Adam Silver, NBA Refuse to Publicly Endorse Presidential Candidate

You won’t be hearing a single peep out of the NBA ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential elections.

With election day under 24 hours away, the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver have decided to not publicly endorse either of the two presidential candidates. Henry Abbott of TrueHoops emailed the league’s public relations representatives on the topic.

“Mostly I wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed anything,” writes Abbott. “The NBA, like the New England Journal of Medicine and the officers of the CIA, has not historically made endorsements. But 2020 is different for grand national reasons and for narrow strategic ones. After an August player strike, the league talked the players back to the court by promising a robust social justice collaboration in response to police brutality and in support of Black Lives Matter protests. NBA players, by and large, are irreplaceable, masterfully skilled labor—and more than 80 percent Black. They’re in overtime bargaining terms for a season due to start ASAP. It’s a bad time to galvanize players by failing to stand against Trump’s racism, support of the alt-right, and systemic brutality.”

Silver has a track record of donating to Democrats, but he also happens to be a friend of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of president Donald Trump. Kushner also acts as the president’s senior advisor.

“Appreciate the outreach but we’re going to pass on this opportunity,” was the replay Abbott received from the league.

A swing and a miss.