Adam Silver shuts down small-market NBA Finals criticism with NFL comparison: If the Super Bowl were “Packers vs. Steelers, you’d be celebrating”

The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers are in the NBA Finals after three rounds of playoff series. One team is going to win it’s first Larry O’Brien trophy as two teams from middle America face down in a small market showdown.

Bye bye big markets

There are no Lakers, or Celtics. LeBron and Steph are at home. There is no Jokic or Giannis. This is an NBA Finals that may not be as attractive to the casual fan, but Adam Silver has no problem that two of the smaller cities and smaller markets are being represented in the championship series.

The commissioner of the NBA used the NFL as an example of the NBA’s desire for parity and for teams with smaller fans bases to reach the ultimate goal. “If we were going into a Super Bowl and it was Packers against Steelers, you guys would be celebrating that,” Silver said. “Those would be storied franchises. People wouldn’t be talking about the fact that Pittsburgh is a small market. I’m happy whatever team ends up in the Finals, but it’s been intentional from our standpoint to create a system, a collective bargaining agreement, that allows more teams to compete,” said the commissioner.

Not so long ago, there were super teams, and big threes dominating the league. Teams that were put together in free agency were at the top of the league for a long time as players took control of their destiny and shipped off to stacked teams or lured in stars to build a mega squad. Thanks to the league’s collective bargaining agreement, the NBA is more open than ever. These two teams were built from the ground up and now they are will spend the next two weeks battling for the title.

Silver chasing “best basketball”

All you have to do is look at the top of the league standings at the end of the postseason for evidence of the CBA brining parity to the league. The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder were the top teams in their respective conferences. The Thunder played Minnesota in the Western Conference Finals. The Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Knicks come from a big market, but they failed to get to the Finals.

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“We’re going to have to go through a process of getting to the point where people are accustomed to tuning into the finals because the two teams deserve to be there, and it’s the best basketball,” said Silver.

The Thunder have been the best team all season. They had the best record in the NBA at the end of the regular season and now they have a chance to be the best team at the end of the playoffs. Either way the Pacers or the Thunder are going to be bringing the Larry O’Brien Trophy back to their small market when it’s all said and done. Tip off to Game 1 from OKC is Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET.