The commissioner of the NBA says that parity will never exist in his league the way it does in the NFL, and that’s a good thing.
“We’re never going to have NFL-style parity in this league,” Silver told reporters on Thursday. “It is the nature of this league that certain players are so good that those teams are likely almost automatically, if that player remains healthy, to become playoff teams, and especially mixed with other great players.”
The remarks came a few hours prior to the Golden State Warriors defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game One of the NBA Finals just as they did last year. The Cavaliers boast LeBron James, the best player of this era, and the Golden State Warriors boast Steph Curry, MVP for the two most recent seasons.
While the NBA lacks parity, small-market teams enjoy a fighting chance through the salary cap and the luxury tax, Silver explained.
“One fantastic trend I believe we’re seeing in the league, and you saw it with the Western Conference Finals, Oklahoma City has the smallest market in the league, has the exact same ability to put together a fantastic team and create culture just like a team from the Bay Area, and just in the same way that Cleveland does with the Toronto team,” Silver noted. “And I think that was one of our goals in the last collective bargaining agreement.”
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