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Club 520 - Adam Silver on Luka Doncic to Lakers trade, NBA Draft, All-Star Game changes · Club 520 Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: The volume.
• 0:05
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• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Be Hen and DJ Wells, host of the Club five
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• 0:21
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• 0:28
  Speaker 3: Behn.
• 0:30
  Speaker 4: There you go, your.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Sir, Yo yo yo, y old fanatics, How y'all doing,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: how y'all doing? What on? Yeah London, eargy? You'll know
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: what the time it is at this Club five twenty.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, my Nemet, DJ Wells live in Fanatics,
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• 1:02
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• 1:03
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• 1:06
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• 1:07
  Speaker 1: dog Bishop be hearing out the pearlies.
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: How you are nasty saying?
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: And what up?
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: Fanatics? My boy? What's up? Baby? What?
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: What up?
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: Tapped in for show. To my right, my dog young
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: Nacho Young team got you what what's good?
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: We got a good one today, got a good one today.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Come on man, listen man, we got a special special
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: guest man. We couldn't imagine that we would have digitallemen
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: on our platform.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: But it's a blessing. We're about to have a dope conversation.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: We happy to share this moment, which y'all we have
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: the one, the only, the commission. Mister Adam Silver joined
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: the five twenty. Makes some noise, Yes, sir, yes, sir,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: go go sir.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure. Thank you boss man. Hello, yeah,
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: energy energy, you love this Wow. First and foremost who
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: want to say thank you? We areppreciate you joining us
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: or how you doing.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: I'm doing great? This is incredible. I mean, I for
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: the fans, this must be fantastic. Just to the whole
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: environment here. I mean, congratulations to Michael Rubin. I can't
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: believe what he's built for.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Sure, I'm sure listen, this is a blessing to have
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: you on this stage. Obviously, you know what I'm saying.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: You got to walk across that stage. But for me
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and be here. It's our Draft night moment. Baby, Yeah
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: I got I didn't. I didn't walk across the stage.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: I didn't go to the draft, but I got a
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: chance to hear my name called. It was pretty cool.
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: Do you got a championship ring though?
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I got a championship better than yeah, talk about it.
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: I snuck out of there with one.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, I wanted to ask you this question because
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: everybody's moment, no is their dream to get across the
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: NBA SA, shake your hand and hold a jersey. What
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: was it like for you the first time and you
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: got to be in that position and helps the draft
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: as the commissioner.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: It was, it's it's it's emotional for me. It still
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: is because you know, for that moment to come into
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: the NBA for these players and just as importantly for
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: their families. So when you're standing up on stage, particularly
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: for you know, the top draft picks who are sitting
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: there right in front of you, you're staring often at
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: their parents, their siblings, their friends. So it's it's truly emotional.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: I mean I feel it along with them. And then
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: when the guys come up on stage, I mean, obviously
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: there's some of the best athletes.
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: In the world.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: They've already performed at a high level in college and
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Europe or whatever else. Like when I put my arm
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: on them and I shake their hand, they're often you
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: can feel how nervous they are, you know. It's it's
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: such and I think it's just a lot of them
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: been holding in the emotion and it's just a release
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: because even if you're projected to be the fifth pick
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: or the fourth but whatever, it is the reality of
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: that actually happening. So I'm just saying, like I'm holding
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: it together too. For a lot of them, it's just
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: and and it's I'll just add it, it's a privilege
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: to be up there. I don't have any particular talent,
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: you know, unlike a player, so I realize I'm fortunate
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: to be part of the experience.
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: Who was the first player you introduced to the NBA,
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: which I said, who was the first person you introduced
• 4:08
  Speaker 5: to the NBA? Like, what was your first pop o?
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: Man, I gotta think about that, because you know, I
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: was the deputy commissioner for several years and did the
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: second round as well, so I gotta think about that.
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: I can't remember who who the first player is?
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: Is drafted. Was every I want to ask you this question.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Obviously you know legal background, worked in the NBA as well,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: recipes obviously, like great David Stern, what was that moment
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: like when you found out that you were going to
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: be the commissioner?
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: Oh?
