Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Commissioner Emeritus David Stern passed away on New Year’s Day.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Craig Jones/Getty Images.)
What I’ll say about the late Commissioner David Stern, who passed away at the age of 77 on New Year’s Day 2020, will never be enough. I just know that he was on the helm of the National Basketball Association when basketball became a global game.
Many of the NBA’s signatures were created during his tenure. Coin flips were the way to get the #1 pick in the draft for the longest time so he instituted a draft lottery, which has gone through many changes since then but still has the goal of giving all the non-playoff teams (unless those non-playoff teams traded away their picks) a chance to win the #1 pick. Stern’s marketing of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in their heyday made the NBA all about the stars. He did the same for Michael Jordan at the peak of his powers. Sure, the NBA has recognizable teams in the Lakers, Celtics, and Bulls but was more recognizable with players like LeBron, Giannis, Durant, Curry, and now Luka.
Speaking of those recognizable teams, Stern also helped bring in the salary cap (and this was before he was commissioner). There would be exceptions to the cap brought in over the years (rookie scale, midlevel exception, bi-annual exception, max contract, etc.). When the NBA was getting lower-scored games, he eliminated the hand-checking rule. It’s led to guards becoming a lot more important than big men in this sport and it’s led to this “positionless basketball” revolution that we are seeing now.
We mentioned stars like Giannis and Luka. In the long run, Stern wanted the NBA to go global and he helped create the Dream Team for the 1992 Olympics. That’s when it became a global game as countries all around the world were in awe of this historic team. The NBA would see guys like Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, and Yao Ming enter the league. It now boasts a hefty amount of international players and the Dream Team was a huge part of that reason.
And we can’t forget that he helped usher in the WNBA. The WNBA started in 1997 and is going into its 24th season. There would be no women’s basketball league to watch if it weren’t for Commissioner Stern, who thought it was the right time to start after the women’s basketball team took home the gold in the 1996 Olympics.
Stern’s style can rub people the wrong way. But maybe he had to rule with an iron fist. He gave Latrell Sprewell a season-long suspension after he choked P.J. Carlesimo. The Malice in the Palace was arguably the biggest on-court scandal in the NBA and he gave the former Ron Artest a season-long suspension as well. The dress code in reaction to the Malice in the Palace didn’t seem like the best rebuttal (it could even be argued as racist) but somehow, the players embraced it and turned it into a fashion show for many to see.
Stern has suspended players getting off the bench in important playoff games. His vetoing of the Chris Paul trade as “owner of the New Orleans Hornets” (the team was under the league’s ownership as it was in the middle of being sold) didn’t look great in many people’s eyes. There were, of course, the multiple lockouts. Maybe he did overstay his welcome.
But it was because he cared so much. He only wanted to do good for the game. Mentioning all his accomplishments would take me weeks to write it. We just know that basketball has become a global game mainly because of him. Stern was the dad or granddad players, coaches, and NBA personnel didn’t want to disappoint.
And now he’s gone. But David Stern’s legacy will live forever.
Bullet Passes
Thank goodness, Jonathan Isaac was all right after he was stretchered out of the court. Luckily, it was a hyperextended knee. It could have been worse.
Gotta give it to those Suns. Their record isn’t as shiny anymore after a long losing streak but they keep fighting. They were once down 36 points to the Lakers and they made it a game by cutting it down to 7. Those Lakers are just too powerful now, though.
Well, the New York Knicks are undefeated in the 2020s! They beat old friend Carmelo Anthony and the Blazers in a surprising blowout.
By the way, the Knicks are 6-6 since David Fizdale was axed. Whoa there.
The Scoreboard
ORL 122 (15-19) @ WAS 101 (10-23)
POR 93 (14-21) @ NY 117 (10-24)
MIN 104 (12-21) @ MIL 106 (31-5)
PHX 107 (13-21) @ LAL 117 (27-7)
Watch This Play
Danny Green tosses it up for Anthony Davis and witnesses the erasure of the existence of Aron Baynes.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Chaz Clavant NBA.)
Gotta give Baynes credit, who always tries to reject shots at the rim. But the risk of doing that is a lowlight for the night.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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