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SAN FRANCISCO — NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the Charlotte Hornets have not filed a formal protest with the league in regard to their canceled trade with the Lakers.
Silver, speaking to the press about a wide range of topics, said the NBA could assess how post-trade physicals are handled in the future.
“I think that the larger issue reflected in your question, in this day and age of sports science, is there a different standard of sort we should be applying in terms of players passing physicals in trades? And it’s something we should look at as a league,” Silver said. “I will say this issue does not come up that often. I can’t even remember, and certainly I don’t think in my tenure a trade has ever — there’s never been a challenge because a player has failed a physical, but almost by definition, you get into a certain level of subjectivity in where that standard is.
“But I think let’s see what Charlotte decides to do here, but I think either way, it’s gotten our attention.”
Silver’s news conference opened with a question about the Lakers’ trade for Luka Doncic, a deal that’s triggered protests in Dallas. Silver tried to debunk conspiracy theories for the Mavericks’ decision.
“In terms of anger with the fan base, I’m empathetic. I understand it. Dallas was in the Finals last year. I’ve already said this before: I like Luka very much. I actually met him before he came into this league when he was at Real Madrid, when we were over there playing a preseason game. It seems genuinely, truly authentic that he was stunned and disappointed. You could see it in his body language,” Silvers said. “Having said all that, I also am sympathetic to the Mavericks’ organization. I’ve known Nico Harrison for a long time from his prior tenure at Nike, and I’ve gotten to be close to Patrick Dumont, our new governor in Dallas. I can say one thing for sure: Whether or not history will ultimately judge this as a smart trade, they did what they thought was in the best interest of their organization.
“I have absolutely no knowledge or belief there were any ulterior motives. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Dumont and Adelson families bought that team to keep it in Dallas. I have no doubt whatsoever that they’re committed to the long-term success of that franchise.”
Silver also expressed optimism about the league’s engagement rates online and the overall health of the product, despite criticism about the increase in three-point attempts. “We’re paying a lot of attention to it. I’m never going to say there isn’t room for improvement,” Silver said. “We’ll continue to look at it and study it, but I am happy with the state of the game right now.”
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State of NBA: ‘Boring’
Draymond Green had just spoken for a few minutes Saturday morning about the state of the game, about how he believes it’s officiated differently than it once was, how stars don’t get the benefit of being stars like they did in the past.
And then the four-time champion with the Golden State Warriors was asked a simple question: Does he think the NBA game is boring?
“Absolutely,” he said.
Such is the challenge that the NBA is trying to fend off right now, the notion that this era of higher-scoring games, more three-pointers than ever before and a lack of rock-’em, sock-’em physicality like there was a couple generations ago is hurting the product.
On the one hand, the NBA is about to enter a new series of broadcast and streaming deals that will generate at least $76 billion, about three times more than the last deal — so interest obviously exists. Player salaries are bigger than ever, the league keeps setting attendance records and merchandise keeps flying off shelves.
Yet the NBA keeps hearing the question about the on-court product. Green is among those that think issues exist. He cited an interview he recently saw where the late Kobe Bryant, who died in 2020, called the game “accidental basketball.”
“It’s all penetrate and pitch,” Bryant said in that interview. “You may make the shot, you may not.”
Said Green: “He couldn’t have been more right.”
Green talked about a recent Golden State game against LeBron James and the Lakers, and how it was “refreshing” to go against a thinker like James — who is notorious for finding weaknesses and exploiting them.
“Every possession is some type of chess move,” Green said. “You don’t get that today in the NBA, often. … You don’t just get that on a regular basis. It’s just who can run faster, who can hit more 3s, it’s no substance. I think it’s very boring.”
Associated Press contributed to this report
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