Former NBA Commissioner David Stern died Wednesday due to a brain hemorrhage he sustained on December 12. Stern was driven from a restaurant in New York City to Mount Sinai West medical center to undergo emergency surgery after having a brain hemorrhage., according to ESPN.

He replaced Larry O’Brien as the league’s fourth commissioner in 1984 after working as the NBA’s General Counsel and then executive vice president of the NBA. As VP Stern established league drug testing and the salary cap.

As commissioner, Stern helped organize the expansion of seven new franchises and six relocations. According to ESPN, the NBA’s television revenue increased by 40 times and the average salary of an NBA player inflated from $250,000 per year to $5 million per year.

Another significant achievement was the creation of the WNBA in 1997. The women’s league was able to receive television deals with ABC, ESPN, CBS Sports Network and NBA TV.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of NBA Commissioner Emeritus David Stern,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “The WNBA will be forever grateful for for his exemplary leadership and and vision that led to the founding of our league. His steadfast commitment to to women’s sports was ahead of its time and has provided countless opportunities for women and young girls who aspire to play basketball. He will be missed.”

His reign as commissioner ended in 2014 when he retired. He was the longest tenured commissioner holding the position for 30 years. Upon stepping down the league had expanded its reach all over the world broadcasting games in over 200 countries.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement, “For 22 years, I had a courtside seat to watch David in action. He was a mentor and one of my dearest friends.  We spent countless hours in the office, at arenas and on planes wherever the game would take us.  Like every NBA legend, David had extraordinary talents, but with him it was always about the fundamentals – preparation, attention to detail, and hard work.”

Stern graduated Rutgers University and got his law degree at Columbia University in 1966. He enjoyed many years as a prominent lawyer prior to joining the NBA.

“Because of David, the NBA is a truly global brand – making him not only one of the greatest sports commissioners of all time but also one of the most influential business leaders of his generation,” Silver said. “Every member of the NBA family is the beneficiary of David’s vision, generosity and inspiration. Our deepest condolences go out to David’s wife, Dianne, their sons, Andrew and Eric, and their extended family, and we share our grief with everyone whose life was touched by him.”

Former NBA commissioner David Stern had an emergency surgery on Thursday after suffering a sudden brain hemorrhage. The 77-year old was rushed to Mount Sinai West Medical Center after New York’s Fire Department responded to a 911 call at a Midtown Manhattan restaurant at 1:59 p.m. ET.

The league made an announcement about his condition, extending their thoughts and prayers to his family. There is no immediate word on his condition.

Stern served as the longest running commissioner for 30 years in the NBA before being replaced by Adam Silver. He still remains active in the league, serving with a title of commissioner emeritus, but has expanded his interests into other ventures like sports technology.

Under Stern, the league saw immense growth, televising in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages. Stationing 13 offices worldwide, the NBA became the first professional sports organization to play season games outside the U.S. and allowed players to compete in the Olympics.

He also oversaw the addition of seven franchises and the creation of the WNBA, as well as the NBA Development League. His initiatives included changes in drug testing, salary caps and dress codes.

Upon leaving his position as commissioner, Stern was adamant that staffers didn’t use the word “retire” for he never planned to stop working. He continued to travel on the leagues behalf.

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An outpouring of support has come from fans, players, coaches and league executives for Stern.

Adam Silver, the current commissioner, said, “David is one of the top business leaders of his generation. His legacy will be that he brought modern business practices to sports leagues. He was a CEO/commissioner who while focused on growing a major business also preached that there’s nothing more important than the game.”

Miami Heat president Pat Riley said of Stern, “David Stern is the No. 1 force, the No. 1 reason why this league is where it is today. That’s not disrespectful to any one great player in any one era or any owner. This has to do with the leadership of one man.”

New revelations about the 2007 NBA betting scandal were released. Former referee Tim Donaghy spoke to ESPN about the time period and his gambling habits. The divorced father of four killed time on the links during the offseason. What started off as harmless bets on country club golfing quickly spiraled. Soon enough, there were trips to casinos. But what really got Donaghy started was a football pool. This violated NBA rules, which prohibit any gambling outside of horse racing, but Donaghy said, ” I started thinking — or should I say, rationalizing: S—, everyone on the staff bets. I was like a pot smoker moving up to cocaine.”

Tim Donaghy reveals NBA Game Fixing

Then, in 2003, Donaghy fell hard. While most think that the 2007 betting scandal was squashed the season it started, court documents show that the bets began in 2003. Donaghy and a friend named Jack Concannon were sitting alone in a clubhouse after a golf outing when the two got the idea to bet on the NBA. But it wasn’t just basketball. It was Donaghy’s own game.

The month he started, he only bet on two or three games. Sure, it wasn’t much. But by the next season, Donaghy put wagers on 30 to 40 of his own games. According to Donaghy’s memoir, he pulled in so much cash he didn’t know where to hide it.

