NBA Draft 2026: Why do fans boo Adam Silver?

It’s the sound you might hear from the crowd at Brooklyn’s Barclay’s Center on Tuesday night at the NBA Draft: BOOOOO!

As in, boos for Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA.

Why is that? Why does any commissioner of any league get booed?

For some commissioners, some of it has to do with decisions they’ve made that have angered fans. Maybe that’s true of Silver too, but the more likely explanation is: It’s tradition for a commissioner to be booed at the draft! His predecessor, David Stern, used to lean into it, which was always a lot of fun.

So, if you hear boos on Tuesday, you know why.