Stern was instrumental in making the NBA a global power. David Stern, who oversaw the National Basketball Association's metamorphosis from a struggling organization to a multibillion-dollar enterprise and the first American sports league to prosper overseas, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 77. The cause was heart disease.
Mr. Stern came up through the basketball ranks, starting out as an assistant coach for his hometown Philadelphia 76ers before becoming one of the game's most respected executives. A lawyer by training, he knew how to get things done through negotiation and contract drafting rather than litigation. He managed to squeeze more money out of team owners than any other commissioner in history, and transformed the NBA into a worldwide phenomenon.
He started off on the wrong foot, though: His first attempt at running a league failed when a new antitrust law was passed after his death that prevented him from restricting players' freedom of movement. But Mr. Stern quickly proved himself worthy of being called the "dean" of American sports commissioners, since then overseeing two very different leagues: The National Football League and the National Hockey League.
He is credited with many improvements to the NBA, such as the introduction of the three-point shot and the creation of All-Star games. But perhaps his greatest achievement may be that he turned the NBA into a profitable business; according to Forbes, he earned $80 million in 2010.
At the 1984 NBA Draft in New York, David Stern was flanked by Hakeem Olajuwon, the Houston Rockets' No. 1 selection overall, and Sam Bowie, the Portland Trail Blazers' No. 2 pick overall. Mr. Stern was instrumental in making the NBA a global power. He helped transform the league into a profitable business and laid out a plan for its expansion.
As part of his job overseeing all basketball operations, Mr. Stern was also responsible for hiring and firing coaches and managers. He chose Don Nelson as his first coach after he fired Lenny Wilkens during the 1983-84 season. Under Mr. Nelson, the Mavericks made the playoffs for five consecutive years from 1984 to 1989. After losing in the first round each time, they finally won a series in 1990 against the Chicago Bulls.
Mr. Stern hired George Karl in 1999. In his first year, he led the Denver Nuggets to the playoffs for the first time since 1980. Since then, he has won over 100 games twice and has never had a losing record. He resigned after three seasons to take over the Seattle SuperSonics but was eventually replaced by Larry Brown. Mr. Stern named Paul Silas as his interim coach before hiring Sonics legend Kevin McHale as their new head coach.
After several attempts, the NBA Board of Governors approved the merger between the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association on July 7, 1976.
The NBA Commissioner is the head of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adam Silver is the current commissioner, having taken over for David Stern on February 1, 2014. The NBA's first president was Maurice Podoloff. He served as president of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) from 1946 to 1947. After his term, the BAA merged with the National Hockey League (NHL) to form what is now known as the NHL/ABA merger in 1948. The last president of the BAA was Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., who died in 1990.
The chief executive officer of the NBA is its President, who is also one of the league's 12 voting members. The president manages all business affairs of the NBA and controls player transactions. The president can also serve on any committee or board of the NBA. The most recent president to also be named CEO was Robert Sarver, who became president of the Phoenix Suns in January 2009 after former president and CEO Michael Adams was fired. Before that, William Wesley Matthews had been president since 2005 when his predecessor, Donald Sterling, was banned by the NBA for life for making racist remarks. Before joining the NBA, Sterling had been the principal owner of the Los Angeles Clippers since 1981.
The next highest position is that of deputy commissioner, which is an administrative position that handles day-to-day operations of the league office. There are five deputies, each of whom is responsible for certain areas of the NBA.
Following the previous lockout, which reduced the 1998-99 season from 82 to 50 games, the owners, led by commissioner David Stern, and the players, led by director Billy Hunter and president Patrick Ewing of the labor union National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), reached a six-year agreement. The new contract began with the start of the 1999-2000 season. It included an increased salary cap for future years of the agreement, a more flexible system for determining free agent salaries, and other changes designed to benefit both players and teams.
The current commissioner is Adam Silver. He was elected by his fellow owners on February 10, 2014. Before that date, he had been deputy commissioner since 2009. Prior to that, he had served as deputy commissioner from 2005 to 2009.
He is the second player to hold the post after it was created in 1976; Moses Malone had held the position but did not take a paycheck.
Silver has said he intends to make basketball "more accessible" and suggested that could include allowing players to be paid. "We're not going to do anything that would put us at odds with the antitrust laws," he said.
When Stern announced the end of the lockout, he said, "With today's announcement we have returned the NBA to its rightful place as America's favorite sport."
But many fans were less than thrilled to see basketball being played again.
James Walter Kennedy (June 8, 1912 – June 26, 1977) was an American businessman and politician best remembered as the National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner from 1963 to 1975. ...
| J. Walter Kennedy | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Notre Dame |
| Profession | Politician Sports administrator |
Walter A. Brown was one of the most notable names among the members of the two pioneer basketball groups. He was a key figure in the formation of the BAA in 1946. He is also credited for bringing the BAA and the National Basketball League together, which resulted in the formation of the NBA. Walter A. Brown died at the young age of 44, after being shot during an attempted robbery.
Before joining the BAA, Walter A. Brown played center for the New York Knicks (now the New York Knicks) in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team was owned by Charles Phelps Bing, who had also bought the rights to the NBL's Boston Celtics. In 1945, Bing hired Brown's former teammate from New York, Joe Lapchick, as the new coach of the Celtics. Lapchick helped bring Brown into his scheme, which focused on defense and teamwork. Under their system, the Celtics won 26 games in 1945-46, finishing first in the NBL rankings.
In 1946, Bing tried to merge the BAA with the NBL, but Brown and the other owners refused. So he started his own league, named it the American Basketball Association, and got enough teams signed up to make it viable. However, the ABA didn't last long - it collapsed after just one season. The remaining BAA teams then joined with the NBL's Boston Celtics to form what is now known as the NBA.
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