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David Joel Stern (born on September 22 , 1942 in New York City , New York ) is a Jewish American lawyer, who has been commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since 1984, when control transitioned from the previous commissioner, Larry O'Brien . David Stern grew up in Teaneck , New Jersey , and is a graduate of Teaneck High School . Stern attended Rutgers University on a full scholarship. He graduated as a dean's-list history student in 1963 and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1966. Stern began his association with the NBA in 1966 as outside counsel, joined the NBA in 1978 as General Counsel and became the league's Executive Vice President in 1980. He became Commissioner in 1984, succeeding Larry O'Brien. Stern has served on the . Accessed September 3 , 2007 . NBA COMMISSIONER Stern's first association with the NBA in 1966 as an outside counsel. In 1978, Stern became the NBA's General Counsel , and by 1980 was Executive Vice President of the NBA. On February 1 , 1984 , Stern became the fourth Commissioner of the NBA. It was during that same season ( 1984-85 ) that four of the NBA's biggest superstars — Michael Jordan , Hakeem Olajuwon , Charles Barkley , and John Stockton — entered the league. The arrival of Michael Jordan, in particular, ushered in a new era of greatness for the NBA. With him came his flair and talent for the game, and that brought in shoe contracts from Nike which helped to give the league even more national attention.1 Jordan and the two other premiere Basketball legends of the 1980s, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson , took the game to new heights of popularity and profit. By 2002, Stern had seen the NBA expand from 23 to 30 franchises, expand into Canada , and televise games in over 200 countries. Stern also oversaw the creation of the '', June 14 , 2005 . Accessed September 3 , 2007 . The NBA now has 11 offices in cities outside the United States, is televised in 212 nations in 42 languages, and operates the Women's National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Development League under the guidance of Stern.http://www.seattlechamber.com/pls/starter/newsletter_detail.read_pdf?v_newsletter_id=181 City of Seattle Under Stern's watch the NBA's charitable contributions have increased. Including the NBA's "Read to Achieve" and "NBA Cares" social programs, organized throughout various NBA communities. Stern has demanded that all U.S. states with NBA franchises and the province of Ontario , Canada, are not to have casinos and lotteries that distribute NBA basketball betting.http://celtics.bostonherald.com/otherNBA/view.bg?articleid=183634 Boston Herald.xom CRITICISM AND CONTROVERSY Stern has been at the center of multiple controversies during his time as commissioner. In the 1997 NBA playoffs, the NBA suspended five players following a brawl between the New York Knicks and Miami Heat . Some of the suspensions were required by a league rule, implemented under Stern, that provides an automatic one-game suspension to any player who leaves his team's bench during a fight, such as the suspension in the 2007 Playoffs from the Suns-Spurs Game. Several players who had not gotten involved in the fight were also suspended, prompting complaints from officials on both teams.http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/05-97/05-16-97/d01sp147.htm In 2000, after it had been revealed that the Minnesota Timberwolves had tampered with Joe Smith two years earlier, the NBA league office punished Minnesota severely, voiding the last year of Smith's contract, fining the franchise $3.5 million and taking the Timberwolves' next 3 1st-round NBA Draft picks.http://espn.go.com/columns/ratto_ray/841035.html. Although it was believed by many that tampering is a common practice, Stern abided by arbitrator Kenneth Dam's ruling that the Timberwolves had signed the secret agreement, and denied that the league was making an example of the Timberwolves.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/news/2000/10/26/timberwolves_smith_ap/ Before the 2005-06 season, the NBA announced a new Dress Code , which banned players from wearing headphones, chains, shorts, sleeveless shirts, indoor sunglasses, T-shirts, jerseys and headgear such as baseball caps during public appearances. Allen Iverson criticized the policy: "They're targeting guys who dress like me, guys who dress hip-hop ... I think they went way overboard."http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/basketball/4392182.stm For the 2006-07 season the NBA introduced a new "microfiber" basketball for use in NBA games, replacing the previous style ball used since 1970. who said, "Feels like one of those cheap balls that you buy at the toy store."http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2610976 A study, financed by Cuban, claimed that the new ball "bounces 5 to 8% lower than typical leather balls when dropped from 4 feet... {Link without Title} the new ball bounces 30% more erratically."http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2006-10-31-new-nba-ball_x.htm However, Stern initially refused to go back to the original ball despite many complaints by players with the new ball.http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2621347 Two months into the season Stern stated that the new ball may have been a poor choice and poorly testedhttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/sports/basketball/06ball.html?ex=1323061200&en=930a8d3b517beaf3&ei=5088partner=rssnyt&emc=rss and "we could've done a better job".http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/sports/basketball/06ball.html?hp&ex=1165467600&en=08728757c39f319b&ei=5094&partner=homepage On '', December 11 , 2006 . Accessed September 3 , 2007 . REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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