Is Adam Silver the right person to be leading the NBA? Bill Simmons isn\u2019t so sure.<\/p>\n
During the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast<\/a>, The Ringer founder and Fox Sports\u2019 Nick Wright discussed the litany of issues the league has faced in recent years. And after pointing to problems, including egregious examples of teams tanking<\/a> and the recent rise in player injuries<\/a> seemingly tied to the length of the regular season, Simmons went so far as to question whether Silver is the right person to serve as the NBA\u2019s commissioner.<\/p>\n \u201cAll this sh*t, everything they\u2019re doing, they\u2019re not serving the larger picture of what do fans want?\u201d Simmons said. \u201cHow do we keep our players healthy? How do we have a competitive season from start to finish? How do we avoid over one-fourth of our league not giving a shi*t for the last two months? How do we fix this? And it\u2019s the first time I really wondered, like, do we have the right guy running the league? Because he doesn\u2019t seem interested in actually fixing real problems that everybody can see.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s not about like, \u2018look at the NBA Cup. Oh, we created this thing.\u2019 Your schedule is too long. You have to fix this. It\u2019s too long. It should be 70 games.\u201d<\/p>\n Wright largely agreed, with the two specifically honing in on the tanking issue the league has faced in recent years. That included Simmons stating his belief that while Silver is \u201cethical\u201d \u2014 a key quality for a sports commissioner to have \u2014 the NBA may also be in need of a leader who is more willing to put his foot down.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need to have someone who they trust is ethical,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you might need a f*cking assh*le at this point. You might need like mid-2000s David Stern.\u201d<\/p>\n While many conversations regarding the NBA\u2019s issues are rooted in bad faith arguments, Simmons and Wright\u2019s discussion came from the perspective of two longtime diehard fans who genuinely care about the league. And despite the NBA\u2019s recent financial success, with the league currently in the first season of an 11-year, $7.7 billion media rights deal, it\u2019s certainly fair to wonder how issues such as tanking, injuries and load management could threaten its long-term health.<\/p>\n