Adam Silver wants return to “normal,” which will not include in-season tournament next year

CLEVELAND — Adam Silver, like a lot of Americans, is longing to get things back to “normal.”

That new normal likely will not be the same as the pre-pandemic normal — nor, necessarily should it be in every aspect — but as the NBA Commissioner addressed the media, he focused his remarks on returning the NBA to its traditional footing. That is his goal now.

“In terms of a post-pandemic NBA, we’re looking for something very much closer to the normal that we are familiar with, and we are beginning to see that already,” Silver said. “As most of you know, with the exception of a portion of the season in Toronto, we’ve seen full buildings. The regulations vary from city to city, state to state, but the teams have all managed to work through those issues, and fans have been eager to come back.”

When asked what this new normal specifically meant, Silver talked about the return to international games, preseason and regular season games played overseas or in Mexico. It’s about the global footprint of the NBA, which is where most of its growth in the coming years will happen.

“One of the things that we look forward to begin doing again is international travel,” Silver said. “We’re very much a global league, and the opportunity to bring teams to other continents, to other places in the world is part of how we believe we grow the sport because we can have, I think, a dramatically larger impact by showing up in those cities creating a lot of excitement around those teams. That’s one thing in particular.

One thing the new normal will not include, at least next season, is Silver’s desire for a mid-season tournament. That idea has fallen flat with fans and many players, but Silver said the success of the play-in tournament at the end of