David Stern retired from the NBA as the commissioner about a year and a half ago, and since then he has kept a very low profile. Stern was the longest tenured commissioner in professional sports, having been at the helm for 30 years and has gone from being in the public eye all the time and staying busy to not doing much of anything. It is now being reported that many of Stern's friends want him to run for Mayor of New York City in 2017, according to Richard Johnson of the New York Post.
Current Mayor Bill de Blasio has become increasingly unpopular in New York, so Stern's friends see him as a great candidate to replace de Blasio. "He's tough as nails. He's popular with the black community, New York would be lucky to have him as mayor," said an associate of Stern's.
Stern is a native New Yorker and has reportedly always liked the idea of politics. "He's pretty bored, he's always been interested in politics, and he's always been interested in running for office," said someone close to Stern.
Stern is a Democrat who has contributed money to the party for a long time now but says that although he is "flattered" that his friends think he should run, the 73-year-old has no intention of doing so.
"I remain a happy Westchester resident and am very busy as a senior adviser to a number of enterprises" said Stern.
In his 30 years as the commissioner of the NBA, Stern grew the league in a major way and is considered one of the greatest commissioners in American sports. Stern took over the league when it was troubled but was able to turn it into an international powerhouse and has instituted things like drug testing and the salary cap. Stern will forever be remembered for making the NBA as big as it is now, but for right now at least, it doesn't seem like he will be running the show in New York City.
