斯特恩三十年

With deputy commissioner Adam Silver， reportedly a hand-picked selection of Stern himself， set to replace him， Stern will ultimately turn over the reins as one of the most successful commissioners in sports history. Stern’s association with the NBA actually started in 1966， as he was utilized as outside counsel just after graduating from Columbia Law School and passing the New York State bar examination. While every commissioner has their fair share of justifiable criticisms， Stern being no exception， there is no denying the NBA’s unparalleled expansion， globalization and innovation during his tenure.

聯盟副總裁亞當·肖華將接手總裁職位，有消息稱，這是斯特恩親自做出的選擇。作為體育史上最成功的總裁之一，斯特恩終于要交出手中的大權了。斯特恩和NBA的淵源始于1966年，從哥倫比亞大學法學院畢業，并且通過了紐約州律師資格考試后，他最初只是為聯盟進行法律服務的律師。聯盟的每一任總裁的工作都有可以指摘的地方，斯特恩也不例外。但不可否認的是，在斯特恩執掌大權的這些年里，聯盟的擴張程度、全球化程度和創新能力都出現前所未有的變革。

Consider this， when Stern took office， depending upon where you lived within the United States， the playoffs and Finals were not even guaranteed to be broadcasted live. The NBA， behind the strength of the made-for-TV rivalry of Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics was already booming， but the league simply exploded in worldwide popularity under the watchful eye of Stern.

想想這個吧，在斯特恩成為總裁那年，根據你在美國居住的地區不同，你甚至不一定能在電視上看到季后賽或總決賽的比賽直播。在“魔術師”約翰遜的湖人與拉里·伯德的凱爾特人這對幾乎為電視轉播而生的豪門宿怨的帶動下，NBA已經開始了迅猛發展。但在斯特恩的執掌下，NBA在全球范圍內的流行度得到了爆發性增長。

Of course， it didn’t hurt to have a fairly new round-the-clock①sports news channel in ESPN conveniently gaining in popularity and viewership at the same time. Neither did the influx of talented players such as Charles Barkley， John Stockton， Hakeem Olajuwon and this shooting guard out of North Carolina that you may have heard of once or twice before.

當然，ESPN這個全新體育新聞頻道的出現對聯盟也是百利而無一害，它的全天候報道模式既推動了聯盟的流行，又促進了收視率的增長。同時，大量極具天賦的球員進入NBA也推動了聯盟的發展，包括查爾斯·巴克利、約翰·斯托克頓、哈基姆·奧拉朱旺，還有那個你們也許聽說過一兩次的來自北卡的得分后衛。

Although Jordan was an absolute force as soon as his Nike’s hit（and eventually left） the ground， the combination of the most aggressive marketing strategy in league history and an iconic collection of all-time great talent in the Dream Team （1992 Barcelona Olympics） permitted Stern to open pique the interest of a global sports community.

雖說當喬丹穿著耐克球鞋踏上球場的那一刻（當然他最終還會跳離地面），他就是極為強勢的推動力量，但聯盟歷史上最具進取精神的營銷策略，加上夢之隊（1992年巴塞羅那奧運會）集合了那些史上最偉大的球員，這些都讓全球體育產業集團都對斯特恩的NBA產生了極大興趣。……