Nelson: NBA Commissioner David Stern embraced Memphis. Here’s why

Daily Memphian
Michael Nelson
Michael Nelson is contributing editor and columnist for The Daily Memphian, the political analyst for WMC-TV, and the Fulmer professor of political science at Rhodes College. His latest books are “Clinton's Elections: 1992, 1996, and the Birth of a New Era of Governance" and “The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776-2018.”
Stern cared deeply about both civil rights and bringing the NBA to mid-size cities where the basketball team would be one of the biggest things in town. For Stern, that combination equaled Memphis.