NBA’s David Stern Suffers Brain Hemorrhage, Emergency Surgery

Ex-NBA commissioner David Stern suffered a “sudden brain hemorrhage” on Thursday and underwent emergency surgery, the NBA announced.

77-year-old Stern collapsed at the Brassserie 8 1/2 restaurant in Manhattan while dining on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Stern was rushed to a nearby hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.

Stern served as NBA commish from 1984 to 2014. He famously shook LeBron James’ hand when he was selected with the #1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.

He was the 4th NBA commish and current NBA commish Adam Silver was his protege.

The NBA hired Stern in 1980 as the executive Vice President after he put in 2 years as the league’s general counsel.

Stern famously implemented the NBA’s dress code which required players to wear business casual attire to games. It also required players to wear a sport coat and dress shoes while on the bench (if that player wasn’t active for the game).

Stern is married to Diane Bock Stern and together they have two adult sons, Eric and Andrew.

During his run as commish, Stern helped launch and grow the WNBA.