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Man, I mean I I again, I just remember feeling
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: how fortunate I was. I had at that point, I
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: had already worked for the league for twenty years, Yes, sir,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: at the time I found out, I had worked for
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: David Stern that entire time, so I had a seat
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: in the room, so to speak, for a lot of
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: that had transpired over that time. And I and I again,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: I worked hard, but at the same time, I realized
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: it takes a fair amount of luck to be in
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: the right place at the right time. I saw it
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: as tremendous responsibility to carry this league forward off of
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: all those great players that had come before me, great commissioners,
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: you know, David Stern being the most recent. So you know,
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: it was momentous, there's no question about it. But you know,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: it takes a while to sink in you just again,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: just and I still feel that even eleven years later.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: Just it's an awesome responsibility because in addition to the
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: literally hundreds of millions of fans globally that for the players,
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: their families, the tens of thousands of employees of the NBA,
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: you know, and now the w NBA that that we're
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: part of. It's you know, you feel the weight of
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: the responsibility. And in this league, I mean there's there's
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: incredible things that happen every day, but there's also things
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: that are risk to the business. You know that, And
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: it's the ultimate responsibility working together with the players, with
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: the team owners to make sure the league continues to
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: operate smoothly. So I would say I I'm all struck,
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: but also feel that sense of responsibility most definitely.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: I got a question, were talking about Draft night and
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: you being up there calling names, and it's been some
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: nights where guys' names didn't get called in that first round.
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: Oh what's that feeling like?
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Do you ever be like, man, I just hope this
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: kid gets called, because obviously I didn't go to the
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: green room, but I'll skip. That was a scary feeling
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: for me to be in a green room and I
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: get my name called. And we had some guys go
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: super super late in the first round, and be the
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: last guy in the green room, like, what's that feeling?
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm often it happens occasionally where there is
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: a player who's projected to go higher and drops for
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: whatever reason. And often in some cases in between break
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: in between picks, I walk down and just.
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: Say hello to the player and their family.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: You know, we have a lunch in the day of
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: the draft, so I've talked to them and I see
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: them before the draft, but also just to remind them
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: that nobody can predict the future that I mean I
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: think about, you know, I mean our MVP in Shay
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: I forgot it on. He's like the eleventh pick or whatever.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: He wasn't a top ten pick. Tyresee wasn't a top
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: ten pick. But not only were they not ten top
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: ten picks, but they were both traded, you know. And
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: and you have incredible players. You know, Jokich was a
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: second round pick. Ye young man just pointed out to me.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: You know, Draymond Green was a second round pick. I mean,
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: you have look at the current finals. You know, you
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: have players who are enormous contributors who weren't.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: Drafted at all.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: And so I always see it as my responsibility to
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: remind them that this is just one point in time
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: and you should take motivation from this and that again
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: that understandably these teams are making these decisions, but don't
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: let that sort of prediction be controlling on you and
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: go double down on your work because there's a reason
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: that they're there, that they were projected to be there.
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: And even if you know, if you think the NBA is.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: The four hund and fifty best players in the world,
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: so we have a relatively small draft compared like if
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: you watch the NFL draft, how many rounds they have,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: It's only a two round draft. So again I just
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: remind them like, yeah, it sucks in that moment, it
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: feels embarrassing potentially, but go get them. You know, this
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: isn't gonna determine your faith.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: Oh definitely.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: You brought a very interesting point up. We're looking at
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: the finals right now. Obviously Games seven will take place
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: very very soon. We have two small market teams. You
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: see a lot of the nerves just like, oh, the
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: NBA is upset. We don't have bigger markets in that.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: We would love to have that conversation with you because
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: obviously it has been great basketball being played the energy's
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: been high. You've been in both arenas. The fans there
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: seem happy. Is a narrative.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: It is just like now, y'all not really tuned in
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: into an actual product.
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: You know, I could say so much about that, A
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: few things.
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: I'll say.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: One of the points I made the other night was,
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: you know, I'm sure that a lot of NFL fans
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: here when the Steelers and the Packers play, you know,
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh and green Bay, nobody says two small market teams.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: It's thatad It's two storied franchises, and I want to
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: emulate the NFL from that standpoint. I mean, our goal
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: and we're on our way there that whatever market it is,
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: they have passionate fans. They're competing for the championship. And
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: just like in Milwaukee where he won that championship, Jeff,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: you know, it's the story, isn't that it's a small market.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: It's the best franchises in the NBA, the best teams
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: in the world, competing for championships, and increasingly in a
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: digital world where the incremental difference between Indianapolis and Chicago
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: should become irrelevant because.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: We have a global fan base.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Yes, we have something like a two billion person social
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: media community. I mean something like seventy million people will
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: have watched the NBA Finals this year. So the fact
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: that there may be a million more people that live
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: in one market or another shouldn't be the issue. Now,
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: I accept that it's a narrative going in the other thing,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: I'll point out some of those markets are only smaller
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: relative to the size of other NBA markets. The mayor
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: of Oklahoma City pointed out that three hundred million Americans,
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: close to ninety percent of Americans live in cities and
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: towns that are smaller than Indianapolis and Oklahoma City.
