Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Sources who have known and worked with Silver for years have repeatedly told ESPN that they do not expect him to be swayed by public attention in this case, one way or another. As one source explained, if the league ignored evidence that implicated the Clippers, then the cover-up would become a story; and if the league sought punishment without evidence, then the overreach would become a story. The source said they had full confidence that Silver would "play it straight," based on the facts, as Silver has said he would do throughout the inquiry.
Silver declined to provide details on how or when teams such as the Raptors were informed about the associated risks of acquiring him. A source with direct knowledge of the situation said the NBA did not communicate with the Clippers in advance about the matter because they never requested guidance from the league office.
Silver did not address his role in the Thomas suspension and Engelbert was unavailable for comment. But sources familiar with the situation said Engelbert initially believed during the evaluation process that -- because no foul was called on the court against Thomas -- a follow-up suspension might be too steep of a discipline. Meanwhile, those same sources said Silver believed there was clear evidence of a flagrant foul, that he felt badly for Clark and told Engelbert she had to act.
The NBA anticipates launching a centralized local team broadcast for the 2027-28 season, Silver said, as it navigates a rocky local broadcast situation. Main Street Sports Group, which broadcast games locally for 13 NBA teams, stopped operations at the end of this season. That has left teams looking to a combination of over-the-air and streaming options to get on screens this upcoming season. Silver said the NBA will piecemeal a solution for the 2026-27 season and launch a local League Pass the next year, as it has long planned to do. It will look to sell the collective local rights for a number of teams. “We’ll cobble together a series of solutions for this season, but I feel good that we’ll have something on a national basis for the following year,” Silver said.
Silver was also asked about the potential expansion of the league to 32 teams. In March, the NBA’s board of governors approved a vote to explore bids and applicants for expansion teams exclusively in Las Vegas and Seattle. Silver said zeroing in on those cities was a show of intent and focus from the league. However, nothing has been decided. “If we were to expand, most likely in the 2028-29 season, I bet that’s when they would come into the league, but no decisions have been made yet,” Silver said. “What we’ve made clear to our teams, we’ve at least specifically said it’s Las Vegas and Seattle. “We’re looking at some other great cities that are interested in having franchises. We’re focused on those two right now. We could decide ultimately to go to new cities. One or two bids are being solicited at this time. The groups are coming together, talking to bankers, talking to the league office, and I think what we’ve said, in fairness to everyone, let’s make a decision by the end of this calendar year, at the latest.”
Advertisement
Silver maintained that that the NBA could decide to add two, one or no teams at all at this juncture. “We’re currently looking at two teams, but what we’ve said is it’s possible we won’t expand at all, and we could expand to just one market. But we’re officially looking at both those markets right now,” Silver said. Silver also said that if the NBA expands by two to 32 teams, “we’ll want to likely even out the conferences, so there will be some movement then.”
As Silver detailed even further, the league’s internal data suggests that extended rest might be part of the problem rather than the solution. “On so-called load management, I think that the only place where we see an uptick in injuries is not towards the end of the season when guys have played more games,” Silver continued. “The only place we see upticks is after the All-Star break. … Whether it’s just correlation, or it turns out there’s causation, it may be because (players) are not getting appropriate load during those days they take off.
Two of the sources said that if Silver tried to administer punishment to the Clippers without clear evidence of guilt, other teams and owners could consider it a worrying precedent. "I respect Adam, and I don't think he's stupid," said one of the sources, who has worked closely with Silver through the years. "If Wachtell delivers the report that says, 'Well, we don't have it,' I don't think Adam is going to push it further."
To that, Silver felt it was important to make the distinction between embellishing contact to draw a foul, a genuine part of the game, and actually deceiving the officials. “Even as I sit in the stands at games, players may be falling down, players may be reacting to a call,” Silver said. “But to me, if they’re not fooling the referees, it’s OK. Players are taught to sell calls these days.” Silver agreed the league is “always working on that,” in reference to officiating improving, but he doesn’t see it as a pressing issue and called the league’s officiating “incredible.”
Advertisement
Adam silver is one of America’s most powerful men. Part businessman and part diplomat, he leads a multibillion-dollar international conglomerate and exercises soft power across continents. But on the day we met, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association appeared aimless, drifting awkwardly through the roped-off VIP area of a sports-business conference in Nashville. Silver had just concluded a keynote session. Unlike other headliners, such as Major League Baseball’s Rob Manfred and the Southeastern Conference’s Greg Sankey, who’d been interviewed onstage by journalists, Silver had been joined in conversation by his friend Bob Myers, a former Golden State Warriors executive, who opened by congratulating Silver on his decency, integrity, and “moral compass.” The commissioner is carefully stage-managed. Media engagements are rare; rarer still are the probing questions that might be asked of someone leading a business valued at roughly $200 billion. Early last year, I’d approached the NBA about a profile—not just of Silver but of the game itself, a holistic look at the evolution of professional basketball. The answer: a hard no. Hence the trip to Nashville.
I had been warned, when talking with his contemporaries, that Silver is kept in bubble wrap. Now I witnessed it up close. Silver’s longtime flack, Mike Bass, was refusing to answer my texts—we stood 50 feet apart, separated by the VIP rope, as he stared at his phone—asking for an introduction. Meanwhile, officials from three separate teams, whom I’d planned to meet in Nashville, had all canceled. It seemed like a coordinated snubbing. Which left me no choice: When Silver wandered within reach, I slipped the rope and thrust an open hand in his direction. The commissioner, who is six-foot-three and wears a clean-shaven head, studied my name tag—the atlantic—and then spun toward Bass, who looked exasperated. Silver’s complexion turned colorless, almost ethereal, as he shook my hand. I assured him that there was nothing to fear, that I’d tracked him to Tennessee because I wanted a proper interview. “That’s up to Mike,” Silver said, glancing at his spokesman. “C’mon,” I replied with a grin. “You’re the commissioner.” Silver was expressionless. “Sorry, it’s not my call,” he said. Then Bass hustled him away.
The whole thing felt a bit pathetic. As a sports junkie, I’d always imagined commissioners as party bosses: indomitable, shank-wielding enforcers who win by any means necessary. Silver is not that guy. He is warm and dignified, a people pleaser who thinks in terms of negotiations and partners, not arguments and adversaries. He’s also an anxiety case, a born worrier who lives with constant apprehension about dangers to his league and its legitimacy. Silver is right to worry. Professional basketball has entered a moment of institutional crisis. The commissioner is confronting urgent, headline-grabbing allegations of corrupt ownership and betting scandals and teams intentionally losing games. He is also confronting broader critiques of the sport’s very soul: a lack of rivalries, a lack of competition, and, just over the horizon, a lack of homegrown superstars. This would be daunting for any commissioner—much less one who dreads confrontation.
“So, [NBA Europe] would be a standalone league,” Silver said. “But, I would just say over time… There’s a company called ‘Boom’ that is saying by 2030 they’re going to have supersonic jets.” “Because travel is a big concern,” Carton said, to which Silver agreed. “Long term, I could definitely imagine we could have a division in Europe,” Silver explained. “And, obviously, this is a very global game.”