Of course the NBA is bad at policing billionaires

It has long been a playground for rich and powerful men

BY HENRY ABBOTT

Dr. Jerry Buss, here photographed at the Mondrian Hotel in 2002, is widely considered a role model of NBA billionaires. He openly bragged about the many women he slept with. STEVE GRAYSON/WIREIMAGE

Last week, in announcing what most took as a light punishment for Suns billionaire Robert Sarver, Adam Silver had the worst press conference of his life. Chris Paul, LeBron James, and union head Tamika Tremaglio all said the NBA’s decision to suspend Sarver for only a year was wrong. (Even the generally genial John Hollinger said Silver has a year to fix his mistake.) The problem is that Silver seemed mushy, lawyerly, and confused on the topic of whether powerful men get to behave like raving lunatics. 

You know what can cause smart people like Adam Silver to be mushy, lawyerly, and confused about powerful men? Three decades in the NBA. 

For a long ti…