{video} The late David Stern built the NBA from struggling league to lucrative global juggernaut during a three-decade tenure as commissioner that ranks among the most impactful examples of executive leadership in the history of U.S. professional sports. Stern inherited a league in 1984 that earned roughly $100 million in annual revenue and little to show for its business beyond its on-court product. When he stepped down in 2014, the NBA was earning more than $5.5 billion per year, with a profitable international footprint, massive media rights deals, larger player contracts and several new franchises. The longtime ... (full story)