He's been around forever. The league has been in a deep funk for the better part of a decade now. Television ratings have plummeted. There have been some horrible rules changes that have made the game alot less fan friendly. NBA basketball is quite boring now. Why is there no pressure on this clown? Is it a lifetime appointment or what? He needs to start making some positive changes to the league or they need to find someone else.
very simple, he is that POWERFUL. scary thought, but true. i really want that sucker as far away as nba basketball as possible, but i know that wont happen in the near future. its sad actually.
weather you disslike him letting the refs govern themselves, or have a personal issue with him (like his fine on JVG last year), one thing is for sure: he is the best commisioner in all of sports. he has made basketball a global game. he is trying to give us a farm system which is a brilliant idea for basketball. the league is growing with succesfull franchises. he is trying to start "nba europe" within the next 10-15 years, so that one day down the line the nba will dominate the world. what could be better?
Stern makes alot of money for the owners with the TV deals and expansion into international markets. I think that another commish could do all that and better, but I guess the owners are not down with trading a proven leader for someone else. Making money is the reason the NBA is in business, not pleasing fans. As far as ratings, I thought they went up the past few seasons. The main problem is that a Spurs/Pistons game will get the same ratings as a Bucks/Bobcats game. That should not be the case. I agree the NBA game is broken, but I think it has more to do with coaching styles than anything. Players are scared to run a fast break without looking at the coach. Players who have all the creativity and ability in the word are handcufed by over-controlling coaches. One look at a Rockets game and you see what I mean. Not sure a change in commish would change that at all.
Because the owners love Stern. He's grown league revenues more than anyone ever dreamed. Simple as that. I want him to step down too, because I think his best days are behind him. But he's done so much for the owners they will let him retire when he's ready. Supposedly he'll stay on 2-3 more years.
makes money for the league i guess, doesnt really matter if he is biased or not, as long as the money comes in, thats all they care.
SImply put he is the best commissioner in Major League Sports Hockey WISHES they had Stern Like him or not. . in 25 yrs NBA has risen from a fringe sport to #2 worldwide [It is #2 to football in america. . and #2 to soccer worldwide] Rocket River
I disagree. Paul Tagliabue of the NFL is the best commish. He has taken his sport from being the second favorite sport to being the most popular sport in America.
The NFL benefitted from the fall of baseball. If MLB hadn't choked on itself it would still be tops. Tags has done a good job, but mostly what he's done is extort the TV networks for more and more money. Stern has almost completely overhauled the marketing of the NBA. If you want to say the commissioner of the most popular sport is automatically the best commissioner, OK. But, from where it started from, Stern has lifted the NBA much higher than Tags has lifted the NFL.
Pete Rozelle is the best commissioner ever. the NFL was really a fringe sport compared to college football.
He deserves more credit than Tags for where the NFL is now. Rozelle was a major historical figure in NFL history like Stern is now for the NBA.
Several people have talked about what a great job he has done of growing the league revenues and popularity over the long term, but what about the last 10 years. Can anyone say that the game is better today than it was 7 years ago? The rule changes suck. The zone sucks. The ABC coverage sucks. The officiating sucks. The NBA sucks right now compared to it's heyday (early 90's).
Because no other sports Commish knows how to break up player unions. Stern wakes up every morning and b**chslaps Billy Hunter before breakfast.
One gigantic problem is that scoring fell tremendously thanks to van gundy like coaches that like games to run at a snail's pace. It may win games but it can get kind of boring. The fact that the two best teams in the league (pistons and spurs) are both slower teams is evidence of the fact that scoring has really sunk. The second issue is that there isn't that one marketable team that draws in audiences anymore. The Bulls were a cash cow (no pun intended) because of Jordan and all the championships. People were glued to the finals to see if he would actually lose. The Lakers did a decent job of filling that void but the Pistons and Spurs just don't cut it. They're not exciting and marketable to the casual fan. No casual fan would tune into to watch the slowest finals ever (pistons v. spurs last year). However, everyone would tune in to see the Bulls and the other team they played.
Actually the Pistons have stepped up there scoring alot, but the problem with the Pistons and Spurs is the lack of star power. Tim Duncan is boring and the Pistons are all parts of a whole.
in the last 10 years he created NBA's current Collective Bargaining Agreement, which imo is the best CBA in sports. he then got it renewed (with a few tweaks) and avoided a strike last year. it allows small market teams to compete with big market teams unlike MLB, and yet doesn't produce the oppressive parity of the NFL (not that the NFL is hurting from money from their model). it allows for a team to be built, peak, maintain that peak, and then rebuild, and it allows virtually any team to do it, which i think is perfect. as for giving big market teams all the calls and superstars all the calls, what can i say, the man loves a dollar, and i can't blame him. this is a business. even when it hurts my team, i have to admire the evil greediness behind it. kinda the way mafia bosses seem cool in the movies.
