ESPN had an eventful summer after its parent company, Disney, cut 7,000 jobs.
The sports network was not spared — and neither were its front-facing talents as around 20 on-air names were cut. Two of the names that were let go were Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, who comprised two-thirds of ESPN's top NBA broadcast team.
The two called at least a decade and a half of NBA games — including the NBA Finals — for ESPN, so there were questions as to the reasoning behind the abrupt change.
But a report by The New York Post's Andrew Marchand gave a potential answer as he suggested that NBA executives were not particularly happy with the commentary of Van Gundy.
The former New York Knicks coach was known for being critical of the league — particularly the calls of the league's referees. And he would express his criticisms on live television during some of the NBA's biggest games.
Related: Former ESPN Star Posts Somber Goodbye Message After Sudden Firing
But NBA Commissioner pushed back on those comments in an interview with ESPN's JJ Redick on his podcast "The Old Man and The Three" — which is not associated with ESPN — that released on Wednesday.
In asking Silver what he thinks the media can do better about promoting the NBA as whole versus promoting specific teams and players, Redick also said he wasn't sure how much influence the league has on the media's "ancillary content around the broadcast."
Silver responded by saying that the league has "very little influence" on the programming. He then pointed out that this includes the report from the summer about ESPN's changes.
"Despite what was written even about some talent changes at ESPN, the league does not have a say there," Silver said.
Silver did not any more on the broadcasting changes. He added that the league does have a say in scheduling of what games are shown on the broadcast.
"We do have a say in the schedule itself. There is a back and forth between the networks and the league office on scheduling, on determining which teams to max out on," Silver said.
Related: Doris Burke recounts ESPN's surprise layoffs and how she received the top NBA analyst role
While the NBA and ESPN are two separate entities — in fact ESPN employees journalists who cover the league and are supposed to remain objective — it's no secret that the two are partners in helping each grow. Redick even referred to the two companies as "partners" on the podcast.
Disney is paying around $1.3 billion annually to broadcast NBA games on ESPN and ABC.
Silver even pointed out on the podcast that the NBA media rights deal is the big priority for the league right now, and the two incumbents — Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery WBD — can negotiate with the league exclusively until the end of the current season.
The current deal expires after the 2024-25 NBA season, and the league is reportedly looking to fetch around two to three times more annually for its media rights deal. There is an expectation that at least one more player will get a share of the pie, and the candidates include Amazon and Apple.
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