David Stern

David Joel Stern (born September 22, 1942) is an American lawyer who has been the Commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 1984. Born in New York City, David Stern grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, and is a graduate of Teaneck High School. Stern attended Rutgers University. He graduated as a dean's-list history student in 1963 and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1966.

Stern began his association with the NBA in 1966 as 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.^[1]

Stern has served on the Rutgers University Board of Overseers and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University. He has also served on the boards of the NAACP, Beth Israel Medical Center, the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission, among others.^[2]

He is married to Dianne Bock Stern, and they are the parents of two adult sons.

NBA Commissioner

Stern first emerged as a member of the NBA in 1966 as an outside counsel. In 1978, Stern became the NBA's General Counsel, and by 1980 was Executive Vice President of the NBA. On February 1, 1984, Stern became the fourth Commissioner of the NBA. It was during that same season (1984-85) that four of the NBA's biggest superstars — Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton — entered the league.

The arrival of Michael Jordan, in particular, ushered in a new era of greatness for the NBA. With him came his flair and talent for the game, and that brought in shoe contracts from Nike which helped to give the league even more national attention.^[3] Jordan and the two other premiere basketball legends of the 1980s, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, took the game to new heights of popularity and profit. By 2002, Stern had seen the NBA expand from 23 to 30 franchises, expand into Canada, and televise games in over 200 countries.

Stern also oversaw the creation of the WNBA, a professional women's basketball league. Under Stern's watch the NBA has undergone an unprecedented internationalization. Setting up NBA training camps and exhibition games around the globe as well as the influx of international players into the league which have played a role in developing the character of the NBA in the 21st century.^[4] The NBA now has 11 offices in cities outside the United States, is televised in 212 nations in 42 languages, and operates the Women's National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Development League under the guidance of Stern.^[5].

Under Stern's watch the NBA's charitable contributions have increased. Including the NBA's "Read to Achieve" and "NBA Cares" social programs, organized throughout various NBA communities.^[6]

Stern has demanded that all U.S. states with NBA franchises and the province of Ontario, Canada, are not to have casinos and lotteries that distribute NBA basketball betting.^[7].

Stern is considered by some to be the best commissioner in professional sports^[8]^[9]^[10]

Criticism/controversy

Microfiber ball

For the 2006-07 season the NBA introduced a new "microfiber" basketball for use in NBA games, replacing the previous style ball used since 1970. Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban agreed with the need for a new ball, claiming the old style ball was inconsistent.^[11].^[12] Many of the league's most prominent players openly expressed their dislike for the new ball, such as Shaquille O'Neal who said, "Feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store."^[13] A study, financed by Cuban, claimed that the new ball "bounces 5 to 8% lower than typical leather balls when dropped from 4 feet...[and] the new ball bounces 30% more erratically."^[14] However, Stern refused to go back to the original ball despite many complaints by players with the new ball.^[15] Two months into the season Stern stated that the new ball may have been a poor choice and poorly tested^[16] and "we could've done a better job".^[17]

On December 11, 2006 the NBA announced that it would in fact switch back to the leather ball starting on January 1, 2007.^[18]

References

Official NBA Bio

External links

Preceded by Larry O'Brien	NBA Commissioner 1984-	Succeeded by Incumbent

[1] ttp://www.nba.com/history/commissioners.html NBA.com

[2] ttp://www.nba.com/nba101/david_j_stern_bio.html NBA.com

[3] ttp://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/marty_burns/news/2002/05/07/burns_jordan/ SI.com

[4] ttp://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/playoffs/2005-06-14-international-finals_x.htm USA Today.com

[5] ttp://www.seattlechamber.com/pls/starter/newsletter_detail.read_pdf?v_newsletter_id=181 City of Seattle

[6] ttp://www.nba.com/nba101/david_j_stern_bio.html NBA.com

[7] ttp://celtics.bostonherald.com/otherNBA/view.bg?articleid=183634 Boston Herald.xom

[8] ttp://znews.blogspot.com/2007/02/david-sterns-tour-de-force.html Sports Business News

[9] ttp://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Feb-18-Sun-2007/sports/12672184.html Review Journal

[10] ttp://slamonline.com/online/2006/12/david-stern-is-smart/ Slam Online

[11] ttp://www.blogmaverick.com/2006/10/05/the-new-nba-ball/

[12] ttp://www.blogmaverick.com/2006/11/10/the-new-nba-ball-p2/

[13] ttp://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2610976

[14] ttp://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2006-10-31-new-nba-ball_x.htm

[15] ttp://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2621347

[16] ttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/sports/basketball/06ball.html?ex=1323061200&en=930a8d3b517beaf3&ei=5088partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[17] ttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/sports/basketball/06ball.html?hp&ex=1165467600&en=08728757c39f319b&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[18] ttp://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2006-12-11-new-ball-gone_x.htm

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