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Sports
LeBron James: NBA Star Named AP’s 'Male Athlete Of Decade'
Former NBA Commissioner David Stern Dies At 77
The Associated Press has named LeBron James its “male athlete of the decade,” and he joins a list that in- cludes Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky and Arnold Palmer.
“You add another 10 years of learning and adversity, pit- falls, good, great, bad, and any smart person who wants to grow will learn from all those experiences,” James, who turns 35 Monday, told the AP. “A decade ago, I just turned 25. I’m about to be 35 and I’m just in a better (place) in my life and have a better understanding of what I want to get out of life.”
James’ reveal came a day after Serena Williams was announced as the AP’s fe- male athlete of the decade.
So what has been the NBA star’s most favorite moment
LEBRON JAMES
from the past ten years? “There’s a lot of moments from this decade that would be up there, winning the two Miami championships, win- ning a championship in Cleveland, the chase-down block,” James said. “But the best moment? Definitely marrying Savannah. That
would be No. 1.”
Here’s a typical day this
past summer for James, who remains obsessed with working even though fame and fortune found him long ago: He’d wake up at 3 a.m. and be at the Warner Bros. lot by 3:45 — where a weight room and court, built just for him, were waiting. He’d be lifting by 4 a.m., getting shots up by 5:30 and be ready to start another day of shooting the remake of “Space Jam” that he has been planning for years by 7 a.m.
“That’s who he is,” said Mike Mancias, one of the most trusted members of James’ inner circle, tasked for more than 15 years with keeping James fit. the re- port states. “He does what- ever it takes when it comes to fulfilling his commitments to everything — especially his game and his craft.”
Former NBA commis- sioner David Stern has died at 77 years old.
Stern died Wednesday, the league announced, after suffering a brain hemorrhage on Dec. 12 that required emer- gency surgery.
A titan of sports leader- ship, Stern took over as NBA commissioner in 1984 and oversaw the growth of the league from a struggling entity to an international power- house. When Stern took of- fice, NBA playoff games were regularly broadcast on tape delay on CBS.
By the time he handed the reins to his deputy Adam Sil- ver in 2014, 30 years to the day after he took over, NBA basketball as a spectator sport was an international power- house with fans across the globe.
Stern’s tenure coincided with the rise of the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson ri- valry that saw the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lak- ers win a combined eight championships behind their two superstars from 1980 to 1988.
Stern took office the same year the Chicago Bulls drafted Michael Jordan, who would
DAVID STERN
take over from Bird and Johnson as the face of the league and become a global icon as he won six NBA cham- pionships.
NBA Expansion Under Stern
Stern’s NBA seized on the popularity of those outsized players and personalities, ex- panding from 23 teams to 30 under his watch. The late 1980s saw the league expand into four new markets, with the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets joining the NBA in 1988 and the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves coming into existence in 1989.
By the time Stern retired, the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors and New Or- leans Pelicans had also spawned through expansion and franchise movement.
Rutgers Women’s Basketball Coach
Offers Condolences To Family Of
Don Imus, Who Insulted The Team
We are such a forgiving people, aren’t we?
Rutgers women’s basket- ball coach C. Vivian Stringer offered her condo- lences to the family of late radio shock jock Don Imus, who infamously called her Scarlet Knights team “nappy- headed hos” during a broad- cast in 2007.
On Tuesday, the longtime coach read from a prepared statement at a postgame news conference, saying “prayers go out” to the family of Imus, who died at 79 last week.
“The Rutgers family has found peace through the years, and we are proud of our response to the hateful words that he had years ago,” said the Hall of Fame coach,
C. VIVIAN STRINGER AND DON IMUS
as reported by The New York Daily News.
“As African-American women, we don’t feel that we should be treated ― or any- one else should be treated ― like that.”
A national outcry fol- lowed, resulting in Imus to lose a lucrative syndicated
radio show on CBS and his TV show on MSNBC after making a public apology.
But of course, he rebound with a new gig – even though he had a history of racist rhetoric – once referring to broadcast journalism pioneer and White House correspon- dent as “the cleaning lady.”
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