Mealymouthing around
Adam Silver and Leslie Wexner evade big Epstein topics
I recently listened to an interview with famed editor Tina Brown, who made me grin when she said “there’s been so much kind of pussyfooting and mealymouthing around.”
She also said things like:
“I’m so bored with the uber rich thinking that they know everything about everything. They’re so disrespectful about, frankly, our business.”
“They have absolutely no respect for us … that is my beef with digital barons. … I find it intolerable.”
Amen.
Which brings us to two recent televised interviews. One Adam Silver press conference, and another of Leslie Wexner—both of whom, to me, weren’t asked the most pointed questions about Jeffrey Epstein.
A week ago we published a list of suggested questions for Silver. “Mr. Leonsis” is mentioned in the graphic trauma journal of an Epstein victim. Josh Harris is mentioned more than 500 times in the Epstein files. Gambling, drug testing, presidential pardons, Russian war technology from NBA-affiliated businesses… Silver has a lot to explain.
Casey Wasserman’s career may be ending because of his Ghislaine Maxwell affiliations, would he get kicked out of the NBA? At least that one seems to have been answered. Largely out of view since the scandal broke, Wasserman spoke on stage at Silver’s Technology Summit last Friday.
I watched Silver’s whole press conference, and am sorry to tell you that none of the above came up whatsoever. According to the official transcript, this was an actual question: “Obviously with the All-Star being in Phoenix next year, what are some talking points or some big talking points to having meetings here and making that transfer over? When you have an owner like Ishbia, obviously energetic and things of that sort, what things do you want to have it where it’s unique to Phoenix but falls in line with what the theme of what the All-Star has been?”
Raise your hand if you care.
And so yes, while some media members did ask valuable questions for sure, the only news that emerged from this press conference was the idea that the league is about to get serious about tanking.
Seriously, this is an epic all-timer of a red herring of a non-issue sidecar ruse. It’s a toy they haul out now and again to distract. If you’re looking for real truth on the many matters of substance facing the league, you are getting played by going down this tanking rabbit hole.
Adam on tanking over the years:
October 22, 2014
“Frankly the pressure on a lot of our teams, even from their very fans, to somehow underperform because it’s in some people’s view the most efficient and quickest way to get better, so I think that’s a corrosive perception out there.”
February 14, 2015
“I personally believe we do need to make some changes in the Draft Lottery.”
June 4, 2015
“Even though I think a change in the draft lottery is needed, we should wait and then take a look at it holistically when we see how the whole system will operate under much higher caps.”
April 13, 2018
“We are switching the system for next year. We will see how much of an impact that has, but my sense is we are still going to have some work to do.”
June 6, 2024
“We’ve fined some teams, we’ve sanctioned them. We haven’t gone as far as taking away draft picks, but we’ve made clear to teams that we think resting healthy players when games are meaningful, when you still have a shot at a playoff position or a better playoff seeding, is not appropriate. We will be looking at everything available to us to make sure teams understand that the obligation is to compete.”
And then he fined some teams and stirred the pot a bit at All-Star. It’s a bouncing ball to nowhere.
Last Saturday, Silver noted that the league has changed the lottery odds “roughly five times” over the years, and guess what: nothing works! Why could that be? Adam added: “Any economist comes and looks at our system, they always point out you have the incentives backwards there. That doesn’t necessarily make sense.”
Precisely. As leading global sports economists and Daryl Morey have told me: there is no fix to tanking other than to do away with the draft. I have discussed this with commissioners past and present. The simple fact is that every year many teams will do whatever it takes to increase the odds of getting Victor Wembanyama or LeBron James, on a discount deal, for the better part of a decade. You can move the target from the bottom of the league to the bottom four or the bottom ten, from midseason to the end of the season, from this season to these three seasons … it doesn’t matter. If losing helps you get those players, teams will lose that precise amount.
However, if you keep the current almost-hard-capped tax system, and do away with rookie scale contracts, than an incoming A.J. Dybantsa will have a real choice on his hands: join the champion Thunder for the minimum, where he’ll struggle for minutes and touches, or join some rebuilding Grizzlies or Nets for the maximum where the questions are about the quality of the coaching, front office, player development, and roster.
