Former NBA star Charles Barkley confronted NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday night regarding the league’s domestic violence policy. And fans certainly had plenty to say.
The league has a number of high-profile players in the league recently involved in domestic violence incidents.
Former Houston Rockets point guard Kevin Porter Jr. was charged with assault and strangulation after allegedly attacking his girlfriend in September.
Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges turned himself in earlier this month after a warrant was issued for his arrest in relation to an alleged protection order violation stemming from a domestic violence case last year.
Bridges missed the entire 2022-23 season while his legal proceedings unfolded, and as a result, he will serve a ten-game suspension instead of a 30-game suspension to start the season. Porter Jr. meanwhile has yet to be disciplined by the league for his actions.
These recent incidents involving these two players seemingly led Barkley to confront Silver about how the league plans to deal with players involved in domestic violence incidents.
“I have a serious question for you,” Barkley said to Silver on Inside The NBA ahead of the season-opening game on Tuesday night. “There is a couple of disturbing incidents of domestic violence in the NBA right now. What are we doing to address that? Because you can’t put your hands on women, man. We should be at the forefront in sports when men hit women. So what are we as a league looking to do about that?”
Charles Barkley confronts NBA commissioner Adam Silver after numerous offseason incidents of domestic violence among NBA athletes: pic.twitter.com/u0LjxLiLRd
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 24, 2023
Silver responded by saying that the league put together a new policy for domestic violence, which he somewhat explained.
“That’s an area where we’re not looking to compete with other leagues,” Silver said. “I think all the leagues are trying to address this issue. Our Player Association, credit to them. We put together a new program for how we deal with accusations of domestic violence. Counseling of our players. We are addressing it. When a guy does cross the line, the consequences are enormous.”
It’s obviously great to hear that Silver and the rest of the league are prioritizing this issue. However, some fans aren’t exactly sold on Silver’s comments considering the lack of harsh punishments given to both Bridges and Porter Jr. to this point.
Adam Silver is spineless
— Nelson (@BelgerNelson) October 24, 2023
He’s been too busy suspending Ja Morant for owning a gun legally to worry about small staff like domestic assault.
— Brennon Chapman (@BrennonChapman) October 24, 2023
I don't think Adam Silver was prepared for that question. I admire Chuck for sticking his neck out and addressing an important problem with many NBA players and people of our society in general.
— Joe Arrow (@joearrow1) October 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/ChrisDuarteFan/status/1716964783243907469
https://twitter.com/76Gordon/status/1716950218573529096
First of all, credit to Barkley for bringing up this uncomfortable topic, which is obviously a huge problem the league is facing at the moment.
At least it sounds like Silver and the NBA have a plan in place to deal with these situations. But fans obviously believe that there should be far harsher consequences for players involved in these kinds of incidents moving forward.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.