People know the NBA as the multi-billion-dollar professional basketball league and business that is enjoyed from every corner of the globe. In the NBA, mere mortals who are spectacular with the orange have become hoop deities, lauded and revered for their skills, talents and charisma.
Everywhere they go, no matter what country it is, superstars like LeBron James , Stephen Curry and Anthony Edwards are mobbed by fans who hope to get a glimpse of greatness. Hard as it may be to believe, but the NBA wasn't always like this. In fact, there was a time when NBA games were on tape delay and the league had trouble attracting sponsors due to numerous issues that were plaguing the league, especially in the 1980s.
From rampant drug use to on-court violence to the league simply being "too Black," the NBA had a rough time reeling in viewers until David Stern took over as league commissioner in 1984 and captained the ship through these rough waters.
Stern, who governed the NBA from 1984 until 2014, will always be remembered as the man who lifted the league to new heights, expanding its reach globally and turning mere men into superstars known worldwide. He also earned a reputation for his no-nonsense approach to instilling discipline into players, never thinking twice about suspending or even banning erring players.
It was his no-frills approach that helped steady the ship in the 1980s, a time when the NBA was on its heels due to players' rampant drug use.
"We had the drug issue," Hall of Famer and eight-time All-Star Alex English recalled , referring to players regularly snorting cocaine.
In fact, drug use got so out of hand that it eventually claimed the life of one of the most promising young players of that era, Len Bias, who passed away on June 19, 1986, not long after the Boston Celtics selected him second overall in the 1986 NBA Draft.
"Our image was rough. We were on tape delay," English stressed. "People thought the league was too black."
Stern recognized that a problem as serious as drugs needed to be tackled head-on, not with kid's gloves but with sheer force of will. In February 1986, Stern sent a resounding message to everyone in the league that he meant business when he banned All-Star guard Michael Ray Richardson for life after he tested positive for cocaine use for the third time in as many seasons.
"We needed someone to come in and put things in order," Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood shared .
"To be honest, we had decay in the NBA, decay in a sense that we had been infested by drugs," he continued. "I was a victim of it. We had gotten stale. It was just—it was not a good look for basketball, it was not a good thing."
David's stern approach to running the league did not go unnoticed by corporate America. Seeing that the NBA meant to raise its profile by cleaning its ranks, the sponsors soon came calling. Before long, the league successfully marketed the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, as well as the most famous rivalry of all time between the Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers .
So if you see the NBA being accepted and clamored for in all four corners of the globe, tip your hat to Stern, who helped transform the league into the juggernaut that it is today.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Apr 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
