NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sees 2021-22 season on ‘regular’ record

Halfway through the second challenging pandemic season, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday that he will see 2021-22 looking, feeling and playing much more like normal.

No promises, mind you. But based on improvements in the handling of COVID-19 in this country, as well as steps already taken by professional sports leagues – including the NBA’s decision to 70th All-Star Game Sunday Star launch in Atlanta – things seem to be going up.

“Probably for the first time in the last year,” Silver said, in a keynote news conference, “I am very optimistic when we see fans returning to our site, as which we see public health officials across the country begin to open up. sporting events, theaters, restaurants, other forms of entertainment, I feel good that we are going to keep going. ”

That Silver was dealing with media via web connection, the way all NBA coverage has been done this season, with remote social commentators hundreds of miles away and both a vivid reminder of where league protocols are currently in place. But as today lends itself to the future, the rate at which restrictions are reduced and immunity is being met suggests an NBA that will be similar to what we all knew by March 2020.

“By the time we reach the playoffs in mid-May, things will be even much better than they are now,” Silver said. “Also, obviously here in the United States, we’ve been making good progress on vaccines. That will help bring people back into the fields. ”

A playoff bubble similar to what we saw in Orlando last summer at the Disney World campus? Nothing like that was planned this time. The Tokyo Olympics? Full circles ahead, both for Team USA and the other national teams that follow NBA players as their cornerstone.

The undoubted source of Silver’s hope for the future is the success of this first half of 2020-21. With all that could go wrong, the well – being of the staff involved and the quality of the competition have been astounding. Many involved talk about the hatred and loneliness they have discovered in what the NBA stands for “quarantine work,” but the results are hard to deny.

“We ended up playing 95% of our games,” Silver said. “We knew we were going to find positive things for players and staff who were working out of the bubbles. I felt that our protocols were maintained as well as we could have hoped.

“I give credit to the makers of the album who planned to split the season into two parts. We were able to have the flexibility to push games into the second half of the season. Of course, we will not have that same flexibility in the second half. Something we are looking at closely. ”

Continued distribution of COVID vaccines will be closely monitored in the same way. The commissioner said the NBA will encourage its staff to trust the vaccines, but will not issue a 100 percent compliance order.

“I don’t think every player needs to be vaccinated for fans to come back. I mean, that’s not what the health authorities have recommended to us, ”said Silver.

He said: “I no longer think that not all fans will be vaccinated as a barrier to fans returning to the field. I think that with a combination of vaccines, antibodies, herd immunity in communities, proper safety protocols and hygiene, we can return to something that looks a lot closer to normal starting next season. ”

Silver said the vaccine would open a life that has so far been well-documented for players and staff. “They will be able to do more in their communities,” he said. “It makes sense for me to decide in the end that they need to be vaccinated.”

The calendar could play a big part in the resumption of the Las Vegas Summer League or a slight variation of it this offseason. He said the league is considering a shortened version or mini-camps hosted by teams, among other options.

As for the international games that have been heavily involved in NBA basketball missionary work in regular predictions and seasons, well, that sounds like a 2022-23 thing for now.

Silver discussed a number of other topics, including:

• Recent concerns about opportunities for black-headed coaching candidates, spurred by Minnesota’s quick win over Chris Finch as Ryan Saunders ’replacement, has sparked ongoing talks at NBA headquarters. “No coach I know who wants to be hired is based on skin color, but they want a fair chance,” said the commissioner. “Part of that is making sure that we develop coaches appropriately on the pipeline, that they get the right opportunities for interviews, the right opportunities to network like other coaches have done. historically… I don’t think there is any doubt that there is more work to be done. ”

Silver commented on the demographics of team coaching staff as a whole, including player development assistants and assistants. Minorities and even women are more widely represented in these jobs than even a few years ago. “I don’t want to create a process where people check the boxes,” he said. “It needs real involvement.”

• The news this week of the Overtime Elite League, in which high school age players (16 to 18) would get paid to play basketball and revive the traditional non-professional teams talking about a way NBA work in terms of preps-to-pros talent. Silver noted the talks he and National Basketball Players Association chief Michele Roberts have been in anticipation of the next bargaining deal.

“This is one where I think we’re both on both sides of the issue sometimes in terms of what it means to have younger players at the league,” Silver said.

The next CBA may dial back the requirement of an NBA age from 19 to 18, which allowed stars like Bryant, Garnett, LeBron James and others to skip college altogether. Silver noted that many NBA internationals turned pro as early as age 14.

But it seemed as if the commissioner would like the mix available with U.S. expectations, which include a year or more of NCAA involvement, a gap year in the G League before the NBA or so. maybe even the idea of ​​Overtime Elite.

“It’s a good choice,” Silver said, adding: “For us right now, the NBA, we don’t want to be involved in paying minors. ”

• Some early ejections and regrettable errors, highlighted by last-long awaited 2-minute reports issued the following day, have highlighted the quality of service of this half-quarter. Silver said the data showed “nothing irregular is happening, whether it’s in terms of call accuracy or number of technicalities on the floor.”

But on the all-life-sad page, he said, leave room for the refs.

“One of the things we’ve learned over the last year is stress [in the pandemic NBA] very sad for everyone involved, ”said Silver. “In some cases you also have some younger officials, who may still be trying to capitalize on their relationships with players. ”

Another simple factor: Empty or near – empty spaces may have made an officer ‘s comments harder to hear.

• Despite an explosion of energy a few weeks ago about other silhouettes for the official NBA logo, including the late Kobe Bryant, Silver made it as if the league’s avatar will continue as it should in the future: a picture of Jerry’s Lakers HOFer West in full dribble, though his identity has never been proven. Equivalent to a founding member (Harmon Killebrew), at least.

“It doesn’t feel to me that this is the right time to change the brand,” Silver said.

• Hall of Fame 2020 educator Kevin Garnett for his work mostly with the Timberwolves and Celtics, posted an Instagram post this week about capturing his passion Minnesota team bought from owner Glen Taylor. Taylor has been selling the franchise for years, but surprisingly he has maintained his majority career.

Garnett and a group of investors were among several lawyers in Taylor ‘s latest call for claims. But their broken relationship took another turn south with the post.

KG was just sharing news about the sale of the Timberwolves. #Yikes pic.twitter.com/RY37SkxTJ1

– Ricky Rude-Leo (@ Y0Leo) March 4, 2021

Silver said: “Kevin was really scared. Glen said he never heard straight from him. Yes, that is an opportunity for me to be directly involved, and I will. “

• Silver said the effort for this year’s All-Star Game should be judged once it’s over, rather than anticipating potential problems. He explained the league’s philosophy, too, as something beyond a one-night programming node for TNT, a broadcast partner.

“It has more to do with the greater brand value of the NBA,” he said. “Because we went ahead with All-Star, not only did around 100 million people vote for the All-Stars on a global basis, but based on past rankings, there will be over 100 million person watching the game and the contests support. We will have over a billion views of our social media. … It’s kind of what we do. For me, it would have been bigger without me. ”

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Steve Aschburner has been writing about the NBA since 1980. You can email him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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