Adam Silver Says NBA Media Doesn’t Celebrate The Sport Enough

NBA commissioner Adam Silver is no stranger to criticism and difficult conversations surrounding the state of the league. Many of these discussions in recent months have revolved around how the league is covered by the media and just how large of an impact that has on the NBA’s public perception.

On a recent appearance on The Numbers On The Board Podcast, Silver explained what he thinks the media could do differently.

“I respect the job the media does,” Silver said. “It’s not a suggestion that people shouldn’t ask tough questions, or be critical, or talk about things they don’t like about the game. But, I would say, and it goes exactly to your production company — Enjoy Basketball — that sometimes, I think, they don’t spend enough time talking about why people love this game.”

Silver continued by recalling a recent meeting he had with former Duke Men’s Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.

“Recently, I was at a meeting with Mike Krzyzewski, former coach at Duke, and he condensed it with this headline. He said, ‘We should educate people about the game, and celebrate the game.’ Educate and celebrate. And I wish there was more of that.”

Silver’s comments could be perplexing, as the NBA’s financial state and global significance is better than ever before, with a league that has as much talent now as ever.

But there is some truth to the claim that a lot of the media coverage surrounding the NBA is negative in nature. It’s become a trend to spew hot takes for the sole purpose of gathering attention, even if it’s negative attention.

Regardless, there is an undeniable divide between the coverage that fans want to see and the coverage that fans are actually receiving.