He was arguably the most successful sports commissioner in history. Under him, a semi-major niche sport became mainstream and major, everyone prospered, and the fan base just kept growing. He was a tough, pugnacious s.o.b., so he made enemies, but he ultimately made all of that tension work for the league.

And he was also lucky enough to have MJ show up at exactly the right time.

This says it all:

“A league that couldn’t get its finals on live television in the pre-Stern era began to eclipse its fellow pro leagues in follower counts and influence. The NBA’s explosive growth since Stern took over in 1984 is a tidy narrative: The Portland Trail Blazers, as just one example, were sold for $70 million in 1988 and are now valued at $1.6 billion.”

5 thoughts on “R.I.P. David Stern

  1. I am not surprised somebody else remembers the Horry-Suns fiasco. I believe one of Stern’s flacks pronounced something along the lines of “it was not a fair decision. It was the correct decision”. Screwed over the most enjoyable to watch team ever. And there was the Stern-assisted fucking-over of the Seattle fans by the two Oklahoma carpetbaggers and the whole taxpayers must pay for billionaires’ arenas thing.
    Stern got to thinking himself some kind of god during his last decade. But it’s hard to criticize his earlier work.
    And I’m not going to believe any of that lottery rigging stuff until someone actually comes up with facts or witnesses.

  2. that does NOT say it all.

    The success of the NBA during that time had little to do with Stern, it was 95% due to Magic v Bird, followed by Jordan.

    What Stern DID do, however, is alienate half the cities in the league by rigging the system for the other half – blocking Chris Paul to the Lakers, fixing every lottery pick, stealing the Sonics from Seattle, suspending Suns star players during the playoffs to keep them from winning.

    So he might statistically go down as ‘successful’ he was a corrupt piece o’ shite.

    1. I never said he was a good person or even a good commissioner, and I don’t deny that he was in the right place at the right time, but I did say he was the most successful sports commissioner ever, and I’ll stand by that.

      Success and bullying, even corrupt bullying, often go hand in hand. But when you clear away the pettifogging, the fact remains that nobody ever built a sport like he did. ANY sport. We he lucky on the timing? Yes. Was he a bully? Yes. But the players also know well how much he contributed. He made everyone rich, owners and players alike.

      1. The Major league Soccer Commissioner, Don Garber, is pretty successful and though at times he’s had to be forced to ‘do the right thing’ by the fans, MLS has been able to grow without much bullying or playing one city off against another.

        The most controversial ongoing issue during his time is probably the convoluted system of multiple salary caps that has brought in some world star players in their prime (or just out of their prime like David Beckham) but has resulted in a handful of dominant teams (just like in many other of the top soccer leagues in each nation.) The salary cap issue is so convoluted though that I don’t know if most MLS fans understand it or care about it.

    2. Sounds like you have a partisan ax to grind. For exactly which half of the cities did Stern rig the system?

      You mention blocking Chris Paul to the Lakers, but don’t mention the Kings- Lakers 2002 series.

      Diaw and Stoudemire left the bench during an altercation. The rule is pretty clear on that. And even if you discounted the game with the suspensions, the Spurs had a 3-2 lead and still probably would have won the series.

      The Sonics move was legit bullshit, but then so are all the recent NFL moves. It’s not specific to the NBA.

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