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: Like most of.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Us, I'm from the suburbs of New York, but I
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: grew up in a town Ryan, New York that had
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: fifteen thousand people and so and my growing up, Yeah,
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: New York City wasn't that far away, but it seemed
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: like it was a million miles away.
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: That was my town.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: When Little League season started, we had a Little League parade.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: My high school only had a couple hundred people in it.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: That was my world. So I think it owned This
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: small versus big market narrative only becomes relevant because of
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: historically how we've looked at things but again, the world's
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: changing quickly. To me, if you're Jannis Tenakunpo and you're
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: in Milwaukee, you're globally known, and nobody's going to convince
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: him that if you went down the road to Chicago,
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: then you can be that much of a bigger star.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: So and I lastly saying, just having going back and
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: forth from Indianapolis to Oklahoma City and vice versa over
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: the last two weeks, the passion is unbelievable in those towns.
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: I just came in from Indianapolis this morning. I mean,
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: you're there.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Every storefront has banners in it for the Pacers. Same
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: thing in Oklahoma City. Every building has a huge.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: Banner on it.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Everyone's wearing merchandise. If you see on television, everyone's wearing
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: the team colors. It's like a college environment. And so
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: in some ways, when you're in those markets where that
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: are smaller, it captures people's attention even more than you know.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: I live in New York City now, when when we
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: have teams in this town that are competing for championships,
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: as big as that audience is, it's not as all
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: consuming as it might be in a so called smaller market.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: For sure, I mean, we were talking to a guy yesterday.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: He was telling us about how it was in New
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: York when they were just making the Eastern Conference finals.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: And I think that's what the narrative is because when
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: you see all the people outside it was what a
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: million people almost outside, you started thinking like.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Man, if they was in the finals, what what that
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: look like?
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: So I think that's worse, you know, talk about But
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: to me being from Indiana and seeing how the Pacers
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: reacting the fans are, it's crazy.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: I think it's beautiful for the league.
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: It is.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: And also I mean when it comes to basketball, no
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: state is more closely associated with the game than Indiana.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: I know you're still coaching high school. Yeah, while they're
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: staying in Oklahoma City. I mean, it's this sport feels
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: endemic to those markets. It's as I said, it's not
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: there's the support for the thunder, for the Pacers, but
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: also people just love the game in those cities and
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: states and you can really feel it. And I think
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: particular the way these finals are being played, just the
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: selfless style, the pass first, I mean both teams, it's
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: a great defense, really physical. I think people are really
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: eating up these finals they're just really enjoying them.
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: For sure, we'll be getting some expansion teams here soon.
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: What the expansion change how you feel about the.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: You know, I it's something we're going to look at it.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: It's more complicated, I think sometimes than people realize, because
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: I think some people look at expansion that you're printing money.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: It's not because it's like, if you own something, you're
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: selling an interest in it. If you're one of the
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: thirty owners in the NBA and just say you expand
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: by two teams, it's not that different than selling a
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: portion of your team to someone else.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: Having said that, there's so many great markets out there
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: that love the NBA. It's something we're definitely gonna look at.
• 14:05
  Speaker 5: Okay, for sure, yes, I now, he said Seattle, who
• 14:12
  Speaker 5: was just trying to figure out, like what cities would
• 14:13
  Speaker 5: be good to bring a new team too.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Obviously they do the Summer League in Vegas, so it's
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: equipped for NBA basketball, So I know Vegas will probably
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: be a coole spot.
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: Like you said, Seattle had a team already.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting. I mean, we had a team
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: in Seattle before. It's such an incredible market for many
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: of my years that the NBA were spent when we
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: still had a team in Seattle. There's no doubt about
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: the love for basketball there and Vegas. You just mentioned
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: where we are our summer league. I feel like we
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: have a team there. Yeah, you know, the two weeks
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: or so that Summer League goes, it literally like it
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: consumes the whole basketball world. Those games when we first
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: started playing the Summer League, they are those games were
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: hardly even on television. Now, sports centers operating out of
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: Las Vegas studio shows there. You know, it's it's like
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: they I've never been to the Baseball Winter Meetings, but
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: that's what it feels like. You know, all the general
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: managers there, teams are doing deals, guys who weren't drafted
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: or there the draft picks are there. They're selling out
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: in the arenas. So like I feel like we already
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: have a huge presence in Las Vegas.
