Adam Silver’s history of handling dicey NBA situations

Adam Silver has had some interesting situations to navigate throughout his time as NBA commissioner, and will continue to have to deal with controversial instances. We'll take a look back at how he's handled some of his more notable challenges during his tenure. Statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

Bridges’ legal situation could not have come at a worse time, as he was slated to sign a lucrative extension with the Charlotte Hornets last summer. Instead, it was revealed that he was accused of felony assault, as ESPN detailed.

The NBA had to step in, and decided to hand him a 30 game ban, 10 games of which carried over into the 2023-2024 season.

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Sterling had been an unsavory character for several decades in NBA circles, as USA Today wrote about in 2014. Silver inherited the inherent issue of Sterling in the league when he became commissioner.

When audio tapes were released of Sterling making racist statements, Silver made a bold move by barring Sterling from the NBA for life. It was a moment that ushered in a new era of NBA justice.

The NBA went to great lengths to resume their paused 2019-2020 season during the pandemic, as they established a bubble environment that restricted entry and exit. ESPN released the 100-page protocol document that contained specific rules.

Clippers guard Lou Williams was excused from the bubble to attend a funeral, but also was seen at a popular Atlanta strip club during that time. The league placed him under quarantine upon his return.

The bubble was a high wire act that could have crumbled at any time if a small group of personnel could not adhere to the safety protocols.

Sacramento Kings center Richaun Holmes left the campus to pick up a food order, but this was in violation of the strict rules that were put in place. He was forced to quarantine again in his hotel room after this infraction.

The NBA Finals represent the highest level of basketball throughout the season, and the league office needed to make a tough decision regarding Warriors forward Draymond Green and his eligibility in the 2016 edition.

He struck Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James in the groin, and the NBA suspended him for a potential title-clinching Game 5. Cleveland came back to win the series, and Green would tell Sports Illustrated that he cost the Warriors a title.

Another issue that the NBA has tried to navigate during Silver’s tenure as commissioner is the idea that games were being purposely lost by teams who were not in the running for the postseason. In order to curtail this, the league decided to give the worst three NBA teams the same chance of securing the first overall pick in the NBA Draft.

It’s usually pretty obvious to fans that certain calls are missed when they are replayed in slow motion, and the NBA has slowly embraced the technology to get the call correct. However, this acceptance has come with a tightrope of maintaining the flow of the game. Silver has been involved in some consequential decisions to this end.

In order to minimize the amount of travel for Finals teams that were located at opposite ends of the United States, the NBA used a 2-3-2 format. However, since travel accommodations and efficiency have come a long way in the last 40 years, Silver and the league decided to scrap that pattern and utilize a 2-2-1-1-1 format.

Memphis Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant posted not one, but two videos on social media of himself holding a gun in 2023. Silver stepped in during the second instance to suspend Morant 25 games to begin the 2023-2024 campaign.

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Silver once again had to reprimand Draymond Green during the 2023-2024 campaign. Green had two separate incidents with Rudy Gobert and Josef Nurkic that landed him in hot water. The Warriors' forward missed 12 games after the Nurkic incident, which was communicated as an indefinite suspension by Silver, according to the NBA's website.