equal time Phil Mushnick The NBA picked money — and paywalls — over fans By Phil Mushnick Published April 23, 2026, 9:08 p.m. ET NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addresses the media following the Board of Governors meetings on March 25, 2026. NBAE via Getty Images Let’s try to figure out how it happened and what they had in mind.
We presume it was at a preseason meeting called by Adam Silver to determine the NBA’s postseason schedule, emphasis on TV money.
And so the NBA decided to sell a stack of playoff games to can’t-DVR-them streaming services for some quick, short-run dough in exchange for minimizing national audiences during what should be the maximized TV audiences period.
Furthermore, if the Knicks — representing the nation’s largest TV market — made the playoffs, the NBA would sell at least two of their first-round games to a streaming operation, to maximize the minimization of viewers.
