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NBA
Adam Silver

Adam Silver doesn't want NBA teams pressured to lose

Sam Amick
USA TODAY Sports
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he doesn't disagree with how lottery system works.

NEW YORK — The NBA's Board of Governors meetings concluded in anticlimactic fashion on Wednesday, when the draft reform that has been anticipated for months was voted down by the league's owners.

Change was widely expected to be coming, with the Philadelphia 76ers having become the poster franchise for the league's tanking problem and proposals put forth to fix it. But with a three-quarters vote needed to adopt the proposal — 23 owners, in essence — only 17 saw the need for a change.

"I don't necessarily disagree with the way it works now," Silver said. "I'd say from a personal standpoint, what I'm most concerned about is the perception out there right now, and frankly the pressure on a lot of our teams, even from the very fans, to somehow underperform because (tanking), in some people's view, is the most efficient and quickest way to get better. I think that's a corrosive perception out there. Whether it's the case, I'm frankly not sure."

That doesn't mean change won't be coming, though. As Silver said, the board of governors "unanimously agreed to send the issue back to the (NBA's) competition committee for additional study."

Follow Sam Amick on Twitter @sam_amick.

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