Adam Silver screwed up.
In easily one of the worst moments of his tenure as commissioner, the NBA and Silver announced earlier this week that Sarver would receive a one-year suspension and $10 million fine for his long-standing inappropriate conduct. This included well-documented instances of racist, sexist, and overall derogatory remarks. He also apparently made unwarranted physical contact with employees and bullied staff members on a consistent basis.
With a chance to explain the decision on Wednesday, Silver only further dug himself into a whole. He talked himself in circles as he tried to condemn Sarver’s behavior but justify why it wasn’t bad enough for the league to force him out. The most viral moment came when he was asked why an NBA owner seemingly isn’t being held to the same standard as others, which led Silver to claim that owners have more room to be basically… well … terrible people.
The comment was received so poorly that NBA spokesman Mike Bass had to do damage control later that evening. The Athletic’s Shams Charania shared a statement in which Bass stresses that all parties are, in fact, held to the same standard.
For an NBA commissioner whose reign has been one of the more progressive and stable in professional sports, this week has been a startling blip in his resume. The fact of the matter is that he had a chance to make a major statement about the league’s internal operations, and he instead settled for a slap on the wrist that isn’t likely to teach anybody a lesson. Heck, even ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has already reported that Sarver didn’t believe he deserved the penalty he received, thus suggesting that the owner has learned just about nothing.
Anyway, rather than dive deeper into Silver’s comments and how this turned so messy, I think I’ll just point you in the direction of John Hollinger’s latest column for The Athletic. He does an excellent job outlining Silver’s awkward press conference and why the league must find a way to correct course.
If you don’t think this Sarver thing is a big deal, think again. We all know LeBron James has this league in the palm of his hands, and he put an immense amount of pressure on the NBA with his remarks yesterday. We’ll have to wait and see what comes of this.
In other less-depressing news, the Chicago Bulls appeared in the latest countdown of the NBA’s Top-100 plays. The Caruso steal that led to the Lonzo bullet-pass for a Zach LaVine 360 slam was ruled the 43rd-best play of the year.
Ayo Dosunmu also showed up in the NBA’s top rookie plays of last year. The hometown kid’s posterization of the Indiana Pacers was one of the final clips featured below:
I know the NBA is probably trying to give as many youngsters as they can a round of applause, but this isn’t kindergarten! All “show and tells” aren’t created equal, and Dosunmu had several other highlight-worthy plays that should have made this cut. The first clip that comes to mind is his other poster dunk against the Philadelphia 76ers. You know, the one where he dunks on the head of his now-teammate Andre Drummond and also draws the foul. The other clip I feel has to be in the mix is his swat on NBA-leading-scorer Trae Young. Dosunmu had the All-Star’s number in each matchup this season, and his awesome block when Young drove to the cup merits some extra love.
Sing it with me: The boys are back in town!
Unfortunately for Goran Dragic, his chances of a repeat EuroBasket Championship came to an end on Wednesday afternoon. Poland pulled off the upset over Slovenia despite a strong last-ditch effort from Doncic and Dragic. The Bulls’ newest guard finished the game with 17 points and 4 assists, but he did cough up a costly 5 turnovers.
Fortunately for the Bulls, Dragic can now save the rest of his best basketball for Chicago. The team was reportedly already hesitant to see the 36-year-old participate, so I’m sure there is at least some relief knowing that he’s now done with the tournament and can make his way to the Advocate Center.
ICYMI: Dragic may have lost the game, but he also had the highlight of the day:
Tab is live on the scene for some practice!
If they beat the Packers … I’m going to be unbearably hyped.
NEWSLETTER
