David Stern
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David Joel Stern (born September 22, 1942) is a Jewish American lawyer, and has been the Commissioner of the American National Basketball Association (NBA) since 1984. David Stern graduated from Rutgers University where he was a dean's-list history student in 1963, and from Columbia Law School in 1966. Stern has served on the Rutgers University Board of Overseers, and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University.
National Basketball Association
David Stern began working in a law firm that represented the NBA after finishing at Columbia in 1966, and started what has become almost 40 years of association with the league. 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 National Basketball Association. Somewhat ironically, this was the same year that four of the biggest NBA superstars of Stern's tenure entered the league - Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, and Michael Jordan.
It was the arrival of Michael Jordan - and with it his flair, skill, marketability and Nike shoes - that most influenced Stern and the NBA's new wave of greatness. Jordan and the two other basketball legends of the 1980s - Larry Bird and Magic Johnson - took the game to new heights of popularity and profit, and by 2005 Stern had seen the NBA grow to 30 franchises, expand into Canada, seen games televised across the United States, and also moved into new fields and nations.
The NBA now has 11 offices in cities outside the United States, is televised in 212 nations in 42 languages, and Stern has helped form the Women's National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Development League.
External links
- Current Biography Excerpts: Sports Business (http://www.hwwilson.com/currentbio/sprtbus.html#stern)
- AskMen.com - David Stern (http://www.askmen.com/men/business_politics/50b_david_stern.html)
- Hall of Distinguished Alumni (http://www.alumni.rutgers.edu/hda/hda.php?show=86)de:David Stern
| Preceded by: Larry O'Brien | Commissioner of the National Basketball Association 1984- | Succeeded by: Incumbent |