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The latest Kyrie Irving drama sparked a thought in my mind. I believe Adam Silver encourages this kind of behavior from teams, players, and reporters closest to the NBA. I'm not going full on conspiracy mode and saying he's orchestrating all of this, but you figure as the commish, if he didn't like all the rumor mongering, he could at least attempt to put a stop to it. Silver doesn't get in the way, he's like a matador with a red blanket...Ole!
It makes sense too. What is the job of any commissioner in sports? Well, since this is a blog post, I'll answer for you: It's to grow their particular league. David Stern did it with TV deals, global growth, and promotion of the top stars in the league (you could even argue the dress code helped growth the worth of the league). Silver was handed a successful product that owned February through July on the sports calendar. The only place for the NBA left to grow is to own more months on the calendar, and that's exactly what this rumor mill and drama reporting does. If a big trade goes down in August, or LeBron's camp puts out more threats to leave Cleveland...the NBA will own August too. The NBA will be garnering headlines above the NFL and their preseason ball, and obviously have MLB beat.
When I was growing up, the NBA owned April, May, and June. But now, with the drama of the trade deadline, the All Star Game, the draft, free-agency, and the rumor mill that follows, the NBA has become a sport that dominates headlines for 6 or 7 months out of the year.
Somewhere in a dark office, Adam Silver the evil genius, is laughing, rubbing his hands together, and feeding stories to Woj. Kidding...sort of.
- @BrandonKravitz