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David Stern did it his way, and it worked very well

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As commissioner of the NBA, Stern was like the membership chairman of an upscale country club. If you wanted to be part of his exclusive league, you had to do it on his terms, his way, his rules.

In the beginning, all Tanenbaum wanted was an NBA team for Toronto. At the time, it wasn’t something in great demand. Yet he wound up butting heads aggressively with the remarkable commissioner, who passed away on New Year’s Day at the age of 77.

Tanenbaum tried to buy the Denver Nuggets in 1991 and move them to Toronto. That didn’t work or go over well with Stern. He didn’t want to lose the franchise in Denver, where it remains to this day.

He told Tanenbaum the New Jersey Nets were for sale. That didn’t seem to work out either.
In the meantime, Tanenbaum pulled an end run of sorts on Stern. He tried to buy the San Antonio Spurs. He didn’t inform the commissioner of his actions. When he met in New York with Stern in 1992, to discuss the possible purchase, Tanenbaum didn’t realize he was walking into a storm.

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“He was beside himself with anger,” Tanenbaum said years later. Stern was used to have troubled franchises in his league. He had problems in Cleveland, San Antonio, San Diego, Denver, Utah, Indiana, and Kansas City in his early years on the job. San Diego, the former Buffalo almost Toronto franchise, moved to Los Angeles. Kansas City wound up in Sacramento. Over time, the Spurs became one of the signature franchises of the NBA.
And after Tanenbaum and others knocked on the door of a number of NBA opportunities, including the Indiana Pacers, Stern decided it was time to expand to Canada. He awarded franchises to Vancouver and Toronto. But again, he did it his way.

He wouldn’t allow Pro-Line gambling on NBA games and made that an issue of acceptance. And when it seemed obvious that Tanenbaum would be awarded the franchise at least that was the conventional thinking at the time Stern passed on Tanenbaum and partners in favour of John Bitove Jr.

The message at the time was rather clear: You do business our way or you don’t do business with us at all.

David Stern ran a phenomenal league in a phenomenal and occasionally singular way. There has been no one else like him in professional sport. The NBA was paddling in circles, going nowhere, when he took over as commissioner in 1984 and over the next 30 years he built the most popular sporting entity in the world.

The NBA championship trophy may be in the name of Larry O’Brien, Stern’s predecessor, but realistically, it should be in Stern’s name. He built this league. He was a magician: He turned nothing into something.

As son of a New York deli owner, Stern had a personal flair and in the words of longtime NBA executive and author Pat Williams, he was “an innovator, a creator, a marketer, a visionary, a hustler, a salesman, and yet still a people person.”

He said that long before Stern passed away.

He was everything Gary Bettman, his old associate, hasn’t been able to be. Stern was never, it seemed, the voice of only the owners as Bettman happens to be. He was the voice of the game. He represented players, management, ownership, fans, in driving the NBA from a league that didn’t have its championship games broadcast live on television to one in which the biggest of stars are stars all around the globe.

Tom Brady may be the greatest quarterback to ever play, but he’s next to nobody in France or Germany or China or Africa. Stern’s NBA began to change when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson transported their collegiate rivalry and made it mandatory viewing in North America. From Bird and Magic, there was Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley and The Dream Team from the 1992 Summer Olympics and now LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard and Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.

The $125 million that Bitove apparently overpaid for the Raptors in 1994 is now an NBA championship franchise worth close to or maybe more than $2 billion U.S, which is more than $2.6 billion Canadian.

Not everything was perfect under Stern, who adopted similar league-think policy that Pete Rozelle had previously utilized in building the National Football League. He succeeded in Toronto and failed in Vancouver, which was always a regret of his. He lived through corrupt officials and corrupt ownership and drug issues and through Magic Johnson contacting HIV and yet found a way to never lose sight of the target. The negotiating he managed, doing the deal that brought Yao Ming to the NBA, changed the league’s business forever and made him a figure of envy for all of North American professional sport.

Bettman, the NHL commissioner, started in sports in the NBA front office. “I am extremely saddened at the passing of my mentor and long-time friend David Stern,” he said in a statement released Wednesday. “He was a man of great vision and energy who is responsible for the operational and business advancements that created the modern sports industry. David taught me how to be a commissioner and, more importantly, how to try to be a good person.”

In the early years of the Raptors, Bitove and broadcast billionaire partner Allan Slaight, could no longer work together and that’s where Tanenbaum and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment came together in partnership to purchase the team. Tanenbaum has been the de-facto owner since then, even though he maintains a minority ownership to giant corporate partners Rogers and Bell.

The man Stern once read the riot act to later became a friend and respected and important colleague. On the passing of David Stern, the chairman of the board of the NBA just happens to be Larry Tanenbaum.

