Adam Silver
Adam Silver was born on the 25th of April 1962 into a Jewish-American family in Rye, New York. His father Edward Silver worked as a lawyer specializing in labor law and served as a senior partner at Proskauer Rose. The young Adam grew up in this northern suburb of New York City within Westchester County. He attended Rye High School and graduated from there in 1980. After high school he went to Duke University where he joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1984. From 1984 to 1985 Silver worked as a legislative aide to Les AuCoin who sat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He then entered the University of Chicago Law School and received his J.D. degree in 1988. Following law school he spent one year as a law clerk for Judge Kimba Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He subsequently joined the law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore as an associate.
Silver joined the National Basketball Association in 1992 holding the position of senior vice president and chief operating officer of NBA Entertainment. He advanced to become president and COO of that division where he held the role for eight years. During this period he produced the IMAX movie Michael Jordan to the Max and the documentary Whatever Happened to Micheal Ray?. He also contributed to productions like Like Mike and The Year of the Yao. He later served as the NBA chief of staff and special assistant to the commissioner. In 2006 David Stern appointed him deputy commissioner and chief operating officer. This new role involved negotiating the league's last three collective bargaining agreements with the National Basketball Players Association. He helped develop the WNBA and the NBA Development League. He managed the partnership with Turner Broadcasting to handle digital assets and created NBA China. On the 25th of October 2012 Commissioner David Stern announced his retirement date and endorsed Silver to succeed him. The NBA Board of Governors voted unanimously in favor of Silver becoming the next commissioner. Silver officially assumed the role on the 1st of February 2014 after Stern stepped down from the position.
On the 25th of April 2014 TMZ Sports released a video showing Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling making racist remarks during a conversation with his girlfriend. Silver responded four days later by announcing that Sterling had been banned from the NBA for life. The commissioner fined Sterling $2.5 million which was the maximum allowed under the NBA constitution. Silver stripped Sterling from virtually all authority over the Clippers and urged owners to vote to expel him from ownership. Sterling was disallowed from entering any Clippers facility or attending any NBA games. This punishment stood as one of the most severe ever imposed on a professional sports owner. On the 13th of November 2014 Silver published an op-ed piece in The New York Times where he stated he favored legalized and regulated sports betting. He argued it should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it could be appropriately monitored and regulated. Dwight Howard who played for the Houston Rockets at the time accused Silver of forcing him to remove and apologize for a 2014 Free Palestine tweet about the Gaza War. The NBA denied this accusation.
Silver oversaw significant global expansion efforts particularly within China through the creation of NBA China. On the 4th of October 2019 Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey issued a tweet supporting the 2019, 2020 Hong Kong protests before deleting it. Two days later both Morey and the NBA issued separate statements addressing the original tweet. Morey said he never intended his tweet to cause any offense while the NBA called the tweet regrettable. These statements drew attention and subsequent bipartisan criticism from several US politicians. On October 7, Silver defended the league's response to the tweet by supporting Morey's right to freedom of expression. He also accepted the right of reply from the government and businesses from China. Soon after Silver faced a rift between the partnership of China and the NBA. Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo responded to Silver's statements by stating they firmly opposed any remark challenging national sovereignty. Vivo announced starting that day they would suspend all cooperation with the NBA. The NBA eventually returned to China in 2025 after signing a five year deal to play two preseason games at Venetian Arena in Macau. Silver publicly stated that people around the world including from America and China will have different viewpoints over different issues.
On the 11th of March 2020 Silver made the decision to suspend the 2019, 20 NBA season in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 4 it was announced that the season would resume for 22 of the 30 teams in the NBA Bubble. This strategy required a $170 million investment to protect players coaches and ensure successful completion of the season. Near the end of the regular season Silver stated that the bubble was better than what they had envisioned. The league managed to complete the playoffs within this isolated environment despite global health restrictions. This execution demonstrated the organization's ability to adapt quickly during a crisis affecting sports worldwide.
In February 2025 following the Luka Dončić, Anthony Davis trade multiple conspiracy theories began circulating on social media platforms such as X Instagram and Reddit. Accusations were made by fans often without evidence that Silver and the NBA forced a trade of Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers to solve an ongoing television ratings crisis. Another theory alleged without evidence that the Mavericks were intentionally alienating their fanbase so that Silver and ownership could justify moving the team to Las Vegas. Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont and Silver both said the Mavericks intended to stay in the Dallas area. As a result of not qualifying for the 2025 NBA playoffs the Dallas Mavericks entered the draft lottery with just 1.8% odds to obtain the first overall selection. Despite these low odds the Mavericks received the first overall pick which prompted widespread accusations that the lottery was rigged. On the 25th of June 2025 Duke University's All-American forward Cooper Flagg was drafted first overall by the Dallas Mavericks. The lottery drew comparisons to David Stern and the 1985 frozen envelope conspiracy theory involving the New York Knicks selecting Patrick Ewing.
In 2016 Sports Business Journal ranked Silver No. 1 on its list of the 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business. In 2015 he was named Executive of the Year by Sports Business Journal. That same year he was also named one of Time 100 Most Influential People and one of Fortune 50 Greatest Leaders. In 2014 Silver was named the Sports Illustrated Executive of the Year. He sits on Duke University's board of trustees and received the 2016 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Chicago Law School. Silver is also on the board of the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. He has sat on the board of trustees of NewYork, Presbyterian Hospital since 2023. In 2015 Silver married interior designer Maggie Grise. They have two daughters born in April 2017 and May 2020.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When was Adam Silver born and where did he grow up?
Adam Silver was born on the 25th of April 1962 into a Jewish-American family in Rye, New York. He grew up in this northern suburb of New York City within Westchester County.
How did Adam Silver become NBA commissioner after David Stern retired?
David Stern announced his retirement date on the 25th of October 2012 and endorsed Adam Silver to succeed him. The NBA Board of Governors voted unanimously in favor of Silver becoming the next commissioner before he officially assumed the role on the 1st of February 2014.
What punishment did Adam Silver impose on Donald Sterling for racist remarks?
Adam Silver banned Donald Sterling from the NBA for life and fined him $2.5 million which was the maximum allowed under the NBA constitution. The commissioner stripped Sterling from virtually all authority over the Clippers and disallowed him from entering any Clippers facility or attending any NBA games.
Why did Adam Silver suspend the 2019-20 NBA season in March 2020?
Adam Silver made the decision to suspend the 2019-20 NBA season on the 11th of March 2020 in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league resumed play for 22 teams in an isolated environment called the NBA Bubble requiring a $170 million investment.
How did Adam Silver respond to the Daryl Morey Hong Kong tweet controversy in 2019?
Adam Silver defended the league's response to the tweet by supporting Daryl Morey's right to freedom of expression on the 7th of October 2019. He accepted the right of reply from the government and businesses from China before facing a rift between the partnership of China and the NBA that led Vivo to suspend cooperation.