10 Questions for David Stern
By Sean Gregory
For 24 years, the NBA commissioner has helped globalize pro basketball. And this year's compelling season could lift the league out of a ratings funk. David Stern will now take your questions
What was your lowest point as commissioner, and your highest point? --Luiz Dias, Fort Worth, Texas The worst has probably been having to suspend players for life for failing drug tests. Another was being at the announcement that Magic [Johnson] was HIV positive, when we expected to lose him. [The best] has been watching the U.S. and the world embrace the athletes of the NBA, who had earlier been described as "too black" for us to succeed.
How will you ensure that the NBA doesn't face baseball's problem with steroids? --Mike Diaz, Brooklyn, N.Y. We test every athlete four times, at random, between the beginning of training camp and the end of the postseason. We contract that work out to an independent agency. We think it's working pretty well, although you never know until you read the newspapers.
Why would you let the Seattle SuperSonics relocate to Oklahoma City? You're moving away from an Asian-Pacific community to a much less diverse place. Can you explain your logic? --John Holm, Budapest I guess my logic is that there are plenty of franchises that have jumping-off points to Asia. It could be the Bay Area; it could be Portland; it could be Los Angeles. And our Asian philosophy is more about being there. We have offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.
Many commentators openly allege that star players get favorable treatment from referees. Why has there been so little response from the NBA to this problem? --Madison Welch, Arlington, Va. The criticism is not true. We have data to demonstrate that superstars don't get that treatment. I've just been hesitant to hold a press conference to announce the obvious.
Do you think the courtside dress code you put in place [in 2005] has had a positive effect? --Michael Blackwell, Cedar Falls, Iowa I do. I viewed it as an opportunity to say to our players that there is this issue of respect, and we just have to wake up and focus on that. It's not the draconian dress code that people came to believe it was. You would have thought I'd said you had to wear a tuxedo or tails to a game.
Can you do anything to increase the number of game telecasts in India? We get only two games a week, which stinks. --Wamiqur Rehman Gajdhar, New Delhi I completely agree. We're having intense negotiations now. In July our Basketball Without Borders, a clinic bringing in outstanding young talent from around Asia, is going to be held in New Delhi. So we're very interested in getting more games in the Indian market.
How do you stay sane when watching a cornerstone franchise like the New York Knicks embody utter incompetence? --Brian Smith, Fort Worth, Texas We've had teams go through bad competitive cycles. I know the Knicks have had a rough stretch, but I tend to be an optimist and think success is right around the corner.
Will the NBA attempt to push back the minimum age to 20 [from 19] when the collective-bargaining agreement expires in 2011? --Kirk Henderson, Washington Yes, we will. We think [raising the entry age to 19] has been very constructive.
Which NBA player do you enjoy watching most? --Ryan Gill, Portland, Ore. I refuse to answer that. That's between me, the closed door and my high-definition Dolby surround-sound television set.
When was the last time you suited up and played ball? --Burke Hair, Chicago That's a tough one. I quit 15 years ago, after my sons began to take away my advantage of using my behind to push them away from the basket.
How has being the commissioner of the NBA affected your personal life? --Raphael Katz, New York City Early on, it affected my ride on the train, because everyone had a solution that they wanted to propose to me. Over the years, it's effected my ability to go places privately. It's very intense, it takes away form other aspects. It is difficult, to a certain measure, for kids and spouses to deal with celebrity, in terms of the demands it makes on you and the absence of privacy.
The Seattle Sonics are probably going to move to Oklahoma City. You appear to be sending the message that communities need to shoulder enormous financial burdens to build arenas (which some think are unnecessary), while you let team owners make enormous profits. We are losing confidence in you and the league. How do you respond? --Tim DeJong, Cleveland I welcome the criticism. I would say that a good number of our franchises are not profitable. So there are many owners who would raise their eyebrows at the charge that they are making enormous profits. I think that the ideal partnership is a private/public corporate partnership, and in Seattle, basically, the City Council said, "No." In fact, it engineered legislation that would make it difficult if not impossible for them to give any aid to the building of a new arena. And the state legislature said, "No." So we never got to the debate as to what the fair shouldering of responsibility should be, because we never were engaged in it. So that's my answer there. And, in an interesting kind of way, it's OK if somebody says they don't want to spend the money, they don't want to do the legislation, they don't want to have a referendum.
Do you feel the NBA has lost ground in popularity to other sports because it has become too synonymous with hip-hop ostentation? --Jens Jensen, Chicago I don't think so. I think one watches the Grammys, one watches the fashion shows, and the reality is that sports, music, fashion -- they're global trends. I knew that to be the fact when I saw Lee Iacocca appear in a Chrysler ad with Snoop Dogg. Or when water was being advertised by 50 Cent. You know, c'mon guys. We don't court it, we don't overly promote it. Charles Barkley took me to task for having Big & Rich at the Denver All-Star Game (in 2005) because they weren't hip-hop. I'm waiting to be criticized for having Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. as half-time entertainment [at the 2008 All-Star game] in New Orleans because it wasn't hip enough. We go with the flow, and do not have a hip-hop agenda.
What steps have you undertaken to minimize incidents or allegations of game fixing by the referees? --J. Raphael Licauco, Manila, Philippines We're putting in new and more sophisticated computer programming and screens, to see what irregularities pop out. We're doing new background checks, in a deeper way, on a more continual basis. We're cutting off pre-game information for the referees, once they go into the locker room. We're in the process of setting up hotlines to receive particular types of information. And we're looking into a greater group of activities, some of which I would rather not publicize, but really go to insuring our game against betting irregularities.
How come the NBA is not targeting African countries like Sudan for prospective players? --Tarig Abdalla, Khartoum, Sudan Actually, we have players from Africa. We've conducted our Basketball Without Borders program there -- this will be our fourth year in South Africa. We have players from the Sudan, we have players from Senegal, we've had players from Nigeria. We actually have more games available in Africa over the air, both terrestrially and by satellite, than we do in India. We just made a deal with a telephone company so that folks in Africa can see the NBA on their cell phones when they're not watching it on TV. I think Africa is going to be the hidden gem for us.