David Stern, the visionary behind NBA’s growth as global sports, dead at 77
January 2, 2020 Basketball
- David Stern, who masterminded the NBA’s growth into a global sports powerhouse while serving as commissioner from 1984 to 2014, died Wednesday after suffering a brain hemorrhage last month. He was 77.
- The NBA, whose championship games were not televised live in the United States when Stern’s 30-year tenure began, announced his passing, which came with his family at his bedside.
- Stern, who underwent emergency surgery after he was stricken December 12, built the league into a global sporting empire by the time he retired on February 1, 2014, and passed leadership to current commissioner Adam Silver.
