As commissioner of the NBA, some of the job duties include keeping all 30 team owners happy, while also maintaining labor peace with the players and also being one of the faces of the league. Current NBA commissioner Adam Silver has done this and in the process made it look easy.
After being the NBA’s deputy commissioner for eight years, Silver succeeded David Stern on February 1,2014 as far as being that man who was running the show. It didn’t take long before Silver was in the spotlight as on April 29,2014, he banned former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life after he made racist comments that he had made about NBA players. Silver also moved the NBA’s 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina after the state refused to amend their controversial “anti-LGBT” bill. Silver has also been at the forefront of keeping Stern’s dream of making the NBA a global phenomenon as the league has never been more popular worldwide than it currently is. But Silver’s biggest accomplishment so far was getting a new collective bargaining agreement between the players and owners done.
After the NBA’s lockout of the players by the owners in 2012, there has been labor peace since which was on display when both sides agreed to a new deal last week as there was never a threat to having a work stoppage. There is plenty of money floating around the NBA now due to their current television contracts as both the players and owners are making money hand over fist. Superstar players such as Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James are cashing in as he his making nearly $31 million this season, while little used role players like Miami Heat guard Tyler Johnson are earning more than $12 million. And if the owners can afford to give their players this kind of money, imagine how much that they are raking in?
But what has set Silver apart so far is that he is a likable person as the players, owners, fans, and media alike have not had anything bad to say about him. Silver is a smart man as he has done nothing more than captain the luxurious ship that he has been given, and not take it anywhere near murky waters. Silver earned a law degree from the University of Chicago and that ability as a litigator and mediator has served him well as he’s has kept some of the world’s biggest egos happy.
Only time will tell how Silver’s tenure as the NBA commissioner will end, but he’s off to a roaring start with less than three years on the job.
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