Adam Silver says NBA’s restart is going “better than what we had envisioned”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke with Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated on how things have gone to date within the NBA campus in the Orlando bubble.

“It’s going better than what we had envisioned,” Silver said of the NBA’s restart. “Players have taken to it in a more spirited way than we thought they would. We knew that this would require enormous sacrifice on everyone’s part, but I think that what is hard to calibrate is the human emotion that comes with being around other people. And I think everyone realized they missed it more than they even understood. There are players either whose teams are not participating, who were unable to engage this summer because of injuries or other issues, who, once they spoke to fellow NBA players, have asked to join the experience down in Orlando. I think that it’s the togetherness, the camaraderie, the brotherhood of the players. That’s been the case for the coaches, the team staff and management as well. To take those masks off and bang into each other, whether it’s someone on your team or an opponent, it’s just a human craving we have for contact with other people.”