NBA commissioner David Stern to step down
By Michael Cunningham
David Stern’s time as NBA commissioner will soon come to an end so it seemed an appropriate time for him to talk about his legacy as NBA commissioner.
But Stern, 70, said he’s not a big believer in the “‘L’ word.,” though he wasn’t modest about his resume.
“I just want people to say that he steered the good ship NBA through all kinds of interesting times, some choppy waters, some extraordinary opportunities and … on his watch, the league grew in popularity, became a global phenomenon, and the owners and the players and the fans did very well,” Stern said during a teleconference.
Stern informed the league’s owners Thursday that he will step down as commissioner on Feb. 1, 2014, 30 years after he was hired. The league has experienced several highs and lows on his watch but by nearly all measures is healthier than when he got the job.
The game has grown in popularity and global reach since Stern became commissioner on Feb. 1, 1984. Back then the league was simply trying to gain a foothold as one of the popular sports leagues in the U.S.
Now the NBA is popular enough that one of the main priorities for Stern’s successor, Adam Silver, is to continue to expand its international footprint. At the request of the league’s board of governors Stern will remain available to help with that effort after his tenure as commissioner ends.
Silver, 50, has been deputy commissioner since July 2006. Stern has groomed him to take over the job and the board of governors unanimously decided to negotiate a contract with Silver. The approval of the contract next April is expected to be a formality.
“I’m enormously honored and thrilled, and appreciate the transition period that David is providing me,” said Silver, who has been an NBA executive for 20 years. “ So I’ll have the next 15 months for yet even more on-the-job training working directly with David.”
When Stern succeeded Larry O’Brien as commissioner, the NBA wasn’t far removed from having its weekday finals games broadcast on network tape delay. Nearly 30 years later, the the Heat-Thunder finals last spring set viewership records for ABC.
The NBA remained popular in spite of a lockout that forced the league to play a truncated, 66-game schedule in 2011-12. That was the second lockout on Stern’s watch, following a 1998 labor impasse that cost the league 32 games.
Other low points during Stern’s tenure have included a referee gambling scandal, a handful of players banned or suspended for drug use and the brawl between players and fans at the Pistons’ arena.
But, on balance, there’s been more good news than bad for the NBA during Stern’s time as commissioner.
Stern said the new labor agreement, which either side can opt out of after the 2016-17 season, has led to shorter contracts for players and what he eventually believes will be more competitive balance among teams. The league this month played seven exhibition games in six international cities and recently opened offices in Brazil and India.
Stern said the league is in “terrific” shape with season-ticket renewals for this season at a record 86 percent and extensive sponsorship agreements.
“For the most part it has been a series of extraordinary experiences, and enormous putting together of pieces of a puzzle, and it goes on for forever,” Stern said. “There will always be another piece of the puzzle, so the question is, at what point do you decide that, you know, let somebody else do it?”
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116 comments Add your comment
doc
October 26th, 2012
5:50 pm
“you are more (than) the messenger”
keith
October 26th, 2012
6:14 pm
I truely enjoyed the commisioner, him hosting the draft, and he is always a great interview. Never boring. Gonna miss him. Also, anyone know the starting line-up for tonight’s game?
doc
October 26th, 2012
6:27 pm
keith i wont miss him for a second. i dont disagree that he wasnt boring but i found him slicker than teflon.
i didnt write it, most of all dont agree with it but have fun guys:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs
maybe you can find a few that are missing.
really like the way josh has stepped up as a vocal leader and how he has said it. dont you agree aj?heh heh
it will be interesting to see how josh handles things as the season unfolds the truer test.
Ken Strickland
October 26th, 2012
6:30 pm
DOC-There’s no such thing as a Jewish race. Race isn’t based on any religion or religious ideology, and being Jewish isn’t based on geneology. If Abraham is supposed to be the 1st Jew or Hebrew, then his mother and father couldn’t have been Jewish or Hebrew.
If his mother and father weren’t Hebrew, or born Hebrew, then he couldn’t have been a Hebrew by birth right. Therefore, at whatever point he became a Jew or Hebrew, it definitely wasn’t based on Geneology or birth right anymore than anyone can be born a Christian or Muslim, or into a Christian or Muslim race. The Jewish race myth has been promoted and institutionalized along with the false idea that Europe is a continent.
