David Stern
David Stern
David Joel Stern is the former commissioner of the National Basketball Association. He started with the Association in 1966 as an outside counsel, joined the NBA in 1978 as General Counsel, and became the league's Executive Vice President in 1980. He became Commissioner in 1984, succeeding Larry O'Brien. He is credited with increasing the popularity of the NBA in the 1990s and 2000s...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusiness Executive
Date of Birth22 September 1942
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
We think that our players are the most talented athletes in the world and people come to watch them play, not to fight, bump and knock each other down.
NBA teams have embraced the NBA Development League as a place to give their young roster players the opportunity to improve and as a source for game tested talent in case of injury. As a result, more investors are seeking to bring the D-League to their communities.
I think that players play, and they compete, and it's not about incentives.
Everyone said that the NBA could not possibly make it because it had too many black players.
Free speech is against governments, not against the NBA. So the players and coaches and indeed owners have been fined for their speech, which is costly rather than free. I sort of acknowledge that there is not free speech when you agree to work in the NBA.
It's our preference, our strong preference, to have the Blazers in Portland, in Oregon, playing at the Rose Garden and being able to be a financial success.
The remarkable celebrity that NBA players hold empowers them to effect change.
If (players) are really going to have a problem, they will have to make a decision about how they want to spend their adult life in terms of playing in the NBA or not, ... quite liberal and easygoing.
In the good old days, Chamberlain and Russell played in anonymity compared to Bird, Magic, Michael and Isiah. And even those guys played in less of a spotlight that our players today are playing in thanks to this saturated media environment.
(The playoffs are) a road you have to follow if you want to be considered among the great ones, because it demonstrates that you're either making the players around you better or management is putting better players around you in order to showcase your talent longer into the playoffs.
We're not going to be crazy. We just want our players to dress up,
I grew up in an age where women's tennis did not have similar prizes to men, and they played in complete obscurity, really, compared to the men's game.
I regret the 1998 - 99 lockout. I regret that we didn't work harder to educate our players and our owners about what the damage would be. I never can quite come up with the answer on what else we should have done, but I always blame a part of the problem on us and some part on the players.
Our attendance record is further evidence of the extraordinary connection that exists between players and fans. We are thankful for our fans continued support and passion for the game.