SAN FRANCISCO — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver canceled plans to attend Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics on Monday night because of the league’s health and safety protocols.
Silver typically attends all finals games.
The league did not say if Silver had tested positive for COVID-19 or been deemed a close contact of someone who had, nor released any details about his health.
Also unclear is when Silver will be able to resume attending games. Part of his role as commissioner involves handing out the league’s championship trophy, which one team will be awarded either Thursday in Boston or Sunday in San Francisco.
Silver has been the NBA’s commissioner since February 2014. This is the ninth championship series the league has held during his tenure, including the 2020 season that resumed inside a bubble at Walt Disney World in Florida in the early stages of the pandemic.
CAVALIERS: Assistant Greg Buckner has been promoted to associate head coach under J.B. Bickerstaff.
Buckner has spent the past two seasons with Cleveland, helping Bickerstaff develop one of the NBA’s youngest teams. The Cavs doubled their win total this past season, making a 22-game jump and getting into the play-in game despite numerous injuries.
Cleveland’s biggest improvement came on defense as the Cavs finished fifth in points allowed (105.7).
Buckner previously worked with Bickerstaff in Memphis and Houston.
Drafted by Dallas in the second round in 1998, Buckner played 10 seasons in the NBA with the Mavericks, Dallas, Philadelphia, Denver, Minnesota and Memphis.
In 2008, Buckner was part of the trade that sent Cavaliers forward Kevin Love to the Timberwolves.
Buckner played college ball at Clemson, where he led the Tigers in scoring four straight seasons and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
GRIZZLIES: The Memphis Grizzlies are making sure to keep Coach Taylor Jenkins around after he led them to their highest playoff seed in franchise history.
The Grizzlies announced they signed Jenkins to a multiyear contract extension, with terms not disclosed.
Jenkins is 128-99 in three seasons and led the Grizzlies to the playoffs the last two seasons. He coached Memphis to a 56-26 record, second-best in the NBA and tied for the most wins in a season in franchise history. Memphis earned a franchise-high No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and reached the semifinals for the first time since 2015.
He finished second in voting for the NBA Coach of the Year award.
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