NBA commissioner Adam Silver wants his league to look a little more like the NFL. Speaking on The Dan Patrick Show, Silver reiterated his long-stated goal of building a league where every team, regardless of market size, believes it has a real chance to compete for a title.
“The goal over time has been, and I’ve said it, to be more NFL-like. Where you believe your team has a shot,” Silver said. “Maybe not every single season, but your view is, regardless of the market size, if your team is well-managed, if you have a little bit of luck in there, you have a good chance to be in the playoffs and potentially be the champion.”
Silver pointed to this spring’s Finals, in which the New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs, as evidence that the old storyline about small-market teams being unable to win is fading. The league has produced eight different champions in the past eight seasons, a stretch of parity driven in part by the punitive second-apron rules in the collective bargaining agreement.
The commissioner was careful to note he is not against dynasties, “depending on how they’re formed,” adding that fans are less enthusiastic when one team simply outspends everyone else. His broader aim, he said, is a better distribution of talent so the league feels less top-heavy than it has historically.
Whether fans ultimately embrace NFL-style parity remains the open question.
