When Gil’s Arena returned with an all-new cast, they had to open with a discussion on the Clippers debacle. Former NBA champion Brendan Haywood and 3x All-Star Gilbert Arenas are well-versed in the iron-fisted governance of late NBA commissioner David Stern and can imagine how it would’ve gone if this cap circumvention had occurred under his reign. Stern gave no pass to the players for anything. It’s why Haywood is comparing the legendary league executive to a “miniature gangster” and a “mob boss.”
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Haywood detailed how Stern’s ironclad authority once brought an anonymous teammate to heel over a national anthem dispute with a threat to end the player’s professional career permanently if he failed to fall in line.
The discussion opened with Haywood reflecting on how Stern would have handled modern league controversies, such as the salary cap circumvention investigation surrounding Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers. Haywood emphasized that Stern’s era left zero room for pushback from players or owners alike.
“Kawhi better be glad David Stern ain’t still the commissioner,” Haywood insisted. “If David Stern was the commissioner… I can tell David Stern would have suspended Kawhi for the full season… David Stern was a little miniature gangster now.”
Arenas, who experienced Stern’s same gangster persona during his infamous scandals, agreed that Stern would respond to Steve Ballmer’s previous threat of litigation more harshly than Adam Silver would.
“What Ballmer say? ‘I’mma fight it.’ Real talk, David Stern, ‘You ain’t fighting none. You’re gonna sell this team.’ That’s David Stern. He would have went to Ballmer, ‘You gonna sell this team, or where you gonna take it?’ Period.”
To that, Haywood agreed, “David Stern used to move like a mob boss.”
New hosts Evan Turner and Iman Shumpert, along with the Gils Arena mainstay Josiah Jackson, didn’t have the experience of Haywood and Arenas. So they fished for more details. While Arenas recounted how Stern threatened him with a 50-game suspension, Haywood revealed a lesser-known story.
To illustrate Stern’s absolute leverage over players, Haywood recounted a story involving a former teammate who regularly retreated to the locker room during the pregame national anthem. No, it was not Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who had retired during Haywood’s rookie season and was never his teammate. Haywood doesn’t reveal the teammate’s identity.
When media outlets were prepared to report on the situation, Stern intervened directly with an ultimatum that bypassed standard contractual language. According to Haywood, when the player argued that no specific contract clause required him to stand on the court for the anthem, Stern bypassed the argument entirely in a chat with that player:
“David Stern says, ‘I don’t think you’re hearing me. I’m gonna fine you, and I’m gonna suspend you. I’m going to dare the players association to come after me. They’re going have to fight to get all your money back. And then after that, when your contract is up, you’ll never work in this league again. And I’ll make sure of it.'”
Haywood noted the threat worked instantly: “Buddy was out there like the last Boy Scout,” with Arenas joking that the player was practically “singing the second verse.”
The panel also touched on Arenas’ infamous 2010 sit-down with Stern following the Washington Wizards’ locker-room gun incident. Arenas, who initially expected a light suspension of one to three games based on league precedent, recalled how Stern completely dismantled his confidence during their disciplinary hearing.
After Arenas attempted to negotiate, Stern laid out the cold financial reality: “Yeah. So, like I said, 50 games. You just lost your Adidas deal, right? … You got about 88 million left. So if you decide to fight this suspension that I’m going to give you, I’m going to take your contract. And I don’t want to hear nothing about it, dog. Go on vacation.”
Haywood previously recalled Stern’s uncompromising leadership style during the 2003 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta. Stern privately ordered Vince Carter to give up his fan-voted starting spot to Michael Jordan for His Airness’ final midseason classic, instructing Carter that “Michael Jordan starts, or else.” He referred to Stern as a mob boss then, too.
Whether coercing All-Stars, suspending franchise anchors, or threatening uncooperative players, Haywood and Arenas made it clear that while Stern built the modern NBA into a global power, he governed it with the absolute command of a classic Godfather.