Tanenbaum released a statement:

“Canadians will not forget that it was David Stern who oversaw the expansion of the NBA to Canada, and that it was David Stern who declared that the Toronto franchise would be a success – we are grateful he was able to see our team thrive, and his prediction ultimately came true. David’s vision for our league was a global one, and we were among the very first beneficiaries of that vision. He set the tone for the modern NBA: focused on excellence, driven to exceed expectations, socially conscious, and determined to have an impact on and off the court. Masai has spoken about how everyone who loves the NBA owes David a debt of gratitude – I agree wholeheartedly. Over the 30 years that David and I spent working together, I came to rely on his intelligence, resolve, good humour and candor. We, and the Canadian basketball community, will miss him greatly.”

Raptors’ president Masai Ujiri released the following statement:

“It was rare to see a leader with such great vision, who then also executed it. Everyone who plays, works in or watches the NBA owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. Stern. The league that we know and love would not exist without his dedication, his hard work, and most especially his vision. He was transcendent. He oversaw the expansion of our league to Canada. He knew there was basketball talent around the world and he saw opportunity for players and fans everywhere – he is a great, global giant in sports. We are proud of what he did, and his death pains us. On behalf of our entire organization and all basketball fans across Canada, we send plenty blessings to his family.”

BY

ssimmons@postmedia.com

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‘Something I promised’: Maple Leafs’ Mark Giordano dedicates comeback goal to dad – Sportsnet.ca

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Cult of Hockey Player Grades: Strong 4-1 Edmonton Oilers win over L.A in possible 1st round preview – Edmonton Journal

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The Edmonton Oilers won a big divisional battle on Thursday, a 4-1 victory over the Kings creating a 5-point spread between Edmonton and L.A. in the Pacific. Vegas slides into 3rd place but is 4 back of the Oil.

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Edmonton won both ends of the specialty teams battle (PP ½, PK 2/2) and the goaltending showdown (Skinner over Talbot).

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L.A. had 33 shots on net…but they are volume shooters. Overall, a sound defensive performance by the home club.

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Here is the tale of the tape…

Edmonton Oilers Player Grades

STUART SKINNER. 8. Steady 1st from Skinner but without a lot of serious work. But he had to be very sharp early in the 2nd as the Kings pressed with 7 unanswered shots, making solid saves off Moore (2-on-1) and Lewis. Stuffed Kempe a few shifts later. With the game still 1-0 Skinner stoned Kempe and then Kopitar in tight. Those were tide-turning saves as just shifts later his mates scored the 2-0. Precious little chance on the 3-1, it was a bang-bang play after a turnover. Big glove save off a Roy point shot. Then helped close it out late in the 3rd with big stops on Dubois and a 1-timer off Kempe’s stick. Stopped 32 of 33. Named the game’s 2nd Star. Looked to be in playoff form.

CONNOR McDAVID. 9. Hit the 120-point mark for the 3rd consecutive season with the 1-0 in the first, knocking down a Mattias Ekholm point shot then back-handing it home for a 4v4 goal. Levelled a hard check on Lizotte late in the 1st frame. No call from the Zebras when he was dropped while cutting hard across the slot. Wins the faceoff after a bad icing by L.A. and ends up with the secondary assist on the 2-0. Earned the primary assist on Bouchard’s 3-0 goal with a pass from behind the goal line. A rare turnover in his zone with possession and the net empty at the other end but eventually cleared the zone on that series. Fought relentlessly through the Kings withering trap. Ended up +3. Named 1st Star.

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RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS. 6. Fine defensive performance. An excellent clear on the 1st Period PK. Blocked shot and then a steal and clear on the same 3rd Period PK. Hard battle and clear of his own zone in the 3rd. Superb back-check forced an L.A. off-side.

ZACH HYMAN. 6. Good backhand chance from a 3-way passing play with Bouchard and McDavid. Could not convert a sneaky inside pass from Ekholm late in the 1st. Called for a 3rd Period Interference infraction. But then drew a slashing call leading to the 3-0. 5 shots.

DARNELL NURSE. 7. A tower of strength. High Dangers 6-2 5v5 on Darnell Nurse’s stingy watch. Delivered 7 hits to lead the squad. His elite-level speed was a definite edge over a team like the Kings with average boots by comparison. Both sides of this 1st pairing (tonight) were excellent.

CODY CECI. 7. His best effort in a long time. Ceci got a shot on net off a lovely Draisaitl pass in the 1st. The two teamed up in a similar fashion early in the 2nd. Showed particularly good patience deep in his own end and the net empty, found a lane, and drained a 193-foot shot right up the gut for the 4-1. High Dangers 5v5 5-2.

