Were there discussions between the Sixers and James Harden prior to his transfer, while he was under contract with the Nets? That’s what a lot of leaders of other clubs think. Asked about the subject during the All-Star Weekend, Adam Silver however explained that no investigation for “tampering” had been launched.
“There is no investigation launched at the moment and, in the league, this notion of taking power of the players is not a new problem” explained the commissioner, who added that no team had officially complained to the NBA about this matter. “We want players and teams to honor contracts. In this case, we have two teams that were ultimately happy with the outcome of the trade, and wanted to make it happen. I don’t think that, in the future, society will change so much that players will stop saying where they want to play and where they don’t want to play. “
The league boss has no miracle solution to resolve these situations.
“I think there’s a feeling in the league that we can make improvements to our system. For a better balance with players who will have a say in where they want to play, but where all the teams will be in a position to be competitive and where contracts will be honored. “
We will wait to see what improvements can ensure this better balance, while Adam Silver remained vague, also on players like John Wall or Al Horford, who are or have been paid by their teams not to play. The commissioner seemed above all to hope that these situations did not arise too often.
“Do I have a ready-made solution? No. Again, hopefully these are the kinds of questions that, when we sit down with the players, we can address collectively. “
