Commissioner Adam Silver answers a wide range of questions from the media at his annual Finals news conference.
DENVER – The NBA Finals is a tremendous stage for the players and coaches who have earned it, and the NBA is reluctant to step into their or its spotlight to deal with a less savory topic that, frankly, isn’t going anywhere in the meantime.
That’s the rationale given Thursday by NBA commissioner Adam Silver for having no resolution yet to Memphis guard Ja Morant’s status heading toward the 2023-24 season. Morant was castigated in May for the second time in as many months for brandishing a handgun in content that found its way onto social media.
Asked several questions about the disposition of Morant’s case and anticipated discipline, Silver told reporters at his annual Finals news conference that the league’s investigation is, in fact, concluded. A determination on what penalty Morant faces, if already made, has not been announced either.
“We’ve uncovered a fair amount of additional information,” the commissioner said. “We probably could have brought it to a head now, but we made the decision, and I believe the Players Association agrees with us, that it would be unfair to these players and these teams in the middle of the series to announce the results of that investigation.”
Morant, 23, was shown last month flashing a gun in a friend’s Instagram Live stream. It came just two months after he was seen holding a gun in a Colorado nightclub that sparked investigations by police and the NBA. That, too, aired on the social platform.
After the first incident, the NBA suspended Morant for eight games. The Grizzlies star apologized and briefly sought counseling during his absence.
After the more recent incident, the Memphis guard issued a statement in which he said “I know I’ve disappointed a lot of people who have supported me. … I recognize there is more work to do.” The Grizzlies suspended him “from all team activities,” a ban still in effect.
Silver, meanwhile, went on ESPN to say he was “shocked” by the video, however grainy. Morant and his friend were in the front seat of a vehicle, singing along to a rap song when Morant raised the gun into the camera shot.
“Given that we’re of course in the offseason,” Silver said, “he has now been suspended by the Memphis Grizzlies indefinitely, so nothing would have changed anyway in the next few weeks. It seemed better to park that, at least any public announcement, and my sense now is that shortly after the conclusion of the Finals we will announce the outcome of that investigation.”
Morant is one of the league’s rising stars, the 2020 Kia Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Star in his first four seasons. He is known for his spectacular dunks and quick, elusive drives, a marketable player for the team and the league until his recent spate of controversy.
Beyond the two gun incidents, Morant allegedly was involved in a conflict with a mall security guard, was accused of assaulting a young man who had played pickup basketball at Morant’s home gym and a verbal confrontation with members of the Indiana Pacers that the league investigated and, at least, found no evidence of a gun being pointed at Indiana’s team bus, as initially alleged.
Based on Morant doing almost exactly the same thing again in waving a gun, harming his reputation and arguably his team’s and the NBA’s, Silver was asked if the first suspension was too light.
“In hindsight, I don’t know. If it had been a 12-game suspension instead of an eight-game suspension, would that have mattered?” Silver said. “I know it seemed … appropriate at the time. That’s all I can say. Maybe by definition to the extent we’ve all seen the video that it appears he’s done it again, I guess you could say maybe not.”
After the first uproar, Morant was summoned to New York to meet with Silver and Joe Dumars, the league’s executive vice president, head of basketball operations. The commission repeated Thursday something he said then: “He understood that it wasn’t about his words. It was going to be about his future conduct.”
Most NBA insiders expect a much more severe penalty that will impact the start of next season for Morant and Memphis. After that, it will be about the guard’s future future conduct.
“I don’t think we yet know what it will take to change his behavior,” Silver told the reporters. “Same thing I said at the time – he seems to be a fine young man. In terms of my dealings with him, I think he’s clearly made some mistakes, but he’s young, and I’m hoping now … that it’s not just about the discipline. It’s about now what we, the Players Association, his team and he and the people around him are going to do to create better circumstances going forward.”
Other topics discussed
• With the Finals in Denver, an ongoing dispute between the Nuggets and NHL Avalanche network Altitude TV and cable carrier Comcast bubbled into the conversation. The dispute has limited some fans’ ability to watch the teams’ telecasts for four years. Silver noted the decline of regional sports networks in general and tried to offer hope in new digital streaming technology that in time will offer more options.
“It’s a terrible situation,” Silver said. “The league office has tried to mediate several times between the parties. … It frustrates me because I think it’s a broken economic model where you have demand and the supply isn’t there, especially with a leading No. 1 seed team, Finals-caliber team here in Denver.”
• Another investigation – into veteran referee Eric Lewis’ alleged use of a “burner” Twitter account to publicly address officiating matters in violation of league policy – is ongoing, Silver said. Lewis, after working in the Finals in recent year, is not in this year’s pool of officials.
• A reporter noted that approximately a third of the All-NBA selections and the Kia Defensive Player of the Year winner (Jaren Jackson Jr.) would have been excluded if next season’s 65-appearance minimum had been in effect this season. The suggestion was that 65 games might be too high a bar to set.
Silver turned that around. “If that had been in effect this season,” he said, “most of those players would, in fact, have been eligible for those awards. We’re putting in place an incentive for players to play more games in the regular season.”
• Monty Williams, the 2022 Coach of the Year with Phoenix before being fired this spring, landed a six-year, $78.5 contract from the Detroit Pistons this week. It is the largest deal ever for an NBA coach. And as often been noted when a coach gets a big payday, “there is no salary cap for coaches.”
But should there be? If the league has a cap on player salaries to limit stars aggregating in a few glamour markets, wouldn’t a cap on coaching salaries keep less lucrative markets in play for the best of the sideline set?
Silver didn’t bite. “It’s a marketplace,” he said. “We’re able to negotiate collectively with the players because they choose to negotiate as a union. The coaches don’t — haven’t made that election. … In the marketplace for coaches, we compete — our teams compete individually.”
• Before taking questions Silver reminded all that this will be the first time the Finals MVP Award, named for Hall of Famer Bill Russell, won’t be presented by the Celtics legend himself. Russell died at age 88 last July 31. League-wide, he was honored with No. 6 patches on all players’ jerseys and his No. 6 displayed on arena floors.
“Just wanted to mark his passing again and his impact on the league,” Silver said.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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