The NBA has come up with a way to honor just passed former commissioner David Stern the rest of the season.
Every team will wear a black band on its jersey commemorating the late commissioner, according to several reports (but Casey Holdahl was first).
The Blazers, along with all 29 other teams, will wear black jersey stripes for the rest of the season to honor the memory of David Stern.
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) January 2, 2020
It’s a nice idea, but Paul Lukas of Uniwatch points out the irony that Stern opposed these kinds of patches.
NBA teams will memorialize former commish David Stern, who died yesterday, with a black band for the rest of this season. Ironically, the black stripe will share space with the Nike maker's mark and an assortment of corporate ad patches — things Stern opposed during his tenure.
— Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) January 2, 2020
“As a personal matter, I am not in favor of it, but I’m not standing in the way of it,” Stern said. “If my board wants to do it, we’ll do it....
“Of all the leagues in the world, the NBA is the only one that has its own logo on it,” Stern said. “No information of the manufacturer and no sponsor, and that is something that I have worked hard to preserve for many decades. But I understand that the team may have to come to consider it. So we’re going to let the Board of Governors decide what to do.”
The board voted to allow some logos, now both the Nike swoosh (they manufacture the jerseys) and an advertising logo appear on each team’s jersey.
Now a tribute to Stern himself will join them.
