NBAE President Adam Silver To Become NBA Deputy Commissioner

Silver (r) To Serve As Stern’s New Right-Hand Man

The NBA announced yesterday an organizational restructuring, under which NBAE President Adam Silver will become Deputy Commissioner & COO, replacing Russ Granik, who will step down at the conclusion of the postseason. Silver’s promotion was unanimously approved by the NBA BOG. Silver said, “My background has primarily been on the business side and will remain there. There’s a lot going on in the TV, digital and consumer products side, particularly overseas, and that will be my focus, because that’s our frontier.” NBA Commissioner David Stern also announced the BOG unanimously approved the creation of two additional offices of the NBA. Exec VP/Legal & Business Affairs Joel Litvin was named President of League & Basketball Operations, reporting to Stern, and Exec VP/Global Media Properties & Marketing Partnerships Heidi Ueberroth was named President of Global Marketing Partnerships & Int’l Business Operations, reporting to Silver. Stern: “Today’s appointments also demonstrate the extraordinarily deep bench that exists at the league office” (THE DAILY). In N.Y., Ian Begley reports Silver will “serve as the league’s voice during collective bargaining.” Silver “is now next in line for the commissioner’s job once Stern decides to step down” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/20).

PLAYOFFS: Granik said the competition committee in June will discuss the way teams are seeded in the postseason (THE DAILY). Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban appeared on ESPN’s “PTI” yesterday, where he said of the current playoff system, under which the Mavericks are seeded fourth despite having the second-best record in the Western Conference, “I asked the question, ‘Why isn’t it just based off record?’ ... No one has a good answer, so hopefully it’s going to change.” Cuban, on the Clippers possibly losing games late in the season on purpose in order to face the third-seeded Nuggets –- against whom they would have home-court advantage — in the first round rather than the fourth-seeded Mavericks: “It’s not so much just about playing the Nuggets as opposed to the Mavericks. It’s about homecourt and the money. (Clippers Owner) Donald Sterling is getting paid for losing a game, and that’s not the way it should be” (ESPN, 4/19).

NBA Competition Committee To Discuss Tights Issue In June

D-LEAGUE: Also beginning next year, NBA franchises will be able to own teams in the NBA Developmental League for the first time. Stern said that could increase the number of D-League teams beyond the 13 expected for next season (THE DAILY). Following the press conference, Stern said, “I think we’re going to see a lot of teams go down this road. ... This is a long-term thought that’s beginning to make more sense to our teams.” The Lakers are expected to become the first NBA team to own a D-League affiliate, beginning next season. ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan reported an NBA team owning a D-League team “will still be bound by the same rules” as other teams when assigning players to their D-League team, meaning that it could still assign only two players at one time. Litvin: “The other players on their D-League roster will be free agents available to every team in the league” (ESPN.com, 4/20).

OTHER BUSINESS: Among the business issues discussed at this week’s BOG meeting, Stern said, were updates on new arenas, or lack thereof, in the league’s oldest venues: Portland, Seattle, New Orleans and Sacramento. Of those, Stern said the Maloof brothers “promised to get back to the board quickly” regarding a new building for the Kings. Granik said that the competition committee will address the issue of players wearing tights during games (THE DAILY).