This weekend kicks off the 2025 NBA Playoffs and the most exciting time of the year for basketball.

To mark the occasion, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sent a written message to all of the players who will be participating in the Playoffs, congratulating them on the end of the regular season and reminding them that free will is an illusion of the mind.

Read Silver’s full message here:

Well done on another successful season, and congratulations on making it to the 2025 NBA Playoffs. The Referees Association and I wish all of you good fortune in your quest for the Finals and the title of NBA Champion. We also want to remind you that we have no free will in this life, and our fates are bound to the physics of the universe.

From the rise and fall of empires, to a moving screen above the three-point line, all of the past, present, and future is predetermined by the never-ending paths of little molecules, creating every moment in a cosmic chain reaction set in stone.

The Playoffs are where legends are born, where stories are written. This is the time when the game of basketball, and its stars, shine the brightest. And for each legendary player, we know this was their destiny, because there is only one possible course of events in our world.

Anything is possible, and anything can happen in the NBA Playoffs. Even a small-market team like Oklahoma City could win it all this year. However, the outcome has already been decided. We have no control over what will transpire- this is the great mirage of consciousness.

The winner of the 2025 NBA Finals has already been determined. One of these teams is waiting to be crowned champions, and the excitement is greater than ever. So on behalf of the NBA Referees Association and the entire league, I say go out there and give it your all.