"I love the increased physicality" - Adam Silver shockingly hails gritty NBA Playoffs while crediting Mike Krzyzewski’s role
Adam Silver is about to wrap up his 11th full season as NBA Commissioner. Though the 2024-25 campaign has had its ups and downs, Silver certainly gives his stamp of approval to one thing he's seen in the playoffs thus far.
Ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago, the 63-year-old Silver appeared on "SportsCenter" to discuss a number of topics related to the league. As far as the physicality in the postseason goes, the Commissioner did not necessarily call for stricter adherence to the rulebook. On the contrary, Silver had plenty of good things to say about it:
"Excellent. It's throwback playoffs in a way," Silver said. "I love the increased physicality."
Silver, who stepped into his current role as David Stern's successor in February 2014, went on to credit two key basketball personalities for the increase in physicality:
"It's not by accident. Credit to Joe Dumars, who just stepped down as our head of basketball operations to go to the Pelicans," Silver stated. "But also with some influence, and fans might not know, from Coach K, Mike Krzyzewski, who's been an advisor to the league office over the last few years."
According to Silver, Krzyzewski — the highly decorated coach who has won a host of NCAA titles and Olympic gold medals — pointed out to the league that "fans like defense, too." In Silver's view, this mindset has influenced the way that this year's playoff games have been officiated.
The mention of Dumars is interesting as well, as the former league executive made a name for himself as a member of the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons that won NBA championships in 1989 and 1990.
While Silver didn't necessarily express preference for a return to the extremely physical days of the Detroit Bad Boys, he is nevertheless happy that Dumars' and Krzyzewski's influence has allowed the playoffs to be a more rugged affair.
Adam Silver gets candid on media coverage of NBA: "They don't spend enough time talking about why people love this game"
Two weeks before this SportsCenter appearance, Silver came on the "Numbers on the Board" show, where he talked about the way that the media covers the NBA:
"I respect the job the media does," Silver said on the show. "It's not a suggestion that people shouldn't ask tough questions or be critical or talk about things they don't like about the game. But I would say...sometimes, I think they don't spend enough time talking about why people love this game."
It will be interesting to see, then, how the media's coverage of the NBA will continue to progress as the playoffs rage on.
