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Philippines, 25 Apr 2024 |
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NBA Finals -- Commissioner Silver holds court By Adeline Deladisma PhilBoxing.com Thu, 12 Jun 2014  Silver. IN his first NBA Finals becoming NBA commissioner, Adam Silver addressed the media to discuss various issues. Slightly over 100 days since he taking over the revered David Stern's post, Silver has already faced a variety of challenges during his brief tenure. The most notable and notorious was the fray over Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and the racist remarks Sterling made on a taped conversation. It was a "State of the Union" address of sorts, and Silver answered a multitude of questions, including lingering concerns about Sterling. Silver began by congratulating the two teams who made it to the pinnalcle of basketball competition, the NBA Finals. He called the competitive rematch between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, "everything basketball fans could have hoped for." He also lauded the teams who played in the previous rounds and noted the "tremendous excitement throughout these playoffs" and the five Game 7s in the first round, which was a record. Silver also spoke about the sweltering, cramp-inducing conditions of Game 1 in San Antonio last Thursday and any affect he felt it may have on the outcome of this series and how it might be recalled in history. "It's too early to say how this Finals will be remembered. My sense is there will be all kinds of great moments that will happen... which will stand out more than the heat in Game 1." He was somewhat apologetic saying, "It's certainly not one of my prouder moments in my short tenure as commisioner so far, but it's the nature of this game. There are always going to be human and mechanical errors and it's unfortunate." For his sake and that of the crowd on Sunday, the AC was humming along and working just fine. Several questions were posed regarding the sale of the Clippers and Sterling's exit from any league relations. There are a few steps remaining in the process of approving the sale of the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who has offered to pay $2 billion for the team. Per Silver, there is the issue of approval of the sale and also that of the lawsuit that Sterling has brought against the league. The lawsuit alleges that the NBA violated his constitutional rights by relying on information from an "illegal" recording as well as committing breach of contract by fining him $2.5 million and also violating antitrust laws to force the sale of the team. Amidst rumors that the NBA may rescind Sterling's lifetime ban or eliminate the $2.5 million fine, Silver responded without hesitation: "There is absolutely no possibility that the lifetime ban will be rescinded or that the fine will be changed in any way." Since Silver's statement regarding the irrefutability of the ban and the upholding of the fine, Sterling and his attorneys have come forth saying that they will indeed pursue the $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA and Silver. Still, the commisioner is hopeful that the matter will close soon, reminding us that as part of the sale agreement, Sterling's wife Shelly has agreed to indemify the League against a lawsuit by her her husband. "In essence," Silver stated, "Donald is suing himself and he knows that." Finally, speaking on the state of the league, Silver shared this belief: "The state of the game has never been better. It's truly a basketball renaissance and that's at all levels; record popularity, our ratings were up for the first game, never had more discussion about the NBA on social media. I'm very confident about the future." It has been quite a start to his time as NBA Comissioner. If he is to match the reign of his predecessor, Adam Silver has 19 and a half more event-filled NBA seasons to go. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Adeline Deladisma.  |
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