Adam Silver admits NBA pulls ideas from social media, traditional media: ‘We pay attention’

During a recent podcast appearance, NBA commissioner Adam Silver admitted that the league pulls ideas from social media and traditional media.

It seems like Silver and the NBA want to improve the experience for fans, and he shared that they “pay attention” to opinions of what people like and dislike.

“One of the things great about sports is people come with their opinions,” Silver said. “And they like things. They dislike things. And we learn from that, too. We pay attention to social media. We pay attention to traditional media. You get great ideas from there.”

In the 2025 NBA Finals, fans were upset by the presentation of the series in Game 1, with many claiming that it looked like a regular-season game.

The NBA seemingly saw some of those concerns, as the broadcast went on to make some changes in the series. As the series continued, starting lineup introductions eventually began to be televised by ABC before games tipped off.

In addition to that, there were graphics added to the floor digitally to signify that the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder were playing in the NBA Finals.

While the NBA may not always get things right the first time, it’s nice to see that Silver and the league office appear to be willing to make changes and work with their broadcast partners to do so in some instances. Clearly, there was some buy-in from ABC to add graphics and air lineup introductions.

The 2025 NBA Finals ended up being quite the series, as it went to seven games. Before this year, the last NBA Finals to reach a Game 7 was between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2016.

That game is seen today as one of the most memorable games in NBA history for LeBron James’ block of Andre Iguodala and Kyrie Irving’s clutch shot that helped Cleveland complete a comeback after once trailing 1-3 in the series.

The 2025 NBA Finals didn’t have as crazy of a Game 7. Star guard Tyrese Haliburton was hurt in the first quarter, which certainly impacted the Pacers the rest of the way. Haliburton suffered a torn Achilles, and his status for next season is in serious doubt.

It’ll be interesting to see how Silver and the NBA respond to fan feedback ahead of the start of the 2025-26 season. The Thunder will aim to defend their title in 2026 after defeating the Pacers on Sunday night.