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david stern
Hall of Famers including Michael Jordan and Isaiah Thomas, as well as current players such as Kevin Love and Enes Kanter, honor Stern, who died at age 77.
Stern was the NBA’s longest-tenured commissioner. He was credited with transforming the league into an international powerhouse.
Stern, who served 30 years as the NBA’s longest-tenured commissioner, is undergoing emergency surgery.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
WHAT'S HAPPENING
He thinks it's time.
What if in 1981, when Sterling first bought into the league, the NBA commissioner had been African-American? Would a black NBA commissioner have specially sensed exactly who Sterling was? It could have happened.
Go ahead and enshrine David Stern in the sports marketing Hall of Fame if you'd like. But don't suggest the game of basketball is better off because of the role he played.
Their boss, a guy named Ted Shaker, saw the same thing Stern saw in the discarded gem the NBA property had become. The game needed a little polish, a fresh coat of paint or luster and it needed someone to give it a chance.
