David Stern
David Joel Stern entered the world on the 22nd of September 1942 in Manhattan. His family lived in Teaneck, New Jersey where his father ran a Jewish delicatessen in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. He grew up watching games at Madison Square Garden with his father and considered Carl Braun his hero. The young fan played basketball briefly before sustaining a serious right knee injury during a New York Lawyers League game. After graduating from Teaneck High School in 1959 he attended Rutgers University. He joined the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity there and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history by 1963. Stern then moved to Columbia Law School to receive his Juris Doctor degree in 1966.
Stern began working for the law firm Proskauer Rose after leaving law school. He served as lead attorney representing the firm in Robertson v. National Basketball Association. This landmark lawsuit was brought against the NBA by star player Oscar Robertson. Stern helped negotiate a settlement that allowed the NBA ABA merger to proceed while abolishing the option clause in player contracts. By 1980 he had become executive vice president for business and legal affairs under Commissioner Larry O'Brien. An August 1980 report by the Los Angeles Times estimated that 40 to 75 percent of NBA players used cocaine. The league became the first major sports organization in North America to implement drug testing policies. Stern also drove the creation of team salary cap agreements which established revenue sharing where players received 53 percent of all revenues.
On the 1st of February 1984 David Stern officially became Commissioner of the NBA. His first year saw him offer Adrian Paenza rights to air weekly highlights for just $2,000 a year through Argentina Channel 9. In 1987 he started shipping VHS tapes from his New York office to China's state-run television station. Stern pushed to allow NBA players to participate in international tournaments contributing to the creation of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team known as the Dream Team. Magic Johnson announced he was HIV-positive and retiring from basketball in a press conference with Stern sitting by his side. Despite public fear regarding transmission through sweat or handshakes Stern allowed Johnson to play in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game and later for the Dream Team. He helped inform owners and sponsors about the virus while putting infection-control procedures in place. By 2004 the number of teams reached 30 after adding franchises like the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies in 1995.
The summer of 2011 brought an NBA lockout that cost regular-season games for the second time in league history. HBO commentator Bryant Gumbel accused Stern of being some kind of modern-day plantation overseer during negotiations. On the 8th of December 2011 Stern vetoed a three-team trade involving Chris Paul Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol citing basketball reasons. The decision faced negative reactions from fans and media who criticized the conflict of interest posed by the league's ownership of one of its teams. Before the 2005-06 season the NBA announced a new dress code banning headphones chains shorts and sleeveless shirts. Allen Iverson criticized the policy stating they targeted guys who dressed hip-hop. A decade later Stern's edict was credited with spawning a style trend among stars toward high fashion. In 2007 Stern injected himself into the controversy surrounding the purchase and relocation of the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City.
Stern received the Olympic Order in 2014 after stepping down as commissioner on the 1st of February 2014. He was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame that same year. In 2016 he became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame. His tenure saw the development of digital presence through NBA.com NBA TV and NBA League Pass. He also established the NBA Cares social responsibility program. Stern served on the Rutgers University Board of Overseers and chaired JALC's Marketing Committee at Jazz at Lincoln Center. He remained Chair Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University while serving as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. By the later years of his commissionership Stern earned a $9 million salary annually.
David Stern married Dianne Bock Stern and they had two sons named Eric and Andrew. The family resided in Scarsdale New York. On the 12th of December 2019 Stern suffered a brain hemorrhage and underwent emergency surgery. He died in Manhattan on the 1st of January 2020 at age 77. All NBA teams wore black bands on their jerseys for the remainder of the 2019-20 season in remembrance. Several basketball legends including LeBron James Michael Jordan Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant mourned his death. Kobe Bryant himself died just 25 days after Stern. Stern appeared as himself in the 2012 documentary film The Other Dream Team about the Lithuania men's national basketball team at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
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Common questions
When was David Stern born and where did he grow up?
David Joel Stern entered the world on the 22nd of September 1942 in Manhattan. His family lived in Teaneck, New Jersey where his father ran a Jewish delicatessen in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.
What role did David Stern play in the Robertson v. National Basketball Association lawsuit?
Stern served as lead attorney representing the law firm Proskauer Rose in the landmark lawsuit brought against the NBA by star player Oscar Robertson. He helped negotiate a settlement that allowed the NBA ABA merger to proceed while abolishing the option clause in player contracts.
How many teams were in the NBA when David Stern stepped down as commissioner?
By 2004 the number of teams reached 30 after adding franchises like the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies in 1995. David Stern officially became Commissioner of the NBA on the 1st of February 1984 and stepped down from that position on the 1st of February 2014.
Why did David Stern allow Magic Johnson to play in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game despite his HIV diagnosis?
Despite public fear regarding transmission through sweat or handshakes Stern allowed Johnson to play in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game and later for the Dream Team. He helped inform owners and sponsors about the virus while putting infection-control procedures in place.
When did David Stern die and how old was he at the time of his death?
David Stern died in Manhattan on the 1st of January 2020 at age 77. He suffered a brain hemorrhage on the 12th of December 2019 and underwent emergency surgery before passing away.