nor did Azotam ever share any proprietary Knicks information. The Knicks would have learned this if had they accepted the Raptors’ offer to cooperate in an investigation instead of immediately filing this suit.”

If the Knicks were “genuinely concerned” about misuse of proprietary information, the Raptors stated in their filing, they would have accepted Toronto’s invitation to cooperate in a thorough investigation of the allegations rather than having “mired themselves in lengthy judicial proceedings.” The Raptors also argued on Monday that the Knicks’ claims of having incurred $10MM+ in damages hasn’t been substantiated in any way.

“To the contrary,” the Raptors wrote, “the Knicks have offered the Court no theory or measurement of damages whatsoever — because they have not been harmed but appear to have made this claim to generate press attention.”

According to Holmes, an MSG spokesperson responded to the Raptors’ repeated insistence on referring the dispute to Silver for adjudication by stating, “Hopefully the Court will make it clear that Toronto cannot escape the consequence of breaking the law by being a member of the NBA.”

As Holmes writes, legal experts have referred to the standoff between the Knicks and Raptors as virtually unprecedented, making it difficult to predict the outcome, though many of those experts have been skeptical about New York’s chances of winning the case.

On the court, the Knicks defeated the Raptors on Monday for a second time this month, pulling out a 136-130 home victory.

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