Follow The Leader: 3 Reasons Why David Stern Will Leave The NBA A Better Place
Basketball, Lists, Steven LeBron, The Fam — By Steven LeBron on October 26, 2012 at 7:00 am
By Alex Wong / @steven_lebron
It was announced yesterday that David Stern will step down as commissioner of the NBA in 2014, passing on the position to Adam Silver as successor. When you’ve run a league for as long as Stern has, in a game with players as volatile and unpredictable as the NBA, there’s going to be a long list of positives and negatives. We’ll debate forever about the envelope that delivered Patrick Ewing to the Knicks, wonder whether Jordan retired on his own terms or was forced into a pseudo gambling suspension, but all conspiracies aside, this is truth: Stern will hand over to Silver a league that is thriving and more popular than ever. The challenge for Silver won’t be to revive a dying brand, but to just maintain the standards that Stern has set for the NBA. Below are some highlights I think are worth noting.
Tags: David Stern, Lists, NBA
Tweet This
Digg This
Save to delicious
Stumble it
RSS Feed
5 Comments
The dress code from a perception (and even an execution) standpoint ended up being one of the best things that ever happened to the NBA. Some paying customers (I won’t say all, because I’m a paying customer, and the way players used to dress didn’t bother me) feel more at ease when they see guys in clothes that fit, no rags, fitteds, sneakers, etc. Like someone said on TSS earlier this morning, I don’t hear (as many) cries of “thug, hooligan, miscreant” like I did pre-dress code.
Imma miss old Stern. A lot of it has to do with nostalgia. I grew up under his watch and saw what he did for the NBA. We’ll see how his final act as Commish goes, but I think he should be given the utmost respect, even when people are pointing at his missteps.
For sure Stern’s had his missteps (one that jumps out to me is how the Sonics situation was handled), but it’s hard managing 30 owners all with different business models and interests and policing the players as well.
On the whole he’s done great.
The dress code thing is fascinating to me, and you make a good point Kenny, it really did improve the way people looked at the league and its players, and yet still left room for players to find their own creative freedom (ie. Westbrook).
I think my favorite thing about Stern is that no matter what, the dude always had the utmost confidence and seemed to base every decision he made, whether fans, owners and players agreed all the time or not, on bettering the league. Sure, sometimes he had his missteps and he certainly could be his own enemy, but man, he really was/is a behemoth in sports.
I’m gonna miss the way he embraced the villain role as well, basking in boos and always having a good time even in tough times. I think our old boy Roger Goodell could learn a thing or two about running a league from Stern.
Stern’s been nothing but an OG since he took the throne. Even when I disagreed with him on certain things, in the long run he’s made decisions for the better. The thing I appreciate about him more than anything is that when he believed in something, he didn’t back down not one bit.
-Ed.