NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on LeBron James’ All-Star Game criticism, vaccines and returning to normal

On Saturday of All-Star Weekend, NBA commissioner Adam Silver normally would be in a packed press conference room fielding questions from reporters from all over the world – in person.

But as we know, this is not a normal All-Star Weekend. Silver still took questions on Saturday from reporters from around the world but it was on Zoom, and Silver answered from an empty press room in Atlanta where All-Star events will take place on Sunday.

The skills competition and 3-point (6:30 p.m. ET, TNT) precedes the All-Star Game (8 p.m. TNT) with the slam dunk contest at halftime.

Here are some takeaways from Silver’s press conference in which he addressed the state of the league:

Responding to LeBron James' criticism about All-Star game

Silver said he did not take offense to Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James calling it a “slap in the face” for the NBA to hold an All-Star game during a compressed 72-game season just two months after the 2019-20 season ended on a quarantined site.

“It would be incredibly hypocritical of me to tell LeBron you should speak out on issues that are important to you, but not ones when you are critical of the league,” Silver said. “We’re all part of a community. I respect him and his point of view. But at the same time, I also appreciate his professionalism.”


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