to promote individual stars to promote the league. From Stern’s NYTimes obit:

“He succeeded largely by keeping the focus on the N.B.A.’s biggest names — Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley — understanding that it was they who gave the sport its worldwide appeal. Mr. Stern’s tenure practically began with the launch of the Jordan era; the 1984 N.B.A. draft, with Jordan and Barkley among its marquee players, was held soon after he started in the job.”

“In a 2014 interview with The New York Times, Mr. Stern said that one of his most cherished memories was seeing such stars come together to form the victorious 1992 United States Olympic men’s basketball team, known across the globe as the “Dream Team.” For a league that had seen hard times not many years before, he said, it was stirring to see them “being feted like a combination of the Bolshoi, the Philharmonic and the Beatles” on their march to the gold medal.“

But I assume that rather than considering this post, or even reading it, you will continue to rely on the ‘I’m right because I’m smarter than you card’ and respond with another meaningless personal attack.