All systems go for a good season, says happy Stern
By Steve Ginsburg
NEW YORK (Reuters) – David Stern smiles broadly as he sits
in a plush chair overlooking St. Patrick’s Cathedral on
bustling Fifth Avenue.
“I’m having as good a time as I’ve ever had,” said Stern,
when asked how long he planned to serve as commissioner of the
National Basketball Association (NBA). “All systems are go.”
Stern has good reason to be happy: the league’s popularity
is skyrocketing overseas, a labor pact has quashed threats of a
lockout and the Lakers’ popular though temperamental duo of
Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson have been reunited.
The bespectacled son of a New York delicatessen owner
became the chief of the NBA 21 years ago, in the same year that
the incomparable Michael Jordan entered the league.
While Jordan achieved unprecedented success on the court,
Stern has reached the same level of achievement off it, turning
an ailing enterprise into a bustling business with some $3
billion in worldwide revenues.
“I still enjoy coming into the office,” Stern, 62, told
Reuters in an interview at the NBA offices in midtown
Manhattan.
“I’m busy working with our growing organization, our plans
on globalization, technology — from WiFi to cellphones to IPTV
(television delivered over the Internet) — developments that
are going to keep sports at the epicenter of new technologies.”
Stern said there were no plans to increase the number of
NBA teams.
“I honestly don’t see us expanding at the moment beyond our
30 teams,” he said. “At some future date in a revamped league
with new buildings, it’s possible that a successor of mine
might decide to put four teams in Europe. But I think that’s
off down the road.”
Stern said the league would send four yet-to-be-named teams
to Europe during the preseason next year, to play each other as
well as European teams.
EXHIBITION GAMES
The NBA hoped to expand in Mexico, he said. Mexico City has
already hosted games and Stern is now casting his eye toward
Monterrey.
“I’d say that Monterrey is on our horizon as another
Mexican city with higher than average income, large sports
appetite, good hotels and good business infrastructure.
“My guess is that we’ll be looking to play some exhibition
games in Monterrey as well as Mexico City.”
Only two international players were lottery picks this
year, apart from Australia’s Andrew Bogut who played at the
University of Utah, but Stern feels the recent craving for
non-U.S. players is not over.
“It’s episodic and it depends upon the given year, what
happens,” said Stern. “I think it’s possible that our
international player contingent may approach 100 (from about
450 NBA players overall), up from the 85 that it was last
year.”
Stern denies the NBA has lost some of its luster after
several players decided to stay in their native Europe rather
than play professionally in the United States.
“There are some players who would be best off not exposing
all aspects of their game to the NBA and that’s okay,” he said.
“There are others who have decided that the grind — the
physical demands — are much less in Europe.
“And as the economy gets better, there are actually high
salaries in Europe… Nevertheless, we still get the best
players.”
The NBA is regarded as the only major North American sport
poised to tackle the overseas market. Last season, NBA games
were seen in 214 countries with broadcasts in 43 languages.
NBA TV, the league’s 24-hour network, is available in 40
countries and its website, NBA.com, had 2.7 billion page views
and 374 million total visits, more than half of which came from
fans located outside the U.S.
In China, NBA merchandise is sold at more than 20,000
retail locations.
Labor PACT
Stern said he had been pleased to reach a collective
bargaining agreement with the players’ union earlier this year.
He said one aspect of the pact, a new minimum age of 19 for NBA
players, would make the league stronger.
Stand-out high school players will now have to go to
college for a year or participate in the NBA’s developmental
league.
“This was a basketball decision,” he said. “There will be
no 18-year-olds sitting on the bench trying to observe. There
will be 19-year-olds sitting on the bench but they will be a
year more experienced.
“As a result, a better player will be available to help the
team.”
With NBA training camps in full swing and the regular
season opening on November 1, Stern has high hopes for the
league, perhaps highlighted by the return of nine-times NBA
champion coach Jackson to the Lakers despite an often-stormy
relationship with leading guard Bryant.
“Even though the champion (San Antonio) Spurs have improved
themselves it would appear there are a lot of other teams that
are coming into a very exciting competitive prospect,” he said.
“Obviously the Heat have improved themselves, Phil Jackson
and Kobe are together again, (Lakers forward) Lamar Odom is a
year older and more developed, Larry Brown has been brought in
to work his magic in New York.
“It’s a very good year prospectively and all business
indications are also very positive.”