Do you see the magical benefit of that for fans? YOUR TEAM WOULD HAVE TO GET BETTER AT BEING A TEAM. Fans of poorly-run teams are thinking they’ll never win, but in my mind you’ll benefit the most, because you’ll be the ones who will suddenly have deep incentives to find way better leadership.
In that world, every team wants to be attractive to fans and Dybantsas, and every loss hurts both causes. It’s far better for fans and far better for players, none of whom would ever be forced to play for Donald Sterling who brought his friends into the locker room to watch them shower. Without a draft, that kind of behavior would be addressed by the labor market.
I’m convinced that the only realpolitik reason we continue to have a draft is because it prevents bidding wars on rookies, and because some billionaires, generally the incompetent ones, fear they could be left in the dust by a bunch of Sam Prestis. The draft is billionaire welfare, to keep the worst billionaires from looking too stupid. Hire the wrong GM? Force your front office to make dumb trades? Do everything wrong? Don’t worry, you’re never more than a year from your next triumphant press conference. That’s the point of the draft.
And, I suppose, to function as a sidecar debate when the commissioner is facing real matters of substance but would prefer to pussyfoot and mealymouth around.
COVER-YOUR-ASS PSYCHOBABBLE
The NBA is all over the Epstein files, so at great expense to my free time I am tracking the developments, including watching all billionaire Leslie Wexner’s Wednesday testimony to the House Oversight Committee.
88-year-old Leslie Wexner—long a mysterious billionaire looming behind the story of Jeffrey Epstein—spoke for five hours, and answered all kinds of questions. Wexner laughed inappropriately when things weren’t funny, told a story with a very credible threat of death, enraged his attorney by telling waffling yarns, said his wife Abigail’s name more than 20 times, and attempted to make us all believe that he was one of the busiest and best business executives of all time and a complete rube with no ability to discern the truth. He said I don’t remember so many times I thought it was worth asking if he had been diagnosed with anything that would affect his memory.
Wexner, who is in photos grinning with his arm around Epstein’s shoulders, testified under oath that Epstein was never his friend, and that he never knew Epstein to date or be around young women. When he was asked about his entry in Epstein’s 2003 birthday book, with a hand-drawn picture of breasts, signed “your friend, Leslie,” Wexner said that “I can’t explain why I would say your friend because we weren’t friends.”
To my ears, Wexner did not credibly explain why he chose Jeffrey Epstein to manage his finances, why he gave him such latitude, why their lives on paper became so deeply enmeshed, or why Jeffrey Epstein wrote himself the following draft email that emerged in the Epstein Files:
Les, I am truly sorry to hear that you have been the target of an extortion attempt by the same girl that has tried to extort Ehud Barak , Alan dershowitz and prince Andrew. I guess that she is either using bottom feeder , or she is being used by them.
I am certain that John Zeiger has transmitted my suggestion that you and I sit down together. I was tol that that family had no interest in a meeting. As I did not ask for meeting with family, I find that answer unsatisfactory. I have never once, not once, done anything , but protect your interests. I owe a great debt to you , as frankly you owe to me. I was not surprised by your reticence to sit with me when my bad judgement with women became a cause celebre. As Im sure you recall, you didn’t sit with your mother or sister or sharon , when a conflict arose. as I did it for you. you didn’t sit with Jack Kessler , Stanley or stanleys son. I did it for you. I never asked to see you , I never sent you a request Abigail and I sat, she asked many questions. She made many unfair, aggressive and false accusations. None of which could have been fully answered without violating a confidence with you. Many of which I did not answer. Some that I did. You and I had “ gang stuff “ for over 15 years. A great deal of it, that she was unaware of. I had no intention of divulging any confidence of ours , no matter what accusations she made. And she made quite a few. As Im sure she told you , I didn’t argue with her , threaten her, or you, or in any way did not behave as I had always. Putting your interests first I always told you I would never under any circumstances give it up, or put you in harms way , no matter who , what or when. I would guess that if things have not changed much as I know you well that you will find a need to show this letter to Abigail. If so. I would ask that you not raise your shoulders purse your lips and tell her I have no idea what he means. Is Jeffrey asking for something, “ there must be more to it” we don’t know what we don’t know.
Wexner was asked what Epstein meant by “gang stuff.” Wexner replied:
