Adam Silver on gambling: 'It's good for business ... creates more engagement'

It's little secret that NBA commissioner Adam Silver is a strong believer in legalizing and regulating sports gambling.

While Silver may be alone among his commissioner peers, at least publicly, he continues to stand by what he feels are the realities of the situation. Those realities have led Silver to admit that the NBA would participate in legal sports betting, something the NBPA has supported.

Silver was once again asked about the topic on the Boomer & Carton radio show, explaining that he believes the league's integrity could be protected with regulated sports betting. And the league's bottom line wouldn't exactly suffer, either:

Because they have all that data, they're able to monitor it. And if there's any irregular activity whatsoever, it's like tracking insider trading on the New York Stock Exchange. If there's a blip, if there's unusual activity, they know to investigate. So first the issue for us is if all this betting is going to go on anyway, we should be able to monitor it. And then, No. 2, if all this betting activity is going to go on anyway, make it legal.

It's good for business, I don't want to hide from that. Putting aside whether or not we're actually actively involved in any of the betting, it creates more engagement. We all know as fans if you have, even like a gentleman's bet or a $5 bet with your friend on a game, all of a sudden you're a lot more interested.

Legalized sports betting may still be a ways away, but Silver and the NBA will be a major part of what it ultimately looks like.