Speaking to the media before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver discussed a potentially game-changing topic: the possibility of a hard salary cap. 

A salary cap in professional sports is an agreement limiting the total amount of money a team can spend on the salaries of its players. A hard cap means that not a single penny can be spent beyond the limit. The National Football League (NFL) follows hard cap system. By contrast, a soft cap means teams can find ways to spend money paying salaries beyond the limit and is the current case in the NBA. 

"You still have two teams (the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers) that are significantly above, not just the cap, but the tax. Now (the hard cap is) something that we’ll continue to look at. There are pros and cons to doing it. Historically, one of the issues in our league was we didn’t necessarily want to break up teams. There is a different sense in the NBA than the NFL, and the chemistry and dynamic that comes together with a group of players," said Silver.

NBA teams have multiple options to escape salary cap limits, including different clauses and exceptions. Silver believed that a soft cap has been beneficial to the leagues' development because it allows owners to spend more money building stronger teams for better competition.

"The greater the competition you can create, the greater their interests will be. At the same time, I don’t think it’s inconsistent to celebrate greatness and to say, my God, look what these two teams are doing," said the commissioner when asked about the same two teams meeting in the NBA Finals for four consecutive years.

Silver also mentioned that under a soft salary cap, every owner can choose to write bigger checks to build a super team like the Warriors or the Cavaliers. However, such "fairness" has some weak spots. For example, small teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs either earn way less than teams in big cities like the Los Angeles Lakers or simply pay less because they don't have a super rich owner like Steve Ballmer of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Besides, the NBA is a business that chases profits. And what could be better money-making opportunities than legendary stories and topics? 

Since the 1980s, NBA have been masters at publicizing narratives for the public including the Larry Bird, Magic Johnson rivalry. In today's league, "King James vs. Warriors Dynasty" has been the dominant storyline, giving the NBA no reason to break up either of the two teams with new policies.