The best commissioner in sports, Adam Silver recently did an interview with Bloomberg News. Silver talked about the CBA negotiations, the flow of the game, age limits and how he watches games.
One of my biggest issues with the NBA is the use of timeout, coaches have too many and the final two minutes of games take too long. Silver talked about this issue.
I think coaches should have timeout, because it’s something they tactically need. The truth is, we try to find the right balance. Of course, we have to ensure that we get our commercials in. At the same time, it is a game of flow. And one of the things that the competition committee is meeting on this summer is, what can we do to enhance flow, particularly in the last two minutes of the game. Should we be reducing the number of timeout in the last two minutes, the length of timeout in the game? My sense is, there’s a general agreement that we should do something. Figuring out exactly what we should do isn’t easy.
I have a solution for this problem, when the clock hits two minutes each team gets a full time-out, 20 second timeout and one time-out just to advance the ball, we’ve seen that in the D-League and in Summer League.
The most important thing about this interview is that Silver seems optimistic about the CBA negotiations.
Well, we’re back at the table already. While we and the union have agreed that we’re not going to talk publicly about the substance of our discussions, neither side has made it a secret that we’re talking and that the goal is, of course, to avoid any type of work stoppage whatsoever. I feel fairly confident that, based on the tone of these discussions thus far, based on the sense of trust and the amount of respect among the parties, that we should be able to avoid any kind of public labor issue and that the things we need to get done will get done behind closed doors.
Nobody wants another lockout, I don’t know what I would do with my life if the NBA had another lockout. Would I have to talk to my family in the winter and spring? Who does that?
Silver also talked about the executive director of the players’ union, Michele Roberts. Who gave an interview where she called salary caps un-American.
The communication is very direct between Michele and me. As a still relatively new head of the union, I think she is establishing herself, and it’s not for me to say what she should be saying publicly or otherwise. What I care most about is what is said across the bargaining table. We have built a relationship. We’re in the process of growing that relationship. I have tremendous respect for her. She has never made any issues personal. And to the extent she’s said things publicly, I think she’s made a distinction between what may be a personal point of view and a position that the union is taking.
Silver discussed the age limit, Silver once said he would like to see the age limit moved from 19 to 20 years old.
It’s still something I care a lot about. I’m also a realist. Given that Michele has said her preference would be for an 18-year-old minimum age, my sense is that it’s not something that’s going to change in the short-term. And by the way, I’ve always said I understand the other side of the issue, about a young man’s opportunity to make a living. But my view has always been that we’d be a better league if players came into the draft at 20 instead of 19.
There’s no need to raise the age limit, remember how good last years rookie class was? Let’s not change a thing.
The commissioner described how he watches games on a nightly biases.
I can’t think of a night where I’m not watching some portion of a game. I watch highlights every single night. There’s almost always something interesting to me about every game, a particular player I’m interested in, a coach who’s trying something new, a matchup where there’s some particular fascination. I love watching the game. I have the benefit of our national broadcasters on ABC, ESPN, and TNT and hearing the different perspectives they bring to the game. Many of them, former players, former coaches, share ideas about things they would change. I’ll be watching a game with my wife, and the announcer says, “If I were Adam Silver I would?…?.” And I always sit up, and I say, “Yes?” You know, “I’m listening.” And sometimes I e-mail them and say, “That’s an interesting suggestion,” or, “Do you really mean you would do that?”
Adam Silver is just like us! except for the fact that he runs the joint.