Ken Strickland
October 26th, 2012
6:31 pm
Does anyone know if or where tonights gm will be televised?
doc
October 26th, 2012
6:37 pm
actually ken it is a race. if you look at births certificates of children born in russia when they were kicked out in the early 70’s, on every one of these certificates says, race, jewish. i have know many that were set down in another country due to an “ethnic cleansing” hence race, with such a designation. sorry, that is also what many europeans i have known to say and think. you can try to dispute it; i clarify to you, it is a race, culture and religion.
MsDee
October 26th, 2012
7:46 pm
any hawks links?
Ken Strickland
October 26th, 2012
7:46 pm
DOC-Have to disagree with you. If you look at the birth certificates of people in the Dominican Republic you’ll find many systematically classify their race as Hispanic, which also isn’t a race. Sammy Davis Jr was Jewish, he was also Black, so being Jewish is no more a legitimate racial classification than being Christian, Muslim, or Buddist.
The fact that history books have for centuries claimed and recorded that Europe is a continent doesn’t change the fact that it’s not. Telling and recording a lie repeatedly over an extended period of time until it’s accepted as fact won’t change the fact that it’s still a lie. We accept, celebrate, and have institutionalized the myth(lie)that Christopher Columbus(Colon)discovered America. The fact that he never sat foot on either continent, or even came within eyesight of either continent, has had no effect on history, even though it’s still a lie.
I have a half sister who’s birth certificate says she’s White, but mine says I’m Black, yet we share the same father. Being a doctor it’s obvious you’ve had more than your share of scientific/genetic training. Therefore, you know the Black Gene/color is dominant while the White Gene/color is recessive. You also know the recessive gene cannot produce dominant traits, while dominant gene can produce both dominant and recessive traits. So you can’t automatically accept as fact what’s systematically put on birth certificates or in text books.
Jae Evolution
October 26th, 2012
7:50 pm
No stream tonight but Korver just hit three three’s in 1 minute.
vava74
October 26th, 2012
7:54 pm
You are so opressed with the need to be “politically correct” that you get all fancy pantsy about nothing.
It’s an historical fact that finance is dominated by the Jews since immemorial times.
They are in general $$$ oriented. Traders, lenders and speculators AND they stick for each other.
There is not a single people or culture more intolerant than the Orthodox Jews. Not by any chance.
Noticing this does not make me a racist. What if I noticed this and considered that they were so poorly treated historically and that they were subject to so much injusticies that they now deserve to dominate the world?
vava74
October 26th, 2012
8:02 pm
High-sider
October 26th, 2012
8:08 pm
Hawks’ fans are gettin’ dissed and dismissed when it comes to watching Hawks games online. This is the closet link I could find to watching the game and it doesn’t work. [SMH]
http://www.vipboxsports.eu/basketball/93553/1/detroit-pistons-vs-atlanta-hawks-live-stream-online.html
Sautee
October 26th, 2012
8:34 pm
“There is not a single people or culture more intolerant than the Orthodox Jews. Not by any chance.”
Once again, you show your ignorance. Have you studied every culture? The answer is obvious.
I’ll just scroll, thank you. And feel sorry for you hiding behind your ignorance.
Smokey
October 26th, 2012
8:47 pm
streams show us no love yet again grrrrrr
Sautee
October 26th, 2012
8:47 pm
vava,
No political correctness here. Just a vast disagreement between what I think is a gross stereotype of Jews, and you think is a forgone conclusion.
But I’ll tell you that when I was younger, I had the same misconception, so maybe you’ll figure it out later, as I did.
Sorry to be losing you as a blogger with whom I can have intelligent give and take. See ya.
doc
October 26th, 2012
8:50 pm
ken, here is some science for you:
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/dna-links-prove-jews-are-a-race-says-genetics-expert-1.428664
ken, it is on their passports as well, as a race, so someone greater than you accepts it. sorry, if you are still mis-informed after wading through the article, it is your problem and you then qualify as an anal minded moron.
vava, interesting, i find the dutch to fit that description better than jews, my dago friend.
the dutch are like chameleons in the european business world arent they as they speak all the languages better than those of birth? really, anyone doing business or in a private or public business fits the profile of traders, lenders and speculators and they stick for each other vava, get real.
