Adam Silver breaks silence on James Harden-Ben Simmons Nets-Sixers trade

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been a huge supporter of player empowerment in the league, but after seeing the whole James Harden-Ben Simmons situation and trade between the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers, he knew they have to find a way to improve the system.

Harden and Simmons basically forced their way out of the Nets and Sixers, respectively. The Sixers held on to Simmons as long as they can, and when Harden expressed his desire to leave Brooklyn for Philly, Daryl Morey didn't hesitate to pull the trigger and sweeten the deal.

While everything played out like Harden and Simmons wanted and what the Nets and Sixers desired, the lead-up to the trade was messy to say the least. Simmons sat out and cited mental health concerns as the reason for his absence, while Harden has expressed his frustration several times and was even rumored to fake an injury before his trade.

On that end, Silver sees ways things can be improved for the benefit of everyone in the NBA.

“Players forcing their way out of situations is not new in this league. It’s important to have that context,” Silver said, via Yahoo Sports. “I’d love to find a way where to the extent there’s player movement, it didn’t happen in that fashion.”

Adam Silver emphasized that he doesn't want stuff–like teams and players being unhappy–to go out publicly and various rumors to spread around it. While it is normal to have such talks behind closed doors, it creates further mess and unnecessary that has huge implications for players and teams alike.

“I accept that there will always be conversations behind closed doors, when teams are unhappy, or players are unhappy, [but] the last thing you want to see is for these issues to play out publicly,” Silver said. “One of the things that I continue to do in my role is to think about ways we can improve the system,” the NBA Commissioner explained.

Silver also confessed to watching James Harden's presser with the Sixers, and Ben Simmons' talk with the Nets media. He admitted that, at the end of the day, he was reminded that the two are “human beings” who “have gone through very stressful situations”–to which he expressed understanding. However, he shared that the situation leading to the trade of the two could have been handled better.

“You want people to feel, at the end of the day, they have outlets for their stress, that they can be productive within their work setting. But I’m not surprised that we’ve seen some heightened flare up of some issues, you know, that might have otherwise been handled behind closed doors,” Silver furthered.