David Stern retires after 30 years

[Andrew]

And so, David Stern's run as the NBA's commissioner officially comes to an end after 30 years. Not everyone decision was a great one, but on the whole, I do think he did a fine job as the commissioner and deserves a lot of credit for the success of the NBA these past three decades.

NBA.com Retrospective:
http://www.nba.com/david-stern/

Yahoo! NBA features:
Five missteps
Six lasting impacts
Ten most notorious fines and suspensions

This:



And an appearance in the Top 10 on Letterman:

phpBB [video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7z7sg7bk3A

[[Q]]

They busted out the Adam Silver Spalding balls!

[Phil89]

[shadowgrin]

Whoa I didn't know Silver was that tall.

[_Steve_]

He is, compared to Stern, who is about 5 ft...

[SoF'nAwesome]

That Silver guy kinda looks like kinda like the Dean from Community. Only he is taller and has a "crazier" vibe in his eyes.

Yes, Stern did a good job. I don't think anybody can stay for 30 years and only make good decisions and not attract criticism.

[NovU]

I have a bad feeling about Silver. I just have a feeling I will miss Stern though I never liked him much.

[SoF'nAwesome]

Everybody will miss Stern. Just look at that innocent smile, timeless!

[Andrew]

I have a bad feeling about Silver.

You think he'll do a bad job? I can't see him doing anything particularly bad to the league; I doubt he does to the NBA what Isiah Thomas did to the CBA.

[PepsiWithCoke]

I have a bad feeling about Silver.

You think he'll do a bad job? I can't see him doing anything particularly bad to the league; I doubt he does to the NBA what Isiah Thomas did to the CBA.

Or worse, What Gary Bettman did to the NHL.

[benji]

Or worse, What Gary Bettman did to the NHL.

Nothing Bettman's done can compare to Thomas's stint owning the CBA. Increasing team values despite lockouts and botched TV contracts can't compare to completely destroying a league, refusing to sell it to the NBA for a profit causing the NBA to dump its association and create its own Development League and THEN bailing on it to coach in such a way that it was forced into bankruptcy because it couldn't process money.