Thought this deserved its own thread. So sad. Please delete if unnecessary. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28405624/former-nba-commissioner-david-stern-dies-77
Just saw this, he had a sub arachnoid hemorrhage a couple weeks earlier I think. it’s probably related. say what you want about him, but the league wouldn’t be where it is today without his efforts. He got stuff done. RIP
He made Basketball mainstream cool.... Though he exploited the white vs. black player to a massive fortune (Bird vs. Magic / Bird Vs. Jordan) Today most people I know won’t touch the NBA with a 10 foot pole. They are so burnt out in the racial exploits the NBA harnessed. On top of the league wide effort to force a 2nd and 3rd and 4th, etc coming of Michael Jordan. To the extent that most people complain it’s more scripted than real. i like the NBA, but other than on Clutchfans, I don’t know anyone to talk basketball with in the non Internet world...
I guess they don’t understand that Stern stood by Magic when he got HIV and let him play again but newbs these days don’t care about history the league was about to go bankrupt until stern started marketing the lakers vs Celtics and magic and bird but newbs like their kid rappers overdosing don’t get it
The league was about to go bankrupt There was one channel on tv that showed it I like going to Vegas and that was built by mobsters it’s life
RIP, even as a shady dictator he made this league at least accessible and entertaining for the world.
Do you have an example of the “white vs black” thing that the NBA exploited that didn’t actually involve two top players on rival teams? I never looked at Bird vs Magic as racial exploitation.
He could be a goon, but he was our goon. As @tinman said, his savvy in the 1980s and early 1990s elevated the league to never before seen heights. He also set the stage for where the league is now internationally. If I were to list his black marks in order: Working hand-in-hand with Clay Bennett to abandon the Seattle market and steal the SuperSonics. It's truly insane that Stern wanted to leave Seattle when it was obvious how quickly it was growing and had rabidly supported the NBA for four decades. Every season that there isn't an expansion Sonics team under Silver is a black mark upon his tenure. The abandonment of Vancouver was also an incredibly short-sighted move and one that he lamented later on. Allowing Donald Sterling to own the Clippers for decades. His conduct as an owner was known to be abhorrent for years and he didn't care about the on-court product for 20 years. It took undeniable tapes and a new commissioner to finally toss out what Stern had allowed to fester for so long in the second-largest city in the country. Arbitrary rule enforcement. I'm thinking of two things here: his harsh suspension of Suns players in 2007, which turned the series in favor of the Spurs, and the cancelled CP3 trade. The conflict of interest in the latter was obvious from the get-go, but I can see why he cancelled the trade (he had 27 other owners to answer to and they were pissed).
All these newbs who are calling David Stern on their jail broken Samsung phones living 5000 miles outside of Houston WOULD NOT BE HERE b****ING ABOUT THE NBA without DAVID STERN That's like people b****ing about GOD or their Parents. Fools you wouldn't exist. His job was to grow the game and make it profitably and popular. He's exceeded his goals. It's a now a league where people can b**** and whine and complain about every game cause it's on many channels all over the world, the internet, and all the russian hack sites these cheap ass newbs watch yeah close those pop ups newbs
Lots to dislike about David Stern, but in terms of what he did in his job, he was truly great. He even enjoyed being the villain at times, which is something you don't see much from commissioners.
