Open Thread: Adam Silver “The officiating is incredible”
The Spurs and Thunder are still in the midst of the Western Conference Finals, but the East has a Finals participant. While the New York Knicks are awaiting an opponent, there was television time available to air The Pat McAfee Show. Appropriately, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made a visit to talk about the state of the league.
The first order of business was Silver’s mention that the Spurs and Thunder were receiving the highest conference finals ratings in the history of the NBA. Considering that San Antonio and Oklahoma City are small market teams, this is quite a feat. It lends itself to the popularity of the marquee players. Two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama, the face of the NBA, have introduced new legions of fans to the sport. SGA, who is from Canada, and French phenom Wemby draw international interest to the sport which has continued outreach and expanded over the decades.
Silver spoke about the league’s plans for squashing tanking, which are still in development.
“We actually have a board meeting tomorrow to discuss a proposal which will in essence flatten the odds among the non-playoff teams in terms of getting top draft picks, will increase the penalties that the league office has for those teams that may participate in that type of behavior,” Silver stated.
McAfee gave the mention is due before switching gears to flopping.
Silver started the response with, “There’s a difference between selling the car, exaggeration, and a true flop.”
Of course the commissioner of basketball isn’t step into a spotlight at the height of postseason and say there is parity in the way games are called, but he admitted there are some ways to improve.
He was transparent that players are conditioned to “sell calls” and supported the idea that officiating can always get better.
Silver even responded to the missed call in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals when the ball clearly went of Chet Holmgren’s foot, but the Thunder were awarded the ball.
“In terms of replay we’re going to get to the point fairly quickly…we’re going to move to a whole system…calls will be automatic…those calls will be done by AI, automated system with cameras line around the court…it will be instantaneous, automatic.”
With technology as the focus of the future, the pace and accuracy will be enhanced. Silver believes this will also enhance the fan experience.
While most of what Silver spoke of was larval, there’s a lot on the horizon for the NBA.
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