December 8, 2015 - Jerry Colangelo is hired by the 76ers as Chairman of Basketball Operations. This move, as we would all find out later, was spearheaded by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, because he and the rest of the league owners singled out the Sixers and were fed up with their tanking. I'm not sure what Adam Silver said to Joshua Harris to bully him into taking on Jerry Colangelo, but if I was a betting man, I would bet that threats were made. Why else would Harris so willingly take on Colangelo and push Sam Hinkie aside - a man Harris handpicked to run his organization just a couple years prior? Harris had no obligation or motivation to do so, especially when he backed and approved of the tanking process, unless there was a "little extra incentive" from Silver.
Adam Silver, backed by NBA owners, meddled in the affairs of an organization that was breaking no rules, and bullied his way into their basketball operations, and put a stamp on the Sixers that fans and media alike are feeling the ripple effects of ever since. Instead of trying to fix the NBA lottery or putting rules in place that diminish tanking, he decided to take the short, lazy, and easy route and just clean up the Sixers, while ignoring the greater problem.
Now, Adam Silver has sent out a league-wide memo that states he has grown tired of NBA teams resting their star players, as they try to keep them healthy and fresh for deep playoff runs. He doesn't like that it is unfair to the fans, and the TV networks that broadcast these games don't like being left with D-League competition, which in turn hurts their viewership. These are perfectly understandable concerns. However, the solution is not to threaten NBA teams, which he is doing per reports on the memo. NBA teams apparently will incur "significant penalties" if this continues in the future. Interesting. Instead of fixing the overall issue(like he also ignored with the Sixers), and getting rid of back-to-backs, shortening the season, or allowing longer rest in between games, he wants to once again meddle in the affairs of NBA teams to get what he wants. This time, all 30 of the NBA's franchises.
This will potentially set a terrible precedent for the future of the NBA. What is one thing we know about people who crave power? Give them an inch and they'll take a mile. If Adam Silver is allowed to get away with this yet again, without actually addressing the overall problem, then there is no telling what he'll try to get away with next. Tired of an imbalanced league? Tell teams what players they can and cannot trade! Wanna blow up your roster to start over? Can't trade more than two "star-level" players per one NBA league year! Hey, OKC: do you want to trade Russell Westbrook for a king's ransom so you can rebuild? SORRY! Not allowed! That would hurt ticket sales and viewership in the Oklahoma City area market, and we can't allow that. You know things like this are where Silver would take his crusade next.
Adam Silver is trying to stick his nose where it doesn't belong, and bully NBA owners and GMs into telling them how to run their organizations. The ones that, you know, they own. Say what you want about the integrity of the NBA, and putting out a competitive product, but what integrity does a league have where the commissioner is allowed to extend his power beyond his means? Where a commissioner can play dictator and tell owners what to do with the organizations that they purchased? Where he can tell GMs and coaches which players they can and cannot play. It's wrong, and unfortunately, as a Sixers fan, we should have seen this coming with Jerry Colangelo. Sixers fans have been bitter ever since, and now the entire league's owners are going to get a taste of the monster they unleashed on the NBA.
No comments:
Post a Comment