On WFAN: Adam Silver Explains Long Layoff Before The Start Of The NBA Finals
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- League Commissioner Adam Silver offered a postseason state of the NBA report on Tuesday during an interview with WFAN's Mike Francesa.
Silver discussed the reasoning behind the long layoff between the end of the conference finals and the beginning of the NBA Finals, East Coast versus West Coast game start times and the marketing of emerging stars like league MVP Steph Curry.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors clinched their previous series last Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, but by the time the NBA Finals actually begin this Thursday night more than week will have passed. Silver said there was no feasible way to start earlier, primarily due to conflicts with television broadcast schedules.
"We made a decision logistically just to lock in a date. It's cleaner to promote it," Silver said. "We had the situation this year where we had a longer layover. I will say, though, that I think both teams needed the rest. We did look last week, it was reported, I mean had a discussion with ESPN/ABC about moving the Finals up and it wasn't very workable for them. But in addition, I was very reluctant to change mid-course."
Silver also talked about sports gambling, including legal betting sites like FanDuel and DraftKings, the dreaded "hack-a-Shaq" approach teams take to get the ball back late in games, the NBA's plans to go even more global, and the state of the financially struggling WNBA, among other topics.
"We have absolutely no thoughts of shutting it down," Silver said of the women's league.
To hear the commissioner's complete interview with Francesa, please click on the audio link below.