(see above)
as i said vava, there is a reason jews were placed in that role, because of “good” christians wanting a middle man, so they could do business. i’ll take fancy/antsy pantsy over ignorance any day. people in business are only interested in the bottom line, think italians dont stick together or you couldnt describe them as a tribe in nyc making money hand over fist sticking together? come on vava, that describes business people in general.
darrell starks
October 26th, 2012
9:02 pm
doc, Please don’t get started on this Jews thing, and don’t believe every thing you read that doctrine you just read is totally false.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grandad
October 26th, 2012
9:05 pm
The term Jews indicates all original Israelites.
There were initially 12 tribes.
10 of the tribes were scattered over the face of the earth;
supporting doc`s account above. [Jews in Russia, etc]
The term Jew came into being from the tribe of Judah;
whose descendents David then Solomon
who eventually formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
The Northern Kingdom being the Kindom of Israel.
All were Hebrews or Israelites called Jews.
All came from Abraham through Isaac;
continuing – through Jacob who had 12 sons = 12 [eventual] tribes.
Nowadays, a gentile can convert to Judaism, the Religion.
whereas a child of any color can be born a Jew. [religion]
Way too simplistic / my apologies.
vava74
October 26th, 2012
9:13 pm
Sautee,
Just try walking into the B&H store in NYC
It’s an interesting experience I can tell you
Grandad
October 26th, 2012
9:13 pm
doc
You are so correct;
we Christians are not capitalists.
At the very least we should be Socialists.
However, when I try to discuss such with my republican friends,
they pull out their guns. (another note – Jesus didn`t carry a sword)
I love to debate republicans, as they are so easy to anger.
Makes arguing easier.
Jae Evolution
October 26th, 2012
9:15 pm
Drummond with 9 points, 7 boards and 2 blocks in just over 11 minutes.
Damb…
darrell starks
October 26th, 2012
9:16 pm
Race is separated from the true identity of hidden secret to hide the perfect agenda of your nationality, this why the world is a ball of confusion to keep you blind from truth, programming you to stay ignorant and seperate from anything base upon who are you orginally from beginning of time.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!
ag
October 26th, 2012
9:17 pm
So… no Hawk talk tonight guys… V please come back !!!
ag
October 26th, 2012
9:18 pm
Why is LD sticking with Stevenson. He has not scored. I hope Teague/Harris backcourt is going to start the season. I don wan’t to see Stevenson.
vava74
October 26th, 2012
9:20 pm
Grandad,
Do you want me to state “multi-generational jews”?
What I said is a fact and was not particularly judgemental. It’s like black people feeling offended I said that in general black people have a better sense of rythmn and dance better than whites.
Do you think a Jew will feel offended if I say that they are more business oriented than other races? That in general they are more successful and more focused in $$?
Of course that there are greedy people of all races but I was not specifically saying Jews are greedy, just more $$$ profit oriented.
They have invented basically all of the most important financial instruments and concepts: banks, letters of credit, short-selling, you name it.
It’s an HISTORICAL FACT. I have a close friend who although a practicioner of the Jewish faith is descendant from Jews and he says that making money, doing and looking for business is in his blood, was in his mothers blood and he sees it in one of his sons… and surprise surprise, he says proudly that it comes from his Jewish “strain”.
vava74
October 26th, 2012
9:20 pm
… although NOT a practitioner of the Jewish faith…
darrell starks
October 26th, 2012
9:23 pm
Also the word Jewish is pretaning to be some thing your not, this is why ish is added on 2 the word jew, claiming something thats is orginally stated for a particulary group of people.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!
doc
October 26th, 2012
9:30 pm
man, i am so ready for basketball to start. football once a week, a few more baseball games and that is it for tv watching for me. ready for the ball to start bouncing and the hiatus is about over. man, i hate to see the last game of the year knowing it is so bleak until they throw it up to start the year. bring it on, though i know the ending will be the housewives of la against the housewives of miami. that sucks.
ag
October 26th, 2012
9:46 pm
44 points in the paint vs 20 just does not get it. Please never start Stevenson and cut Tolliver already. Please get a center who can play when ZaZa is hurt. Sign Benson.
ag
October 26th, 2012
9:48 pm
Good job Jenkins, play the rookies…
doc
October 26th, 2012
9:50 pm
not a good night for the home team it seems. all star josh -19 in 19 minutes. glad he is getting it out of his system now.
darrell starks
October 26th, 2012
9:52 pm
ag, This Hawks team will not win more than 35games this year with Horford starting at center and Josh starting at PF, like i said before Joe 6′7 and Marvin 6′9 both solid defender from the perimeter or gone.
