As inaugural In-Season Tournament draws to a close, Adam Silver looks ahead to possible tweaks
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver seemed more than satisfied by the way the inaugural In-Season Tournament went this season, though noted that itโs only natural to expect some tweaks to the format before next year.
In Las Vegas, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver discusses keeping eye on gambling
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says he believes all leagues have to continue to keep an incredibly close eye on gambling trends within their sport, mindful of issues that the NFL in particular has had to address in recent months.
Suspended Sarver says he's decided to sell Suns, Mercury
Robert Sarver says he has started the process of selling the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury, a move that comes only eight days after he was suspended by the NBA over workplace misconduct including racist speech and hostile behavior toward employees.
Athletes react to the Supreme Court's abortion decision
U.S. national soccer team star Megan Rapinoe is among a group of leading sports figures who have expressed anger over the Supreme Courtโs decision to strip the nationโs constitutional protections for abortion, decrying an erosion of rights that women have had for a generation.
US sports leagues cope with COVID-19 outbreaks amid variants
U.S. sports leagues are seeing rapidly increasing COVID-19 outbreaks with dozens of players in health and safety protocols, amid an ongoing surge by the delta variant of the coronavirus and rising cases of the highly transmissible omicron mutation.
NBA tells teams rules will be relaxed for vaccinated persons
No one in the NBA will be considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after receiving the final vaccine dose. Once that happens, rules for some of those individuals will change, the NBA said in a memo sent early Thursday to teams and obtained by The Associated Press. Had they been fully vaccinated, they would not have had to miss any time even after being around someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Torontoโs Fred VanVleet revealed earlier this week that he tested positive for the virus and that his recovery process, at times, was not easy. More than 100 players have tested positive this season, nearly half of them doing so in November just before training camps around the league opened.
Heat trade Meyers Leonard to Thunder for Trevor Ariza
FILE - Miami Heat forward Meyers Leonard, center, greets his teammates before an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, file)MIAMI โ The Miami Heat have turned Meyers Leonard's contract into an opportunity to see if Trevor Ariza can help them for the rest of this season. AdThe Heat also said they wish Leonard and his wife Elle โthe best of luck in the future.โโHe's going to do everything that he possibly can to grow and get better from everything this week," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. Ariza has not played an NBA game since March 10, 2020, but the Heat clearly felt he was worth the low-risk gamble. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver fined Leonard $50,000 and barred him from being around the Heat for one week.
Pelicans say some players, staff received COVID-19 vaccine
They are the first NBA team to acknowledge a widescale receipt of the vaccine by members of a club. โIn my opinion, the more people we can encourage to get vaccinated, the better off all of us are going to be," Van Gundy said. AdMany of the Pelicansโ players fall into that category, despite being NBA players and elite athletes. The NBA has been holding Zoom calls with teams for the past several weeks, educating players and staffers on the vaccine. โWe need to understand where that comes from,โ Van Gundy said.
NBA fines Meyers Leonard $50,000 for anti-Semitic slur
FILE - Miami Heat forward Meyers Leonard, center, greets his teammates before an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, in Miami. Leonard made an ethnic slur while streaming a video game, a comment that was quickly condemned by the NBA shortly after it learned of the matter Tuesday, March 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, file)MIAMI โ The NBA has fined Meyers Leonard $50,000, the maximum allowed by league policy, and suspended him from using all Miami Heat facilities and activities for one week in response to his use of an anti-Semitic term. Commissioner Adam Silver, in announcing those sanctions Thursday, also said that he believes Leonard โis genuinely remorsefulโ for using the slur. โMeyers Leonardโs comment was inexcusable and hurtful and such an offensive term has no place in the NBA or in our society,โ Silver said.
March 11, 2020: The night sports, as we knew them, ended
(AP Photo/John Locher)Nobody knew exactly what to say in Oklahoma City around 7:10 p.m. local time on March 11, 2020. The NBA was the first major league to stop play. A day later, so did the NHL, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer. We had no idea the true impact of what happened.โAdThe global fight against COVID-19 didnโt begin that night in Oklahoma City, of course. Sports are games, and games are charted with numbers, and the numbers from the past year are incalculable.
NBA: Nobody tested positive for COVID-19 at All-Star Game
No players, coaches or game officials tested positive for COVID-19 while in Atlanta, the NBA said Monday after the final tests were processed and results were returned to the league and the teams involved. A barber both saw before going to Atlanta tested positive, and that meant Embiid and Simmons were potentially exposed to the virus. โAll players, coaches, and game officials were tested for COVID three times after arriving in Atlanta, including a final test immediately prior to last nightโs All-Star Game," the league said in a statement Monday. All players and coaches who were involved in the game arrived in Atlanta on Saturday and left late Sunday following the game. But the league and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver insisted throughout the planning for the game that players would be safe in Atlanta.
Silver: NBA may return to normal in '21-22, virus permitting
FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2020, file photo, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver unveils the NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant MVP Award during a news conference in Chicago. But otherwise, things may largely appear back to normal โ with the NBA eyeing a return to the 82-game schedule, starting in October and ending in June. โLast season and this season has required a significant investment on the part of the team owners," Silver said. โOne thing we've all come to understand over the last year is that the virus is firmly in charge," Silver said. โMy sense is most will ultimately decide that itโs in their interest to get vaccinated," Silver said.