NBA

David Stern steps down after visionary 30-year term

For a whole generation of NBA fans, something will be different when they wake up Saturday: David Stern will no longer be the league’s commissioner.

Stern has been one of the lone constants in all of sports over the past 30 years, since he took over on Feb. 1, 1984. Under his leadership, the NBA has grown from a league that could barely get the Finals broadcast live to having a lucrative television deal and games shown on national TV virtually every night of the week.

In that same timeframe, the league has grown from 23 to 30 teams, exponentially expanded its reach overseas and had its athletes become some of the most recognizable in the world. Some of that credit has to go to Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, who embraced being standard-bearers for the sport, allowing the game — and their wallets — to grow.

But at least as much credit should come Stern’s way, as well. That’s because it was Stern who saw the potential benefits in putting players like Larry, Magic and Michael out there for the public to appreciate and admire. He turned their star power into rocket fuel for the league, which soared into a billion-dollar business.

With Charles Barkley at the 1984 NBA DraftAP

That brilliant strategy, which became Stern’s biggest legacy, has been copied by virtually every sports league in the world. Then there’s basketball’s international growth, spurred by NBA players debuting in the Olympics with the ground-breaking Dream Team in 1992. Back then, there was a scant international presence in the NBA and few players from overseas. This season, 92 players – more 20 percent of the league – on NBA rosters on opening night were from countries outside the United States.

Stern’s tenure has not been without controversy, going all the way back to 1985, when the Knicks won the first NBA draft lottery – leading to conspiracy theorists suggesting the league had rigged the event so the Knicks could land Georgetown star Patrick Ewing.

There were others, too, from the drug scandals of the early days of his tenure to the Malice at the Palace to the Tim Donaghy betting scandal to his recent veto of the league-owned Hornets trading Chris Paul. And that’s without getting into the contentious labor negotiations Stern has overseen, including multiple lockouts of the players.

But none of those things prevented the league from rocketing upwards in popularity and revenue under Stern’s leadership.

It remains to be seen where the league will go from here, with Adam Silver taking the helm Saturday. But Stern leaves behind a vastly improved league. His impact on the sport won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Durant absorbs Heat in MVP race

If Kevin Durant wins the Most Valuable Player award, the performance he put on against LeBron James and the Heat Wednesday night in Miami can be cited as a prime example.

It was the perfect opportunity for Durant to showcase his skills. Coming into the game on a huge hot streak – scoring at least 30 points in 11 consecutive games – and with the Thunder scorching despite the absence of sidekick Russell Westbrook following his latest knee surgery, Durant already was getting plenty of MVP buzz.

With both the Heat and Thunder having an off day before Wednesday’s showdown on the shore of Biscayne Bay, there were no excuses about one team being tired or banged up. The Heat had their Big Three available, and James – sensing the tide turning against him in the MVP race – had declared he was going to take on the task of trying to stop Durant himself.

So what did Durant do in response? Just score 33 points on 12-for-23 shooting and lead his team to a convincing 17-point victory that wasn’t even that close.

It was the kind of performance that voters will remember in April when they’re trying to choose between the two best players in the game.

Anthony Davis the worst All-Star omission

AP
As always, Thursday’s announcement of the All-Star reserves elicited all kinds of anger about the players who were passed over.

In the Eastern Conference, the biggest complaints were over the omissions of Kyle Lowry and Lance Stephenson, both of whom were among the seven East reserves named in this space last week. Instead a spot went to Nets guard Joe Johnson, who clearly was given credit for being the most consistent player on a very inconsistent team, as well for having a big hot streak earlier this month during the team’s turnaround as voting was coming to a close.

In the West, it was hard to find any candidates to bump from the roster, but several deserving ones – including Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Tim Duncan, Mike Conley and Goran Dragic – were left home.

There will be one player added in the West, however, because of Kobe Bryant missing the game due to injury. The likely choice? Davis, for multiple reasons. He is the one snub among the West reserves who surely should have made the team, averaging 20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocks while shooting 52 percent — and he doesn’t turn 21 until March. He’s already one of the top young stars in the league, and the game is being held in his team’s city of New Orleans.

The NBA always wants to have local stars represented in the game, so it will be quite surprising if someone other than Davis is the pick to replace Bryant.

For the sake of bookkeeping, this space had three of the seven reserves correct in the East – John Wall, Joakim Noah and Paul Millsap – and only missing Davis in the West (Dirk Nowitzki was selected instead).