The popular opinion is Adam Silver is the best commissioner in all of pro sports. To a certain extent, you can understand why that is a prevailing opinion because you can accomplish it almost by default.

Ron Manfred almost shows disdain for his sport, and he dragged baseball through the mud in his unsuccessful attempts to back out of the March collectively bargained agreement.

Gary Bettman was in charge when the NHL cancelled a full season and booing him has become sport. It’s at the point with him when the maitre d’ says “Bettman, party of two” the entire restaurant boos.

Roger Goodell has just stumbled over even the easiest of hurdles since becoming the Commissioner of the NFL. He’s been an awkward messenger at a time when the NFL has had to deal with social issues and labor disputes.

Then, there is Adam Silver who faces little to no criticism even after his handling of Daryl Morey’s support of Hong Kong. For those who forgot, which is apparently almost everyone, Silver’s initial reaction was to say:

We are extremely disappointed by the inappropriate remarks made by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey, who has undoubtedly seriously hurt the feelings of our Chinese fans. Morey has now clarified that his comments do not represent the position of the rockets or the NBA. Under the values of the NBA, people can examine topics they find deeply interesting and share their own opinions on matters. We have great respect for China’s history and culture, and hope that sports and the NBA, can be used as positive energy for unity, and continue to be help build a bridge for international cultural exchanges and bring people together.

(CNBC)

That’s not the “strong statement” Silver was championed for making after China took irreversible action. For a moment, put Hong Kong aside and just focus on the current pandemic.

Remember when Rudy Gobert first tested positive, NBA teams were still playing in full arenas. It was Gobert’s positive test which forced the NBA and other sports to shut down.

Now, the pro sports leagues are planning on continuing or starting up their seasons in July and August. On this topic, Silver said, “we are left with no choice but to learn to live with this virus.” (ESPN).

On the subject of what happens when a player tests positive, he callously said, “That team would be down a man, and we would treat that positive test as we would an injury during the season. And so we would not delay the continuation of the playoffs.”

Keep in mind, the NBA season is set to continue in Orlando. Right now, Florida is one of the places on the planet where COVID19 numbers are exploding. Yesterday alone, there were over 6,000 reported new cases. That’s a few days after there were nearly 10,000 cases reported on one day.

According to ESPN, 16 players have recently tested positive for COVID19. There are other players opting out of the season to protect themselves and their families. Recently, Gobert said he’s still dealing with COVID19 related symptoms over three months after he was first diagnosed.

With all this in the backdrop, Silver told the public his players need to learn to live with the disease, and his players getting sick won’t necessarily shut down the season. No, Silver is going to require a large amount of his players getting sick to even contemplate shutting it back down.

Perhaps, that’s because Silver won’t face the same risk of infection as he’s not going to be there the whole time. Instead, he’s sticking his players in one of the most infected places on the planet, and he’s getting out of there and to a safer place.

But, hey, there’s a group of people calling him the best. After all, he’s going to allow the NBA to paint “Black Lives Matter” on the courts. Of course, there’s a certain irony in sending that message while simultaneously sending players to a COVID19 hotbed and saying a lot of players need to get sick before he’ll contemplate taking necessary action.

Moreover, the commissioner attempting to send the “Black Lives Matter” message runs the only sports league which requires its players to stand for the anthem. When given the opportunity to speak on the issue, he effectively declined to answer it.

So, to sum up, Silver will send his players to a COVID19 hotbed, and he will not stay there. His initial reaction to standing for civil rights is to apologize for offending oppressive governments and to make sure that message wasn’t from the NBA. He requires his players to stand for the anthem.

Somehow, people see this, and they push the narrative he’s the best commissioner in sports. This should beg the question what does Silver have to do beyond taking a stand against civil rights and showing a callous disregard for this players for people to think he’s not the best, let alone his being among the worst commissioners. . . which is what the man seeing a sport with declining ratings actually is.