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: Definitely. Sure. I want to ask you a fun question.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: I'll recently introduced somebody to the movie Eddie, and then
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: we watched Celtic Pride. So those old NBA movies that
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: used to integrate all the things between us, me and
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: the Spans fictional in the NBA. I want to know,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: how does that happen? Is there a license in to
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: our conversation that happens? Because you know, you see a
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: lot of things meet you and some of the players,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: some not I would love to see. Is that something
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: that's in the works future as a game is going
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: we get back into that. But how does a conversation
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: or something like that happened?
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Well, the way it works, And I was at the
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: league for Eddie and Celtic Pride, And there's a division
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: of the NBA called NBA Entertainment that I used to run.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: And so when people and for anybody here today or
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: is listening to this wants to make a movie involving
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: the NBA's teams come to us, I mean we try
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: to make it easy, you know, in es since we
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: come and say if you want a license, you.
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: Know our logos or our name.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: You know, we want movies to ultimately be positive of
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: course about the league. So you know, most people realize that.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: So it's not that we're not approving things that come
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: to us, but we'll have discussions with the producers and
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: the writers and the directors. But we want people to
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: be talking about basketball. We want them to be talking
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: about the NBA and the w NBA and all the
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: things we're doing. So, you know, I think over the years,
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: we've learned to try to make it a bit more
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: turnkey for people who want to use our intellectual property
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: and say please, you know, we to extent that you
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: have a new angle and it maybe people want to
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: do something about mascots. It's not always just about the
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: you know, there was a movie called like Mike something
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: may remember. You know, there's you know, the the Michael
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: Jordan Last Dance. You know that came out in the
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: middle of the pandemic.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: What's the movie? Would common? Just right? Just right? Yeah,
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: you know, I mean.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: But also even like one of my favorite basketball movies
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: is Hoosiers, even though the NBA had nothing whatsoever to
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: do with that. Like any movie that's about the love
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: of the game is we think is really positive for us.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: So we're always encouraging people who want to do anything
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: around basketball. You know, I'm when I walk through this
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: fan festival, I want more tension focused on basketball. And
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: that's like my job is to get more people to
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: love this game.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: You say your favorit basketball is Hoosiers. That's very interesting.
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: Probably probably.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: Come on, I haven't seen hoos. Did you play back
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: in the day in high school or anything?
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: Did I play? Yeah, that's why I wear I played,
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: but not well, I don't know.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: I mean we walked in. I was like, okay, you
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: might set a screen of slips. I didn't know you
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: was that tall. Say he might have been a sniper,
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: big gore back in the day. We might need you
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: in the park.
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: And I'm in the office, thank you.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: So I had a question like when there like a
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: trade like Luca happens, right and it kind of shocks
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: the league, Like what's it like in a league office?
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Like do y'all know, like whoa, this is about to
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: be wild? Or you know?
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Says before I you know. First of all, I'll say
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: one of the misnomers I think out there is that
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: I have the power to disapprove a trade. Yeah, I
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: don't think the only what the league's role is, as
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: you can imagine in a in a cap system and
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: a set of rules around trades, what happens is before
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: the trade is known publicly, although sometimes they're leaked or
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: they're or they're informally announced, but for a trade to
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: be official, it gets called into the league office. It's
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: kind of old school, you know, where both teams have
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: to get on the phone and lawyers and people in
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: basketball operations literally line up the contract. So if somebody
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: make it up is making eight million dollars, you have
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: to ensure that the other team has eight million dollars
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: of cap space in order to sign that player. You
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: have to assure that it complies with all of our rules.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: And so we get if assuming a trade hasn't been leaked,
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: a call will come into the league office, a team
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: will say we want to set up a trade call.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: Both sides will be on the call. It's a little
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: bit like anybody who's bought a home and there's a closing,
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: the closest thing where you've got to make sure like
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: you indeed have the title to the house. Yeah, there's
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: been an inspection, and there's a contract, all those things,
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: so there's in essence of checklist, and then the trade
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: becomes official. So we don't and because the teams often
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: in particular trades and Luca is a good example where
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: the teams are very secretive, they're not necessarily tipping us off.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: We learned about it, I mean, we learned about it
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: be ahead of the public, but only it's usually only
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: a question of hours because we have to go through
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: that official process of approving it, but not sooner than that.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Was that like when you've seen that come across where
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: you kind of shock, like, Yeah, I.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: Would only say I mean because in many ways I'm
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: a fan like others, and teams aren't necessarily calling the
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: league office for suggestions on player movement, So there's the
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: fan in me that only because that's not a player
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: move that people were talking about or the shows like
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: yours were talking about.
