David Stern, looking toward his retirement next February after 30 years as commissioner of the NBA, says he certainly isn’t going to drop out of sight.
Stern said Thursday that he looks forward to stepping back from the day-to-day grind but is also keen to continue to help grow and develop the league from an advisory role.
“It is time to step down and step aside,” Stern said Thursday during his last NBA finals news conference prior to game one of the league championship series between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.
“I will savour it when it is over and I look back on it.”
Stern addressed a number of topics in the news conference, including the issue of how to crack down on flopping by the players.
The league brought in fines for flopping this season in an attempt to stop the exaggerated falls to the floor. Players now receive a $5,000 fine for flopping in the playoffs.
Last week, Stern slapped Miami Heat star LeBron James and David West and Lance Stephenson of the Indiana Pacers $5,000 each for flopping in game four of the Eastern Conference finals.
Stern said the next step in the crackdown would be to bring in suspensions for a first offence, but he is not sure the league is willing to go that far.
“We could end (flopping) immediately if we decided to suspend players,” Stern said. “But that might be a little draconian at the moment. The point was to do it gently.
“You are not going to cause somebody to stop it for $5,000 when the average salary is $5.5 million.”
Stern, who became commissioner on February 1, 1984, said one of the saddest days of his tenure was when Magic Johnson announced he had the HIV virus in 1991.
“I thought I was going to die. I was thunderstruck with sadness and fear for him,” said Stern, who announced in October that he would step down on February 1 of 2014.
“The happiest day was when I got to give him a big hug at the Orlando all-star game and when he hit that three and was MVP of the game.”
Stern will be retiring 30 years to the day after beginning his tenure as commissioner. He will be replaced by his deputy Adam Silver.
During his reign salaries sky-rocketed, the league added a number of teams, they brought in drug testing, battled through lockouts and saw the rise of future hall of famers including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird and LeBron James, whose Heat team is in its third straight NBA finals.
Stern said he plans to keep working with the league, specifically in the area of growing the game internationally.
He added his biggest regret was not doing more for the retired players but said labour negotions on that front didn’t always go as smoothly as he would have liked.
“I know every day that I have the best job in the world,” Stern said. “I will remain committed to the continued success of the NBA.
“That’s the thing I think about more than I think about looking backwards.
“I am actually looking forward to helping the NBA in any way possible as it rises to continued new heights.”
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