NBA Commissioner Adam Silver last night appeared on CBS' "Late Show" and addressed some of the issues he has dealt with during his first year on the job. CBS' David Letterman introduced Silver by saying, “I think it’s safe to say that most people went from not knowing who you were to suddenly seeing you quite a lot.” Letterman said becoming commissioner "is a dream come true, except that when you finally are given the power of running the league, you have the owner of the Clippers on audiotape … saying ugly things about the people who his girlfriend is bringing to the games." Letterman: "Did you welcome that challenge or were you thinking, ‘Oh, wish they were just deflating the ball?’” Silver said, “I can't say I welcomed it. I remember it was late on a Friday night that that audiotape was posted initially on TMZ.com and then Deadspin had it and I believe within 24 hours, something like 10 million people just in the United States had heard that audiotape. ... I had been at the NBA at that point for over 20 years, so we dealt with our fair share of crises. But I don't think I understood the magnitude initially. I already had a scheduled flight to Memphis that day, I was doing something with their team. Then I landed and I walked into the arena, and they had asked me to do some media. There were all kinds of members of the media there who don’t typically cover the NBA, and that’s when I had a sense that this was a much bigger story than the NBA.” Letterman noted Donald Sterling sold the team for $2B and said, "You called attention to something vastly important to life, not just the league, and in doing so raised the value of the entire franchise system.” Silver: “I don't think there's any question he would have preferred to continue owning his team rather than having the money. He's got all the money he could ever use. But it was appropriate for him to move on. I’d say the new owner of the team Steve Ballmer … is a fantastic owner.”
PLAYERS ADDRESSING SOCIAL ISSUES: Silver also discussed players addressing various social issues on the court. He said, “At the time in New York when some of the players wore ‘I Can't Breathe’ T-shirts in honor of the young man who had died in Staten Island, it would be my preference that they wear the league uniforms. But the players are our partners in the league, and at times I understand they want to express their opinions. It's difficult sometimes to know where to draw the line. I think in that particular circumstance, because it was an issue that so many players believed in and it was something that I discussed with the players’ association, we decided to let the players express themselves in that way. But they, of course, have so many other platforms to express themselves.” He added, “The fact that they so rarely do it and it was an issue of such incredible impact and emotion to the players, it made it all that more meaningful they did it in that case” ("Late Show," CBS, 2/9).
