PARIS — The nba landed in Europe and his city Paris has stopped to follow closely in his footsteps Detroit Pistons Y Chicago Bulls. Three years after the last landing, the American league once again crossed the Atlantic to convey its message through the game. And no one represents your image and values better than Adam Silver, competition commissioner.
The top leader of the American organization spoke to the media, as is customary at these kinds of events. Silver thanked the French authorities your hospitality these days. A government with which the NBA has signed a cooperation agreement to increase support for this sport both in France and in Africa.
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It was a press conference marked by three subjects of breaking news: the negotiations for the new collective agreementhis impending scoring record Lebron James and his return connection with the international scene.
In this last aspect, Sports news, The NBA’s official website in Spain, Mexico and Argentina asked Silver about the league’s plans in Europe and whether he is considering increasing the number of games or teams participating. The Commissioner of the Association replied as follows:
“That’s a good question. A lot of our designs have had to be shelved because of the pandemic.” started. “I think so Returning to the market gives us the opportunity to sit down with our colleagues in Europe and formulate new plans. Our relatively new Players Association Director Tamika Tremaglio is here [en París]. It’s great to see first-hand the opportunity here, as well as inside Europe generally. We are looking for new opportunities”.
“One of the advantages of today, compared to 25 years ago, is that we have a lot of international players, including 9 French. Also, the players are very open to travel. There are also a lot more coaches than before.” continued to answer Sports news.
“to be carefulSilver warned.. “We don’t have concrete plans right now, except for one thing we learned the hard way in the pandemic: There’s no substitute for being in places in person, connecting with others. We realize that most people experience this through the media. However, it is very important to be presentand this is just the latest reminder of that,” ended in response to the league’s official website in Spanish.
On the other hand, Silver wanted to remember the evolution of the NBA since the last time the bulls He was in Paris 1997focusing on how the number of international players and their relevance has increased.
“25 years ago, only about 7% of the players were born outside the United States. There were 29 players. Fast forward to today, we have 120 of the 450 or so representing almost a third of the league.”he said.
David Stern, who is sadly no longer with us, was largely responsible for this thanks to his vision of making it the global game it has become today. If he’s watching us from up there, I know he’d be incredibly proud of those numbers.”
The context of this press conference is important because around this time, in 2020, the NBA was moving France for the first time to play a regular season match. On that occasion, the world was about to change: first, with the death of Kobe Bryant the next day. secondly, because of the impending health crisis which forced everything to a standstill and which Silver referred to in his appearance.
The league returns to this scenario strengthened, with a sustainable and growing business thanks to the constant renewal of its own model. Silver emphasized that this three years was very important for check who the real ones were collaborators the company’s. In addition, he explained how during his pandemic There has been a lot of negotiation and consensus with different companies they work with to find the best way to operate beyond what is written in the contracts.
On negotiations and consent, Silver gave a modernize about where the union and the employers are in his person collective agreement which is about to expire.
“I think there’s a strong sense of cooperation between the players and the league. Again, that doesn’t mean we don’t have disagreements.” recognized. “But I am optimistic, in the same spirit of the conversation we had with the president Macron before People who disagree find ways to compromise and move forward and make this league even better.”
Thirdly, the Commissioner said a few words lebron james, which approaches the transcendence Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and became the top scorer in the history of the league. Adam Silver wanted to stop and appreciate how much the star has worked on his body to extend his career. Beyond that, the top president wanted to be cautious about it all.
“To do what you do at the highest level game after game and then to be able to break one of the most important records is pretty remarkable. And it’s not like he’s at the end of his career, just staying with and get this record. He still plays at an incredibly high level.”Silver acknowledged. “Players like him don’t come easily, maybe once in a generation or something, and we can see him when he’s still playing at a high level.”
Adam Silver’s next public appearance will be at the Salt Lake City All-Star Game on February 19.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
