The Ray Rice Domestic violence incident has gripped the NFL. No, wait. It’s not just gripping them, it is dragging the league down. It is not just the Baltimore Ravens running back who is in trouble right now, even the league because of his actions. Earlier this year, a video of Rice surfaced wherein he knocked out his girlfriend, Janay Palmer. He has been suspended indefinitely for that. From left and right, NFL players are being involved in several cases that taint the league’s reputation. This is something that NBA commissioner Adam Silver does not want to happen to the basketball league. Thus, he vows to take a fresh look at NBA’s domestic violence policies.
During a community service in Staten Island, the NBA commissioner said that the Ray Rice domestic violence incident should be a lesson to learn from professional basketball players.
"We learn from other leagues' experiences," Silver said. "We're studying everything that's been happening in the NFL. We're working with our players' association. We've been talking for several weeks and we're going to take a fresh look at everything we do."
Silver has made quite a good reputation in a just a year since he replaced David Stern as the head of NBA. The most notable of his actions is when he stripped Donald Sterling of Los Angeles Clippers ownership because of racist remarks. On the other hand, his NFL counterpart, Roger Goodell, is being lambasted for his decisions regarding the Ray Rice violence domestic incident.
One much lauded step that Silver wants to take in tackling domestic violence issues is to involve the partners of the players in discussion.
"We have in place the appropriate mechanisms for discipline, although we'll take a fresh look at those as well," Silver said. "But most importantly, it's education, and it's not just the players, but it's the players' families. That's what we're learning, too.
"We have to take these programs directly to the players' spouses, directly to their partners so that they're aware of places they can go to express concerns, whether they're anonymous hotlines, team executives, league executives. And we're consulting experts. There's a lot to be learned here. It's a societal problem; it's not one that's unique to sports."
