After a 30 year reign atop the NBA, David Stern will step down as commissioner on February 1, 2014.
The average NBA player salary increased from $275,000 in the 1983-84 season (the year before Stern was named commissioner) to somewhere around $5 million today.
While that alone should label David Stern as a "player's commissioner," his name has instead become synonymous with the terms "controversy" and "boos."
From the mandatory "business casual" dress code to the bizarre veto of the Chris Paul trade to the Lakers, David Stern will go down as one of, if not the most controversial commissioner in sports history.
David Stern first became involved with the NBA in 1966...
... as an outside counsel at law firm Proskauer Rose.
In 1978, Stern became the NBA's top lawyer when he was named the league's general counsel, and by 1980, Stern became executive vice president of the NBA.
As EVP, he helped institute a salary cap and drug testing.
David Stern succeeded Larry O'Brien as commissioner of the NBA on February 1, 1984.
Stern's first draft as NBA commissioner included future hall of famers Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, and John Stockon.
With Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird carrying the NBA to new heights, Stern began adding new franchises.
The Charlotte Hornets (now the New Orleans Pelicans) and Miami Heat formed in 1988, and the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic began play the following year in 1989.
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