Adam Silver's legacy rests on success of NBA's pandemic return
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00:00 Not only will an NBA championship be on the line when the season resumes, but according
00:06 to our Rohan Nadkarni, so will Adam Silver's legacy.
00:09 Obviously, Rohan, you say that in regards to the plan to return in the midst of the
00:14 coronavirus.
00:15 Without a doubt, Robin.
00:16 And I don't mean legacy in the way, you know, we like to use it when we talk about athletes
00:22 and players like LeBron James.
00:23 I'm talking about, you know, we're living in a moment in America where people are demanding
00:28 from their institutions, not just words, they're demanding actions.
00:31 And I think the actions Adam Silver decides to take as the league prepares to play again
00:36 are going to define the kind of person he is and the kind of commissioner he's remembered
00:41 as.
00:42 I think it's no secret that the NBA's biggest motivation to return right now are finances.
00:47 It's money.
00:49 And how high is his risk tolerance willing to go in the face of a league that, you know,
00:54 he wants to make money during a virus or during a pandemic, Robin?
00:59 Let me offer the other perspective for a second, because one of the problems I think you're
01:03 facing here is not knowing what the treatments will be, not knowing when a vaccine comes.
01:08 So if you were to say cancel this season to be extra safe, what's to say you wouldn't
01:13 have to cancel next season as well?
01:16 I don't disagree with you, Robin.
01:18 And I do wonder if maybe the league should be more seriously considering going down that
01:23 route.
01:24 I think with this pandemic, I mean, we can get into kind of all the consequences of it
01:29 from a federal government level, you know, to all the kind of lives that it's touched.
01:33 But, you know, I don't think the NBA is unique compared to other Americans who aren't able
01:38 to work right now in terms of having to assess the risks of a comeback like this and sending
01:44 hundreds of people to one city in a state that's having trouble with its virus curve.
01:49 So I do honestly wonder if the NBA should seriously be considering canceling the season
01:54 and maybe waiting.
01:55 But I do think that what this comeback is going to show, depending on what bumps in
02:00 the road the NBA hits once this kind of campus-style play resumes, the decisions they make then
02:08 are also going to be really important.
02:10 Yeah, you know, actually, Adam Silver, I think, agrees with you, Rohan.
02:14 He says he's not proud of the decision to shut down, and many of us gave them credit
02:18 for leading in that way.
02:19 So perhaps, you know, if it does work out well, we might wind up giving them credit
02:23 in that regard as well.
02:24 It is interesting.
02:25 That was an interesting quote, Robin, because I do think it was courageous for them to shut
02:30 down.
02:31 I mean, I think at the time a lot of people were hailing the NBA as kind of the institution,
02:35 the organization that made a lot of people start taking this seriously.
02:38 I think it took a lot of guts to shut down.
02:40 I think it would be courageous if the NBA needed to shut down again because things went
02:44 wrong in Orlando.
02:46 I think, you know, the point I was trying to get across in my story is, you know, are
02:51 they prepared to make those decisions, you know, in the face of the financial realities
02:57 of canceling the season or suspending the season again?
03:00 That is going to be, I think, a bigger test than any other one Adam Silver has faced as
03:04 commissioner.
03:06 And we will see how it unfolds when the NBA does resume next month.
03:10 Rohan, appreciate your time, as always.
03:11 Thanks.
03:12 Thanks.
03:12 Thanks.