The NBA remains on an indefinite hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, but when it comes to how the league has handled the unprecedented situation, Portland Trail Blazers star Carmelo Anthony has nothing but praise for commissioner Adam Silver.

The ongoing situation amid the hiatus obviously remains in flux, and at this point it’s unclear whether or not the NBA will resume the 2019-20 season. Regardless of how things ultimately play out, Anthony believes Silver could not have handled such complex issues any better up this point.

“Anytime the NBA can suspend a season, you know that there’s more going on out there in the world,” Anthony said, per Lindsey Wisniewski  of NBC Sports Northwest. “It’s bigger than the NBA. It’s something that the NBA can’t fight, it’s something the NBA can’t touch. It’s deeper and bigger than the NBA.”

He continued: “So, I condone Adam Silver for making that decision on suspending the NBA because if the NBA wouldn’t have suspended it, the other leagues wouldn’t have followed. It’s a lot of things that’s been affected. So, everybody just got to take their time and figure out what that plan is.” 

As Anthony alluded to in his comments, the fact that the NBA suspended its season once it was learned that Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert had contracted COVID-19 opened up the floodgates and appeared to inspire other sports leagues to follow its lead.

It was the measured and direct response by the NBA, fostered in large part by the steady leadership of Silver amid these dire circumstances, that served as a blueprint for leaders of other leagues on how to approach such uncertain times and contingencies.

Silver has long been hailed as among if not the best commissioner in professional sports. The fact that the league’s players routinely rally around the commissioner regardless of the situation is but one way in which his pragmatic, progressive and inspiring brand of leadership has led the NBA to unprecedented levels of success.

— YARD BARKER