David Stern dies after agonizing, haunted last few days

I'm shocked no one's posted about this yet. It probably shouldn't be a Seattle area sports fan starting a post about the expiration of one David Stern. But to give the devil his due, his manipulation of the 1980 NBA draft lottery that sent Magic Johnson to LA and Larry Bird to Boston was a master stroke. The NBA wouldn't be what it is today, nay, basketball the world over, wouldn't be what it is today without David Stern.

If only Seattle City council had kissed David Stern's ring when they had the chance, we'd still be talking about Seattle Sonics basketball. Instead, we've been waiting for this day as most Seattle sports fans believe it would take Stern's passing before his influence would cease and we'd get another NBA team. (The NBA, while Stern was still alive, has been doing some crazy ass s*** like keeping weak franchises like the Pelicans and the Hornets afloat while leaving money on the table in Seattle)

There's kind of a love/hate relationship with him, here in the Phoenix area. On the one hand, he suspended two of the Suns' best players during a playoff run, arguably for flimsy reasons. On the other hand, he brought 2 all star games to the Phoenix area.

He certainly did a huge amount for the global growth of basketball while still being the villain of the piece quite frequently. RIP.

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Originally Posted by 3LockBox

But to give the devil his due, his manipulation of the 1980 NBA draft lottery that sent Magic Johnson to LA and Larry Bird to Boston was a master stroke.

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That was before his time. He didn't take over until 1984.

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Originally Posted by TheLoony

That was before his time. He didn't take over until 1984.

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His involvement with the NBA started in the late '70s and 1980 was in charge of marketing, public relations and business affairs. It has long been rumored that he had a hand in the draft I mentioned. He denied it of course.

No!!

The year is starting out just like 2016.

Of all the commissioners across the 4 major sports in my lifetime, he was probably the best.

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Originally Posted by yamishogun

No!!

The year is starting out just like 2016.

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🤔

Sam Wyche and David Stern?

I hope that's ironic humor

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Originally Posted by moecurlythanu

Of all the commissioners across the 4 major sports in my lifetime, he was probably the best.

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To be fair, that bar is rather low.

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Originally Posted by Scott Bails

To be fair, that bar is rather low.

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That is true.

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Originally Posted by 3LockBox

I'm shocked no one's posted about this yet. It probably shouldn't be a Seattle area sports fan starting a post about the expiration of one David Stern. But to give the devil his due, his manipulation of the 1980 NBA draft lottery that sent Magic Johnson to LA and Larry Bird to Boston was a master stroke. The NBA wouldn't be what it is today, nay, basketball the world over, wouldn't be what it is today without David Stern.

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As someone said, that was before his time. But he did rig the draft so the Knicks would get Patrick Ewing.

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Originally Posted by paythesnuka

As someone said, that was before his time. But he did rig the draft so the Knicks would get Patrick Ewing.

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And I explained, he was head of marketing and business affairs at the time and pretty much was given carte blanche by existing commissioner Larry O'Brien. The idea that Stern orchestrated the '80 trade is a story that has floated around sports talk for years. Its not something I came up with on my own. There was even a big dustup twixt Stern and Jim Rome because Rome asked him straight up about it in an interview (8-9 years ago).