Mike D'Antoni, Rockets CEO Tad Brown Pay Tribute to David Stern

Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni and CEO Tad Brown paid tribute to David Stern on Thursday, one day after the former NBA commissioner died at the age of 77. 

Stern, who was commissioner from 1984-2014, was a key figure in the game's international expansion, a legacy that has impacted the Rockets throughout the last four decades. Houston selected Nigeria native Hakeem Olajuwon with the No. 1 pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, and the Rockets took another foreign center No. 1 overall when Yao Ming joined the franchise in 2002. Ming's arrival from China was a key moment for the Rockets, creating a vast collection of fans from outside the United States.

D'Antoni addressed Stern's death, and his impact on the game's international expansion on Thursday. 

"Very sad day obviously," D'Antoni told the media at the Toyota Center. "The biggest thing to me is how he was involved in the international game early and really opened up international markets and being able to play the Olympics the way we do." 

Brown also noted the legacy left by Stern both on the NBA and the Rockets.

"I don't think there has been a commissioner in professional sports who's had that kind of impact and change agent for the growth of a sport," Brown said on Thursday. "A lot of the benefits and the successes we've seen within the league. ...go back to his tenure, go back to his vision."

Stern was replaced by Adam Silver upon his retirement in 2014. Stern's three-decade commissionership is the longest in NBA history.