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: I was surprised from that standpoint.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to ask you that question obviously, what
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: the game growing, media is evolving, ever changing, Right, you
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: got player podcasts, got independent stuff like that. What's one
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: thing you think that the actual media outlets can improve
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: that could actually help the game. I know we get
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: a lot of criticism, but what's something that we could
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: actually help promote the game better or help progress.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Well, first of all, I'll just say kind of in
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: the same lane when I was talking about movies about
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: the NBA, I'm very appreciative of the amount of media
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: coverage we get. I recognize it's not all going to
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: be positive. But to me, as long as it's genuinely
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: from the heart and it's real passion and people aren't
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: making up stories about us, I appreciate it. And you know,
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: it's one of the things great about sports is people
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: come with their opinions. Yeah, and they like things, they
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: dislike things, and we learn from that too, you know.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: And it's we pay attention to social media, we pay
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: attention to traditional media. You get great ideas from there.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: I think the only thing I'd add to the extent
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: there's more media that's educating fans about what goes into
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: championship basketball. I think sometimes if you haven't been close
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: to the game, and I've learned a lot over my
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: time because I didn't play at a high high level,
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: to understand that it's not just about effort. It's about
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: the plays that are unfolding. It's about the sophistication of
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: the coaching, It's about the sophistication of the scouting. I mean,
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I think sometimes like understanding what goes into being an
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: NBA player, the amount of hard work, the amount of training.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: But also I think sometimes because the way our game
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: is called, you know, it's it's moving so quickly, even
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: for the best announcers, play by play announcers like Mike Breen,
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: or the best color commentaries, the best color commentary. It's
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: moving so fast, there's not necessarily time to explain everything
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: that's happening that you know, it's not just this guy
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: is off tonight, but he may be off because it's
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: incredible defense and what is the scheme and what is
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: that defense? So I think sometimes like those other shows,
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: whether it's a pregame show or halftime or it's an
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: afternoon show, podcast, you name it, about the NBA, just
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: to be talking about more about the game and what
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: goes into team basketball and what and what goes into
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: making the NBA and staying in the NBA.
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, sure, definitely.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: You always talk about how the NBA is a business
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: and the fraternity and what they do for the players
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: after they leave the game.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: I want to indulge in that a little bit more.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, obviously, it's a bunch of programming now that it's
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: been coming into the league. When I first came in
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: the league, the rookie rookie transition and all those great
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: things that you have to do when you first get
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: in the league, I was wondering, how can we like,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say better, and I think it's does
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: a really good job, and everything is nice when you
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: retire from basketball, But is anything like you would suggest
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: or some of the guys who might retire at the
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: age of like thirty thirty one, is there anything you
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: can suggest to help them with that process.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: It's a great question. A few things. Number One, so,
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: for the first time, we have a former player who's
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: running the Players Association, Andre Gudala, yep. So he's very
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: attuned to the issues of not just former players, but
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: the transition for a player to go from being on
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: the floor to then the rest of their life, and
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: to how they're gonna use the skills they've developed as
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: a player and what new skills they might need to
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: be successful whatever they choose to do, whether it's to
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: be in the media or to run business or whatever else.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: The other thing Andrea is doing is building a closer
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: relationship between what has been a separate organization, the Retired
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Players Association, and the union that currently represents the players,
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: because I think that can help with the smooth transition
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: as well. And then you mentioned the Rookie Transition Program,
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: So that's a program for players coming into the NBA,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: the transition of coming from college or Europe wherever it is.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Now the world's changing quickly because now with nil deals
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: and collectives, guys are now coming into the league and
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: the same thing for the women in the WNBA now
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: in many cases having been paid, so they already have
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: a certain sophistication around payments and being you know, shoe
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: deals and things like that. But so they come in
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: we have the training in I think one thing that
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: Andre is very focused on awareness and the Union leaders
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: before him, is enhancing those programs so that while you're
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: a player, there's a lot of different counseling on managing
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: your money, managing your life, you know, dealing with social media,
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: all those things. And the Union has done a fantastic job.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: There's a role for our teams and a role for
