Another successful NBA All-Star Weekend is in the books, and the league is enjoying some well-earned time off before the second half of the regular season kicks into high gear and teams start clamoring for those coveted postseason spots.
From the league’s perspective, this year’s annual festivities in Charlotte were a welcome distraction from a trade deadline news cycle that was dominated by the debacle in New Orleans surrounding Anthony Davis and the firing of Pelicans GM Dell Demps.
Commissioner Adam Silver finally sounded off on that situation, outlining his rationale about why he dislikes trade requests like the ones we’ve seen from Davis and other players of his caliber in recent years.
Via Dan Feldman of NBC Sports:
“That’s not the kind of media interest we’re looking for,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.
***
“I don’t like trade demands, and I wish they didn’t come,” Silver said. “And I wish all those matters were handled behind closed doors.”
Silver takes particular issue with the possibility of healthy players potentially missing games because of these situations. It’s why he and the league offices reportedly threatened to fine the Pelicans $100,000 for every game Davis misses for the remainder of this season as long as he is healthy and able to play. He did however, make it clear that he doesn’t object to trade requests in general.
“I think it’s perfectly appropriate, that conversations take place behind closed doors, where players or their agents are saying to management, ‘It’s my intention to move on for whatever reasons,’” Silver said.
All of it circles back to increased player agency in the modern era and the various ways players exercise control over their destinies. However, you can bet it will be a topic that gets addressed when the next round of CBA negotiations gets here, along with the topic of tampering and how teams and players are able to engage in this process in the future. It’ll be fascinating to see how it plays out, especially now that we know exactly where the commish stands.
(Via NBC Sports)
