The smartest man in every room he has ever set foot inside sat down for a Q + A with Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel over the weekend, and his answers did appear laced with a relatively high volume of snark. Even for David Stern’s standards. Maybe he’s trying to re-brand himself as being in fact truly awesome, as opposed to the Commisioner who governed over two work stoppages, the Tim Donaghy scandal, and recently vetoed a trade late enough for everybody to watch him do so based on spite and ego.
Okay those first three examples are facts, but the last one I did kind of allege. None of that really matters though. What does matter, at least in the NBA while Commissioner David Stern’s finishing up his reign, is whatever he says specifically. To that point, he recently noted that the volume of sunshine per capita is some sort of factor in determining NBA market size, the CBA negotiations were executed properly as far as he was concerned, his feelings are not hurt when NBA arenas boo him, and that what he says goes. We knew the last one already though.
Here are those excerpts from the Orlando Sentinel:
The first one regarding marketing size, the sun, Orlando, Miami, and Dwight Howard…
Orlando Sentinel: When I asked you on Christmas night in Oklahoma City how you wanted the Dwight Howard situation to play out, you said, basically, that players who had put in their time in the league have the right to play where they want. They’ve earned the right to become free agents. But let’s say Howard does leave Orlando for a larger market. Are you concerned that there will be a perception in small- and medium-sized markets that the teams there will not be able to hold onto their stars?
David Stern: Only to the extent that they’re fed by journalists like you. I don’t remember Miami ever being referred to as a “large market.” Do you?
OS: No.
Stern: Stop right there, then. But, now, because a couple of players decided to go where the sun shines, that’s now a large market. Well, guess what: Orlando, to my mind, is a large market even though you refer to it as a “small market.” It’s up there in the top 10 in revenues. It has actually pretty much close to the same sunshine that Miami has, and it’s a preferred place for so many people to live in the middle of their careers and after their careers are over. So I think there’s a small-market sort of point of view sometimes that people have a defensiveness [about]. But, to me, Orlando’s a great market, and it seems to be a great place to live.
David Stern on the CBA Negotiations…
OS: When you look back at the CBA negotiations, do you see anything that could have been done differently that would have expedited the process?
Stern: No. I don’t.
On being collectively booed by NBA Arenas…
OS: There have been occasions in recent years — the Mavericks’ opener this season, the Magic’s opener last season — where you’ve been booed by fans.
Stern: [Interrupts] I have been booed by fans the last 28 years. It’s always. The commissioner is the authority figure and, for the most part, unless I was in Oklahoma City having just moved the franchise there or opening night in a new building that is a [home of a] new franchise, I think the commissioners are a good place to boo.
OS: So are you saying that you’re going to get booed no matter what?
Stern: I think so. But that’s OK. I enjoy it. It shows, at least, they’re noticing me.
OS: Well, now, you are a human being. It doesn’t upset you?
Stern: No, no. It doesn’t upset me at all. The word is “inured.” I suppose it would be great if they carried me around every arena in a posh chair, but it is what it is. . . . It doesn’t change what I do, which is I actually work for the owners, the players and the fans and their communities. Those are my constituents. And sometimes [laughing] they have an unusual way of showing their appreciation.
On the right to free speech and the NBA…
OS: Last March, Stan Van Gundy was asked what he thought of the league’s 16 technical-foul compilation rule. I’m sure you’re familiar with his answer. “I can’t answer that, and I certainly can’t have an opinion because David Stern, like a lot of leaders we’ve seen in this world lately, don’t really tolerate other people’s opinions or free speech or anything. So I’m not really allowed to have an opinion, so it’s up to him. He decides.”
Stern: [In a sarcastic tone] God, it sounds like a perfect commissioner’s world to me.
OS: Did it tick you off? My understanding was that Van Gundy’s comment ticked you off.
Stern: I don’t know where you got that understanding from. That’s an unremarkable comment.
OS: To be likened to a dictator?
Stern: What’d he say? Did he say “dictators”?
OS: Keep in mind this was said in the middle of the Arab Spring, after Mubarak had been deposed. [Here is the quote again:] “And I certainly can’t have an opinion because David Stern, like a lot of leaders we’ve seen in this world lately, don’t really tolerate other people’s opinions or free speech or anything.”
Stern: Well, it is certainly true that when you sign a contract in the NBA that’s an employment agreement subject to a set of rules. And 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.
