NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has been extremely concerned about the impact of social media on players, especially the younger ones. The rampant media influx is a make-and-break for many players. Unlike a few decades ago, every little gesture whether on or off the court is scrutinized today online by fans. 

In an interview with ESPN’s JJ Redick, Adam Silver expressed his concern about the negativity that players are exposed to on social media, especially on X. 

Silver aims to provide ‘guard rails’ to young players

The NBA has a massive following on X (Twitter). The NBA commissioner was told recently by the social media giant that sports are the most popular category of content on the platform. People might assume that it’s politics or fashion. But there is an enormous number of people who are just constantly engaging with the trends in sports. 

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This presents both opportunities and challenges. On one hand, it allows the NBA to engage with a vast audience. They thrive on it and capitalize on it. Interestingly, it makes the athlete’s life even more transparent as compared to the television era. 

While the advantage of social media is evident. On the other hand, what concerns Adam is that social media exposes players, particularly younger ones, to a barrage of ‘negativity’. “It’s part of my job to see if we can harness it to our advantage because there is also an enormous amount of negativity out there,” he says. 

As part of his job, he aims to “provide some ‘guard rails’ for players entering social media, also be protective to the extent we can as well because it’s you know many cases there are a lot of young folks who are sensitive”. 

Social media in the NBA 

What amazes Silver further as an outsider to most locker rooms, is that players are consistently in touch with not just the arena fans but online fans. “I hear the guys are looking at their phones at halftime”, Adam said humorously. 

While Silver is mitigating negativity, to create a safe online presence for NBA players. The league, however, is a pioneer in leveraging social media to build its business and engage with fans. 

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