Adam Silver has been properly prepared for the major transition awaiting him

A 30-year tenure for one of the greatest commissioners in sports history will soon be over.

Jan 16, 2014, 5:46 PM UTC

Scott Halleran

When David Stern took the reins as NBA commissioner in 1984, there were 23 teams in the league that had each generated roughly $5 million in revenue over the previous year. Now, with a little more than two weeks remaining in his 30-year tenure, the league is producing $5.5 billion in annual revenue, and basketball has become as globalized as any sport in the world.

On Feb. 1, Stern, one of the most successful commissioners in professional sports history, will hand the job to Adam Silver, his right-hand man since the 2006 season. The day-to-day responsibilities are close to second nature for Silver by now, but as Ira Boudway writes at Businessweek.com, the transition of power involving such a large entity will be anything but easy.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) lost more than half its market value in little over a year as it lurched from Mark Hurd to Léo Apotheker to Meg Whitman from August 2010 to September 2011. Yoga wear maker Lululemon Athletica’s (LULU) stock slid more than 20 percent in two days after the sudden resignation of its chief executive officer last June. It fell again when the company announced a replacement six months later. And last August, Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer surprised even his own management team when he announced his retirement after 14 years on the job. The search to fill his seat, accompanied by a buzz of distracting gossip, is ongoing.

Boudway also points out the NBA is a privately held company that doesn’t have to deal with the burden of investor expectations, which should make it simpler for Silver’s transition to overseer of such a large and profitable business. And so much of that has to do with the influence of the current commish.

Bob Iger, the CEO and chairman of Walt Disney (DIS), knows about following in the footsteps of a legend (he took over from Michael Eisner in 2005) and the perils of handing off to the next generation (he’s stepping down in 2016). Iger has been counseling Silver while maintaining close ties to Stern. “David deserves a lot of credit for not only developing Adam but for supporting him,” he says. “That shouldn’t be taken lightly. Adam’s got all the talent in the world and deserved to get the job. But David recognizing that was of real significance.”

Times were tough when Stern took over as the league's frontman, but the golden era of the NBA accompanied his introduction to office. And as Silver takes on the new title, the soon-to-be commissioner will have the luxury of watching LeBron James, Kevin Durant and a whole cavalcade of other stars promote the NBA's brand for years to come, just as Larry Bird and Magic Johnson did during his predecessor's tenure.

There have been some blemishes and bruises over the course of Stern’s 30 years, but they’re invisible compared to the impact he’s had on the growth of the NBA and basketball as a whole.