David Stern: pro sports’ longest standing commissioner

 

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 5/26/2008

 LOS ANGELES — Professional sports leagues have been tarnished in recent years by controversies: Major League Baseball with steroids, the NFL with the “Spy Gate Scandal” involving New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, and now the NBA with convicted former referee Tim Donaghy and his game-fixing.

 During the NBA Finals, Donaghy the admitted felon has alleged that two former colleagues he called “company men” conspired to ensure the 2002 West Finals would reach a seventh game. 

 This week in New York , Commissioner David Stern will oversee his 25th NBA Draft as the league moves on from this year’s successful Finals with Boston beating Los Angeles four games to two. Stern has taken on many challenges during his tenure.

 Many years ago, he convinced me that he’s the best when he refused to allow Minnesota Timberwolves owners Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Radner to sell the team down the Mississippi River to a New Orleans group associated with Harrah’s Casino.

 I had the opportunity to sit down with the longest standing commissioner in professional sports and go one-on-one with Stern (DS) during the finals.

 DS: Wow, you make it sound like I’m old.

 LF: No, that was not my intention. It’s credibility, it’s integrity, it’s the ability to withstand and build.

 DS: Then I forgive you. It’s 25 years. I appreciate it.

 LF: This year’s Lakers versus Celtics Finals — for you, does it appear the league and fans got what they wanted?

 DS: We just want a good Final, but it is true that when I came into this league, I thought that what you did in June was commute between LA and Boston . 1984, ’85, ’87 —  it was a very exciting time. But clearly these two franchises, they have played in 31 of our 62 Finals. They have the tradition, they have history, they attract a certain level of support that’s higher than others.

 LF: You’ve taken the NBA game to another level with the international players now making strong contributions and playing well on many teams around the league. It works; the Lakers have several international players, and the Celtics don’t have any.

DS: To me, it isn’t what we allow; it’s what capitalism encourages. The best players are coming into the NBA, and it is no longer the province of America to say we own it. We have 75 international players, and the idea that it’s some tall Eastern European who’s sitting at the end of the bench is just not true anymore.

You’ve got players with attitude, whether it’s Manu Ginobli or Tony Parker. You’ve got big guys like Yao Ming and Paul Casol and Dirk Nowitzki, and you’ve got them in every single stripe, and they are tough, and they have finesse and talent, and our fans love them, because if they’ve got game, they fit right in.

 LF: Commissioner, there were many trades last season that changed the faces of franchises, Shaquille going from Miami to Phoenix and Jason Kidd from New Jersey to Dallas. But maybe the biggest deal, if you judge it by who made it to the Finals, had to be Minnesota trading Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics. Your view on the deals and wheels that changed the faces of franchises?

 DS: There comes a time when it’s sort of time for a separation, and I think that both Kevin and the Timberwolves were saying okay, this is about that time. And what you look for, I think, is for Kevin to go to a good situation, which he did.

 The Timberwolves side of the deal you really won’t be able to judge completely for a couple more years, but they got…exciting young players, and they are going to play more as a team. The coach [Randy Wittman] is going to be tested a bit, but my guess is that they made what will turn out to have been a very good move for the franchise.

 And, Boston made a good move, and I read the clips, and people are saying okay, they better have made it, and they better do it this year, because they put together a team that’s built for a Finals run.

 Although I don’t find K.G. and Paul Pierce to be so old, maybe Ray Allen has a few years on him, but I think they are going to be able to contend for a while. People are suggesting that it’s a little like Miami when they got Shaq; for a run they succeeded and then the team moved him.

 But, I think it was a good trade for both sides. The Celtics got two, three, maybe four years of a very high caliber team, and the Timberwolves got the opportunity to go young, add talent, and get people excited over the long run.

 LF: How are you withstanding the timing of the Tim Donaghy controversy, being in a ocean drowning from his conviction, yet pointing the finger at the league and other referees and stating other examples where he says the league conspired to dictate the outcome of playoff games?.

 DS: He is going to drown by himself, and in some measure it’s a tribute to our Finals that the place…if you want to make noise in basketball, the best place to make it is during the NBA Finals. He’s a very desperate character. He’s an admitted felon, and his lawyer obviously is very charged up, because Donaghy pleaded guilty to something that’s going to subject him to a larger potential imprisonment — that is, codefendants.

 It’s a perfect mix for them to try to use this to somehow either intimidate us or intimidate the FBI or intimidate the U.S Attorney’s Office. Well, it’s not going to happen.

LF: Thanks for the opportunity. Terrific work, Commissioner, all these years. Any help for Minnesota that you see on the horizon? They do have the number-three pick in the NBA Draft later this month.

 DS: By the way, it’s a pretty good pick and a pretty good group of youngsters as well. I think the Timberwolves are very much so a team of the future.

 Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:25 am, and biweekly he commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). He welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-recorder.com, or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com.