“I’m not one of those people who said I don’t read criticism,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver, an historically thoughtful guy, said during his customary All-Star Weekend press conference. “I try to read it all, frankly, and we try to absorb it at the league office.” Indeed, the league has attracted plenty of criticism during the first half of the season: It suffered some meaningful early-season ratings declines, which led some observers to wonder if its media partners were second-guessing their just-closed $76 billion, decade-plus rights package. These anxieties were only compounded by criticisms that the on-court product has declined—too many three pointers, too much load management, not enough defense, etcetera.