It was obvious to all of those listening to the new commissioner of the NBA that the man loves basketball and loves the NBA. In stark contrast to the often detached and somewhat dry mannerisms of retiring Commissioner David Stern, Adam Silver let his emotions show in his opening speech as the league’s new head guy.
He told the audience how he had grown up with the game of basketball and how it had helped him bond with his father and later gave him a path to Duke University where his love of the game flourished.
Of course Adam Silver is not new to the NBA. He has been working for the league since 1992 in various capacities including being the special assistant to the commissioner. Silver was often called the NBA’s ‘bad cop’ playing opposite to David Stern’s ‘good cop’.
In 2003 Adam Silver was first named to the list of the “100 Most Powerful People in Sports” by The Sporting News. He also made the list of Time Magazine and CNN as “Global Business Influentials”.
So now we have Mr. Silver up there in place of Mr. Stern answering the questions, solving the problems, fighting the battles that will be there to fight throughout his tenure as NBA commissioner. And it was obvious that Silver loves his new job. He told reporters, “This is a fabulous league that still has its bet years ahead of it.”
One of the topics discussed by Silver at the All-Star game down in New Orleans was the plan to raise the NBA’s age limit to 20 years old and making it mandatory that young players stay in college for at least two years instead of the current ‘one-and-done’ practice. He explained how this would “lead to stronger college and stronger NBA basketball as well”.
Silver said, “It is my belief that if players have an opportunity to mature as players and as people, for a longer amount of time before they come into the league, it will lead to a better league.”
The new commissioner will also be dealing directly with the NBAPA, the National Basketball Players Association, which still has not named a replacement for Billy Hunter. Mr. Silver says that he “would love to have a partner in that position rather than an adversary, a partner that’s going to continue to build this league with me.” Best of Luck Mr. Silver.
