Adam Silver thinks that the NBA will expand at some point in the future. 1:45
The NBA is considering changing the voting process for All-NBA selections to one where voters pick the best players regardless of position, Commissioner Adam Silver said in San Francisco.
The NBA Players Association will be addressing it, Silver said.
"In terms of determinations for All-NBA, I think a fair amount of consideration is going into whether the media should just be picking top players than be picking by position," Silver said. The league has moved toward position-less basketball and the current system may result in some unfairness based on what your position is.
We are looking at that. It's something that we will discuss with the players association because it has an impact on incentives and players contracts, and it has a deep meaning for their legacies as well. We are going to look at that.
Over the past two years, the topic of whether the ballot should continue to be determined by positions has picked up steam, as two centers finished 1-2 in voting for the NBA's Most Valuable Player. Because of the current system, only one of them can be an All-NBA First Team player, while the other has to be a second team selection.
There will be more discussions about whether contract bonuses will be tied to media awards voting, but Silver said that both sides have agreed that it is the best option.
The ultimate selection process can have a direct financial impact on a player's contract, but we couldn't come up with a way to make it work for us.
Silver talked about a number of topics during his 30-minute session.
The NBA and NBPA have the option to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement in December before it expires. The last time the deal was up, both sides agreed on a new deal before the opt-out date.
It was Silver's hope that a similar pattern would be followed, but he said it was too early to say that would be the case.
According to Silver, deadlines are helpful to get people to push their best offers across the table.
All of the discussions both sides have had over the past two and a half years have led to them talking more than ever before, which helped increase his belief of a deal being agreed to amicably once.
The idea of a mid-season tournament is still on the table, though Silver said more discussions are needed with the NBPA.
Silver said he'd be open to discussing shortening the season if it could be proven to help mitigate injuries.
"We don't see an increase in injuries as the season goes on," Silver said. There are more injuries because of fatigue over the course of a season. There is a connection between fatigue and back-to-back or three in a row. That could lead to more injuries.
Silver said expansion is something the league will do again at some point, but he shot down the idea of it happening in the near term. He said that there could be an issue with the dilution of talent due to expansion.
There are only so many of the truly top-tier super talents that can be found. The other teams are thinking about expansion.
The NBA has lost hundreds of millions of dollars because of its strained relationship with China, according to Silver.
I said at the time that we stood behind our players and team executives, their right to free expression, whether it was about issues in the US or anywhere in the world. If the consequences are that we're taken off the air or we lose money, we accept that.
According to Silver, engaging with China is not inconsistent with the league's values because of alleged human-rights violations in the country.
It remains a work in progress for women to become head coaches in the NBA, according to Silver. He said that the move from Spurs assistant to head coach of the Las Vegas Aces shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing.
There is no reason that women shouldn't be head coaches and more of them shouldn't be assistant coaches in the NBA. There should be more women officials. We are making progress in those areas. We have to break through that glass ceiling because there are a lot more female assistants.
The NBA increased its number of black coaches to 15 with the hiring of Darvin Ham by the Los Angeles Lakers, as the league continues to emphasize the need for diversity.
When asked if a positive test for COVID-19 next year would mean a player wouldn't be able to play, Silver said that it was too early to say, adding that the NBA is only a small part of the world.
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