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Basketball of Wednesday, 1 January 2020

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Longest serving NBA commissioner, David Stern, loses life to brain hemorrhage

Former NBA commissioner, David Stern Former NBA commissioner, David Stern

American businessman and one of the longest serving commissioner of the National Basketball Association, David Stern has died at age 77.

MyNigeria gathered that he suffered from brain hemorrhage.

He was regarded as the longest serving commissioner who nurtured US basketball into an international power house before death.

Stern took office when NBA playoff games were regularly broadcast on tape delay on CBS.

By the time he handed the reins to his deputy Adam Silver in 2014, 30 years to the day after he took over, NBA basketball as a spectator sport had become an international brand with fans across the globe.

Stern’s tenure coincided with the rise of the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson rivalry that saw the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers win a combined eight championships behind their two superstars from 1980 to 1988.

Stern took office the same year the Chicago Bulls drafted Michael Jordan, who would take over from Bird and Johnson as the face of the league and become a global icon as he won six NBA championships.