Thursday 2 January 2020 07:19, UK
Former NBA commissioner David Stern, who oversaw the explosive growth in the popularity of the game during his tenure, has died at the age of 77.
The NBA announced the news in a statement that said Stern had died as the result of a brain haemorrhage he had suffered on December 12.
Stern, who served 30 years as the NBA's longest-tenured commissioner before Adam Silver replaced him in 2014, had been in serious condition after undergoing emergency surgery in New York.
"David took over the NBA in 1984 with the league at a crossroads," current NBA commissioner Silver said in a statement.
"He launched groundbreaking media and marketing partnerships, digital assets and social responsibility programs that have brought the game to billions of people around the world.
"Because of David, the NBA is a truly global brand - making him not only one of the greatest sports commissioners of all time but also one of the most influential business leaders of his generation."
Stern oversaw the NBA's extraordinary growth with seven new franchises, a more than 30-fold increase in revenue, a dramatic expansion of national TV exposure and the launch of the Women's National Basketball Association and NBA Development League.
The 77-year-old also had a role in many other initiatives that helped shaped the league, including a drug policy, salary cap system and dress code.
Stern's greatest accomplishment as commissioner is widely considered to be the way he transformed the NBA, which at one time was largely an unknown commodity outside the United States, into a globally-televised powerhouse.
Under Stern's leadership, the league opened 13 global NBA offices and, in 1990, became the first US professional sports league to stage a regular-season game outside North America when the Phoenix Suns played the Utah Jazz in Japan.
Stern, who had remained affiliated with the NBA and held the title of commissioner emeritus, was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016.
