The Knicks have contested that Silver would not be an unbiased decision-maker in the matter due to his connection to Larry Tanenbaum, a part-owner of the Raptors and the NBA’s chairman of the Board of Governors. In court filings, the Knicks had argued that Tanenbaum “serves as Silver’s boss and exercises control over and heavily influences Silver’s continued employment and salary.” Silver refused to respond to questions about his objectivity when he spoke with reporters in Las Vegas after the owners meetings in July. “The second part of your question [about the Knicks questioning my objectivity], I won’t respond to,” Silver said at the time while discussing the court’s decision to have the NBA handle the matter.