NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 29: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver holds a press conference to discuss Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling at the Hilton Hotel on April 29, 2014 in New York City. Silver announced that Sterling will be banned from the NBA for life and will be fined $2.5 million for racist comments released in audio recordings. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

NBA commissioner Adam Silver isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and he isn’t afraid to tackle difficult subjects. One such subject is the status of gambling on sports in the United States.

Daily fantasy sports have become a massive hit in the United States, but many states are outlawing the participation as attorney generals across the country claim it to be gambling plain and simple. The merits of the argument one way or the other notwithstanding, it is clear that there is massive appetite for sports betting of some kind in the United States.

Silver believes bringing things like daily fantasy sports in to the light would be a benefit to his league and the rest of the sporting world in the United States.

He spoke to Bloomberg TV about the issue today. Here is the full interview:

“I think what’s going on with daily fantasy just demonstrates just how much pent up interest there is in a legal format to participate and engage with our games. Whether that is viewed as fantasy or view as technically gambling is a legislative distinction.”

Silver goes on to state his league’s view is that daily fantasy sports should be legalized. He points out that sports betting is a massive underground industry (up to an estimated $400 billion) and believes it could/should even be taxed if the government wants. You can also argue that with the league’s ownership stake in FanDuel, him focusing on legalizing gambling is actually a way to focus public debate away from daily fantasy.

It isn’t a new position for Silver though, as he has long been a proponent of bringing gambling out of the shadows and in to the light. It allows the leagues to better understand who could be influencing the players and also allow them chances to work with organizations like Draft Kings or FanDuel to become partners in daily fantasy or the like.

Opening up this avenue isn’t going to be easy given the long-standing disdain for sports betting as a legalized entity, but it’s a battle that Silver appears ready to get behind.

[h/t YouTube]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!