The 2011-12 NBA season was shortened by 20 percent to 66 regular-season games per team after CBA negotiations between the league and the players stalled, leading to a lockout. The main points of disagreement between the two sides were revenue sharing and the salary cap structure, which essentially amounted to owners asking players to take lower pay, citing financial losses suffered under the previous CBA.
In the middle of the lockout, then Philadelphia 76ers center Spencer Hawes called out the league's hypocrisy by targeting the late commissioner David Stern and his reported massive salary.
"23 million a year for Stern, huh. Weird, no rumblings about a pay cut for the commish while he asks every single player to do so," wrote Hawes on "X", then known as "Twitter."
How much Stern made as NBA commissioner was long a topic of discussion. When he took over as league commissioner in 1984, it was reported that his salary was $250,000 per year. That number increased as the league grew in size and revenue. As to how much, nobody really knew , and nobody really dared to ask because during that time, according to Adrian Wojnarowski, it was a touchy subject.
"Strange, but the union never has the courage to bring up the mystery surrounding Stern's salary. Many owners don't even know what Stern makes. 'I'd say three or less know,' one NBA owner told Yahoo! Sports. Several believe it's somewhere in the range of $20 million to $23 million a year, but no one knows for sure. Maybe it's more than that, but the fact that some owners don't know the answer is beyond belief," wrote Woj.
But it did not really matter if Stern made $20, $21, $22, or $23 million. That was not Hawes' business. What he wanted to bring up was why the league was asking players to take salary cuts when they were paying the NBA commissioner a massive salary that only four NBA players made that year, yet not asking him to take a discount, too.
Well, just as with the question of how much Stern's salary was, Hawes' tweet never got a reply from the NBA or from the commissioner himself. However, it wasn't that he had to.
A day after Spencer's tweet, however, ESPN writer Marc Stein reported that David, like all the players in the league, will not be getting his salary during the lockout.
"NBA commissioner David Stern will not collect on his eight-figure salary during the ongoing lockout, according to sources with knowledge of Stern's pay status," wrote Stein. "Although he has not publicly addressed the matter since the lockout commenced July 1, Stern said during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles that he would not be paid."
The NBA lockout finally ended on December 8, 2011. Among the changes was the reduction of the revenue split from 57 percent for the players to 51 percent. Also, contract terms for certain players were cut shorter, while salary raises were reduced as well. Meanwhile, nobody knew if Stern ever took a pay cut. Neither was there an indication that he would.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Apr 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