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LEON DRAISAITL. 8. Smart stick to end an L.A. sortie early in the 1st. Erased a pending Oilers PP with the tiniest slash on an L.A. player but it was ‘right’ in front of the referee. Just missed potting a bounce off the back boards on a shot-pass by Bouchard. Thumped Roy with hard hit mid-way through the 1st. A terrific pass to Ceci for a chance. Found Ceci again in the 2nd for a point-bank chance. Dangerous shot through a screen. A hard, power move behind the net leads to a pass throw at Henrique in front for the 2-0. Won the faceoff on the 3-0 and ultimately earned the secondary assist. Hard backcheck on Kempe. A spectacular backhand pass set up Henrique in the high slot. Had a rough night in the faceoff circle until it really mattered. Then, won 3 D-zine faceoffs with the Kings net empty, earning a primary assist on the 4-1 with his 3rd win. 3 assists, +3. 3rd Star.

ADAAM HENRIQUE. 7. “Go to the net, kids”. Henrique was rewarded for doing just that, on the ice with sparse seconds remaining in the 2nd after a bad Kings icing. A Draisaitl pass deflected off Henrique’s shoulder right at the top of the crease and in, sending dejected L.A. to the room with a 2-0 deficit after 2. Could not drain a hi-light reel pass from Draisaitl in front. 6 hits.

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WARREN FOEGELE. 5. Hard 2nd Period hit on Doughty. Worked hard on the fore check, responsible without the puck. Just did not have a lot of numbers to illustrate a good effort.

MATTIAS EKHOLM. 5. Earned the primary assist on the 1-0 with a point shot that McDavid converted. A fine pass up the middle for Hyman late in the 1st. A glaring giveaway behind his own goal line, leading to the 3-1. A rare night on the bad end of High Dangers 5v5 (4-6).

EVAN BOUCHARD. 8. He was excellent. Secondary assist on the 1-0. Sifted a hard pass off the back wall which Draisaitl nearly swept home for the 2-0. Excellent stick check of Kempe in front. A sweet pass up the middle to spring McDavid and Hyman on a break. Played a 2nd Period 2-on-1 expertly. Part of the sequence on the 2-0. Hammered home the 3-0, a one-timer high glove off a McDavid feed. It was his first since a goal versus L.A. back on February 26th. Involved in the 3-1 against but I had no problem with Bouchard’s decision to pinch in the neutral zone.

RYAN McLEOD. 5. Fine pass by Ryan McLeod led to a break between Kane and Perry. But his best work was without the puck. Very responsible. Sawed off in 5v5 CF. His speed in between Kane and Perry seems to work well.

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EVANDER KANE. 6. Set the tone for the game by thumping Drew Doughty with a heavy check in the first, whistled for a questionable trip on the play. Delivered another heavy hit on Englund when he returned. Crisp pass across to perry on a good chance on a 2-on-1. Kane finished up with 6 hits and a string North-South game.

COREY PERRY. 5. Career NHL game number 1,300. Good feed to McLeod in the 2nd who must missed. Tried to deke Talbot 5-hole on a 2-on-1 with Kane. 3rd Period blocked shot.

BRETT KULAK. 5. The far superior member of the Oilers 3rd pairing tonight. Bailed out his D-partner on a bad pinch as Kulak swept the puck away from the gaping Edmonton net. Sawed off on High Dangers 5v5.

VINCENT DESHARNAIS. 3. Struggled. Drew a 2nd Period slash. 2nd Period turnover with a soft pass behind his own net, a harbinger of bad things to come. Yet another giveaway led to point-blank shots by Kempe and Kopitar. Ill-timed pinch led directly to a Grade A chance against.

DEREK RYAN. 5. This line decidedly lost the shot-shares battle but all 3 were so solid defensively they still receiving passing grades. Good anticipation for an interception high in his own zone in the 2nd.

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MATTIAS JANMARK. 5. Hard play along the wall to earn a zone clear on the PK in the 1st. Clever deflection on a 3rd Period shorthanded chance. 4 hits. Coach trusted him out on the ice late to protect the lead.

CONNOR BROWN. 5. Nice zone clear on a 1st Period PK. Set up Janmark for a dangerous chance shorthanded.

Edmonton’s record now sits at 44-23-4, 92 points. They remain 2nd in the Pacific, opening up a 5-point gap between them and L.A., 4 points up on Vegas. And the Oilers have 2 games on hand on the Golden Knights, 1 on the Kings.

Prior to the game, Official Kyle Rehman was recognized for his 1,000th NHL game. We do not pull punches here when it comes to officiating. We also recognize meaningful accomplishments.

Find me on Threads @kleavins, on Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, Mastodon at KurtLeavins@mstdn.social, and X @KurtLeavins.

Recently, at The Cult…

McCURDY: Are the Edmonton Oilers better or worse since the trading deadline?

STAPLES: Oilers show their grit in 4-3 win over Winnipeg Jets

LEAVINS: Oilers loss to Leafs begs important questions.

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