Silver said James remains at the top of his game but has also become a leader in the Players’ AssociationNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said it is “so important” for the league to have players who transcend basketball. Silver was interviewed by ESPN’s Pam Shriver while attending Tuesday’s U.S. Open action, and he noted Lakers F LeBron James remains at the “top of his game” but has also become a “leader in the Players’ Association.” Silver: “Players follow him by example. It’s so important to have them on the rosters. They say things that coaches can’t say behind closed doors. They teach guys about life, about what it means to be an NBA player, what it means to be a professional.” Silver referred to the serve clock that debuted at the U.S. Open this year and said, “We did something similar last season. At halftime, we added a standard clock for all our teams, so there’d be a specific amount of time that includes the television time and the time out on the floor so that we could move the pace of the games along. We didn’t get held up. We eliminated four timeouts last season, again, to keep the pace going.” Shriver asked Silver how the NBA keeps fans engaged and said, “You do it as well as anybody.” Silver: “If you can get young boys and girls playing tennis, playing basketball, that’s how you turn into a fan when you get older. … We’re putting a lot of emphasis into our Junior NBA, our Junior WNBA programs. Those are critically important to us” (“U.S. Open,” ESPN, 9/4).
