Adam Silver sees successes all around the NBA Adam Butler Jersey , yet can’t stop thinking about the teams who aren’t successful.
And he can’t make them try to be.
Tanking is the problem the NBA commissioner can’t solve.
He can’t force every team to try to win when they all know sometimes there’s more reason to lose. And though he understands rebuilding, he loathes losing on purpose.
”Let me add, I find it an incredibly difficult issue,” he said Friday.
He spoke shortly after ties were broken for positioning ahead of the draft lottery, which seemed a bigger priority than the postseason for some teams this season. And as the Philadelphia 76ers head to the playoffs as the hottest team in the league led by youngsters they drafted during multiple seasons of tanking, it’s hard to tell other teams they can’t do it.
No team was punished for tanking, beyond the $600,000 Dallas owner Mark Cuban was fined for his comments on Julius Erving’s podcast that the Mavericks were better off losing, but there were discussions with other clubs.
”I will just say we had conversations with several teams about what the product was that they were putting on the floor and I’ll leave it at that,” Silver said.
He’s hoping to take some of the incentive of tanking away with lottery that takes effect next season. The three worst teams will have 14 percent chances at the top pick, instead of the current format in which the team with the worst record has a 25 percent chance.
This season that was Phoenix, which appears to also be on a multi-season tanking agenda after shutting down healthy regulars last season. Dallas Jonathan Stewart Jersey , Memphis, Chicago and Atlanta also threw out some curious lineups that sometimes looked incapable of winning.
The new format may not stop tanking – and could even make it worse in some respects. Teams only need to be third-worst in the league to have the best shot at the No. 1 pick, rather than having to anchor themselves at the bottom.
So Silver said the league continues to look at the issue, but even he senses that more work is going to have to be done.
”We recognize that our goal is to put the best competition on the floor and it’s balanced against legitimate rebuilding of some teams. But I know we’re not there yet,” Silver said.
”I certainly wasn’t satisfied, there can only be so much cajoling out of the league office and it’s one of the those things that the last place I want to go as the commissioner is the league office to start dictating minutes and which particular players should be playing at what points of the game, and I recognize that the incentives are not aligned right now that there’s a huge incentive to increase your chances in the draft lottery especially in the old system. As I’ve said we’re switching the system for next year we’ll see how much of an impact that has.”
Other items from Silver’s remarks after the Board of Governors meetings:
MAVERICKS MISCONDUCT
Silver said the investigation into misconduct in the Mavericks’ workplace that began after a Sports Illustrated report in February could be wrapped up by early summer. He said the investigation includes every Mavericks employee and any former ones who would make themselves available.
”From everything I’ve heard directly from the investigators, everyone has been completely cooperative,” Silver said. ”And by the way, it doesn’t just include interviews. It includes documents, it includes emails. And that’s come directly from Mark Cuban. He’s told the investigators that and he’s told the league office that as well, that he is open book C. J. Beathard Jersey , and he’s demanding himself a thorough investigation. So we’re waiting for the outcome of that.”
PLAYOFF FORMAT
There were no formal discussions about changing the way the playoffs are seeded, with Silver saying there isn’t a better current solution. The Competition Committee did review a proposal for a play-in game and he expects further discussion at the summer meeting.
REVENUE SHARING
Owners agreed to continue the revenue sharing plan that was instituted after the 2011 lockout through the remainder of this Collective Bargaining Agreement, running through 2022-23. Silver said the goal is to make sure all teams, whether paying or receiving, have the most incentive to be competitive.
”You know, nobody is happy who has to write those checks, but I think, again, they understand the league is no stronger than its weakest team,” Silver said.
REFEREE RELATIONS
Silver said there were positive reports from the meetings that Michelle Johnson, who oversees referee operations for the league, and head of referee development Monty McCutchen with all 30 teams in an effort to sooth friction that seemed to worsen this season.
”So I feel pretty good going into the playoffs that we’ve made some real progress there LeSean McCoy Jersey ,” Silver said.
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler expressed little concern about his one-game suspension, his shoulder injury or his future with the franchise.
The 23-year-old Fowler was equally nonchalant about the progress he seemingly made in the past year.
"Did I go to jail?" he said following the team's first training camp practice Thursday. "There we go."
Fowler spoke publicly for the first time since the NFL suspended him without pay for the season opener at the New York Giants, a one-game penalty for attacking a man in a parking lot near his hometown in July 2017.
Fowler eventually pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery, criminal mischief and petty theft. The case was closed in March, with Fowler sentenced to a year of probation and 75 hours of community service.
The NFL handed down its punishment last week.
"We really already knew it was going to happen," said Fowler, who will be eligible to play Week 2 against New England. "It's a situation that happened last year so the NFL finally took it into their hands this year. We talked and they told me what it was going to be. I just appreciate them hearing me out, hearing my side of the story. It could have always been worse, so I'm going to just take this game and be ready when we come back for the Patriots."
The suspension will cost him $214,000.
Missing additional games could cost him even more.
The Jaguars declined to exercise the fifth-year option in Fowler's rookie contract in May, likely meaning the third overall pick in the 2015 draft will become a free agent after this season.
A career year could mean a lucrative deal elsewhere.
"Go out there and play as best as I can every Sunday," he said. "That's it."
Fowler has 53 tackles and 12 sacks in two seasons. He missed his rookie year after tearing a ligament in his left knee during the first day of a rookie minicamp.
He played in every game since his return Ty Montgomery Jersey , but mostly as a backup to Pro Bowler Yannick Ngakoue. The Jags apparently don't view Fowler in the team's long-term plans, which is why they declined to pay him $14.2 million in 2019.
His off-filed troubles are partly to blame.
The former Florida standout was arrested last year after confronting a 55-year-old man who made a comment about his driving. St. Petersburg police said Fowler exchanged words with the man before hitting him and knocking off his glasses. Fowler then stepped on the glasses before taking the man's grocery bag and tossing it in a lake.
Fowler also was arrested in Miami Beach in March 2016 and charged with misdemeanor counts of assault against a police officer and resisting arrest without violence. The charges were later dropped. That arrest came a little more than two weeks after a video surfaced showing Fowler refereeing a violent fight between his girlfriend and an ex-girlfriend. He also has a long list of traffic violations.
"It is something where you have to go out every day and you have to prove (yourself) until you get to a level of consistency where there is trust," coach Doug Marrone said. "I think it is a matter of doing the right things each and every day, and we will see how it goes."
Fowler's health is his biggest concern these days.
He injured his left shoulder late last season and opened camp on the physically unable to perform list. Incapable of lifting weights for part of the offseason, Fowler lost some pounds. But much like everything else, he doesn't see it as a concern.
"Well, I'm actually big," he said with a smile. "I honestly think it won't matter. It doesn't matter. Weight does not matter with this one. I'm a straight dog. It don't matter. Once I put on them pads, it's a wrap. I'm just getting stronger. Coaches are looking out for me and being concerned and looking out for my health, so all I can do is just get stronger and you guys will know when I'm out there again."
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