人称“经营奇才”的NBA总裁大卫·斯特恩，在西方国家是个家喻户晓的传奇人物。这个律师出身的总裁于执政的20年间，把濒临破产、遭人冷遇的NBA转变成为了今天这个蒸蒸日上、明星璀璨的大联盟。

David Stern is considered the best sports executive working today. He transformed the NBA as ommissioner from a league on the verge of bankruptcy into a profitable, global brand through smart marketing and shrewd financial innovations like the salary cap.（注1）

David Stern has been called many things, both good and bad.Two adjectives heard most often (and are likely to be the most accurate) are: savior and dictator.（注2） He saved the NBA from the brink of bankruptcy and irrelevancy by jazzing up the league and its star players into media icons.（注3） Hissuccess also made him feel immune to criticism and he dictatorially controlled the NBA ?nbsp;from the players to the owners ?nbsp;and even some trivialities（注4） related.

All great leaders though have wielded superior control over their organizations,and with David Stern's track record of success, occasional lapses in judgment are tolerated.（注5） He is, after all, the one that fuel the potentials of Julius "Dr.J" Erving, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael "Air" Jordan, and made them household names.（注6）

When Stern took over the struggling NBA in 1984, the league was in a deep financial crisis with 17 out of 23 teams losing money. The league's reputation was so low that the 1980 final between the Lakers and the 76ers was shown on tape-delay on CBS at 11:30pm.（注7） Lots of seats in the league's arenas were vacant with average attendance at less than 10,000 per game.

Now Stern's success makes all those incidents seem like little more than interesting anecdotes.（注8） He introduced the salary cap, which soon became the envy（注9） of the other professional leagues and introduced a brand-new but useful financing concept: sharing revenue among teams.

Today, Stern is widely recognized as the defying commissioner in North American professional sports. The NBA under Stern's rule has added 6 teams, seen revenue increase 500%, attendance rise 60%, and gained considerable importance and influence as an organization and entertainment company, thanks in part to heavy TV exposure in 210 countries（注10）.

David Stern's recent renegotiation of the NBA's TV contract further illustrates his genius. Despite an economic downturn, and the worst advertising market in years, he managed to get a 24% increase in North American TV contracts, which has been regarded as a miracle these days.

His talent as a marketer is unquestionable (witness the success of his "I love this game" ad slogan). Instead of being a yes-man to the NBA owners, he understood the importance of a long-term strategy to build the league's brand, increase fanloyalty and forge lucrative partnerships.（注11）

Of course, to make such broad changes, Stern has often been accused of wielding too much power in the NBA. However, while he does his job, the motivation includes looking after the league he loves. He may have his faults, but it is his passion for the sport that allows him to make decisions that help the game trive.（注12） Though Stern is also a tough cop, when it comes to players that abuse drugs, violate league rules, or out-of-line owners.（注13）

Now he, as head of the NBA for nearly 2 decades, has recorded countless milestones. He has shined with 2 caps on; one of a sports man with the power to shape oneof the world's most popular sports, and the other of a businessman who understands what it takes to make a product that is appealing to its consumer base（注14）and remains profitable.

But Stern has never rested on his laurels and sought to increase basketball's already mushrooming popularity. He created the Women's National Basketball Association, the minor-league National Basketball Development League, and NBA.com TV, a new digital channel.（注1５）

Market values of franchises have increased by 500%, and the NBA entered a new market ?nbsp;Canada. The All-Star game, that was, at one time, merely an excuse for league officials to go on vacation, has turned into its own banner event, thanks to Stern's revamping of the game and its surrounding festivities.（注16）

He'll never be as popular as the superstar players he oversees, but that doesn't matter to David Stern. He realizes that his life is blessed and he doesn't forget his humble beginnings at his father's New York delicatessen（注17）.

To the public's great surprise, David Stern is not a voluble（注18） man as we imagine. During interviews or press conferences, his efforts at being witty often fell short, and left him seeming homely rather than stern, as he is named.（注19）

And there is another interesting thing about him. David Stern like most Manhattan executives is an exceptional dresser（注20）, who is very conscious of the way he looks in public. Obviously, with a first-rank personal tailor and an abundant budget (he makes over $7 million a year), we would always expect some striking changes with his appearance.

1． 大卫·斯特恩被认为是当今世界上最优秀的职业体育管理人。他以总裁的身份、通过巧妙的市场营销和“薪水封顶”等精明的财政改革，把NBA由一个濒临破产的联盟变成了利润滚滚的全球知名品牌。salary cap：根据球员的表现来定薪水，并有最高限制；凡是突破封顶界线，超出多少钱，就给联盟多少钱，由联盟统一分配。其目的是抑制球员薪水无限制攀升的弊端，破坏此规定的球员与球队老板都会受到处分。

2． 有两个词是最常用来形容他的（没准儿也是最准确的）——救世主和独裁者。

3． 他使NBA再次活跃起来，并把它的明星球员变成了公众偶像，从而把这个联盟由破产和游离的边缘拉了回来。

4． triviality：琐事。

5． 但是所有伟大的领导者都在其组织内操纵着大权，而且就大卫·斯特恩的成功记录来看，偶然决策上出现的差错也是可以容忍的。

6． 毕竟就是他刺激了“J博士”朱利叶斯·欧文、“魔术师”埃文·约翰逊、“大鸟”拉里·伯德以及“飞人”迈克尔·乔丹等人潜力的发挥，并使他们的名字家喻户晓。

7． 联盟的声誉极为低下，以至于1980年在湖人队与76人队之间进行的决赛是晚上11点半由CBS(美国哥伦比亚广播公司)录音播出的。tape-delay：延时合成磁带录音（指把已录好的音乐片段与现场演出加以合成以加强音响或回声效果）。

8． 现在斯特恩的成功让过去那些事儿显得不过也就是些有趣的轶闻。

9． envy：羡慕对象。

10.一部分原因是得益于在210个国家的高电视曝光率。heavy：大量的。

11.他并不是对球队老板言听计从的人，恰恰相反，他深深了解制订长远规划对于创建联盟的品牌、增进球迷的忠诚度以及达成盈利性合作的重要意义。

12. 然而，照管好自己所热爱的联盟是他称职工作的动力之一。他或许有缺点，但正是他对这项体育的激情使他能够做出一些决定，推动这一事业朝着目标奋进。

13. 而当遇到滥用毒品或违反联盟条例的球员和行为出格的老板时，斯特恩就变成了一个强悍的“警察”。out-of-line ：<口>出格的、举止不当的。

14. consumer base：消费基础。

15. 指女子全国篮球协会、未成年人培养全国篮球协会和NBA网络电视公司，一个24小时都开通的数字频道。

16. NBA全明星比赛一度仅仅是联盟官员们外出度假的借口，如今却因为斯特恩对这一比赛所作的改进和以其为中心进行的欢庆活动而变成了该联盟的旗帜性赛事。the All-Star game：一年一度的全明星比赛。该比赛的特点在于参赛运动员皆是由美国和加拿大球迷投票选出的最佳运动员。

17. delicatessen：熟食店。

18. voluble：健谈的，有口才的。

19. 在接受采访时或是在记者招待会上，他努力想使自己显得机智诙谐，却总是达不到预期效果，这让他看上去很平易近人，而不是像他的名字所寓指的那么“严厉”。 fall short：达不到要求。

20. exceptional dresser：罕见的衣着讲究者。