NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sat down with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith ahead of the upcoming season to talk about what's next for the league.
Silver appeared on 'First Take' on Oct. 18 and discussed several topics with Smith, including the league's new Player Participation Policy and the WNBA.
But Smith first asked Silver about the league's overall health given the fact that the league set all-time records for sellouts (791) and average fans per game (18,077) last season. Silver said that the while they are in a "great" position given the attendance, the growth for the league will come from other aspects.
"I think from an attendance standpoint, you can't fit more people in our arena so there's not a lot of growth that will come there," Silver said. "It's about media ... What we're seeing now is this transition where people first look to their phones rather than televisions these days. So the question is, 'How can we do a better job presenting our games to people, particularly a younger audience that live on their phone as opposed to being in front of a television?'"
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Silver continued by mentioning that the league is striving to take advantage of all the different ways to enhance the experience of consumers, pointing to sports betting and fantasy play as examples.
Regarding the Player Participation Policy, which will penalize teams for violating resting rules, including resting more than one "star" player per game, Silver said that resting during the regular season at times can "sacrifice fan interest" for teams and players to strive for the "ultimate prize" which is a championship.
Some players like the Los Angeles Clippers Kawhi Leonard have pushed back on the rule as many have speculated that it has shined a negative light on the players, but Silver said that this rule is an issue among all parties and it was agreed upon with the NBA Players Association without much hesitation.
"I think there was a consensus that this is a joint issue — team [and] player issue," Silver said. "We are not saying this is a player-only issue, we're saying that for the entire league, we all need to come together."
Silver also addressed the WNBA which is in the midst of its most-watched WNBA Finals in two decades. The league has faced a lot of adversity in the past in terms of struggling to build a sustainable business, but Silver acknowledged that this was part of the process.
"There was always an understanding that this is going to take time to build and you can't create these kinds of traditions and leagues not only overnight, but you have to take a long term view," Silver said.
He said that there are still a lot of ways to improve the league, and he's heard it from the mouths of players themselves. But he's ultimately pleased that both the WNBA and women's college basketball is creating a stronger pipeline for women's basketball talent.
"As the WNBA continues to prosper, as well as women's college basketball, you see a larger pool of great female athletes turning to the sport," Silver said.
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