Russ Granik
Russ Granik
Russ Granik is an American sports executive who served as Deputy Commissioner of the NBA for 22 years. He retired from that position on July 1, 2006, after 30 years with the NBA. Granik was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 8, 2013, alongside basketball legends including Gary Payton, Bernard King, Rick Pitino, and Jerry Tarkanian. He was enshrined into the Hall of Fame by Jerry Colangelo. During his professional career, Granik served as the...
draw problem
One problem is where you draw the line.
difference draw fan journalist limiting line looked lottery problem protection seriously teams type whether
I think that one problem is ? and we really haven't looked at this seriously ? is where you draw the line. I think lottery protection ? I don't think it's one that's too serious because I think teams want to be in the playoffs, not the lottery. When you draw the line in other places, that's where a fan or a journalist could say what's the difference whether they're between 10th or 11th or 20th or 21st? And I think we just have to look at how that works, but I don't think we'd be limiting lottery protection entirely, we may just be limiting some type of protection.
allow expect games lottery minnesota ought particular percentage player players problem reason supposed teams trades view whether win
I think our view has always been we expect teams to try and win games, and if a player is not injured, you are supposed to play him. And from everything I have heard, these players are legitimately hurt. I think we ought to look at whether and how we allow trades to be made in the future. That is really the issue. But I don't think we have any particular problem with Minnesota right now. But it may be the same reason we have a lottery now is to give teams that don't win games a better percentage in the lottery.
optimistic reason
I don't have any reason to be optimistic here.
anytime issue playoff talk view whether
I think there' s some substantial reservation ... about whether it really is an issue that has to be addressed anytime soon. My view is that there are just a lot of anomalies that come into play when you talk about playoff pairings, particularly in the first rounds.
anytime debate issue judging lack room whether
I think there's some substantial reservation at this point, again, just judging from the debate or lack of debate in the room about whether it really is an issue that has to be addressed anytime soon.
ahead concern everybody playoff seem talk teams view west year
My view is that there are just a lot of anomalies that come into play when you talk about playoff pairings, particularly in the first rounds. I think the concern this year is because we have two teams in the West that seem to be way ahead of everybody else.
four interest kicked maybe might seed teams top whether
I think the one thing there may be some interest in ... would be to maybe look at how you seed the top four teams. One thing that we have kicked around is whether you might say, all right, those same four teams are going to get the top four seeds, but maybe you do it in accordance with their records.
dealing
That's at least an interesting notion. Then you're not dealing with the politicking.
focus orleans remaining team
right now the focus is on the team remaining the New Orleans Hornets.
arenas plan rocking tour
I don't plan to do a tour of arenas and get rocking chairs,
seed system teams unlikely
It's very unlikely we would go to reseeding after the first round. It's also very unlikely we would go to a system where we would seed teams one through eight.
felt time treadmill
I felt the time was right for me to get off the treadmill for a while,
agreement bargaining collective concluded felt last left remaining six television three time treadmill
After we successfully concluded our last collective bargaining agreement in June, and with six years remaining on that agreement and three years left on our television contracts, I felt the time was right for me to get off the treadmill for a while,