The Man in Charge, Adam Silver is in full stride at this point with being the NBA Commissioner. As NBA Commissioner there comes a lot of responsibility and for the most part, post-David Stern seems to be working out well for the NBA, if I must say so myself. At this juncture of the NBA we are enjoying the playoffs but behind the scenes there are a lot of “political” workings taking place and the topic of discussion is the jerseys. With the jerseys, the NBA has officially pushed forward with allowing small advertising to be placed on the jersey but that won’t take place until the 2017-2018 season when their contract with Nike begins. Currently they are under contract with adidas as the provider for the gear the NBA players wear on the hardwood.
Silver recently sat down with Slam Magazine for an interview and amongst the many topics touched on, the Commissioner expressed his personal opinion on which brand (Nike, adidas) he felt is a better fit for the NBA and it’s players. Now this isn’t in any way a shot towards the three stripes (“had a wonderful relationship”) but Silver simply feels;
adidas was not endemic to basketball. They are at root a soccer company. I think on the other hand, with Nike, as I heard Mark Parker, the CEO, say, basketball is the soul of Nike.
Following this statement, Silver then went on to express why he feels the way he does about Nike which stems from a visit to Beaverton, Nike’s HQ;
I was out in Beaverton recently and they have in essence an R&D center, where they have prototypes, where they have their equivalent of mad scientists who are noodling different approaches to uniforms: new fabrics, new styles, new fits. I have no doubt wearables will come into the equation. I think they are committed to sports science. They also recognize that we shouldn’t just think of the uniform as a fashion item—that the uniform ultimately directly correlates to performance, including injury prevention. And Nike, again, it’s a season and a half before they will begin being our official on-court supplier. I’m really excited to see what comes. But I have no doubt that they’re gonna once again change the game. That’s who they are. As I said, thank you to adidas, they’ve been wonderful partners. But I think Nike is ready to take it to another level.
I personally had no issues with adidas and the jerseys they provided for the NBA these last couple of years but with Nike looking to take over, the anticipation of what they have to offer is surely intriguing to say the least. Check out the entire interviewing, it’s a good read.
