Stern started on February 1, 1984 and is the NBA’s longest-serving commissioner in it’s 60-plus years as a league. He has been the catalyst to expanding the league into the rest of the world, having overseen the league when international players like Hakeem Olajuwon, Drazen Petrovic, Dirk Nowitzki, and Yao Ming entered the league and changed the landscape of the NBA.

In addition to spreading the game of basketball across the world, he helped establish the WNBA, giving female basketball players a chance to showcase their talents on a bigger stage. The NBA Development League, or NBADL, also began under his watch, helping players develop and receive playing time they wouldn’t get in the big leagues.

In addition to those contributions, Stern saw the creation of seven new teams (Hornets, Timberwolves, Heat, Magic, Grizzlies, Raptors and Bobcats) and the relocation of six others (Clippers, Kings, Grizzlies, Nets, Hornets and Sonics) during his time as commissioner.

That’s not to say that it’s been all good in his 30 years. There have been four lockouts – 1995, 1996, 1998-99 and 2011 – that have led to shortened seasons and increased tensions between the NBA and the NBA Players’ Union.

Stern has also been involved in numerous controversial personnel decisions, including last season’s vetoed Chris Paul trade to the Lakers and several NBA drafts that have led many to believe the #1 picks have been manipulated; perhaps most famous is Patrick Ewing in the 1985 draft. Last season’s draft also saw the Hornets, a team that had just been bought from Stern and the NBA, won the right to pick first despite the Charlotte Bobcats having the worst record in NBA history.

Despite all the negatives, Stern will go down as the best commissioner in NBA history – possibly even in the four major sports. No other league official has helped promote and grow their league into what the NBA has become today, and a large portion of that is because of Stern.

That quote from Stern perfectly encompasses his tenure as NBA commissioner.

Instead of simply telling Rome that there was no conspiracy theory, Stern responded with the quintessential “loaded question”: “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?”

With a quick Google search, one will find that Rome has no domestic abuse history, so that response by the commissioner will immediately confuse listeners who aren’t aware of that fact. Many might just assume that he was personally attacking Rome; what he was really trying to get across to Rome was that he felt it was unfair to ask such a question, assuming guilt about the lottery being fixed.

I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, but there are plenty of others out there who do, so I don’t think it was an unfair question. Stern had to know that the topic would come up, especially with how contentious of a topic it has been in the last few weeks. Could Rome have phrased the question differently and not come at the commissioner so directly? Absolutely, but that’s never been his style. The commissioner could have handled the question more gracefully, though.

Stern did make one good point in the middle of the interview, however. He mentioned how if other teams (Charlotte and Brooklyn, specifically), then skeptics would have simply come up with reasons for why they won the lottery. His exact quote was:

“I think that if it had gone to Michael Jordan, which was the next team up with, in terms of a high percentage, they would’ve said, ‘Oh, David’s taking care of his friend Michael.’ And if it had gone to Brooklyn, which is going into Barclay Center, it would have been fair to speculate, I suppose, that we want to take Brooklyn off of the mat. So there was no winning.”

I do think Stern is fair in saying that people would just assume the “fix was on” regardless of who won, but again, he could have simply said that without creating a tense and awkward moment with Rome. Needless to say, social media has taken hold of the story and the interview audio has gone viral. What do you think of the exchange?