View source for David Stern

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|+ style="text-align: center; font-size: 125%; color:#000000; background-color:#ffffff" colspan="2" |'''David Stern'''
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |[[File:David Stern.jpg|230px]]<br><small>Stern attending {{w|Jazz at Lincoln Center's}} 2019 Gala in April 2019.
|-
{{Blank team color}} 4th [[Commissioner of the NBA]]
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"|'''Term'''<br>February 1, 1984 – January 31, 2014
|-
! style="vertical-align: top;"|'''Deputy:'''
| [[Adam Silver]]
|-
! style="vertical-align: top;"|'''Predecessor:'''
| [[Larry O'Brien]]
|-
! style="vertical-align: top;"|'''Successor:'''
| [[Adam Silver]]
|-
{{Blank team color}} Personal information
|-
! style="vertical-align: top;"|'''Full name:'''
| David Joel Stern
|-
! style="vertical-align: top;"|'''Born:'''
| September 22, 1942<br>{{w|New York City|New York, New York}}
|-
! style="vertical-align: top;"|'''Death:'''
| January 1, 2020 (aged {{age|1942|9|22|2020|1|1}})<br>New York, New York
|-
! style="vertical-align: top;"|'''Nationality:'''
| {{Flagicon:United States}} American
|-
{{Blank team color}} Career information
|-
! style="vertical-align: top;"|'''College:'''
| [[Rutgers Scarlet Knights|Rutgers]] (1960-1963)<br>{{w|Columbia Law School}}<br>(1966) {{w|David Stern#Early life|Early life}}
|-
! style="vertical-align: top;"|'''Occupation:'''
| Business Executive/Lawyer
|-
! style="vertical-align: top;"|'''Executive career:'''
| [[1978-79 NBA season|1978]]-[[2013–14 NBA season|2014]] (36 years)
|-
{{Blank team color}} Executive career history
|-
| 1978-1980
| NBA General Counsel
|-
| 1980-1984
| Executive Vice President
|-
| 1984-2014
| [[Commissioner of the NBA]]
|-
{{Blank team color}} Awards & Accomplishments
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: left;" |
*[[Basketball Hall of Fame]] (2014)
*2016 [[FIBA]] Hall of Fame
|}

'''David Joel Stern''' (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and retired [[basketball]] executive who served as Commissioner of the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] from 1984–2014.

Stern was credited with increasing the popularity of the NBA in the 1990s and 2000s. He had also been credited with developing and broadening the NBA's audience, especially internationally setting up training camps, playing exhibition games, and recruiting more international players. In addition, with Stern's guidance the NBA opened 12 offices in cities outside the United States, and broadcast to over 200 territories in over 40 languages. Stern also helped found the [[Women's National Basketball Association]] and the NBA G League, the NBA's development league. Under Stern, the NBA launched their digital presence with NBA.com, NBA TV, and NBA League Pass. He also established the NBA's social responsibility program, NBA Cares.

==Biography==
Stern was born in {{w|New York City}}, but grew up in {{w|Teaneck, New Jersey}}. He went to [[Rutgers Scarlet Knights|Rutger University]] graduating on the deans list. In 1966, he attended {{w|Coloumbia Law School}}. That year he joined the NBA Counsel. In 1980, he was promoted Vice President. He brought in profit and expanded the franchise. When Larry O'Brien retired in 1984 he was promoted to Commissioner.

==National Basketball Association==
His first association with the NBA in 1966 was as an outside counsel at Proskauer Rose. In 1978, Stern became the [[NBA's General Counsel]] under Larry O'Brien. By 1980, he was Executive Vice President of the NBA. During this time, two landmark decisions were reached with the NBA Players' Association: drug testing and team salary cap. The drug testing dealt with the perception that most basketball players used drugs, that the NBA admitted it had a problem, and it was cleaning it up. The salary cap created a revenue-sharing system where owner and player were effectively partners. Both of these agreements solidified Stern's standing inside NBA circles.

On February 1, 1984, Stern became the Commissioner of the NBA, succeeding Larry O'Brien. It was during that same year (1984-85) that four of the NBA's biggest superstars — [[Hakeem Olajuwon]], [[Michael Jordan]], [[Charles Barkley]], and [[John Stockton]] — entered the league. The arrival of Michael Jordan, in particular, ushered in a new era of commercial bounty for the NBA. With him came his flair and talent for the game, and that brought in shoe contracts from Nike which helped to give the league even more national attention. Jordan and the two other premier basketball legends of the 1980s, [[Larry Bird]] and [[Magic Johnson]], took the game to new heights of popularity and profit.

By 2004, Stern oversaw the NBA expand from 10 to 30 franchises (since 1966), expand into Canada, and televise games in countries around the world. Stern also oversaw the creation of the WNBA, a professional women's basketball league. Stern has been credited for developing and broadening the NBA's audience, by setting up training camps, playing exhibition games around the world, and recruiting more international players. The NBA now has 11 offices in cities outside the United States, is televised in 215 countries around the world in 43 languages, and operates the [[Women's National Basketball Association]] and the National Basketball Development League under Stern's watch.

==Death==
On December 12, 2019, Stern suffered a brain hemorrhage and underwent emergency surgery. He died in {{w|Manhattan}} on January 1, 2020, at age 77.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, David}}
[[Category:Born in 1942]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Deceased people]]
[[Category:Retired]]
[[Category:American basketball executives]]
[[Category:NBA Executives]]
[[Category:National Basketball Association commissioners]]
[[Category:New York natives]]
[[Category:Rugters Alumni]]
[[Category:Key figures in NBA history]]