Opinion | David Stern took NBA to China, other leagues still playing catch-up
- Commissioner’s move to play games, push broadcasts with CCTV and develop Chinese interest paid off
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David Stern liked to tell the story of travelling China in 1990 when a local guide in Xian revealed her favourite team.
“You know, I am a great fan of the team of the red oxen,” she told Stern and his wife, Dianne. Cue confusion then smiles on realising it was the Chinese translation for the Chicago Bulls.
Nowadays, the whole of China knows the Zhijiage Gongniu, as they are known in Mandarin, and Stern is as more to credit for that than anyone – even their star player.
“Without David Stern, the NBA would not be what it is today,” Michael Jordan, the six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls and talisman of that 1990 team, said after Stern’s death at the age of 77 on New Year’s Day.
“He guided the league through turbulent times and grew the league into an international phenomenon, creating opportunities that few could have imagined before.”