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{"source_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com", "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/david-stern-dies-at-77-obituary-2019-12", "title": "Former NBA Commissioner David Stern dead at 77", "top_image": "https://image.businessinsider.com/5e0d0f0ee94e864bd253e295?width=1200&format=jpeg", "meta_img": "https://image.businessinsider.com/5e0d0f0ee94e864bd253e295?width=1200&format=jpeg", "images": ["data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E", "https://image.businessinsider.com/5e0d0f0fe94e864bd253e299?width=600&format=jpeg&auto=webp", "https://image.businessinsider.com/5e0d0f0ee94e864bd253e295?width=1200&format=jpeg", "https://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/careerbuilder.png", "https://image.businessinsider.com/5e0d0f0ee94e864bd253e297?width=600&format=jpeg&auto=webp", "https://image.businessinsider.com/5e0d0f0fe94e864bd253e29a?width=600&format=jpeg&auto=webp", "https://image.businessinsider.com/5e0d0f0ee94e864bd253e296?width=600&format=jpeg&auto=webp", "https://image.businessinsider.com/5e0d0f0fe94e864bd253e298?width=600&format=jpeg&auto=webp", "https://image.businessinsider.com/5e0d0f0ee94e864bd253e296?width=24&format=jpeg&auto=webp"], "movies": [], "text": "Former NBA Commissioner David Stern died on Wednesday at the age of 77.\n\nStern was the commissioner of the NBA from 1984-2014 and was widely recognized for his role in growing the game nationally and globally.\n\nAfter retiring in 2014, Stern stayed involved with basketball and said the league \"couldn't be in better shape.\"\n\nHe is survived by his wife, Dianne Brock Stern, and two sons, Eric and Andrew.\n\nVisit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.\n\nDavid Stern, the former NBA Commissioner, died on Wednesday at the age of 77, the league announced.\n\nStern suffered a brain hemorrhage and underwent emergency surgery on December 12. Stern suffered a second brain hemorrhage and subsequent surgery on December 17.\n\nHe is survived by his wife, Dianne Brock Stern, and two sons, Eric and Andrew.\n\nNBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement:\n\n\"For 22 years, I had a courtside seat to watch David in action. He was a mentor and one of my dearest friends. We spent countless hours in the office, at arenas and on planes wherever the game would take us. Like every NBA legend, David had extraordinary talents, but with him it was always about the fundamentals \u2013 preparation, attention to detail and hard work.\n\n\"Every member of the NBA family is the beneficiary of David's vision, generosity and inspiration. Our deepest condolences go out to David's wife, Dianne, their sons, Andrew and Eric, and their extended family, and we share our grief with everyone whose life was touched by him.\"\n\nStern served as NBA Commissioner from 1984-2014. He is widely recognized for his role in the growth and expansion of the NBA and the sport around the world.\n\nA legal role working with the NBA\n\nStern grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers in 1963 and Columbia Law School in 1966.\n\nShortly after graduating Columbia, Stern joined Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn, the law firm that represented the NBA. With the firm, Stern worked on cases that included the ABA-NBA merger in 1976 and the development of free agency.\n\nJoining the NBA\n\nIn 1978, then-NBA Commissioner Larry O'Brien convinced Stern to work for the league. Stern first joined as a counsel, until O'Brien created the role of executive vice president for Stern. Stern's responsibilities included \"marketing, television and public relations,\" The New York Times reported in 1983.\n\nDavid Stern in 1983. Mario Suriani/AP Stern's early work included the introduction of a salary cap to help control player salaries in a financially unstable league and the implementation of drug policies, which were a problem for the league.\n\nIn 1983, Stern was selected as the fourth commissioner of the NBA.\n\n\"I told [team owners] of David's qualities and how I urged him to extend his work beyond the legal department,\" O'Brien said at the time. \"By creating the position for him, it made him the No. 2 man. I'm extremely pleased that they have made the No. 2 man, the No. 1 man.''\n\nWhen Stern took the job, he spoke of expanding the league's television ratings and expanding the game overseas.\n\nA growing league\n\nStern's hiring coincided with the introduction of several marquee players, including Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and John Stockton. The national popularity of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird was also gaining the league more attention.