Adam Silver Surprisingly Invoked Henry Kissinger During Interview With Pat McAfee

Adam Silver joined The Pat McAfee Show today and it was about what everyone would expect until the show's host asked if the NBA commissioner felt an obligation to be part of international relations. The NBA's relationship with China in particular has been grist for the culture war mill in recent years and will remain a topic because the market is so damn important and it's a tough needle to thread for anyone who wants to make inroads there.

There were many different ways to answer. Silver chose to pull from recent events.

"I was reading a lot of those long obituaries around Henry Kissinger's death, you know, at 100," he said. "Where he was, sort of, an exemplar of a great global diplomat. This is going to be far afield of your question. I, of course, believe we have to have a strong military, I'm a big believer in it. At the same time, you know, call it soft power or call it diplomacy, I think through sport, through culture, through arts it brings connectivity."

Silver went on to mention the latest World Cup in Qatar as a success story in this realm. It was a long answer and fairness dictates that everyone listen to the entire response. Silver certainly has some points when it comes to things sports can do that precious little else can accomplish.

But the Kissinger thing is odd. Because most of those long obituaries contained some harsh rebukes and brutal tick-tock of a legacy that's certainly not the be celebrated without complication. Silver is obviously very intelligent so it's kind of a bizarre choice to go there when there are any number of examples that don't have such heavy baggage.

I'm not interested in rebuking him or trying to claim some superior moral ground or anything, it's just not a link I expected to be considering on a random Tuesday afternoon — especially at the person being compared to Kissinger's request.