On April 26, Seton Hall hosted a symposium on Sports Business and Media Ethics, featuring numerous panels of experts in the field. The highlight of the day was the keynote speaker, former NBA commissioner David Stern. After a short lunch break and introduction by professor B.J. Schecter, Stern and former head of the NBA Players Association and Seton Hall professor Charles Grantham sat down for a conversational style interview and discussion.
The ensuing 40 or so minutes played out like a duel between two expert gunslingers, masters and veterans of their craft. The two former colleagues discussed a wide range of topics including race, the one and done rule, drug use in pro sports, HIV/AIDS, and Stern’s meeting with South African president Nelson Mandela.
Stern and Grantham discussed how far the NBA has come in the years since he took over as commissioner in 1984 and some key issues he had to face as commissioner. They discussed the rampant drug use that plagued the NBA when Stern took over and the NBA’s transformation into a majority African-American league in the 70’s and 80’s. Grantham challenged Stern on his stance on legalizing marijuana, saying that he changed his tune from his time as commissioner, to which Stern responded that his quote was taken out of context and that he only advocated for the legality of medical marijuana in pro sports.
Stern also touched on his meeting with Nelson Mandela and his desire to ask Mandela why he remained peaceful and didn’t get angry at white South Africans for what they did to him. The two also discussed the hysteria surrounding Magic Johnson’s diagnosis with HIV/AIDS in 1991 and recent scandals in college basketball. Stern said he didn’t want to touch on whether athletes should get paid and said that changing the one and done rule is up to the colleges and not the NBA.