More strong teams needed, Silver says
Rather than ‘knock down’ a title winner, Silver plans bigger focus on development
OAKLAND, CALIF. 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.
The Warriors’ dominance cuts against the league’s hope of competitive balance, which it has aimed — and largely failed — to achieve through collectively bargained measures since 2011. Golden State played exciting basketball, but its games rarely provided drama.
Silver, though, 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. Signing Curry to an extension early in his career allowed them the flexibility to keep their nucleus together.
“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.
“My answer is, let’s create more great teams rather than completely focus on one incredible team and whether that’s seemingly unfair to the other team. 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.”
At some point, there are only so many stars to go around. New CBA provisions aim to prevent teams from luring stars, and the salary cap spike the Warriors took advantage of in signing Durant was tied to the NBA’s new television rights deal and will not happen again. But players control their employment more than ever, and they have options to accommodate teams wishing to sign them, if they choose.
Silver said the NBA can solve the potential problem of not having enough big-name players to go around by creating more stars. He said a greater number of international players can raise the level of play. 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?”
Let’s create more great teams rather than completely focus on one incredible team and whether that’s seemingly unfair to the other team.