NBA commissioner Adam Silver is taking some time to respond to Michael Jordan’s recent comments about competitive balance in the league.
In an appearance Monday on ESPN’s “Mike & Mike,” Silver was fairly dismissive of Jordan’s criticisms of the superteam era.
“I chuckled a little bit because this notion that maybe the most competitive athlete in the history of all sports is frustrated, maybe a little bit, that his team isn’t predicted to win the championship this year,” said Silver. “So I take it with a bit of a grain of salt. And also here’s a guy who, in his last six full seasons as a Chicago Bull won the championship. So at the time, of course everyone defined that Bulls team as a superteam.
“But so, I think there’s a recognition in this sport that with combinations of certain players, they’re gonna be superior,” he continued. “And to me, as I said towards the end of last season, we should celebrate excellence before we talk about breaking up a truly great team.”
You can read the full comments that Jordan, who is the principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets, made to Cigar Aficionado Magazine last week here. As for Silver, he recently changed his tune on superteams after expressing doubts at the time that Kevin Durant signing with the Golden State Warriors was good for the NBA, which gives you an idea of how divisive of a conversation this is.
