Adam Silver says NBA's changes have greatly reduced incentives for tanking

play

In an interview with NBA Today, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that the changes the league has made to its system in recent seasons, from flattening the lottery odds to adding the play-in tournament, have reduced the incentive for teams to tank.

There's a chance of getting the first pick. At the end of the day, I know that analytic are what they are. A 4% chance is better than a 2% chance. Even if you're one of the worst teams in the league, you still have a good chance of winning the lottery.

There is no perfect solution, but we still think a draft is the best way to rebuild your league over time. It makes sense among partner teams where the worst performing teams are able to replenish with the best players coming in. We haven't found a better system.

As part of that conversation, Silver said that the NBA had considered the idea of dropping teams in order to give them more incentive to compete.

There is no realistic way to put that system in the NBA according to Silver.

It wouldn't make sense to send an NBA team to the G League or a G League team to the NBA since we don't have the same system as European soccer.

The consequences of finishing at the bottom of the league are detrimental to the health of the team. I told the people in Phoenix that we keep our eye on things. Competition is being sold to our fans.

With regard to another hot-button topic in NBA circles, the prospect of expansion, Silver joked that "word traveled fast" when James said he hoped to one day be part of the ownership group of an expansion team in Las Vegas. While Silver said expansion will be back on the table in the future, he made it clear that both sides can opt out of the current deal by the end of the year.

The status of the basketball player, who has been in custody in Russia since February, is something that Silver is keeping an eye on. After the NBA was told not to put a bigger spotlight on her story, they have been doing everything they can to bring her back to the US.

Silver said that they have been very public about their belief that she should be freed. Any punishment at this point is disproportionate even if she was convicted of a minor crime. We have had direct conversations with the White House, with the State Department, and we are doing everything we can to get her out of prison.

It's frustrating for everyone, it's frustrating for her family, but I'm not sure what else we could be doing.

As for the reason Silver was in Phoenix speaking to Suns employees, he said he understood having a system that, in part, has a need for employees to call an anonymous tip line is not going to work for everyone. There needs to be an emphasis on training and ongoing dialogue with team employees to ensure that the proper climate is in place within NBA teams to ensure that all employees are being treated in the right way.

"One of the things we've begun doing this year is having direct conversations with the human resources groups at every team to ensure proper training is in place, that teams can have their own systems of hotlines and things, even independent of what the league does." Our board of governors, who ultimately oversee all of our teams, bring heightened attention to issues around diversity and inclusion, and our teams being part of that is being true to the data, continuously talking about what we are seeing in our teams

"Our goal is to operate under best practices, not unique to the NBA or for a sports league but for whatever best of class is in industries, and we have professionals focused on it."