Free speech is against governments, not against the NBA. So the players and coaches and indeed owners have been fined for their speech, which is costly rather than free. I sort of acknowledge that there is not free speech when you agree to work in the NBA. David Stern Read Quote
All I can say is you don’t know what’s going to be on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper. So I take no joy in what happens to another sport, whether it’s about a perfect game or an issue of conduct. David Stern Read Quote
I regret the 1998 – 99 lockout. I regret that we didn’t work harder to educate our players and our owners about what the damage would be. I never can quite come up with the answer on what else we should have done, but I always blame a part of the problem on us and some part on the players. David Stern Read Quote
I’ve never found NBA owners to be deferential. I never considered them to be reliant. All that I do is knock myself out to represent their interests the best way I can and sometimes tell them, as part of my job, what they don’t like to hear. David Stern Read Quote
I’m not big on looking back beyond the moment in which decisions and events occur. I’m always pushing forward. David Stern Read Quote
It was the Michael Jordan/Nike phenomenon that really let people see that athletes were OK, and black athletes were OK. Defying a previous wisdom – not only that black athletes wouldn’t sell in white America, but that the NBA as a predominantly black sport could not sell in white America. David Stern Read Quote
I actually don’t hope for a legacy. I think that it impedes your ability to make the hard decisions if you sit around saying, ‘How will this affect my legacy?’ David Stern Read Quote
