David Stern, who served as the NBA’s commissioner from 1984 through 2014, died on Wednesday following a three-week hospitalization after suffering a brain hemorrhage on Dec. 12. He was 77.
Why he mattered: The son of a Manhattan deli owner, Stern helped turn a modest regional sport into a global behemoth, launched the WNBA, understood where the sports world was headed long before it got there and was a good man.
- He also let Donald Sterling get away with far too much, showed little remorse when businessmen stole the SuperSonics from Seattle, mishandled the fallout from the Malice in the Palace (the infamous dress code stands out) and could be a bully at times.
- It’s a complicated legacy (the same can be said for most commissioners), but it’s one that makes Stern perhaps the most influential non-athlete in the history of American sports.
What they’re saying: Most obituaries read like longwinded Wikipedia entries. But with Stern, the vast majority have been more profound — pulling back the curtain on who he really was; how he treated people; what he believed.
- It’s a sign of respect, if you ask me, as writers seek to encapsulate the intricacies of a human being who walked this Earth — flaws and all! — rather than memorialize a historical figure in banal, repeated words.
TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott wrote the best of the bunch — a remarkable tribute filled with memorable anecdotes and honest analysis. Here’s how it starts:
- “[David Stern] was an absolute wizard. Other biographies will note he was from New Jersey. To me, he was from behind a curtain in Oz. David Blaine and David Copperfield (so many Davids!) can kiss Stern’s ass.
- “The magic trick of the century was that a socially odd, five-nine lawyer from Teaneck rearranged every goddamned star in the basketball universe so that only Michael Jordan could rival Stern as the defining character of National Basketball Association history.
- “How in the hell did he do that? With brilliance, hard work, vision, and, crucially: ruthlessness.”
