Fun though working for the NBA would appear to be from the outside, in reality,
the day-to-day business is a tangle of legal documents, tough negotiations and
walking a tightrope between many power brokers. The league's success hinges on
getting every little thing right. The particulars include impenetrable
collective bargaining agreements, TV deals around the world, arena finance,
corporate sponsorships and owner relations; there's a reason that substantially
all the NBA's highest-ranked executives are lawyers. As David Stern has led the
NBA through decades of aggressive growth, into new markets, onto new platforms
and to new fans, the business has only grown more complex, creating a business
empire of infinite complex.
Adam Silver has long been the executive who
knows how all the pieces fit together.
In his various NBA roles over the
past 20 years -- deputy commissioner, president of NBA Entertainment, chief of
staff -- Silver, 50, has led many of the NBA's more delicate dealings, including
television and merchandising deals around the globe. During the 2011 lockout,
when it became routine for Silver to join Stern on the podium articulating the
league's position, it became overtly clear: Whereas Stern might occasionally
bungle a name or meander in his talk, Silver was the man with every necessary
fact on the tip of his tongue.
At times over the past few years, Stern
has deflected tough questions to Silver in news conferences in an apparent
effort to bolster Silver's image as a leader. Other times, however, he has
turned to Silver as an escape from thorny business questions. By the time Stern
announced in February what had long been assumed internally -- that Silver was
his choice to succeed him -- no close watcher could argue with the logic. Silver
was the man with the command of seemingly every issue, from NBA China to ads on
jerseys.
Even though the NBA
thrived with David Stern as commissioner, he was often caught in power
struggles, J.A. Adande writes.
Story
In announcing the board's decision to pursue Silver as
Stern's replacement, Spurs owner Peter Holt called the decision "a nobrainer,"
explaining that "he's been there over 20 years, he has been a huge part of what
the NBA has become, he has been involved in every aspect of the NBA, and we want
to continue that."
Although Stern will leave a massive hole -- in alpha
doggery, tactical aggressiveness and old-school executive heft -- a surprising
amount of the NBA's behind-the-scenes power brokering will stay the same. A vast
swath of the NBA's key stakeholders -- owners, broadcast executives, union
officials, players, sponsors -- have dealt directly with Silver for years. In
announcing the transition program, Holt and Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor
praised Stern for having invested so many years into grooming a replacement.
Silver almost didn't work for the NBA at all. He grew up north of New
York City in wealthy Westchester County; there, he was a Knicks fan and the son
of a law partner at Proskauer Rose, where Stern was once a lawyer. After earning
degrees from Duke and the University of Chicago, clerking for a federal judge
and working for an Oregon congressman, Silver was well on his way to following
in his father's footsteps as a successful lawyer.
Then he sent Stern a
letter asking for advice on his legal career. Stern was fascinated by Silver
and, after several more meetings, offered him a job as a special assistant to
the commissioner. Silver accepted on the spot.
"I feel as though I
kidnapped Adam for the NBA on his way to a legal career," Stern told The New
York Times in 2001.
Silver -- who has shared a sprawling wood-paneled
executive suite with Stern since becoming deputy commissioner six years ago --
has essentially lived the job. He lives alone in Manhattan, an easy commute from
the NBA offices on Fifth Avenue. Other than jogging or walking his dog, the
bachelor has few commitments outside of work.
Silver will take over a
league with high TV ratings, a fantastic crop of stars, a new owner-friendly
labor deal, a financial outlook that is finally pushing the recession into the
rearview mirror and a growing global footprint. But it is also at the epicenter
of the mercurial digital entertainment business. How the world consumes NBA
basketball has changed mightily just in the past year, with in-game attendance
no longer the primary way of experiencing the league and mobile phones an
emergent force with potential to unsettle traditional distribution channels.
The signs abound that more change is coming. Emblematic of that: Also
announced Thursday was the sale of the Memphis Grizzlies from Michael Heisley to
Robert Pera. This is a case of one of the NBA's oldest owners, with roots in
domestic manufacturing businesses, being replaced by a nimble global digital
entrepreneur, whose career began at Apple and whose success has come from
inventing an entirely new kind of business. Young owners like Pera, 34, are the
new normal in the NBA. Where Mark Cuban with his casual dress and bold ideas was
once seen as an outlier, now young owners questioning the business model and
urging innovation are the norm. As markets shift and innovative owners make
headway, the commissioner's job will only grow ever more complex and global -- a
challenge Silver is seen as uniquely qualified to handle.