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: the league and doing all those things. And then I
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: think also where Andre now, I think the focus is
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: all right, what more can we do for helping the
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: players manage that transition. And then once I said, they
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: become a retired player because often and Jeff you can
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: speak to, when you're right off the floor, there may
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: be a period of sort of decompressing, taking some time,
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: there's that change from being on the road the whole time.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Often guys are getting reacquainted with their families or you know,
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: they've they've had kids while they were playing and haven't
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: been around as much. So there's that period. But then
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: now you have essentially the rest of your life ahead
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: of you. What kind of programs can we help provide
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: to train people? And I'll just say lastly, I mean
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: there's also one of the things that we put in
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: place several years ago, and and Michelle Roberts was head
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: of the Players Association, Chris Paul was president Union is
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: lifetime health insurance for guys who played in the league,
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: which is a huge deal, and also enhancing the pension programs,
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: the four oh one K program, so that for somebody
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: who has played, you know, a certain minimum threshold of
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: years in the league, you know to a certain extent,
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: you'll be set. You know you're gonna have health insurance,
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: you know you're gonna have a pension. Now, you know
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: that that's not suggesting they should just be satisfied with that,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: But on top of that, there's all these other opportunities,
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: and you're obviously a great example of it of what
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: can you then use that platform you have by virtue
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: of being an NBA player and then building careers from
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: beyond what you accomplished on the floor.
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: For sure, most.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Definitely we talk about the NIO situation all the time.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: I know you probably asked some millions. Is it a
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: possibility to high schoolayers go back to the NBA straight?
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: Maybe?
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: But the nil impact you say, you got lesser people
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: in the drift this year. If you think that stuffing
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: is gonna be an on one issue, is it's just
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: a new transition Perio, because it's just new.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, when you think about it, we don't, as I said,
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: we only have a two round draft. And the fact
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: I think it's really positive that some of these young
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: men are getting good information in essence and realizing that
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: they're unlikely to be one of the to be selected
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: in those two rounds. And if that's the case, and
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: they can remain in college and be paid and in
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: many cases paid significant amounts of money. That so one,
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: they're getting compensated for their skill and maybe even more importantly,
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: to extent they want to be professional basketball players. They're
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: getting real minutes, they're getting great coaching, and they're continuing
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: to train and improve at their craft. So it's a
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: win win for everybody as opposed to losing eligibility because
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: if somebody's convinced you that you're going to be a
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: top draft pick, not getting drafted, you can't go back
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: to college and now you're going to play maybe in
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: Europe or Asia or something else, as opposed to really
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: honing your skill and having your best shot at.
• 28:17
  Speaker 4: Playing in the NBA.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: And the other thing is if you're not going to
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: be drafted and you're going back into school, it shouldn't
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: be lost that you're also you know, continuing to get
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: an education, because realistically, you may not have an opportunity
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: to play in the NBA. It may be great, you know,
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: it may to go play in Europe. There's great basketball
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: playing played around the world, but that may you know,
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: not compensate you at the same level as being in
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: the NBA. You may not be able to do it
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: for as long. So now you finish, you play for
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: three four years in Europe, whatever it is, but now
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: you have a college education and then you can go
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: out and then pursue another career. So I think the
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: fact that some of those young men are withdrawing their
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: names is very positive to me. That just means there's
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: better information out there in the marketplace.
• 29:02
  Speaker 5: Will we ever get back to kids being able to
• 29:05
  Speaker 5: come straight out of high school? Like, what that ever
• 29:08
  Speaker 5: be a thing again in the NBA? Do you think?
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: You know, we've talked about that, you know, just so
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: everybody understands, like, that's not a decision we can make
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: on our own. It can only it has to be
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: negotiated with the players Association, And when we last discussed it,
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: I think that the general feeling from the teams and
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: the players is to extent that those young players have
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: that extra year. Honestly, whether it's in college or playing
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: in Europe. There it's better for the league because they
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: come in better skilled, with a little bit more maturity.
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: Gotch.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: We've talked about obviously the All Star format possibly being
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: the USA versus the world. We've got a lot of
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: great international players, a lot than one MVP. Recently, we
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: got camps around the world.
