Adam Silver has significantly remade the NBA over the past several years, imposing a punitive “second-apron” in the league’s luxury tax, reducing the importance of free agency, and generating an unseen level of parity that has led to eight different champions in the past eight seasons. In comments Tuesday ahead of the NBA Draft, the commissioner said what he was most excited by about the evolution he has overseen is that the league no longer faces the perception that small-market teams cannot win at the highest levels.
Speaking on The Dan Patrick Show, Silver reiterated his desire for the NBA to become “more NFL-like” and said the Spurs-Knicks Finals this spring was the ultimate indicator that the small-market vs. big-market “storyline” is in decline.
“The goal over time has been, and I’ve said it, to be more NFL-like. Where you believe your team has a shot,” Silver said.
“Maybe not every single season, but your view is, regardless of the market size, if your team is well-managed, if you have a little bit of luck in there, you have a good chance to be in the playoffs and potentially be the champion. And so I think what we’ve seen is societal changes; I think that nobody’s going to say that Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio can’t get global attention because it’s a smaller market.
“I love the fact this year, even San Antonio vs. New York, I don’t think the storyline was small market-big market; I think it was Wemby vs. Jalen, or whatever else. So I think the players recognize they can have success regardless of where they are.”
The NBA’s second apron, imposed in the 2023 collective bargaining agreement, is not quite a hard salary cap but dramatically punishes teams that spend beyond it. Silver said the league was driven by fans’ desire to make the league less “top-heavy.”
“We want a better distribution of the players, and we’re seeing that,” he said. I just think fans want a sense that it’s not (as) top-heavy as it was historically in the NBA.”
Responding to a question from Patrick about whether the NBA was specifically aiming for a new champion every season, Silver said he was not opposed to dynasties, “depending on how they’re formed.”
“I don’t think fans are as enthusiastic about them if one team is spending drastically more than any other team,” the commissioner said.
The Golden State Warriors’ dynasty of the 2010s, of course, was seen as the motivating factor behind the league’s overhaul of its financial rules. Though the Warriors snagged another title in 2022, smaller-market teams without a history of dominance, such as Toronto, Milwaukee, Denver, and Oklahoma City, have also won championships during this span.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.