Kind words from Stern

He eyes Celtics' ring ceremony

David Stern witnessed the Celtics win an NBA championship during his first year as the league's commissioner in 1984, as well as two years later. While green as a commissioner back then, Stern loved rubbing elbows and learning from Red Auerbach while the Celtics patriarch's team celebrated its titles.

After a 22-year hiatus, Stern is looking forward to passing out championship rings to the Celtics before their season opener against the Cavaliers Oct. 28. His one regret, however, is that the late Auerbach won't be there for him to rub elbows with and learn from again.

"It's hard to come up to Boston without thinking about Red smiling and grouching about almost anything," said Stern in a phone interview. "It's a very nice sort of re-igniting of hallowed NBA tradition."

The Celtics won an NBA-best 66 games last season before eventually beating the rival Lakers in the Finals. With newcomers Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen meshing with longtime Celtic Paul Pierce, and coach Doc Rivers leading the way, Stern believes Boston displayed what a team truly is.

"Doc and the team gave the nation a real demonstration of team play," Stern said. "I think that's what we take away from the season, an extraordinary array of talented players demonstrating how they moved even to the next level by focusing on team play.

"The promise of that championship ring has an extraordinary impact with players with a fair amount of time in our league that don't have one. It didn't really surprise me because all three of the 'Big Three' are talented and know how to win."

Stern also answered questions about several other league matters.

How did he look back at cities such as Vancouver, Charlotte, and Seattle losing franchises over the past 10 years, most notably Seattle losing its team to Oklahoma City this year?

"I had hoped to go for decades without a franchise move," Stern said. "But I come to accept it more as part of our landscape in the context of teams and cities falling out of love with each other and aging buildings not being replaced. That's what happened in Seattle and Charlotte. In Vancouver, the expansion team was never able to get traction."

Is he confident about the stability of NBA teams in their cities now?

"I'm confident that they're stable until they're not," Stern said. "I've learned my lesson on that one. But we seem to be doing well in each of our cities. We've had important turnarounds in New Orleans, which I think it's a real plus for us.

"We're going into the season with our fingers crossed a bit because of the economy and the corruption that is occurring in the lives of ordinary Americans and therefore ordinary sports fans. But we remain optimistic about the season."

Has the NBA projected how the struggling economy will affect teams?

"We haven't projected quite yet because we think [ticket sales] will be down day of game, but groups would be up," Stern said. "So we'll have to see how those finally work out."

What did he think about ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy going to jail last week, for 15 months on gambling charges, and the upcoming release of an independent review of the officiating?

"We are awaiting the Pedowitz Report on one hand," Stern said. "On the other hand, we don't take any great solace from [Donaghy going to jail]. We very much want to be in a position to put it behind us. At this point we want to focus on the healing process. Hopefully, for even Tim Donaghy, he can finish his term and move on with his life."

Does he have any concern about NBA stars departing for big contracts overseas?

"If you ask me do I think one team or individual owner who was a billionaire might be able to offer more than his team's entire budget for some player, I've been around sports too long to say that's not possible," Stern said. "It's good news for us in that as the sport of basketball continues to grow there will be a large number of elite athletes playing our game. And more and more players will be seeking to come to the NBA from around the world.

"So the balance of basketball will tilt decidedly toward the NBA. For the foreseeable future, that's the place where elite basketball players will want to play, so they can play with the best players in the world."

How does he think the NBA will go over in Oklahoma City full-time?

"Oklahoma City is going to sell out every game," Stern said. "They are doing extraordinarily well in respect to their sponsorship sales and they are doing a major renovation on a building that's only 6 years old. So that market appears to be in very, very good shape."

Stern also was asked what the Celtics-Lakers 2008 Finals did for the NBA.

"It actually makes you smile a bit," Stern said. "It's a demonstration that the Lakers and the Celtics have that old-time basketball religion. In a certain way, our fans very much responded to those two going out in spectacular fashion. It demonstrates that there are audiences to be had for interesting teams in established markets.

"We have to build the event in a way where people will tune in to see newer teams and newer stars in different markets. I think we're on the cusp on getting ready to do that."