“My good friend…”
How many, if any, of today’s players would say that?
Probably not that many, judging by the crickets that you hear when check for player tweets and comments about Stern’s announcement. Perhaps many of this generation of players harbor bad feelings for him due to the climate of NBA economics after last year’s lockout?
How many fans, particularly of the younger generation, would speak affectionately of David Stern and his legacy as the NBA Commissioner?
You wouldn’t know it if they did, especially after how they have booed him during each of the past few drafts.
In an email to the USA Today, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said, “Contrary to what most people think I’m a huge fan of David’s. We didn’t always agree but we have always respected each other. It won’t be the same when he leaves.”
In response to Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver taking over, Bill Simmons—who, aside from being the author of New York Times bestseller, The Book of Basketball, will be joining Johnson on NBA Countdown for ESPN this season—sent out the following tweet.
Our own Chris Sheridan shared his thoughts on Stern’s impending retirement as well as his legacy.
Regardless of what some fans or players may think, or whatever ways in which they perceive him to have been a bad commissioner, the NBA would not be as popular or profitable as it is today, had a lesser man been in charge.
Stern took a professional sport that had not yet reached its potential and spread its reach to global horizons.
His legacy, whether acknowledged or not, can be seen everywhere that you find basketball being played across the globe. That is the kind of impact that he had on the game.
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