Among many achievements during his tenure as NBA commissioner, David Stern not only expanded the game globally, but also wanted to make it a more gender-inclusive sport.
The WNBA was founded by Stern in 1996, inspiring a generation of outstanding female professional basketball players, including Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird to pursue their dreams.
NBC Sports California Kings sideline reporter Kayte Hunter played six seasons in the WNBA, and took the time to thank the former commissioner, who passed away Wednesday, for all he did to expand women’s basketball on a global scale prior to Thursday night's game.
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“To be able to go on and later have an opportunity to get drafted into the WNBA and play six seasons there,” Hunter said. “Looking back on it, somebody like David Stern at that time, to believe that a women’s league was important, not even just for basketball fans, but for women, for young women growing up to have those types of role models.
“To be able to say, like the little boy sitting next to them in class, that they wanted to also one day play professional basketball.”
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Hunter, like many young women playing basketball at that time, would have had to go overseas to play professional basketball before Stern stepped in and pushed the creation of the WNBA.
NBA
The league now features 12 franchises and a multi-million dollar television contract, which is just one of the many remarkable things on Stern’s basketball legacy.