Hawks if going to be contender must play big with Josh starting at SF and Horford finally getting to starte at PF and Zaza playing center.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!
paian
October 26th, 2012
9:57 pm
darrell
joe maybe, but not so much marvin b/c guys still blew past him
darrell starks
October 26th, 2012
9:59 pm
This should be the Hawks starting lineup.
Teague, Lou, Josh, Horford, Zaza.
Devin, Morrow, Korver, Ivan, ?
Danny must find a backup center who have size in the paint.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MattP
October 26th, 2012
9:59 pm
If the Hawks want to win this season they need to do it by offense. They have alot of players that can put up high points, but the problem is Drew. Drew will be clueless on what to do with all these players and he will just be looking for one that can defend. He will take players out that are shooting hot just to find a defender.
Yes, Hawks have a chance to surprise alot of people this season but I do not see this happening with Drew.
Rev in Tampa
October 26th, 2012
10:05 pm
GRANDAD! Check your e-mail!
soullrenaissance
October 26th, 2012
10:31 pm
Good riddance to the tyrant and a cold-welcome to the next tyrant when the time comes.
The Truth
October 26th, 2012
10:53 pm
The losing difference:
Rebound: Hawks = 30, Detroit = 48
FG%: Hawks = 40%, Detroit = 51%
Analysis: Same old sh!t, Hawks can’t defend allowing 51% FG and can’t rebound giving up 18 more rebounds to Detroit. Based on the +/- of LD starting lineup is awful. I would love to hear his spin. Since he doesn’t care about length and gives lip-service to defense, he’ll get no sympathy from Hawksville with outcomes like this.
Again Stevenson is wasting minutes that should go to someone else.
Ken Strickland
October 26th, 2012
11:41 pm
DOC-Sorry, but I can’t buy that kind of psuedo science. Asians(Mongoloids), Whites(Europeans), and Blacks(Africans), are considered separate races, and they show it on their passports, birth certificates etc. There are millions in each of these 3 racial categories that are also Jews/Hebrews.
Are you saying it’s possible for them to actually identify with more than 1 race? If you did the same genetic test of Jews/Hebrews in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Israel, you’ll get different genetic results/markers in each category. Again, would Sammy Davis Jr and the AEthiopian Falasha, or Beta Israel, be considered members of the Black race, Jewish race, or both(If that’s possible)?
Ken Strickland
October 27th, 2012
12:00 am
THE TRUTH-Detroit played their starters regular season mins, while we didn’t do that with our starters. We were definitely handicapped by starting Korver at SF, who’s a notoriously poor rebounder and defender, and Stevenson at SG, who’s definitely no longer effective as a scorer 0 pts, and has slipped defensively.
I don’t see Korver or Stevenson starting because each player is just too limited and 1 dimensional. I believe Drew will start either Josh, James, or maybe Morrow(if he goes exclusively OFF). A duo of Josh and James at SF would be a solid combination. However, if Drew goes with OFF over DEF and rebounding and starts Korver or Morrow over James or Josh, you can bet the bank Ferry won’t be getting an extension from Ferry.
The Truth
October 27th, 2012
12:30 am
“if Drew goes with OFF over DEF and rebounding and starts Korver or Morrow over James or Josh, you can bet the bank Ferry won’t be getting an extension from Ferry.”
Agreed Ken,
This seem obvious to us but for LD, I’m not so sure. It stands to reason that these two teams had different agendas. But you would expect (at this stage of preseason) with LD previously announcing his intent to stabilize his rotation, they would begin to gel on the road.
If his players aren’t completely buying into his message, LD will have a long and difficult season.
