Adam Silver Comments on Danny Ferry
What do NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Atlanta Hawks General Manager Danny Ferry, and Miami Heat small forward Luol Deng all have in common? If you said they all were involved in the current scandal surrounding the Atlanta Hawks, you are correct. You get a cookie. However if you notice that all three attended Duke University, you get two cookies.
The Duke connection is sort of a side light on the story. Clearly Duke preference did not color the remarks Ferry read about Deng. Will the Duke connection color the reaction of Adam Silver?
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Silver is on the record now about how he thinks that the Ferry saga should end. While he admitted that these matters were best handled internally, Silver also said that Ferry should not lose his job over the incident. Silver seemed to point out that Ferry was ‘reading’ these things as opposed to ‘suggesting’ them was important.
Silver said, “”It’s a question of context … These words, in this context, understanding the full story here, the existence of the scouting report, the fact that he was looking at the scouting report as a reference when he was making these remarks, what I’m saying is – and frankly my opinion — is that this is a team decision in terms of what the appropriate discipline is for their employee. But if I’m being asked my view, I’m saying that, based on what I know about the circumstances, I don’t think it’s a terminable offense.”
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That shows a healthy amount of restraint and nuance, particular as we hammer NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for not being zero tolerance enough. It is also a statement of what Goodell got wrong. Silver immediately points to context as a driving consideration. If the context changes for Ferry, it will change Silver’s opinion of the issue. One of the criticisms of Goodell is he may have ignored context (second tape) in rendering his first decision.
Second it shows the more decentralized power of the NBA commissioner. Though Silver is best known for ousting Donald Sterling, he is perfectly willing to let teams handle internal punishments first. Sterling wasn’t going to punish himself, so Silver had to act. This keeps Silver out of every situation that arises, a practice borrowed from David Stern. Goodell on the other hand, has his finger in every pie that hits the League.
Transcripts and audio may decide Ferry’s fate in Atlanta. He has lost his primary supporter when Bruce Levenson decided to leave before he might have been forced out.
As for that Duke connection, I think Silver has shown that he is principled enough to overlook that. If the context changes, however, and pictures emerge of Silver at Ferry’s theoretical or actual kid’s birthday party then I might change my mind.
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