NBA: OFFICIAL: "Farewell and Good Riddance, Commissioner David Stern" Thread

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The top 2 sports commissioners are both from the NFL. Rozelle because he convinced the federal government and Nixon to allow national TV broadcasts to avoid an rust scrutiny. That was a transcendent mvoe for US sports. Tagliabue is 2 for bringing the salary cap into US sports which combined with what Rozelle accomplished created the top sport in the US by a significant margin.

I am not sold on Stern's 'success.' The guy wasn't a particularly powerful commissioner. About the only notable intervention he had in 30 years was the nix to Paul but that had more to do with 20+ owners making him do it. The various labor negotiations have been noted as cluster s with vying factions and infighting. They certainly were not notable by his control of the situation. The first one was a self admitted failure and the second one we will see but he ducked out of the consummation of that deal.

I suppose that he did see the NBA expand under his watch but how much of that was him or the transcendent talent that emerged soon after the merger? His expansions have not been marked by a whole lot of success. Miami I grant you but then you have charlotte moving to NO to be replaced again. Hardly good management.

His marketing of the NBA internationally has been tepid although that is true of all US sports. I just don't know what he did well. I even think that he mismanaged the NBA brand by promoting players before the team or the sport itself.

[DeadlyDynasty]

I just don't know what he did well. I even think that he mismanaged the NBA brand by promoting players before the team or the sport itself.

The star system is what works in the NBA, and what makes it a viable, unique product. You can't sell the casual observer on the mid 2000's Spurs or Pistons--they played great fundamental basketball but that is not marketable and worth the price of admission. If that's your selling point then you'd be better off just watching Duke play at the collegiate level. and don't give me this that "it's what sells because that's what Stern forced down our throats," bull . The 70's NBA sucked long and hard.

In no other major sport is the talent of an individual as vital to a team's success as basketball. There's less players on the court at one time than any other sport, so naturally any superior athletic talent is going to shine. It's part of the reason why deep down a lot of us didn't want LeBron to leave Cleveland--or wish he would go back or somewhere else--b/c I wanna see him drop 50-burgers every night instead of passing it up to scrubs. I can't fault him at all for trying to win, but now that he's done it I wanna see him score at will while he's still at his physical peak. It's part of the reason why mid-2000s Kobe was so fun to watch...any night you could witness a scoring binge like no other. That bumped the NFL playoffs from the front page with one game--and that's what's awe-inspiring about NBA talent. Not 4-down and that boring bull they tried peddling in SA. Insane talent/athletic ability is what's worth the price of admission.

Stars saved the NBA, and props to Stern for fostering that.

[callo1]

A drunk monkey could have increased the revenue of the NBA. Stern getting all of this blind credit is a joke.

[baseline bum]

People aren't giving Stern enough credit for cleaning up the league when he entered. Everyone has all these fond memories of Bird, Magic, and Julius, but they ignore that the NBA game sucked for most of the first half of the 80s since half the league was on coke. You had stars like George Gervin and Michael Ray Richardson just falling off the face of the earth with their games. The Western Conference outside of LA was practically unwatchable, and no one was making any real money. The difference in the league between Larry O'Brien's tenure vs Stern's was just night and day. And then look at how it has been the opposite story with baseball when you compare Selig to his predecessors. In the 80s everyone used to watch baseball, everyone was excited about the World Series, but now most of the country thinks the 's boring.

[Thread]

^The bumster:::Monday morning coming down.