Big Ray
October 27th, 2012
12:43 am
Not to insist on the matter but Silver’s last name is probably a declination of Silverberg.
NBA goes from one Jew to another. Don’t expect anything more than $$ to be in the mind of the new commissioner.
Wow. I’ll take ANYTHING the troll says over that racist drivel.
Last I looked, the NBA owners were money oriented, much like the ones in the NFL and any other sports franchise. Anybody in a billion dollar business is oriented.
You should go join Mel Gibson. He flipped his ish, too. But he probably won’t like you, either.
Big Ray
October 27th, 2012
12:46 am
I’ll just scroll, thank you. And feel sorry for you hiding behind your ignorance.
There are none so ignorant as those who claim not to be…
Big Ray
October 27th, 2012
12:53 am
Detroit game box score was ugly, so were the highlights for the most part.
I know one thing I saw….
Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe > Josh Smith and Al Horford in this game….
Detroit outrebounded us 48-30. Hope the regular season doesn’t go like this…or it will be a long one.
The Truth
October 27th, 2012
1:21 am
Regarding the SF contest, what’s worse:
Tolliver 23 min, 1-10 FG, 1-5 3pt, 2 rb, 9 pts
James 20 mins, 1-4 FG, 0-0 3pt, 6 rb, 2 pts
Both players will take a hit against their preseason average but Tolliver hit will be worse. His 3-pt % was 57%, now will be 38%. His FG % was 52% now will be 31%.
James FG % was 42% now will be 33.5% which will now be better than Tolliver. Also he still manage to outrebound Tolliver given lesser minutes.
LD will have a hard time rationalizing a Tolliver pick over James. Either he picks James over Tolliver or pick them both or cut them both and pursue something elsewhere.
Grandad
October 27th, 2012
1:34 am
vava
I was discussing what ken and doc were saying.
I did not wish to take part in the dialogue between yourself and Sautee.
Jae Evolution
October 27th, 2012
2:34 am
Drummond is a beast hands down and should’ve seriously been considered as a #1 pick. Why 7 more teams passed on him is something those 7 teams will look back and say ‘Why?’
I don’t care if he is a bust, dude is a monster physically.
vava74
October 27th, 2012
4:06 am
You guys are incredible.
Races exist and have generally specific characteristics, some genetic, some cultural, some both.
The fact that all everyone should have equal opportunities does not mean that everyone is born with identical characteristics.
Race and culture brings to the table specific characteristics.
If you think the opposite, then you should start considering becoming communists because having identical opportunities does mean being identical.
You get entangled in a phrase which contains an observation backed by history.
I neither a racist nor a bigot.
One of my favourite authors is Philip Roth, a Jew which is not a practitioner of the Jewish faith, of who I have read and enjoyed half of his novels/romances.
Jews have made an unbelievable contribution to american culture, in movies, theater, music and literature.
Heck, if you removed their influence and the influence of african americans in music, american music would be left with little else but country music.
Jazz, rock, classical music, broadway musicals, … has reached such an incredible quality in US due to jewish and african americans.
These are historical facts.
The same way that its a fact that the diamond industry is wholly controlled by jews under a CARTEL system which is basically racially segregated.
That’s a fact, not speculation.
Also, I never used the word greed. I said that they are genetically and culturally money oriented and that as consequence of that I expected Silver to follow Stern’s steps which were not necessarily guided by the objective to create a balanced league.
In fact, I think that virtually everyone agrees that the NBA should not have 30 franchises, that the talent is watered down and that the struggles of some franchises is created by the system which Stern has created which is based in promoting and selling “big name players” at the expense of league balance and at the expense of smaller franchises.
Stern did that because it was the route he saw for the NBA (the organization, as the top of the pyramid) to generate more money and more power of himself.
The fact is that neither the owners nor the players were happy with Stern – for different and opposed reasons – and Silver will probably not go a different path.
vava74
October 27th, 2012
4:07 am
“…having identical opportunities does NOT mean being identical.”
ag
October 27th, 2012
6:54 am
Very good points by many of you gentleman. My opinion is not to stereotype one race of people.
I do agree – the lottery is seen, then why can’t we see the balls in the lottery. I tend to agree, I think Orlando will win the lottery next year.