That single word, June 7 -- Adam Silver had a choice. He could have given the cautious answer - something bland about the president being welcome at any sporting event, full stop. Instead, the NBA commissioner reached for something warmer and more deliberate. President Trump, Silver told reporters Thursday, is "very much a New Yorker." He said he was "thrilled" the man once disinvited from the White House celebrations of league champions wanted to sit courtside at Madison Square Garden for the Knicks' first home NBA Finals game in 27 years.

thrilled - is doing a lot of work. It is not neutral. It is not merely polite. And for a league that spent years navigating open hostility with Trump, from LeBron James declaring in 2018 that no team ...