Former NBA Commissioner David Stern tried to stop LeBron James’ ‘The Decision’

Former NBA commissioner David Stern was not a fan of LeBron James’ broadcast of “The Decision” on ESPN in 2010. In fact, he tried to stop it before it started.

Zach Lowe spoke with Ian Thomsen, the author of the new book “The Soul of Basketball,” on his podcast “The Lowe Post” where it was detailed what Stern thought of the show.

“It was terrible,” Stern would say. “It was terrible on its own. It is fair to say that we knew it was going to be terrible, and we tried very hard for it not to happen.”

James’ broadcast on his decision was a monetary success raising some $2.5 million for The Boys and Girls Club of Greenwhich, Conn., but it was met with a lot of negativity in Cleveland and other places as well.

However, in Cleveland, a good portion of the negativity was seen as fans burned jerseys and owner Dan Gilbert wrote a now-infamous letter expressing negative opinions toward James.

James would move on to Miami in 2010 and won two NBA titles with the Heat.

He would eventually re-sign with the Cavaliers in 2014 and went on to win the 2015-16 NBA title for Cleveland.