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: Is there a.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: Possibility that we could get an expansion scene that's not
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: in the United States.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: Well, we have the Raptors, of course, but you know,
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: but around I know they're attached.
• 30:03
  Speaker 4: It's not the same. Yeah, over time.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, one of the things we've been looking at
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: the league at the league is whether we can help
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: operate a new professional league in Europe. I mean, don't
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: get me wrong, there's incredible basketball being played in Europe,
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: and there's some really great teams, and you know, several
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: of our most recent MVPs have come from Europe. But
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: I think from a commercial standpoint, basketball professional basketball hasn't
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: been nearly as successful in Europe as the size of
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: the market might suggest. So that's one path I wouldn't
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: called expansion directly, but it's building off the NBA brand
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: and potentially doing more in Europe. To your direct question
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: about teams in Europe, I think over time, it's definitely possible.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: Like I was in Paris last summer for the Olympics,
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: I mean, the interest was off the charts. I mean,
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: to me, it was the hottest sport there. I mean
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: like we were selling out every game, not just the
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: games involving USA, but you know, the gold medal game
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: was USA versus France.
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: I mean the.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: Game before the US Serbia game was some of the
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: best basketball I had seen. So there's great players, enormous interest.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: I think part of the limitation is on players' bodies.
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: It's not just the length of the flight, but when
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: you're jumping multiple time zones, it's important guys get proper
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: rest for being on the floor.
• 31:32
  Speaker 4: It's disruptive.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: You know, there's people remember there used to be supersonic
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: jets that went back and forth from New York to Paris,
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: you know the Concorde that there's some commercial airliners now
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: who are talking about restoring supersonic jets. I mean, I
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: think that if the traveler faster, honestly, that would be
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: a game changer.
• 31:54
  Speaker 4: It would make it easier to do.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: But as I said, I think the next step is
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: to sort of plan a flag in Europe, potentially with
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: the European League, and then go from there. But I
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: think if any league could do it, you could easily
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: imagine teams in Paris, London, Madrid, Berlin. I mean, it's
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: not for lack of interest, that's for.
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: Sure most of it. So you can imagine having a
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: back to back in Paris. Man.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, like you said, that flight would have been crazy,
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: but it'd probably be a lot of fun.
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: Though. I think guys will be open to playing in Paris.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: I've seen guys go over there for preseason games and
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: exhibition games, and they're like, it's cool to be over here.
• 32:34
  Speaker 5: You got any adjustments that you would like to make
• 32:36
  Speaker 5: for the All Star All Star Game? You want to
• 32:39
  Speaker 5: bring some new take something out, Like how do you
• 32:42
  Speaker 5: feel about All Star Weekend?
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: Well, the weekend itself, which we're not judged on. For
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: those who are there, it's fantastic. I mean I think
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: anybody who was in the Bay Area in San Francisco
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: last year, I mean there's tons of events and part ease,
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: and there's a fan festival kind of like this. I mean,
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: people love that experience there. The game itself, as we've
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: not put our best foot forward, and I think the
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: players recognize that. We recognize that. So, as you mentioned,
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: we're talking about changing the concept, doing something maybe close
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: to what the NHL did in the four nation faceoff.
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: I mean I think it if it were just straight
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: up USA World. As much as fans would love that,
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure be fair to the players because roughly
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: thirty percent of the players are from outside the United States,
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: so it wouldn't be fair to pick half the team
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: from thirty percent and the other half from seventy percent.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: But I think we're looking I know we're looking at
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: different formats now talking the Players Association because we need
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: their agreement where we would use that concept again similar
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: to the NHL did, where you'd create that passion around
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: the USA playing other countries, other regions in the world.
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm particularly excited about it. I'll just so
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: next year, our All Star Game is moving to NBC
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: where it was in the old days, and we'll be
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: in the middle of the Winter Olympics. So on the
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: Sunday when the All Star Game takes place, for TV watchers,
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: they'll be watching the Olympics, you know, all day. Then
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: you'll come to our All Star Game, and then after
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: All Star Game, we'll be going back to the Olympics.
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: So I'd love to play off that theme that we'll
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: be smack in the middle, as I said, of that
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: Olympic competition. So I think it's a it's a good
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: time for us to be looking at those formats.
• 34:29
  Speaker 3: Okay, cool, cool, Yeah.
