C.J. McCollum interviews NBA Commissioner Adam Silver
By Nate Mann
For the fourth year in a row, guard C.J. McCollum interviewed NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to discuss the league.
Winning Most Improved Player and making up one of the best backcourts in the Association, C.J. McCollum is developing into a more household name. His on-court skills warrant praise, but so do his journalism skills.
For McCollum, a suit and tie doesn’t mean injury. Especially during All-Star Weekend, he’s commonly caught with a mic in hand alongside a fellow player.
Once again this offseason, he sat down with Commissioner Silver briefly. The topics of discussion included White House visits, secret Twitter accounts, sports gambling and more. The video can be found here:
On White House visits
McCollum starts off by asking about White House visits, a question sweeping the sports world at this time. Immediately, Silver responds with, “I definitely don’t think it should be a league decision.”
He hopes the tradition continues despite the current political situation, but that he “would also respect an individual player’s decision not to go.”
In the Warriors’ case, several players are ready to reject the invite.
On Twitter’s emergence
Twitter is emerging as the hub for breaking NBA stories. Adam Silver himself doesn’t carry a public account, he admits to having an account solely for following others.
While on the topic, he explains the impressive Twitter community how it’s “a very valuable news source when you want breaking news.”
On gambling and the NBA
Silver has made it clear his support of legalizing gambling in the NBA, but this interview sheds light as to why:
"I accept as a given that there is an enormous amount currently being bet on sports in the United States. Virtually all of it is underground. It’s a multi-hundred-billion-dollar industry, with zero transparency on the part of the leagues. So if there is unusual behavior, we have no way of detecting it."
The Commissioner draws comparisons with a public stock market. By legalizing sports gambling, Silver hopes to dissolve the underground market and eliminate possible corruption within the league itself involving betting.
On marijuana
One last major point of conversation is the use of recreational marijuana. C.J. McCollum cites unnamed players as backing up the drug’s use because it “doesn’t affect your performance.”
Next: Draymond Green and Damian Lillard drama
Silver brings up a very important point in his response. He mentions no foreseeable changes on the matter right now, and supports why:
"Players are constantly traveling and it might be a bit of a trap, to say we’re gonna legalize it in these states, but no, it’s illegal in other states and then players get in a position where they’re traveling with marijuana and we’re obviously getting into trouble."
Other matters are discussed, and C.J. McCollum’s article on the Players’ Tribune is where to find them.