The first persons to be tipped off were a group of bookies called “The Animals.” Originally from Philadelphia, they had landed in Curacoa to set up an online sports-book. A bookie named Pete “Rhino” Ruggieri realized that Concannon was placing an odd amount of money on certain NBA games. He was also winning on those games like never before. How did an insurance salesman go from losing $100 bets to placing winning bets of $5,000 and beating bookies? Ruggieri studied the wagers. Back in Philly, he had played golf sometimes with Concannon and he recalled that he was friends with Donaghy. Rhino’s mind raced. Who were the refs? Sure enough, every game Concannon bet big on, Donaghy was one of the three names out on the court.

So what did the Animals do? Rhino, Jimmy “Bah-Bah” Battista and the rest of the group put their money down. They made bets from $30,000 to $100,000 and they won a lot more than that. The only thing they had to do was not let the scheme out. Other than that, if Donaghy reffed and Concannon bet, they covered the spread close to 70% of the time.

By 2006, the Animals Curacoa-based sports-book had closed shop. Battista was back in Philly. He was still following Donaghy and Concannon but there was an issue. How do you remain incredibly accurate but not draw attention to yourself? So Battista called up a friend named Tommy Martino. “You’ve got to arrange a meeting with Donaghy,” Battista said.

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The two met in December 2006. Battista told him he knew all about the scheme and offered a deal. There were two conditions: 1) Never bet with Concannon again and 2) in exchange for giving Battista his picks, he’d get $2,000 per game. Donaghy excused himself to the bathroom. “He gets so pale sometimes, he turns yellow, I swear to god,” Martino said. “In the bathroom, Donaghy is like, ‘Tom, you f—ing believe it?’ And I said, ‘What?’ I’m thinking he’s going to say: Oh s—! It got out to Battista that I’m giving games to Jack! But no. You know what he says? He goes: ‘Do you believe it?’ He goes, ‘Concannon was making all that money and not giving me anything!'”

In the NBA, spread movements of greater than 1.5 are severe. Millions have to come in. On Battista’s first game, the spread jumped from 2.5 to 4.  The pair walked away with wads of $100, the diameter of an orange. It was easy money.

Then, Phil Scala came into the picture. He was the boss of the FBI unit that was in charge of keeping an eye on the Gambino crime family. One of the snitches came to him with some information. There was an NBA ref who was working with some bookies. No names, no one at the center of the scheme was in the Gambino family, but they’d also figured out the formula and were pulling in millions on this ref’s game.

For close to a year, the FBI worked on the case. Then, one day, an agent came into Scala’s office.  Scala recalled, “He said, ‘We found the guy. We found the referee.'” Sure enough, it was Donaghy.

In April 2007, the agency made its moves. Battista, just a few days out of drug rehab, was greeted by FBI agents at his door. Former NBA commissioner David Stern was briefed on the situation. Both Martino and Donaghy made statements.

In late 2007, Donaghy sat down with Aron Kulle, a friend who ran youth sports leagues out of a community center. Donaghy volunteered his time there. While the kids played directly outside the office, Donaghy cracked.

“He knew what the spreads were going to be. He knew how to control it. He knew how to get into other referees’ heads too, about different players because the other refs would follow him. He admitted to fixing the games,” Kulle recalled.

“If what you’re telling me is true,” Kulle replied to his friend, “you’re gonna be rich.”

Donaghy would be sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. One unnamed gambler said , “He also told me they were betting millions and he was an idiot not to ask for more.”

There’re not many David Stern fans. During his time as NBA commissioner, he somehow attracted malice from every fan base. Now, he’s set his sights to the NFL as well. 

Stern Dishes On Kaep

On the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast, Stern blundered his take on the Colin Kaepernick situation and the NFL. He began his argument by saying that as commissioner he tried to “promote our players and show that they were real people.” Then, he said that if he ran the NFL he would’ve simply suspended Kaepernick when he first began kneeling and that the move would’ve saved his career.

During the 1995-96, when  Denver Nuggets guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf sat for the national anthem, Stern suspended him for one game and fined him $32,000. Once he agreed to stand for the anthem while bowing his head, he was allowed to return. However, unlike Stern’s claims, the suspension didn’t save Abdul-Rauf’s career. If anything, all it did was insult his choice made for religious beliefs. He was left on an island and soon left out of a job. Despite being Denver’s leading scorer, he was traded to the Sacramento Kings that summer. Two years later, at 29 years old, he was out of the league.

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This is classic Stern. Not only did he blunder the situation but he managed to aggravate everyone involved. He rallied up the anti- Kaepernick crowd by saying that he would’ve saved his career. On the much larger pro-Kaepernick crowd, he aggravated them by saying he would’ve suppressed his statement. Even after his career as commissioner ended, somehow Stern is still managing to make blunders.

When previously asked why the NBA felt that it had to enforce a stand-for-the-anthem rule, Stern said, “It was our minimal standard — when you come out on the court, please stand at attention — because the N.B.A. has always been something of a social cause, these great black athletes trying to work their way in what back in the day could be a hostile white environment.”