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“Twenty-two years ago, I walked into (former NBA commissioner) David Stern’s office in New York with Robert Sarver,” Kerr said before Tuesday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers at T-Mobile Arena. “And he wanted to start an expansion team in Las Vegas, and that was his plan. So, I met Robert — I didn’t know him before that — (and) he asked me if I could introduce him to Stern, and we went into David Stern’s office, and David Stern said, ‘There’s no way we’re having a franchise in Las Vegas because of the gambling.’”
In the midst of answering a question about whether he could ever imagine playing an NBA game in Las Vegas, Kerr said he heard about initial efforts to place a team in the desert two decades ago. “Twenty-two years ago, I walked into (former NBA commissioner) David Stern’s office in New York with Robert Sarver,” Kerr said before Tuesday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers at T-Mobile Arena. “And he wanted to start an expansion team in Las Vegas, and that was his plan. So, I met Robert — I didn’t know him before that — (and) he asked me if I could introduce him to Stern, and we went into David Stern’s office, and David Stern said, ‘There’s no way we’re having a franchise in Las Vegas because of the gambling.’”
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Being drafted 8th overall in 1987 and immediately traded for Scottie Pippen is one of the most famous draft-night deals in NBA history. Looking back, how did that trade shape the trajectory of your early career in Seattle and how do you view that moment decades later? Olden Polynice: You know, it’s funny because that trade happened the night before. But low and behold, the NBA doesn’t announce trades until after the draft has begun. So technically, for all intents and purposes, Scottie Pippen and I were traded for each other. But the trade happened the night before, so if they had done it the right way, there never would have been that connection. Chicago would have picked fifth, Seattle would have picked eighth and that would have been it. With that being said, I didn’t work out for a lot of teams and I damn sure didn’t work out for Chicago. So I knew I was going to Seattle; we had an agreement like, “That’s where I’m going.” So when the fifth pick was about to be announced and David Stern was standing there, he goes, “With the fifth selection, the Seattle SuperSonics select…” I literally get goosebumps, Scoop! I’m like, “Oh, he’s about to say my name.” And then he says Scott Pippen! I’m like, “Who the hell is Scott Pippen?” Nobody knew who Scott Pippen was, so I’m a little upset.
Then I get drafted by the Bulls and now I’m all excited saying, “Oh man, I’m about to play with Michael Jordan!” And then they announce the trade. So that was it. I got my first taste of NBA trades and life and I realized in that moment: hey, this is the business you’re in. Once everything settled and I got to Seattle, I had a business decision to make. It came early: do I come in here coming out as a junior—after playing a year in Europe—saying that I’m going to be the man, or that I’m going to average 20? Mind you, they had Dale Ellis, Tom Chambers, and Xavier McDaniel—three 20-point scorers coming off that season! I went, “If I want to play, I better make a decision here. I need to figure out what to do to get on the floor.” And that was to play defense, rebound, score when I can when I get an opportunity to get the ball and that was it. That was my thing. It’s so funny because early on in my career—and pretty much throughout my career—I didn’t get a lot of assists because I’m like, “I’m not passing the ball back out!” That’s the last thing I’m doing once I get the ball because I don’t get it anyway! So I’m going to score or put it up whenever I can. I shot over 50%, and my offensive rebounding was the key because I’m like, “Hey, all these guys are going to shoot, and they’re not all great shooters. So I’m going to do what I do best: go get that damn offensive rebound and put it back.”
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: You played center during the most physical era of basketball, going toe-to-toe with Hall of Fame bigs every single night during your stretches in Sacramento and Detroit. How would the frontcourt battles of the 1990s translate to the current style of officiating and spacing? Olden Polynice: Oh man. Well, again: same sport, different game. The rules have changed, and we were allowed to play basketball. We were allowed to be physical. Sometimes it bordered on wrestling, I get it. And I don’t think it was really pleasing to the eye because I still remember David Stern talking about how the game was a little too rough with the physicality aspects. We were wrestling with a basketball for a while, I get that. But we were still able to score. Especially early in my career, all the teams could score. Then there was a lull where the scoring averages dropped, and that’s when they were like, “Hey, we need to figure something out.” That’s when they started incorporating all these rules—no hand-checks and everything. But as far as the low post, my god! My first game was against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Like you said, I faced a Hall of Famer every night! It was insane.
