NBA Commissioner Adam Silver joined former U.S. women's soccer player Brandi Chastain and Olympic bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor on Thursday to celebrate moments from their careers that illustrate the unifying power of sport. The conversation was moderated by Mike Tirico at a Common Ground event, part of a franchise bringing together leaders with different perspectives.

Silver said that neither Chastain's nor Meyers Taylor's athletic achievements would have happened without Title IX, the 1972 civil rights law that bars sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funds. He said one result of the law was the growth of the WNBA. "It just shows how government policy can really make an impact on these things," Silver said.

Chastain reflected on the 1999 Women's World Cup. "It just was a seminal moment, because nobody had ever dreamed or believed or invested in an event that would be so big like this before. To be honest, we crushed it," she said.

Meyers Taylor described sport as a space where political divisions fall away. "You saw people in a Harris T-shirt right next to people in a Trump T-shirt. And it didn't matter, because they were there to celebrate something that was bigger than all of us," she said.

She also spoke about the reach of Olympic competition to viewers at home. "They were able to turn on their TV and see athletes from all walks of life doing their best to represent their country and win," Meyers Taylor said.