The National Basketball Association has been increasing in popularity under commissioner Adam Silver, who is positioning himself to go down as one of the best commissioners in the four major American sports. Silver’s been presiding over “The Association” since 2014 and has earned respect inside and outside of the NBA with his handling of the league. If he can continue this trend he’ll not only surpass his revered predecessor David Stern, but could compete with the NFL’s Pete Rozelle as one of the best to ever hold the illustrious title.
“Why?”
First off when you look at his accomplishments in his short tenure, you can see that Silver has been the face of multiple major changes to core aspects of the league.
In 2014 Silver pressured NBA owners, his bosses mind you, to oust one of their own in response to nauseating comments by known racist, sexist and slumlord Donald Sterling. Shortly thereafter, similarly disgusting comments made by the Atlanta Hawks ownership group were unearthed, which prompted their sale in 2015. Two franchises changed hands in two years due (at least in part) to social matters, with Silver serving as the catalyst.
Speaking of social issues, most recently Kings point guard Rajon Rondo was suspended for one game by Silver for “derogatory language toward referee“. In an interview with Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA’s Petyr “Little Finger” Baelish, detailed the delicate balance between sending a clear message that the NBA would not stand idly by in the face of homophobia, but also respecting the privacy of one of the league’s referees.
High morality is commendable, but we all know that cash rules everything around us, and due to the aforementioned popularity of the game the NBA is about to eating all the cheddar biscuits thanks to a new television deal. ESPN and Turner Sports ponied up $26 billion (!!!) to retain the rights to the league for nine years. It’s not NFL money but Silver, the owners and players are all gonna be staying at the Ritz Carlton.
It’s still early in his commissionership and it’s vital that he and NBA Players Union executive director Michele Roberts avoid a work stoppage at the end of next season, but Adam Silver has already notched some major wins for himself and the league. I highlighted a few ways Silver has improved the social standing of the league internally, but encouraging players like LeBron, Carmelo and D-Wade to voice their own opinions on social matters of the day without any fear of repercussions is allowing fans to connect with players in ways never before seen.
Sidebar: The NBA as a whole has been at the forefront of embracing social media (Vine in particular) and mobile platforms generally as a means of expanding the reach of the game through its NBA League Pass offerings.
The commissioner of any of the four major sports leaves a lasting impression on not only their respective league but on the sport at all levels; in comparison to his contemporaries Silver is already miles ahead. New MLB commissioner Rob Manfred faces an arduous task of somehow making what was once “America’s pastime” something more than an afterthought to America’s youth. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman might just be the worst of them all, presiding over multiple stoppages and agreeing to showcase hockey games on whatever random NBC knockoff channels tha exist. Which brings us to Roger Goddell— the Vince McMahon character come to life, frivolously throwing his weight around repeatedly to “protect the shield” at the cost of alienating players, fans, and any shred of integrity.
Adam Silver isn’t perfect, but he, and therefore NBA, are on the rise.