“They Wanna See Physical Defense”: Adam Silver Names One Way Teams Can Improve the Fan Experience

It isn’t any secret that the NBA has become an offensive-oriented league. Offense is what drives highlights and brings young players to the games. There’s a reason fans love watching emphatic dunks and clutch shots, rather than a great defensive sequence. However, fans don’t like to see points scored without restraint. Some may argue that’s what the NBA has become as of late. Even NBA commissioner Adam Silver has noticed this trend and revealed what teams could do to improve fan interest.

When people look back on the 2020s, they will remember this era as the offensive era. Each season since the turn of the new decade has resulted in an average of at least 110 points per game. The 2025-26 NBA season currently has an average of 116.8 points per game, which is just two points shy of the NBA record set in the 1961-62 season.

Nowadays, every player in a rotation has to contribute at some level on offense. In the past, there would be a few defensive specialists on a roster. Dennis Rodman, Ben Wallace, and Tony Allen, to name a few. However, offenses have become so elaborate that teams will find a way to exploit those matchups. And if those players aren’t adding value on offense, they don’t have much value in the game at all.

Although Silver’s main duties are with the NBA’s business side, he understands the X’s and O’s that come with schematics. In a recent appearance on the broadcast for the Indiana Pacers’ recent home game against the Denver Nuggets, Silver spoke about the rise in offense in comparison to defense.

“People love scoring, the one thing I think maybe that the league over-calibrated in terms of offense at time, because what fans clearly love too is defense,” Silver said.

Of course, this can only change if teams agree to shift their philosophies. However, the NBA as a league deserves some blame in this regard, too. Plenty of the new rules have given the advantage to the offensive player. Rules such as the new hand touch while contesting a jumpshot strip defenders of the little leeway they had.

Fans have made their frustrations heard. Silver recognizes that, while stating, “They wanna see physical defense.” It may seem that the way the league officiates games, there’s no room for physical defense, but that would be false. The Oklahoma City Thunder are a perfect example.

The defending NBA champions play with extreme physicality and force teams to play their style of basketball. Since the majority of teams aren’t quite as capable of doing so, they can’t keep up with the Thunder.

The NBA is a copycat league, so perhaps teams will follow OKC’s blueprint to success, which could bring in more physical defense. That would be a massive development for the league, as fans are yearning for a reason to be engaged in games.