NBA commissioner Adam Silver doesn’t believe the NBA will have as many social justice messages next season.
The NBA put Black Lives Matter on the courts in the bubble at Disney in Orlando, and players were allowed to wear social justice messages on their jerseys. However, it sounds like that will all be coming to an end at the end of this season. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Silver said the following during an ESPN interview before game four Tuesday night when discussing the topic of social justice messages:
I would say, in terms of the messages you see on the court and the jerseys, this was an extraordinary moment in time when we began these discussions with the players and what we all lived through this summer. My sense is there’ll be somewhat a return to normalcy, that those messages will largely be left to be delivered off the floor. And, I understand those people who are saying, ‘I’m on your side, but I want to watch a basketball game.’
You can listen to his full comments below.
I’ve often said that Adam Silver is arguably the smartest commissioner in pro sports, and his comments from Tuesday night only make me believe that even more.
The ratings for the NBA Finals are in an absolute free fall right now, and they seem to be getting worse with every game that is played.
Silver is a smart guy. He can take a look at those numbers and the negative press surrounding the league, and quickly figure out that something’s not working.
Furthermore, he seems dialed into the fact that fans want to simply watch a game, and don’t want to be lectured by millionaire athletes, which I’ve been saying for months.
Silver knows your average American fan isn’t tuning in to hear SJW messages. They’re tuning in for a basketball game.
Props to Silver for keeping it real when discussing what the fans want and the future of SJW messages in the NBA.