Deputy commissioner seeks closer NBA-CBA ties

The last time Adam Silver was in Shanghai six months ago, he was sitting quietly beside David Stern, commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), watching Stern fielding media questions during their trip to see NBA China Games between Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers.

Adam Silver, named as the next NBA Commissioner, speaks at a news conference before the All Star slam dunk competition during the NBA basketball All-Star weekend in Houston, Texas, February 16, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Silver, the lawyer-turned NBA deputy commissioner, added few words after Stern finished even though he has been elected the next NBA commissioner.

"I have big shoes to fill," Silver said, acknowledging the challenges ahead as he talked to Shanghai media last month about this year's NBA China Games.

Silver has served the league for more than 20 years and is gradually taking on his shoulder one of the world's most successful sports leagues. Like Stern, Silver thinks it is the right thing for the NBA to play the China card, despite the fact that no Chinese is currently playing in the league.

One of the things Silver did last month in Shanghai was to dine with Yao Ming, the former Houston Rockets center and now the boss of Shanghai Sharks, and talk about cooperation.

"We talked about developing basketball in China. Our relationship is more on business with the CBA as a league rather than with an individual team. Yao is very smart, very creative. He is very optimistic about CBA as well as NBA's development in China," Silver said.

"I think as the Chinese fans become more sophisticated about the game, their knowledge of the teams will go much deeper than just about the stars."

Standing 1.9 meters tall and being a marathon enthusiast, the NBA's heir apparent vowed to maintain the game's rapid growth in China after David Stern's retirement next year.

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