NBA commissioner David Stern addresses the state of the NBA on Saturday in Las Vegas. Photo by The Associated Press

First things first: It's not a fair fight. It's like comparing the voices of William Hung and Celine Dion or the writings of Jamie Lee Curtis and John Steinbeck. To determine who is the best commissioner in professional sports suggests there are enough worthy candidates to produce discussion. The debate is like Tiger Woods leading a major on Sunday morning. Over before it begins.

Roger Goodell hasn't been in charge long enough at the NFL to warrant consideration, although his Super Bowl news conference suggested he has successfully adopted his predecessor's practice of speaking for an hour and saying nothing.

Bud Selig (canceled World Series, All-Star Game tie, steroids scandal) has had all kinds of problems in baseball, and Gary Bettman is as popular around the NHL as Tim Hardaway might be on the international day of tolerance.

Conclusion: David Stern continues to win the honor in a walkover, even as NBA television ratings sag and you wonder whether pro basketball has oversold itself on the marketing end more than scientists have global warming.

But he is a powerful, intelligent man with the ability to evolve, a trait rarely found by those who sit in the ego-driven and authoritative chair of a commissioner. Take today's All-Star Game at the Thomas & Mack Center. Take the fact that over the past few days, Las Vegas has inched closer to one day calling a team its own more than ever.

"(Stern) is stubborn, but Las Vegas is a great example of how he (grows)," said Sam Smith, longtime NBA writer for the Chicago Tribune. "For years, he said, 'We will never be in Vegas.' Now, I have no doubt this league will be in Vegas. The NBA will be the first professional league here because it's usually always the first league into a city.

"I think David is the most innovative commissioner in the history of sports. Everyone has copied the NBA. Everyone has followed its model, from the beginning of games to adopting salary caps. Football now has one. Hockey has one. Baseball should have one. All the great innovations in sports have come from the NBA and under David's tenure."

He makes mistakes (see that ridiculous synthetic ball to open the season) and corrects them. He recognizes the danger of connecting his league with ignorance and hatred (see Hardaway's comments this week) and immediately disassociates it with the individual.

There are issues with violence, with players fighting on the court and carrying guns off it. But the reality is that the NBA is the most unfairly treated league in pro sports.

Smith points to the overwhelming media attention and the league's racial makeup as reasons why.

"Nobody knows who plays football because they're wearing armor, and baseball players have hats and 100-year-old uniforms on," he says.

Both are valid points.

No athletes are more exposed to the world than those in the NBA, perhaps one reason Stern has enacted and enforced so many rules regarding their behavior to the point of overreacting with suspensions for things like Kobe Bryant accidentally striking Manu Ginobli with an elbow that might not have injured a middle-schooler.

"The amount of fighting in the NBA is so low, but it bubbles up and makes it seem (bigger) because of the press coverage," Stern said during his annual All-Star media briefing Saturday. "Which is fine because we ask for press coverage. But I think we have as a league done everything in our power to send a message that it's not tolerable. It is not a fixed formula, but the message is firm and clear."

More than any commissioner, Stern falls on the side of his players. Some might argue that point, but any who do should pick up a mitt or slip on a helmet. NBA players continue to thrive financially, and the league's global reach continues to extend to once unfathomable places, all under the guidance of a man whose association with the league spans 40 years.

There remain obvious problems: poor TV ratings, the lack of a great team in a major market, the flood of marketing items saturating what can be an apathetic marketplace.

But there also remains one undisputable fact: When it comes to the best commissioner in pro sports, there is no race. No debate. No contest.

"Trust me when I say the Board of Governors does not run the NBA," Smith said. "David Stern runs it, and that's because he has been so successful, and the owners are happy about it. This league has prospered beyond anyone's imagination."

It almost makes you feel sorry for a guy like Bettman.

Almost.

Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.