Ones of the pushes in the league is to make foreign European players appeal more to white Americans. We’re not trying to have the league match US demographics, but make no mistake that diversity is a big deal to the NBA.
On top of that, the NBA is always going to have a problem with height diversity. I don’t think this is a problem, but viewed with an equity lens it is.
When I was a kid, I recall people loving Muggsy Bogues because he was a short guy thriving in a tall man's game. It was really dramatic to watch him start when everybody else on the court was 2+ feet taller.
Professional sports are a performance, and it's ludicrous to say managers and league execs shouldn't take things like viewership and ticket sales into account when planning a season or expanding a team's roster. The "home team" dynamic deliberately encourages spectators to identify with players with whom they share an affinity (even if it's just that they live in the same city), so it's unsurprising that the dynamic extends to nationality, gender, religion, race, etc, too.
The NBA is in the business of entertainment. If something means that more people enjoy the game if basketball it IS better basketball, by the only sensible metric.
Why? It seems to me if the NBA wants to continue to exist in the future, they should want to get as many people as possible playing and watching basketball. Why does it have to be about furthering the l bel of play, rather than getting more people playing and watching and participating?
I don’t think the modern push for diversity means hire a few token members of each minority and them reap their celebrity status.