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In 1990, the commissioner created a position just for her: special assistant to him. “I think I offered my condolences,” Welts says, laughing. “If you were living in the moment, I can’t imagine a tougher job. But also with a vote of confidence that he would’ve put her in that role.” She opened his mail in an era before email. She’d listen in on his calls; sit in on his meetings. She says he’d kick her out of his office, hang up on her and leave Post-its on her phone saying, “8 a.m. came by, you weren’t here.” She says his mantra was, “Micromanagement is underrated.” She’s sure it was partly “for show,” partly “just to kick you in the butt a little bit.” But she also believes the job was the opportunity of a lifetime, “just a master class in learning how to be a commissioner.” She was eternally grateful.
Little did she know, Stern was grooming her for it all. He had earlier begun asking her to write his speeches, which was a compliment, a sign of trust and a crapshoot — because there was no guarantee he’d use them. “Oh my gosh, he was the worst deliverer of speeches ever,” Welts says. “I can’t tell you how many times we were off-stage at some event, and he’ll look at you five minutes before he goes on and says, ‘What should I say today?’ And then he will go out and completely charm.” But Val wrote them, anyway — always pouring her heart and soul into them — even though she remembers Stern sometimes “tossing them in a garbage can as he was walking up the steps to the stage.” She hardly took it personally because he was better winging it anyway, “the envy of all of us.”
In April 1996, even before the U.S. women won gold in Atlanta, the commissioner convinced the league’s board of governors to ride the wave of the national team and approve the concept of a WNBA. And probably because he could hang up on her, bellyache at her and crumple up her speeches — and she still kept her wits about her — Stern wanted Val to run the league. Maybe it was all a test. He named her president, of course, not commissioner. Because remember: Micromanagement is underrated.
Maverick Carter: "We thought about partnering with the NBA and we had a conversation and David Stern, rest in peace, who I actually always really admired. David Stern basically told them, 'F*ck do I need you for? I'm the NBA. I own basketball in the world.' And he said, 'So if I'm not going to do it with the NBA, I'm not. The next best person to partner with me on building a basketball business and league in India is LeBron James.' And that's why I wanted this deal."
When NBA Commissioner David Stern handed down the hammer in 2000, the Timberwolves were fined $3.5 million and stripped of five consecutive first-round draft picks (though one was later restored). For Smith, the immediate professional fallout was jarring. “I was basically forced to play somewhere else,” Smith recalled. “When the ruling came down, I had two options: if I wanted to go back to Minnesota, I had to sit out an entire year before I could sign a contract with them again. Or, I could sign somewhere else, play that season out, and then return to Minnesota later if I wanted to.”
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How does Las Vegas as a city and market now align with the vision you had when you guys first brought Summer League here? LeGarie: I’d love to take all the credit. Adam Silver saw it way, way ahead of everybody. He understood because (late former comissioner David Stern) just kept focusing on “It’s the Strip. It’s guys (who are) low lives. It’s the things you see in the movies.” But none of that is true. This was the fastest growing community. School districts. All these things going on. And Adam was keenly aware of that.
Dan Gilbert: "David Stern was a phenomenal commissioner for 30 years. He built that league. But he too, he used to pick on Mark Cuban, he used to pick on me, he picked on the new guys."
Desperate to create some buzz, someone at NBA HQ in Olympic Tower — mercifully, no one can now remember exactly who, though the late commissioner David Stern’s name came up — pushed the idea to call the 1982 series between the Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers “Showdown ’82.” It had a logo and everything. And it made the NBA’s championship look like a cheesy, made-up event that would run on ESPN The Ocho. (“Coming up after the Great Eastern Skeet Shooting Championships … it’s Showdown ’82!”)
Keith O’Brien: Cooper Flagg is an incredible star who is shouldering the pressure that comes with being the No. 1 draft pick and who is performing at a level that I don't think anybody expected this early in his career. We can have fun sports bar room debates about who is better than whom. That's part of the fun of being a sports fan, comparing players across generations and wondering what might have been or who might prevail. And that's a fun debate to have, but you cannot underestimate how important Larry Bird was to the success of the entire league in 1979-1980 when he joined the Boston Celtics. His arrival, along with the arrival of Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers, and along with the savvy leadership of David Stern, really does set the league up for success at a time when the league was teetering on the brink of total obscurity. No talent today, no talent in the past 20 years, has even come close to facing that, and so for that reason alone, Larry Bird will always be ranked among the most important players who ever stepped on an NBA court.