Commish won’t knock down Warriors
NBA commissioner Adam Silver does not want to break up the Golden State Warriors. He just wants the rest of the league to catch up to them.
The Warriors stormed to an NBA championship with a 16-1 record one year after winning a best-ever 73 games in the regular season. They have a nucleus of players in their prime outwardly committed to staying together. They are head and shoulders above the league, and appear set up to remain so for years to come. There are the Warriors, and then there are 29 other teams.
Silver took no issue with the construction or quality of the Warriors. He expects other franchises to keep up.
“Rather than focusing on the top of the league, we should be focusing on the rest of the league,” Silver said before Game 4. “Rather than talking about how to break up or knock down a championship-calibre team, my focus should be on how we do a better job developing more great players in this league.”
Silver pointed out that the Warriors had succeeded through savvy drafting and player development before signing Kevin Durant, the NBA Finals MVP. They chose Draymond Green with the 35th pick, Klay Thompson at No. 11 and Stephen Curry seventh.
“And yes, an incredible free agent was added to that squad,” Silver said. “All the focus seems to be on, ‘They’re too good’ as opposed to, ‘What is it we should be doing to create more great teams in this league?’ That’s what my response is …
“I think it’s the nature of competition. Ultimately, it’s about raising the bar for all the teams in this league and celebrating excellence.”
Silver said the NBA can ensure there are enough bigname players to go around by creating more stars. He wants to change the NBA’s age-limit rule, primarily to ensure more skilled, prepared players are entering the league.
“Are stars born, or are they made? Draymond, four years in college. Steph and Klay spent three years in college,” Silver said. “So what does that say? The message is, it doesn’t mean that we should absolutely raise the minimum age. It just means that what we should is focus on, is there something about the way they were developed that turned them into such great players?”