After the BAA signed several of the top names in the National Basketball League (NBL) into the league, Podoloff negotiated a merger between the two groups to form the National Basketball Association in 1949. As a lawyer with no previous basketball experience, Podoloff's great organizational and administrative skills were later regarded as the key factor that kept the league alive in its often stormy formative years.
In 17 years as president, Podoloff expanded the NBA to as many as 19 teams. He also briefly formed three divisions and scheduled 558 games.
During his tenure, Podoloff introduced the collegiate draft in 1947, and in 1954 instituted the 24 second shot clock created by Dan Biasone, owner of the Syracuse Nationals which quickened the pace of games, and took the NBA from a slow plodding game to a fast-paced sport. In 1954, Podoloff also increased national recognition of the game immensely by securing its first television contract.
Maurice Podoloff stepped down as NBA commissioner in 1963. During his period in office, he had helped increase fan interest during the NBA's formative years and improved the overall welfare of the sport of basketball through his foresight, wisdom, and leadership. In his honor, the NBA would name its annual league Most Valuable Player trophy the Maurice Podoloff Trophy.
J. Walter Kennedy (1963–1975)
Succeeding first president Maurice Podoloff, the likable, approachable J. Walter Kennedy became an iron-handed executive and let everyone know precisely where he stood on issues. Kennedy quickly exerted his authority, slapping Red Auerbach with a $500 fine for rowdy conduct during a pre-season 1963 game. At the time, it was the largest fine ever levied against a coach or player in the NBA.
His title was changed to "commissioner" in 1967. Kennedy was also the commissioner who upheld the first protest ever in the NBA, which was the one filed by the Chicago Bulls for "the Phantom Buzzer Game" against the Atlanta Hawks in 1969.
The new commissioner came into the NBA when the league was struggling with only nine teams, no television contract, sagging attendance and competition from the increasingly popular American Basketball Association. When Kennedy retired in 1975 as commissioner, the league had increased to 18 teams, landed a lucrative television contract and improved its financial standing considerably, experienced a 200 percent boost in income and attendance figures tripled during his tenure.
However, his league was troubled by public relations issues through his tenure, especially after the merger. He was generally pushed by his staff into many of his decisions, most notably by his successor as NBA commissioner, David Stern. Many consider Stern the driving force behind the television contracts with CBS and rise in game attendance, as well as several crucial issues that predicated the rise of the NBA in the early 1980s.[1]
The arrival of Michael Jordan, in particular, ushered in a new era of commercial bounty for the NBA. With him came his flair and talent for the game, and that brought in source contracts from Nike which helped to give the league even more national attention.[2] Jordan and the two other premier basketball players of the 1980s, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, took the game to new heights of popularity and profit. By 2004, Stern oversaw the NBA's expansion from 10 to 30 franchises (since 1966), expansion into Canada, and televising games in countries around the world.
Stern also oversaw the creation of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), a professional women's basketball league. Stern has been credited for developing and broadening the NBA's audience, by setting up training camps, playing exhibition games around the world, and recruiting more international players.[3]
The NBA now has eleven offices in cities outside the United States, is televised in 215 countries around the world in 43 languages, and operates the WNBA and the National Basketball Development League under Stern's watch.[4][5]
Following a Board of Governors meeting in October 2012, Stern announced that he would retire from the office of Commissioner by February 1, 2014. It was also announced that he would be succeeded by then-Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Adam Silver.[6] Stern stepped down from the position at end of day on January 31, 2014, concluding a 30-year tenure to the day.[7][8]
Notable events during Stern's tenure
Appointed Deputy Commissioner of the NBA, Russ Granik who negotiated four straight collective bargaining agreements with the NBA players' union and lobbied for eligibility changes that directly led to the Dream Team of 1992.
Instituted a minimum age of 19 to be eligible for the draft, beginning in 2005. This led to a proliferation of "one-and-done" players in college basketball.
Instituted a 2–3–2 format for the NBA Finals in 1985, only to move back to the 2–2–1–1–1 format in October 2013 at the behest of his second Deputy Commissioner, Adam Silver.
On February 1, 2014, Adam Silver was unanimously approved to succeed David Stern as Commissioner of the NBA. Originally the Deputy Commissioner from 2006 through 2014, he was a protege of David Stern, who endorsed Silver to be his replacement in October 2013.[15] Previously, Silver worked as senior vice president of NBA Entertainment, president of NBA Entertainment, a special assistant to the commissioner, NBA chief of staff, and Deputy Commissioner under Stern.[16] Basketballs for games now contain Silver's signature, a first for the NBA. Silver hand-picked Mark Tatum as his Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer. Tatum is the first African-American Deputy Commissioner of the NBA in history.[16][17]
Three months into Silver's tenure, he banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the league for life in response to racist comments made by Sterling, during a private telephone conversation with Sterling's girlfriend. Additionally, he fined Sterling US$2.5 million, the maximum allowed under the NBA Constitution, and urged owners to vote to expel Sterling from ownership of the Clippers, which they eventually did. Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO, became the new owner of the Clippers.
Six years into Silver's tenure, he announced that the league would suspend operations as a result of Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19.
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