David Stern Biography

Fast Facts

• Announced plans to retire as Commissioner on February 1, 2014, 30 years to the day that he initially took office
• Instrumental in creating the WNBA in April of 1996
• An undergraduate of Rutgers University, he eventually went on to attend Columbia Law School in 1966
• Quote: "[Regarding the relocation of franchises] "I don't see any scenario where both cities are happy․""
• Credited for broadening the audience of professional basketball on a worldwide scale, while also increasing profits for the league more than 30 times that of what they were when he took office
• Initially got his start in the NBA while serving as general counsel to the league while under Larry O'Brien in 1978 and by 1984 he was fully instated as Commissioner
• Best known for enacted the NBA's first policies regarding league-wide dress codes as well as team salary caps
• No stranger to controversy, he has been the center of numerous allegations regarding draft lottery fixing as well as player suspensions regarding dress code, banned substances and personal fines