\n\nThe emergence of Jordan ushered in a new era of popularity, helped, in part, by sneaker companies like Nike and Adidas.\n\nUnder Stern, the NBA signed increasingly large TV deals, according to CBS \u2014 a two-year, $26 million deal with TBS in 1984; a four-year, $173 million deal with CBS in 1986; a four-year, $275 million deal with TNT and four-year, $601 million deal with NBC in 1990, to name a few.\n\nThe league expanded from 23 teams in 1983-84 to 29 teams by 1995-96. Under Stern, a total of seven new franchises were introduced. Several teams also relocated.\n\nMichael Jordan is presented with the 1996 MVP trophy by David Stern. Charles Bennett/AP NBA TV ratings dipped following Jordan's retirement. In the 2000s, the NBA introduced several changes, including the elimination of hand-checking to open up the game to draw more fans.\n\nDespite occasional dips in interest and popularity, the NBA continued to grow under Stern. From 1990 to 2010, the salary cap rose from $20.6 million to over $60 million. In a 2006 profile of Stern, Sports Illustrated's Jack McCallum wrote that league revenues had grown \"twelvefold\" under Stern.\n\nStern is perhaps most widely credited for growing the NBA internationally, as he helped open 13 global NBA offices and the staging of regular-season games in other countries.\n\nStern also helped oversee the creation of the WNBA in 1996.\n\nControversies during his tenure\n\nDavid Stern speaks to reporters during the 2011 lockout. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images) Stern's tenure as Commissioner was not without its bumps.\n\nStern oversaw five lockouts \u2014 three with players, two with referees \u2014 two of which, in 1999 and 2011, forced reduced seasons.\n\nStern was criticized for several policies, most famously the NBA's dress code. In 2005, the league-mandated that players wear business casual clothing to games and wear a dress jacket while sitting on the bench. Some players accused the policy of being racist.\n\nOther changes were considered flops. Players widely complained about a new ball that was introduced in 2006 until the league went back to the previous version.\n\nThe league drew negative headlines for several big altercations, most notoriously the \"Malice at the Palace\" fight between Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers players and fans in 2006, which resulted in historic suspensions and fines. Playoff altercations between the New York Knicks and Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns also resulted in suspensions that affected the series outcomes.\n\nConspiracy theories surrounded some of the biggest moments during Stern's tenure, though he denied them. The \"frozen envelope\" theory suggested an envelope was intentionally marked during the 1985 draft lottery to award the New York Knicks with the No. 1 pick, Patrick Ewing, to boost TV ratings. Stern famously lashed out at sports radio host Jim Rome for asking if the draft was rigged.\n\nThere were also theories that Michael Jordan's first retirement in 1993 was due to a gambling suspension. Stern joked with ESPN about the rumor that he suspended Jordan in his own house: \"My wife still wants to know where she was that day.\"\n\nStern and the NBA came under fire in 2011 after vetoing a trade between the New Orleans Hornets, which the league ran at the time and the Los Angeles Lakers that would have sent star point guard Chris Paul to the Lakers. Some accused the NBA of trying to keep a large-market team like the Lakers from landing a star player.\n\nRetirement\n\nAdam Silver and David Stern. Getty Images Stern retired on February 1, 2014, 30 years to the day that he became NBA commissioner. Adam Silver succeeded him.\n\nStern was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.\n\nIn 2019, Stern told ESPN's The Undefeated that he rarely attended NBA games, but frequently watched from home. He remained involved in the game, working with companies that worked on the physical and mental health of players.\n\nStern told The Undefeated said he approved of the job Silver was doing, saying the NBA \"couldn't be in better shape.\"", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": [], "authors": ["Scott Davis"], "publish_date": "Wed Jan 1 00:00:00 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "David Stern was widely recognized for his role in growing the NBA's popularity and expanding the game overseas. 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