The NBA wouldn't be the league it is today without David Stern. Working his way up the ranks, Stern was the organization's first general counsel and took the commissioner's post in 1984. Stern had the good fortune of inheriting Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and taking over just before the arrival of Michael Jordan. But television revenues were low and several franchises were in financial turmoil. So the new commissioner rolled up his sleeves and got to work. For the next 30 years, Stern presided over the league's skyrocketing growth.
According to Forbes, Forbes, the player's salary cap, which Stern helped to create, grew from $3.6 million to just under $59 million when he left office in 2014. Television revenues jumped from around $22 million to about $930 million. And franchise values from $400 million to $19 billion. A big part of Stern's strategy?
Marketing the league's superstars and making them global icons. Magic and Larry leading the charge in the 80s, then Jordan in the 90s and extending well into the 2000s with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. The league took off globally under Stern's tenure, becoming the first professional sports league to play regular season games outside the U.S. and allowed its players to compete in the Olympics, beginning with the gold medal winning Dream Team in 1992. We envision all that's going on now. Europe, China, big TV contracts.
free agency guys being able to you know pick and control where they go it was a great match it didn't come without some growing pains stern presided over four player lockouts and angered some players with tough disciplinary decisions and the adoption of an unpopular sideline dress code but his ability to adapt and grow the game over a 30-year span made him a titan of the sport he was inducted into the basketball hall of fame in 2014 months after handing the reins over to his protege, Adam Silver. The reason I'm here is because of thousands of people, thousands of people over the years who have done so much. You're responsible for it and the league is in spectacular shape going forward under the extraordinary leadership of Adam Silver.
Thank you, Frank. Having me, good night.