Adam Silver feared outing Bill Kennedy with Rondo suspension

NBA commissioner Adam Silver thought a longer suspension for Rajon Rondo might out Bill Kennedy.

Silver has faced some criticism from fans and analysts for not handing down a heftier suspension to Sacramento Kings point guard Rajon Rondo. The commissioner now claims that while he and the NBA offices considered a longer punishment, they worried that in doing so “it would have been clear that something else was going on here, not just what was apparent on TV,” and that the ensuing speculation could lead to Bill Kennedy’s outing as a gay man.

It’s important to note that Kennedy didn’t come out publicly as gay until December 14, 11 days after Rondo was ejected from a December 3 game for directing an anti-gay slur at Kennedy while he was refereeing. Silver didn’t levy the one-game suspension until December 11, eight days after the initial ejection and infraction.

Silver explained his reasoning on a Yahoo! Sports podcast.

"“While Bill Kennedy was known to be gay by many people in the league, Bill Kennedy had never made that very, very personal decision to publicly come out and announce to the world that he was a gay NBA referee.And my view – just because the chronology here is important. We made the decision to suspend Rondo for one game on Friday. Bill Kennedy’s decision to become public about being gay was not made until Monday, when you released that story. And he did not talk to me until Sunday, to tell me he had made that decision.So, I have to say, in the back of my mind, I was concerned about that.It did not seem appropriate to me that I should, by virtue of a bad act by Rajon Rondo, out Bill Kennedy.”"

Although some may still be irked that Rondo’s suspension wasn’t longer, it’s hard to argue with the commissioner’s logic here.

Perhaps even more importantly, it’s worth commending Silver for handling a potentially messy situation as delicately and professionally as possible. You could bet that had this been the NFL, the whole process would have been mucked up, and we’d already have another “-gate” on our hands.

Silver continues to earn brownie points in the public eye for his rare balance of dealing harsh justice when it counts (ie. Donald Sterling) but also being compassionate and considerate when he needs to be, as in this particular case.