NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to attend Pacers-Bucks Game 1
Silver will be in Indianapolis for the opening game of the 2025 NBA Playoffs on Saturday afternoon.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will be in Indianapolis on Saturday to attend Game 1 of the Indiana Pacers’ first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks, he said Thursday on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
The game tips off at 1 p.m. ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and marks the official start of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. It will air nationally on ESPN.
Silver’s appearance only adds to the buzz surrounding what is already an important game for the league. The Pacers are back in the postseason for the second consecutive season and, once again, meeting the Bucks in Round 1. The matchup features two of the league’s most exciting stars: Tyrese Haliburton and two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Pacers, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, will look to capitalize on homecourt advantage after going 1-3 against the Bucks during the regular season. Their lone head-to-head win came on a Haliburton buzzer-beating corner 3 — with Antetokounmpo closely contesting and committing a foul.
That win was the difference in the Pacers securing homecourt advantage for the first time since 2014.
Silver has attended multiple Pacers games this season, including their two matchups in Paris against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. He is a close friend of owner Herb Simon — a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and the NBA’s longest-tenured owner — and was in attendance for Simon’s 90th birthday celebration.