Silver encouraged by NBA's competitiveness after 20-month charge as commissioner

NBA commissioner Adam Silver felt encouraged by how competitive the world's basketball elite league is right now, while admitting that he still faces some challenges ahead in terms of using technology to make it more alive in the future.

"I am encouraged by how competitive the league is right now, and how good the game is on the floor," Silver recalled his 20-month charge as NBA commissioner in a group interview during his stay in Shenzhen for 2015 NBA Global Games between Los Angeles Clippers and Charlotte Hornets.

This year marks the first time that NBA Global Games has featured in this southern China's city in the tournament's 12-year history, the reason of which, in Silver's eyes, is fans' passion here and in line with the partner's interest.

"Based on the data that we see from the stream of our game on social media, most passionate fans are based here in Shenzhen."

"We thought that it was important to bring the game to the headquarter city of our partner, Tencent. Moreover, on a global basis, many of the great emerging technologies are based in this region," said Silver.

In 2004, the NBA Global Games welcomed its debut in China. Two Chinese players, Yao Ming and Liu Wei, appeared in front of home fans in that year's games, before the tournament is growing rapidly in this emerging market.

Seeing the success of preseason games in China, Silver reiterated the tiny possibility of bringing NBA regular season games here.

"It's a balance for us between coming preseason, when our team have more time to spend in the market, and regular season, because our schedule are so condensed, there will be much less time for our team to experience China," said Silver.

"It's important that our players and coaches get a chance to spend some leisure time in China, so that they gain a better understanding of Chinese culture. It would be very difficult to do if we traveled to China and back to the US during the regular season," he added.

However, the NBA commissioner did not totally close that door down.

"As the market becomes more mature, in terms of the interest of NBA basketball, playing a regular season game is something that we continue to look at," he said.

Silver also shed some light on Chinese basketball in the interview. Before he talked about Chinese promising star Zhou Qi's prospect of entering NBA in the future, he gave his congratulations to Chinese men's national team on winning the Asian champions, and the qualification to Rio Olympic Games thereafter.

"Only time will tell on whether Zhou Qi will be a true NBA prospect, but we are encouraged by what we've seen so far, and we're watching him to continue the development as a player."

After taking over the commissioner position from David Stern on Feb. 1, 2014, Silver has taken some concrete steps, including the adjustment of Conference rankings, giving players more time to rest when shifting to another city during the Finals, to make the game more competitive and appealing to fans.

"It's my job to be open-minded, listen to suggestions and continue to improve the game," said Silver.

"Those changes all go directly to performance on the court. With these changes, our NBA basketball will improve much more," the NBA commissioner showed his confidence towards the league's prospect.

Along with the achievement to make the NBA game better and better everyday, there are still some challenges ahead for Silver.

"For me, the greatest challenge is how we take this terrific product that is played almost exclusively in north America, and use technology to translate that live experience to fans here in China," he said.

This is what virtual reality technology can bring to the fans. Now NBA is working on with our partner here in China, Tencent, to give fans more lively experience as if they were in the same arena as spectators.

"We will see the case that one day, the fans here in China will be able to experience an NBA game as if he or she were sitting on the court side through virtual reality, so I feel particularly excited about it," said Silver. Endi