David Stern: Giving people a unique opportunity to identify with a cha...

I'm not big on looking back beyond the moment in which decisions and events occur. I'm always pushing forward.

David Stern

pushing-forward events decision

Since the NBA purchased the New Orleans Hornets, final responsibility for significant management decisions lies with the Commissioner’s Office in consultation with team chairman Jac Sperling. All decisions are made on the basis of what is in the best interests of the Hornets. In the case of the trade proposal that was made to the Hornets for Chris Paul, we decided, free from the influence of other NBA owners, that the team was better served with Chris in a Hornets uniform than by the outcome of the terms of that trade.

David Stern

team responsibility lying

It`s not the NBA Finals, it's not even a regular-season game. It's the All-Star game, it's a celebration. A celebration of talent, speed, grace. Let`s put it on display and have some fun.

David Stern

stars basketball fun

You will ultimately be defined by the sum total of your responses to circumstances, situations and events that you probably couldn't anticipate and indeed probably couldn't even imagine. So just keep your eyes on the course and be ready to move in different directions depending upon the crises and opportunities with which you are faced.

David Stern

eye opportunity moving

I think it's... I don't want to become a social crusader on this issue, but I think sports, male sports, has traditionally not been an inviting environment for gay men to identify themselves. But eventually... we will get to a place where it is not an issue in sports.

David Stern

gay sports men

Follow your dreams and make the most of every experience.

David Stern

your-dreams follow-your-dreams dream

I would say the referees have the toughest game to call. I would say that there's a lot of officiating done by announcers, local announcers. Sometimes you should listen to a game from both feeds, and you'd think you were listening to completely different games.

David Stern

games listening thinking

Our officials want nothing more than to be at the top of their professional game and make the correct call. That's what they do; that's their living, that's their pride, that's their joy. They don't achieve that because they happen to be human.

David Stern

pride games joy

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.

David Stern

nba government player

I'm working hard to see whether there can be basketball next year.

David Stern

nba basketball years

Smart drafting is a wonderful thing. A smart free-agent signing is a wonderful thing. Smart trades are a wonderful thing, and that's a function of management.

David Stern

agents smart management

We have a broad array of teams. And if somebody asked me whether a team is a good buy, my response is, Youd better hurry up, theyre going like hot cakes, and theyre going to be even more valuable when we get a system that is even more sustainable.

David Stern

cake team hot

I would say the league is viable as long as you have owners who want to continue funding losses. But it's not on the long term a sustainable business model that we're happy to be supporting. It needs to be reset.

David Stern

league loss long

You walk into the playgrounds in Shanghai and Beijing, and you see youngsters who are shorter, shaking and baking and having attitude. And Jeremy Lin is going to inspire all of them.

David Stern

baking attitude inspire

Everyone knows that if you can keep on making money, everyone's happy.

David Stern

making-money ifs knows

With every day that goes by, there will be further reductions on what's left of the season.

David Stern

reduction seasons left

Everyone said that the NBA could not possibly make it because it had too many black players.

David Stern

nba black player

I think that players play, and they compete, and it's not about incentives.

David Stern

player play thinking

It was the Michael Jordan/Nike phenomenon that really let people see that athletes were OK, and black athletes were OK. Defying a previous wisdom - not only that black athletes wouldn't sell in white America, but that the NBA as a predominantly black sport could not sell in white America.

David Stern

black wisdom white people

I've never found NBA owners to be deferential. I never considered them to be reliant. All that I do is knock myself out to represent their interests the best way I can and sometimes tell them, as part of my job, what they don't like to hear.

David Stern

best job myself sometimes

Giving people a unique opportunity to identify with a character or a storyline and actually experience it personally, it's like the mega-trailer, there's nothing more emotional and visceral than standing on a wire strung between the World Trade Center towers.