Tweet
Stern to hand NBA's reins to Silver in 2014
NBA commissioner David Stern will retire on Feb. 1, 2014, 30 years after he took charge of the league, and will be replaced by deputy commissioner Adam Silver.
The announcement came at an NBA Board of Governors meeting Thursday.
Stern told owners during their two days of meetings of his plans, and the board unanimously decided Silver would be his successor.
Stern, who turned 70 last month, became commissioner on Feb. 1, 1984. He has been the NBA's longest-serving commissioner, establishing the league's brand around the world, presiding over team expansion and overseeing the establishment of the WNBA.
"You'll be remembered as the best of all time," Silver told Stern, sitting to his left on a podium during a news conference.
Stern said he decided on his plans about six months ago, having guided the league through a lockout that ended nearly a year ago. He said the league is in great shape and he is confident in Silver, who has been the league's No. 2 since 2006.
"I don't know what else to say other than to recite what I told the owners yesterday in executive session," Stern said. "I told them that it's been a great run, it will continue for another 15 months, that the league is in, I think, terrific condition."
Stern hinted last December, when a new collective bargaining agreement was announced, that it would be the final labor deal before he steps down.
"This is a 10-year (labor) deal, with a reopener at six," Stern said at the time, explaining that either the owners or the players' union can opt out after six seasons. "I'm not planning to be here certainly for the 10 and probably not the six."
Also during Thursday's meeting, owners unanimously approved the sale of the Memphis Grizzlies to California businessman Robert Pera.
Pera, who reached a deal to buy the Grizzlies from Michael Heisley in June, put together an ownership group with local Memphis business and athletes with ties to Tennessee, including Peyton Manning and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway.
Source: AP