NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had a chance to address some of the biggest concerns in the league in his guest appearance on Wednesday’s episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq.” Silver touched on the subject of how they dealt with players hunting for fouls, highlighting the need for defensive moments.
According to Silver, the league toned down its calls for players who tried to draw fouls during the 2023-24 NBA season. According to the commissioner, this was a way of responding to people who believe that the NBA is giving offenses priority.
“Last year, there was an adjustment,” Silver began. “Part of it was a response to the basketball community that they felt we were allowing players to hunt for fouls, particularly in certain offensive plays were not traditional basketball plays.
Silver also mentioned that former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been an advisor to the league. He also denied the claims that the association is focused on increasing the scoring production.
“We made an adjustment because in that scenario, Mike Krzyzewski, Coach K, he’s become an advisor post Duke to the competition committee. I remember him saying in one of the meetings, fans like defense too. There was a perception out there that the league was focused on getting scores higher. That wasn’t necessarily the case.
Adam Silver says the NBA made adjustments last year to limit players from hunting for fouls
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The 62-year-old said that they addressed the problem of the league being too physical, which has hindered most players from showcasing their skills. Silver pointed out that fans didn’t necessarily want to see an increase in scoring. Rather, viewers wants a certain level of competitiveness that would allow both offense and defense to excel.
“They (fans) want guys to be able to be physical.”
Silver addressed the NBA’s viewership concern
Over the past few years, the NBA’s viewership has declined tremendously. While experts and current and former players have given their thoughts on the reason for the decline, Silver believes that the league is “doing fine” in terms of views.
“Last season was our highest regular season viewership in four years,” the commissioner said (33:37). “So we’re doing fine from a viewership standpoint. I hear the narrative and I think it’s nothing new.
Silver mentioned that the increase in younger viewers has affected the league’s numbers.
“One of the advantages of the NBA is that we have a very young audience. An audience that advertisers like, an audience that influencers like. But they’re not watching as much traditional television that they historically did.”
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