• 34:33
  Speaker 5: Oh I wanted to ask too though, So Lebron, you
• 34:35
  Speaker 5: know he's on his last leg.
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: Of the league.
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you make sure you said that, not me.
• 34:40
  Speaker 5: I'm saying that who you think that can fill that
• 34:43
  Speaker 5: void of like the new face of the NBA just
• 34:46
  Speaker 5: give me, Like.
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: You know, I always say, like, you know, we don't
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: create those faces of the league office. They earn it
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: on the floor. It's interesting to watch these finals. Obviously
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: Shay is our MVP. Yeah, he was a scoring leader
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: this year, but again, I mean, he's having a great
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: final so far. But ultimately, Lebron is a face to
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: the league and Michael was and KD was and these
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: guys and Steph because they win championships. I mean, it's
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: looking fairness to any individual player. It's also a team sport,
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: and Lebron made that point the other day. Sure, but
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: look at sports are about competition, it's about winning. And
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: the great news is kind of like what I was
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: saying about the draft earlier. I don't have to sit
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: here and predict sort of who our next face of
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: the league is. They they earn it. You know, they
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: are established by what they do on the floor, and
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: it's it's great to see now this next generation. I
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: think in a way it's the best of all worlds
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: because Lebron is still at forty years old, playing an
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: incredibly high level. Steph is playing an incredibly high level
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: so is Kevin.
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: So, it's wonderful to see that generation still here mentoring
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: this next generation, but ultimately ultimately that this next generation
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: who want to take that mantle from them again, that
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: that's where the competitive juice is coming. They got to
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: earn it by demonstrating they deserve to be the face
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: of the league by their performance on the floor.
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: That's definitely I wanted to ask.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: I think for all those basketball here in the off season,
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: we get to see all the players playing different situations
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: now which you're integrating the NBA, like having the Drew
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: League on the NBA APP, things of that nature. Is
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: that something that's like purposely saying, Okay, we're going to
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: embrace every aspect of this game and keep growing. Or
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: is this something organically you guys just like, you know what,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: if everybody's rocking with this, we.
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: Might as well include ourselves in that.
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: I would say it's that's a case where it's definitely both.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, what's cool about the Drew League or Rucker
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: or anything else is that it's truly organic. I can
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: take zero credit for that, but then we can be
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: very intentional about it and say the NBA APP is
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: a central repository of basketball, of every you know over time,
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: truly everything basketball, but right now, anything involving INNBA players
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: and NBA players are playing in those summer leagues, whether
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: it's summer leagues here in New York or in LA
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: or Drew or whatever else that you know, Especially one
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: thing about social media, it's not always fine. It's not
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: always easy to discover what you're looking for. If you
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: think about X or Instagram, whatever else, like those algorithms
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: are pretty good at feeding you more basketball, but you've
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: shown interest in it. But there's nothing like that ability
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: to go to the NBA app, and that is identifying
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: for you. If there's great basketball out there involving NBA
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: players off season or future NBA players, or what's happening
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: in Europe or Asia, we're gonna deliver it directly to
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: you and that and that's a place where we're trying
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: to get a lot more sophisticated, but we want to
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: take advantage of of of all that great all that
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: great content, all those great games that are already out there.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: Most definitely for sure, now listen, I got the jersey on.
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: I'm saying the goat a lot of fans missed the
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: classic jerseys.
• 37:59
  Speaker 3: Is there a world where we could.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Possibly have the All Star Game back into the original
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: uniforms of the players.
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: You know, I'm looking around there.
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: There's a there's a gentleman out there named Sala Raka,
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: and he oversees all of merchandising. So, Sally, you heard
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: that suit. Are you nodding your head? Yes, he's saying, yes,
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: we're gonna we're looking at that idea. No, it's we
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: We go back and forth like people want new uniform
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: they want Oh but I love.
• 38:22
  Speaker 4: The idea of the of the classic jerseys.
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: Hey, I love how you put him on the spot
• 38:26
  Speaker 3: there by start life. It's you. Hey.
• 38:29
  Speaker 4: You know, the feedback from our fans is critically important.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: So thank you everybody, most definitely, Well listen, Commission, We
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: appreciate your time and makes Norse in Mississippi one time. Yeah,
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: thank you, thank you for having me, most definitely one
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: time for fanatic sex. Two pounds of Boots mobile twenty
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: five dollars unlimited tall text data what they had Team
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: G nationwide for shore. We appreciate you all, y'all be safe.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: The volume