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David Stern: An NBA Legacy Of Power And Progress

Billy Lennon |
February 1, 2014 | 2:35 p.m. PST

Staff Writer

David Stern's NBA today would have been unrecognizable 30 years ago. (Cody Mulcahy/Creative Commons)
David Stern's NBA today would have been unrecognizable 30 years ago. (Cody Mulcahy/Creative Commons)
As David Stern’s turbulent career comes to an uncharacteristically tranquil conclusion upon his retirement on Saturday, it seems fitting to look back to when he first accepted the position of the NBA’s commissioner nearly 30 years ago. In hindsight, it seems even more fitting that his very first draft as commissioner would feature the greatest and most marketable player to enter the league before or since, introducing the world to two of basketball’s brightest in just one evening.  

Well, probably not the whole world. When Stern presided over his first NBA Draft in the summer of 1984, the global recognition that has become so familiar over the course of his tenure was nonexistent, and the league struggled to gain fans even within the U.S.  As late as 1986, playoff games were still aired on tape delay in America, and few people had even heard of the league outside of the country. When Stern called Michael Jordan’s name as the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft under the lights of Madison Square Garden, the draft had not yet been televised.

From the moment he entered the league, he was endlessly and often deservedly scrutinized for his behavior and decisions made in the interest of “basketball reasons”, the reasons behind which were often only clear to Stern himself. This began with the 1985 draft, the first to ever be televised, when many who watched speculated that Stern bent the corner of the envelope containing the New York Knicks logo in order to ensure that a big market team would land Patrick Ewing.  More recently, he made enemies out of entire cities in both Seattle and Los Angeles, though I’m sure Sacramento would tell L.A. to count their blessings and think fondly of the commissioner when polishing their 2002 NBA Championship rings.  Stern giveth, and Stern taketh away.  

He also was the driving force in ushering seven new teams into the league and an additional seven team relocations (one more memorable than the rest [sorry Seattle]). He helped expand the league from an American fringe sport to over 200 countries and 40 languages, while also seeing league revenue increase from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars.  While there are many who may question his methods, and perhaps more who question his character, it is obvious that David Stern has had one of, if not the single most successful run of any commissioner in the history of sports. 

Perhaps the most scrutiny he endured throughout his tenure fell at the very end of its duration, during the course of the 2011 NBA Lockout in which Stern was publicly criticized for being unable to bridge the proverbial gap between his players and his owners.  

After the lockout in 2011, coupled with the now infamous Chris Paul trade veto, Stern dealt with a lot of scrutiny with regards to how the situation was handled and whether it could have been accomplished more smoothly. However, it seems intuitive that such an arduous and impactful process would be quite time consuming, and that judgment on the matter should be reserved for after the facts are established. 

Adam Silver has big shoes to fill as the league's next commissioner. (@NBA/Twitter)
Adam Silver has big shoes to fill as the league's next commissioner. (@NBA/Twitter)
Well, the facts of the situation state that since the agreement has been signed, the average NBA franchise has gained 25 percent in value, according to Forbes. This explosive revenue growth has become a standard feature of Stern’s NBA over the past three decades. However, this does nothing to take away from the fact that Stern’s last major action as NBA commissioner, despite the scrutiny, the doubt, and the second-guesses that swirled around the situation, was a resounding success.

Because of the incredibly complex set of factors that were responsible for the NBA’s explosive growth over the course of Stern’s tenure, it is impossible to definitively state how much of the NBA’s success can be attributed to Stern himself. It could be argued that the world fell in love with Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and the other superstars that have followed in their footsteps, and not the league that Stern had built. However, it is certain that today’s NBA, the same NBA that is experiencing such astounding global popularity, would not look the same without the strict guidance of David Stern over the past 30 years. 

Could Air Jordan have risen to his unprecedented iconic status without the dunk contest brilliantly showcasing his jaw-dropping athleticism? Would any other commissioner have flown out of New York into Los Angeles to stand next to his star as he announced to the world that he had been diagnosed HIV positive during an era in which HIV was highly controversial? Nearly every major detail of the NBA’s modern salary cap has Stern’s fingerprints on it, which has allowed small market team’s to flourish since updates have been made to the CBA, most recently in 2011. Could the league look the same as it does now had he not taken steps to make it a league in which a small market team is always just “one player away”?  It seems unlikely.

Three decades later, having out lived and out lasted every conflict, controversy, and enemy he found pestering him over the course of his illustrious career, David Stern stands intact at the end of the gauntlet, bearing his trademark smirk. He’d be standing on a pile of smoking bodies, but he buried them a long time ago. 

Reach Staff Writer Billy Lennon here



 

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