PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Longtime NBA Commissioner David Stern died on New Year's Day at the age of 77, weeks after he suffered a brain hemorrhage.
Billy King, a former Sixers general manager and currently a morning show cohost at sister station WIP, says Stern deserves a lot of credit for the NBA's growth around the world.
"His forethought to go to China and get into that market or play games in Europe in the preseason, play games in Mexico City, bring in foreign owners — he was always thinking ahead," King said. "If you think about it now, there's always the NFL Network, NHL Network, MLB — but the NBA was the first to have the NBA Network."
King says Stern an executive would really pay attention to what everyone was saying in the league.
"He would get clips. If you made a quote he didn't like, you got a phone call. Whether you're a player, owner, GM or coach, he was the protector of the NBA, the brand, and he would not let anybody do anything to damage that brand."
King says that when Stern walked into a room, he commanded respect, and he was always aware of what was going on throughout the league.
"He would not hesitate to call you out for making a stupid comment or not being prepared," King said. "Probably one of the smartest people I had a chance to meet."
King was GM in the Allen Iverson days of the Sixers. Iverson has had his fair share of issues with the league office, including in 2000, when he was set to release a rap album with controversial lyrics.
King says he helped set up a meeting between his star and the commissioner.
"I called David and said, 'Before you pass any judgment on him from what you've heard, sit down and meet with him and talk to him.'"
There was fear initially that Iverson would be a no-show.
"I later found out the reason Allen didn't want to go to the meeting — because he said when he got in trouble before, David Stern told him, 'If you ever come back to my office again, I'm gonna kick you out of my league.' So, Allen was afraid to go back to the office for fear that he was gonna get kicked out of the league," King said.
But, says King, it went well in the end.
"It ended up being a two, two-and-a-half hour meeting. ... David got a better understanding of Allen, and Allen got a better understanding of David."
Stern was a tough commissoner, but one who had a personal touch.
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Listen to the full interview with Billy King here:
