Hello I did my Junior Essay on the impact David Stern has left on the NBA during his career as NBA Commissioner. I will review some accomplishments and failures he has encountered and also some information about my thesis, that he brought a racial-centered league to a almost racist free game and also made companies pay to have their name connected with the NBA’s.
David Joel Stern was introduced as the Commissioner of the NBA in 1984, succeeding Larry O’Brien.
Like I said before, he made the NBA global. He brought in players from around the world
He made the NBA global. He brought offices to over 15 countries, made games televised in over 215 countries. He also brought 2 teams to Canada, the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies. Almost unbelievably, NBA revenue has increased by 3000% since 1984, he would do anything that would bring in more $. If he thought a new logo would increase apparel and ticket sales, he’d do it. As you can see he did to the Raptors and Grizzlies.
And you can also see almost every team has gone through logo changes since the 80’s. Even some teams have had 3 different main logos
Stern would do anything that could potentially bring in more money. Most teams have a home/away jersey, and maybe an alternate jersey. But he knew jersey sales are going through the roof, so why not make more. A blacked out and white out jersey, and even bringing back retro uniforms.
He created a viable women’s league that has had increased popularity since its existence
And lastly he created NBA Cares in 2005, in over 7 years NBA Cares has donated more than $210, 2.3 million hours of volunteer service, and have built more than 760 places for kids to live, learn, and enjoy sports
Yet it wasn’t always smooth sailing for Stern. His idea for a draft lottery has received a lot of scrutiny throughout the league.
He tried to create parity in the league, but since he took over only 8 different teams have won a championship while 15 have won in the NHL and NFL and 18 have won in the MLB.
There have been 4 lockouts, and 2 have caused him to cancel games
Early 1980’s were subject to Dr. J throwing down slam dunks. Major target market was African American teenagers
He used Larry Bird and Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson’s rivalry as his major marketing plan
He marketed Bird as a hard working white male from the heart of the country in Indiana
He marketed Magic as a flashy black male from the heart of Lansing
The NBA was viewed as a racism-full game but reporters now shut that opinion down because there are minorities making millions of dollars. KG has received over $250 M in only salary and Kobe and Carmelo make over $20 M a season
When Stern first took over, the NBA couldn’t afford to promote their Saturday games on ABC. Now the NBA is a multi-billion dollar organization and their games are played on TNT, ABC, and ESPN.
The NBA has also signed massively expensive deals with Adidas, McDonalds, Nike, and Coca-Cola
Stern has been referred as the NBA’s greatest figure not names Bird, Magic, Jordan, Bryant, or James
Without Stern, the NBA would not be where it is today. His marketing genius has made the NBA a must watch and he has made it an almost racist free game, without him, we wouldn’t be blessed with the great game we know now.
