David Stern

• NBA Commissioner (1984-2014)
• Formed an internal NBA working group to study launching a women's professional basketball league (1995)
• Partnered with USA Basketball to back the U.S. Women's National Team's year-long pre-Olympic tour, which ended in a 60-0 record and a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics (1996)
• Secured the NBA Board of Governors' approval to create the WNBA (1996)
• Appointed Val Ackerman as the WNBA's founding president (1996)
• Launched the WNBA's inaugural eight-team season with national broadcast partners NBC, ESPN, and Lifetime (1997)
• Oversaw the launch of WNBA.com as part of the NBA's digital expansion
• Named Donna Orender as the WNBA's second president (2005)
• Inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame (2016)