NBA Commissioner Adam Silver hits back at critics of Thunder-Pacers Finals matchup
The NBA Finals are about to begin, and while true hoop heads are locked in, some aren't best pleased with the matchup. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers are exciting young teams, but both belong to two of the league's smallest markets.
This isn't something that should normally concern fans of the sport, but the ratings have been a huge topic of discussion all season long. As the NBA continues to get more parity, the era of big markets and superteams dominating seems to be coming to an end.
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Commissioner Adam Silver is responsible for the health of the league and how it's doing. And he recently gave an NFL analogy in response to those who are criticizing the Finals matchup.
"If we were going into a Super Bowl and it was Packers against Steelers, you guys would be celebrating that," Silver said. "Those would be storied franchises. People wouldn't be talking about the fact that Pittsburgh is a small market.
"I'm happy whatever team ends up in the Finals, but it's been intentional from our standpoint to create a system, a collective bargaining agreement, that allows more teams to compete."
This is a fair call out from the main man himself, the size of the markets isn't what matters at the highest level of competition. And the Thunder and Pacers will be raring to prove those that question these Finals wrong. Hopefully, this series goes to seven.
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