jewishtelegraphicagency.com file photo: David Stern poses for photos with the media in undated photo

By Jerry Feitelberg

David Stern, who led the NBA from February 1st, 1984 to February 1st, 2014, passed away on New Year’s Day after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage three weeks earlier. Stern, who was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, worked at his father’s deli in New York City as a young man. He learned the value of hard work there. He received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and his law degree from Columbia.

Stern went to work for the prestigious law firm of Proskauer, Rose, Goetz, and Mendelsohn, which happened to represent the NBA. He joined the NBA in 1978 as general counsel under then-commissioner Larry O’Brien. From 1979 to 1981, the NBA Finals, in those dark days, were shown on tape delay. They were broadcast at 11:30 pm Eastern Time.

Stern helped negotiate a drug testing policy in 1983. The NBA was the first major sports league to do so. He also had the league adopt a salary cap aimed at helping small-market franchises stay alive.

When Stern took over in 1984, teams were struggling to stay alive. Stern also benefitted from having star players such as Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan. Stern had a domineering personality. He also had vision and instinct to lift the league from the dark days to the new levels of prosperity and popularity. The NBA is now enormously popular here in the United States and all over the world. The games are now televised in more than 200 countries and in 40 languages. Also, this will be the sixth year in a row that the NBA will have at least 100 international players.

In his time as commissioner, Stern grew the NBA to a 5 billion-dollar a year enterprise. TV revenue increased 40-fold. The league added 7 new teams to create a 30-team league. Stern started the Women’s NBA League in 1997, and the NBA developmental league, now known as the G-League in 2001.

These examples will illustrate the changes that occurred. In 1985, Jerry Reinsdorf bought the Chicago Bulls for 16 million dollars. In 2014, Steve Ballmer bought the Los Angeles Clippers for two billion. Charles Barkley had this to say about David Stern: “I think people see all the money in sports and think that it was always like that,” Barkley said this recently on the program “Inside the N.B.A.” “When I got to the N.B.A. in 1984, which was Commissioner’s first year, the average salary was $250,000. It’s almost $9 million now. And he is largely responsible for that.” Some players are now making as much as 40 million dollars a year.”

Davi Stern leaves quite a legacy. His family, and his NBA family, can be very proud of the accomplishments of this man. Rest in peace.