Adam Silver discussed the positive impact of the NBA's newly reformed draft lottery system, especially in dissuading fans from rooting for their favorite team to lose games so they could potentially get a better pick in the draft.
Silver told Rachel Nichols that the previous system that rewarded tanking was "destructive" for the league.
"Where I think it's the greatest success is, hopefully it'll stop fans in those markets from rooting for their teams to perform poorly. Because that race to the bottom is just destructive, I think, for everyone. Corrosive for players and franchises, and I think, in some cases, even some executives who knew better felt they couldn't withstand the pressure from the communities, from the media in some cases, saying, 'Why are you operating at this level when you should either get much better or much worse?'" said Silver.
Pointing to the success of the Warriors and Raptors, Silver added that he hopes that the lottery changes show fans how a team should be built.
"People are going to realize that there's only one way to build a franchise. Of course, you need to get great players, but at the same time you need to build culture, you need strong management, you need strong coaching. And players incrementally get better year after year...It's wonderful from a league standpoint to see the Warriors and the Raptors, two incredibly well-run franchises from top to bottom, here representing the league."