He is the captain and he is the crew. That is Adam Silver’s job description leading the NBA, the dedicated one who works and the entitled one who leads. After nine months there is little argument that David Stern’s replacement is the best on- the-job commissioner in American professional sports. Adam Silver understands the aesthetics of his position. He is the one figure that unites all teams and their fan bases and must be thought of as loyal, trustworthy and honest. He is the central figure that fans look to when they don’t know who or what to believe. So he rows the boat to shore even when the waters indicate the boat may capsize. He keeps going. To put it into perspective: Adam Silver would never have gotten in front of the American public as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell did this afternoon and engage in a theatrical sham. In fact, Adam Silver had his chance and he did everything Roger Goodell couldn’t do which basically means he stood on center stage and told the truth.
p Apr 29, 2014; New York, NY, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver addresses the media regarding the investigation involving Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling not pictured) at New York Hilton Midtown. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
It hardly matters now who the skeptics were. The exit of David Stern, the grandiose figure who shepherded the league into a new territory of popularity, drug policy- he banned John Drew for life in 1986-, expansion, European growth and unprecedented revenue, was handing it over to his young, unproven deputy. NBA owners are a wild mix of personalities, egos, eccentricities, problems and points of view but they can be cynics too. Was Adam Silver tough enough, some whispered behind his back? The truth was no one could be Stern who was often a bully and at the same time a driven and dedicated shepherd of the game he inherited. Stern felt obligated to balance the black league with the white owners and the diverse fans so everyone would feel a part of the NBA, like they had a stake in the product. But Adam Silver? What was his deal, what was he about? No one knew.
If adversity reveals character, if it says something about your moral leadership that you don’t make decisions solely on what sponsors believe or what owners believe but what you believe, then Adam Silver quickly silenced his critics. It didn’t take him long to address the Donald Sterling mess in a press conference. He didn’t go underground like Roger Goodell. He was in Memphis to talk about the growth of small markets. The former Grizzlies owner, Michael Heisley, had just passed away and Silver wanted to pay homage to his stewardship. But it all went sideways because of the Donald Sterling tapes. What everyone wanted to suddenly hear about was what was Silver going to do?
We are addicted to justice, we are thirsty for it, we love juries but we love prosecutors more. In Silver’s Memphis press conference it was light on information but heavy on everything else. It wasn’t what Silver said specifically- he didn’t say much besides an investigation was still underway into the authenticity of the Sterling tapes- but he communicated the most important message of a leader: trust me. He said the investigation into Donald Sterling and the audiotapes would conclude by the weekend. And then he would speak again. There would be decisions and action and consequences.
Aug 20, 2014; New York, NY, USA; , NBA commissioner Adam Silver meets the media during the Commitment to Service press conference before the start of a basketball game between the United States and the Dominican Republic at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
In his next press conference, less than a week since the Donald Sterling news broke, the tension in the room was crushing. The first thing Adam Silver did was look into the camera and apologize to the fans of the NBA for what Donald Sterling both said and implied. In that moment his new life began. He was no longer commissioner by title he was commissioner by heart, by truth and integrity. As he took ownership for the crises at the same time he felt shame. He was the father and Donald Sterling was the rebellious teenaged child who was going to be punished.
Silver then dropped the hammer. He was banning a NBA owner for life something that had never been done before. The lawyer in Silver knew his decision would start a legal harangue and he would get buried in litigation. But it was the moral thing to do after years of doing nothing about the NBA’s Donald Sterling problem. As Silver spoke all alone on that stage he fluctuated between passion and anger and resoluteness and despair; he really, really cared. He took Donald Sterling’s prejudices personally as if Sterling was speaking directly to him. From that moment on Adam Silver was no longer David Stern’s apprentice. He was the calm in the midst of a rushing storm battering the coast. He was the one person on the inside that those on the outside could listen to, trust and depend on.
It is what the NFL is missing right about now, someone fans can believe in, someone players can trust to know the difference between equity and privilege, someone honest to lay out the truth in vivid detail, someone accountable about how this happens to a league, someone who inspires the outsiders, someone who takes action and doesn’t wait for TMZ, someone who can communicate in a way that is not robotic, someone decisive and not referring to future committees and panels. The NFL is missing a leader.
Too bad the NBA won’t loan them Adam Silver.