BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Only five (almost six) months on the job as the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Adam Silver is on his way to becoming the greatest commissioner in history of the NBA, and maybe all of sports. 

His first few months on the job seemed to be smooth sailing for the most part, at least no national outlets were discussing any controversies concerning him. 

Then, it all began. 

Towards the middle to end of April, Donald Sterling — then-co-owner of the Los Angeles Clippers with his wife, Shelly — stirred the pot when racist comments recorded by a girlfriend of his made its way to TMZ. From there, Deadspin released extended versions and Silver now had his first national mess on his plate. 

Long story short, Silver handled the situation exceptionally well. Mr. Sterling received a lifetime ban from the league and a $2 million fine. His wife has since sold the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Well, almost. 

Mrs. Sterling — who took control of the team when two doctors determined Mr. Sterling was not fit to make a decision on selling the team on his own — are fighting Mr. Sterling’s lawsuit that he is unfit to make life decisions on his own. 

After the announcement of Mr. Sterling’s punishment, Silver was praised by fans, players, coaches, executives — basically everyone except Mr. Sterling and his legal team. 

Fast forward to June 26, which is going down in the history books as a very important date in American history.

It’s the day that the United States fell to Germany in the World Cup, but advanced to the Round of 16 courtesy of Portugual’s 2-1 win over Ghana, led by a key Christiano Ronaldo goal.

It also was the day of the 2014 N.B.A. draft where the top 60 — or in this year’s case 61 — college and overseas prospects are drafted by N.B.A. franchises. 

The night was a perfect start for Silver. He is the first basketball commissioner in recent years to not walk out to the podium to kick-off the night and be booed by the crowd. The crowd actually cheered an N.B.A. commissioner.

The first 16 picks went by swiftly and without much shock. Sure, many had Joel Embiid of the University of Kansas going lower than number three to the Philadelphia 76ers, but that’s besides the point. 

Between picks number 15 and 16 is what everyone is going to remember for the near future — and what is going to define Silver as a commissioner, and a person. 

Silver walked up to the podium, and announced to the world that the National Basketball Association was making a rare draft pick selection. That’s right. The league was going to draft a player.

That player would be Isaiah Austin of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. 

Austin was diagnosed June 21 with Marfan syndrome and thus ended his career in competitive basketball. But as Silver said, “We wanted to make sure he fulfilled at least this part of his dream.” (Full transcript available at the end of this post.) 

The genetic disorder affects connective tissue in the body, according to Deadspin. The website also noted that if “Austin’s heart experienced the rigors of an NBA season, he could die.”

The moment of Silver, and the league, drafting Austin brought the entire Barclay’s Center, the home of the 2014 NBA Draft, to their feet and gave a standing ovation. 

Austin, who is also blind in his right eye, walked up to the podium, like every other draft pick in attendance, sporting a blue hat with the NBA logo on it, wiping tears from his eyes, and posed for pictures with Silver. 

The Star-Ledger reported that Austin told ESPN, who aired the draft, after coming off stage that "It's one of the biggest blessings of my life. I worked so hard to get to this point and unfortunately it was taken away, but when God closes one door, he opens up another one."

The announcement quickly became a top five trending topic in the United States on Twitter. 

With all that has happened in the past few months for Silver, he has certainly won over the fans — especially those who had a bone or two to pick with former commissioner David Stern and those who questioned how great of a commissioner Silver would be. 

There is no doubt in my mind, however, that Silver is going to be a fantastic commissioner, and is an even better human being. 

UPDATE (June 28): According to Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle, Austin was offered a post-college position with the league by Silver. It was also noted on her Twitter account that Baylor University has offered Austin a coaching job. 

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Full Transcript of Silver announcing the NBA’s draft selection of Austin:

Before we continue tonight, I want to take a moment to recognize Baylor center Isaiah Austin.

You may have heard about Isaiah, he is one of the nation’s best collegiate players and was expected to be picked tonight before the discovery just a few days ago that he had a genetic disorder called Marfan syndrome and is no longer able to play competitive basketball.

Like the other young men here tonight, Isaiah committed himself to endless hard-work and dedication to a potential career as a professional basketball player and we wanted to make sure he fulfilled at least this part of his dream.

So, it gives be great pleasure to say that with the next pick in the draft, the NBA selects Isaiah Austin from Baylor University. 

To reach George Harvey, email sports@penbaypilot.com.