Adam Silver explains how he 'dissed' Stephen Curry at the MVP ceremony
Part of the job of being NBA commissioner is to stand next to accomplished people, say a few nice words about their achievements and give them an award or trophy or plaque to honor their greatness, all without stumbling or tripping or doing something awkward that will instantly become a Vine.
As Adam Silver now knows, this is an impossible task.
While honoring Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and his unanimous MVP season a couple weeks back, Silver left Curry's attempt at a handshake hanging, creating this awkward moment:
Silver had no idea this happened until he got back to his seat to watch the game. "I look at a text message about one minute into the game and it's Bruce Bowen saying, 'I can't believe you dissed Steph Curry,'" Silver said on ESPN. "So I said, 'What in the world are you talking about Bruce?'
Bowen sent him the clip that was already flying around the Internet, and Silver knew he was going to have to explain the situation. Here's his take (via ESPN):
"This is where I'm learning even from officiating you can be fooled by slow-motion. So I've seen that clip. In slow-motion it looks like I look over and see his hand sort of hanging there ready to be shaked. In real time, I swear to God I never saw his hand. Our plan was: I said a few words, handed off the microphone, pick up the trophy and hand it to him. Frankly, I thought it went just fine by my standards, meaning I didn't drop the trophy, I didn't trip on the microphone cord."
Silver and Curry got it right after the game and shared a good laugh.
