David Stern, who during a 30-year run as commissioner of the National Basketball Association masterminded its transformation from a league in peril to a multibillion-dollar industry and the first American sports league to thrive internationally, died Jan. 1 in Manhattan. He was 77.

The NBA was lagging behind the National Football League and Major League Baseball in both revenue and television profile when Mr. Stern took over. By the time he stepped down, in 2014, he had overseen the league’s growth from fears of extinction in the late 1970s to a

$5 billion enterprise. Television revenues increased more than 40-fold in that span, crossing the $1 billion threshold.

He succeeded largely by keeping the focus on the NBA’s biggest names — Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley — understanding that it was they who gave the sport its worldwide appeal, the New York Times said. [NBA photo]