Eight years ago, when a rising salary cap forced Kevin Durant to sign as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors, the phrase “unintended consequences” was thrown around as if a grave crime had been committed. It was embedded in the hearts of many NBA officials.
Should Commissioner Adam Silver amend the recent developments to refer to them as “expected results”?
Raptors forward Jontay Porter is under investigation by the NBA for performance-related issues as well as gambling, according to ESPN. Gambling officials, on the other hand, paid such close attention to the issue that they were able to quickly see discrepancies, so that if fraud did occur, it was caught before things really got out of hand. I was able to do.
On the other hand, the NBA and all other professional sports leagues are so entrenched in the world of gambling that it felt inevitable that something would happen. Gambling has always existed, so there is no moral stance against it, at least in this area.
And while it's so lucrative that the NBA would be foolish to ignore its economic benefits, it certainly has its downsides.
Rudy Gobert hinting to officials that it was related to gambling was damning, and Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said that fans (or bettors) could find his phone number and call him. It needs to be taken seriously, while ensuring the safety of all employees, who pointed out that his actions and even allusions about his family during the parlay are a problem for the league.
Silver is walking a tightrope because the changing landscape is moving so fast. It is difficult to stand in front of it. He is tasked with not only growing the game, but also maximizing revenue. Arguably, these two elements are not on the same trajectory.
Being a game custodian and historian means you have to keep track of the game's natural evolution and keep things from going haywire. The wild scoring night since the All-Star break and subsequent officiating changes are evidence that downsizing is needed.
The pie getting even bigger, especially as the NFL encroaches on more of the NBA's turf, means Silver will change just about any income, whether it's gambling, play-in tournaments, or in-season tournaments. It means you need to accept and keep up the pace.
The play-in was a huge success, and the intended result of making the regular season more appealing worked exactly as intended. IST happened so long ago that it's hard to remember. He just got called up to Las Vegas for the league's inaugural championship game in December. It wasn't as decisive a success as the play-in, but the impression was positive overall, terrible floor aside.
So this change is not all bad. At some point, new fans and new players will see these new inventions as the status quo, or even tradition. But it needs to last long enough to be treated as such, and the league needs to exercise some vigilance instead of going all-in all the time.
The league is at something of a tipping point, and that's probably an impossible ask. Although Silver was not an authoritarian figure like David Stern, Stern was respected and even feared. Stern wasn't perfect, and there were times when he made mistakes and had to take mulligans. But at least the league had a compass and a sense that nothing was beyond the NBA's reach. Silver's relationship with players has been fruitful for them due to his relationship with Stern, but he can't use that asset to get them to perform or make them appear in the All-Star Game.
Silver didn't say explicitly that the All-Star Game will definitely be abolished, but the fact that word is getting out is a negative sign. Sure, this is a pointless exhibition with no practical stakes, but it's important to the mythology of the game and indeed to growing it for future generations.
But if Silver can't get players to understand that this is about something bigger than them and their wallets, it will be a failure for everyone involved. And anyone who tries to benefit players and reward them for not caring and considering it honest should have higher standards.
We see a lot of people taking advantage of the game, but who is putting capital into the game that can't be measured in dollars and cents? All-Star Weekend is the league's biggest source of revenue outside of the playoffs , and perhaps the players are overburdened with extra-competitive obligations and are unable to prepare for it.
But therein lies the problem. Gaming has taken a backseat as so many other entities are eating away at what it has to offer. And no one is focusing on things yet.
So Silver is given the unenviable task of being the boss, even though he has 30 bosses to answer to.
Things are moving so fast that nothing feels institutional anymore. Admire Silver for being flexible and embracing new things. But if it continues, it will become more difficult to catch up.
“Is this the year of the seasonal tournament?”
“Wait, there aren't any positions on the All-NBA team?”
“Has the league returned to East-West play for the All-Star Game?”
Silver needs to put his feet on the ground and offer a general philosophy of what the NBA stands for on and off the floor in the near future. Too often, the league feels like it's being swayed by the whims of the public rather than having a firm grasp on its identity.
Many of these are unintended consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of which we are still feeling keenly. Changes that were perhaps inevitable were accelerated.
But one can only wonder if the League, chasing and courting every being, sacrifices its beautiful souls along the way and loses the fabric of so much of what makes it special.
Unintended consequences, to be sure.
