Silver said players' unhappiness and isolation are "to the point where it’s almost pathology"NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that he has "discovered there are pervasive feelings of loneliness and melancholy across the league," and he "no longer sees the high level of camaraderie or team-building that existed in previous years," according to Nicole Yang of the BOSTON GLOBE. Silver, during an hour-long discussion with The Ringer's Bill Simmons at the 13th annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, stressed that "supporting players and their mental health is an ongoing initiative" for the league. Silver: "When I meet with them, what surprises me is that they’re truly unhappy." More Silver: "If you’re around a team in this day and age, there are always headphones on. (The players) are isolated, and they have their heads down.” Silver said players' unhappiness and isolation were “to the point where it’s almost pathology." Though social media has "helped the league become more fan-friendly, gain exposure, and promote players, Silver is well aware of its downside" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/2).
LEADING THE WAY: THE GUARDIAN's Sean Ingle notes Silver's "willingness to address the subject was welcome given how mental health issues remain largely taboo in elite sport." There is "increasing evidence that it is a bigger problem than might have been thought." The NBPA last year "launched a mental health and wellness programme -- with experts available to allow players to talk about their issues without alerting their teams." It "surely helps, too, that Silver is on the front foot and in his players’ corner, driving the debate on such an important issue" (GUARDIAN, 3/4). ESPN’s Amin El Hassan asked, “How is it the commissioner has more of an empathy of their condition than a lot of owners do, and maybe even some coaches and general managers do? How do those team owners feel about their star players circumventing them and going straight to the commissioner?” (“The Dan Le Batard Show,” ESPN Radio, 3/4).
BIGGER THAN BASKETBALL: 76ers co-Owner Michael Rubin said of the NBA’s push to get involved in criminal justice reform, "We're focused on getting at least a million people out of the system in the next five years. … The criminal justice system is fundamentally broken. ... When you see a real negative, you got to turn it into a positive, and that's what we're focused on doing.” ESPN’s Paul Pierce said the NBA is "leaps and bounds ahead of other leagues as far as allowing the players to really voice their opinion" about societal issues. Pierce: "I love the fact that Adam Silver allows the players to have a voice on these types of subjects" ("The Jump," ESPN, 3/1).
