During his tenure as NBA Commissioner, all David Stern did was take a mediocre league and make it a multi-million dollar entity and a worldwide staple.

No big deal. Just another three decades on the job.

And now he has a new position - as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

On Friday, Stern, along with household name superstars like Alonzo Mourning, Mitch Richmond, Nolan Richardson, and Gary Williams, was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Stern was accompanied and praised by several stars who were direct benefactors of his tireless work to grow the NBA brand. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Bill Russell followed Stern up on stage, while Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James were featured in a tribute video expressing their gratitude for Stern’s work and legacy.

"He will go down as the greatest commissioner in sports history," Magic Johnson said of Stern.

Indeed, Stern took over the NBA back in 1984, and he is largely credited with making it the global colossus it is today. Consider the shape of the league back in the early 80s. The NBA had 23 franchises, many of which were losing money at alarming rates. Even with the arrival of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, whose Lakers and Celtics probably saved the league from crumbling, overall popularity was not at the levels of the NFL and even Major League Baseball.

Perhaps by divine intervention, or at least a stroke of good luck, the same year Stern took over, a young man out of North Carolina, named Michael Jordan, was drafted second overall by the Chicago Bulls. Jordan's entry into the league brought high flying dunks and baggy shorts. But His Airness alone was not enough to push the entire league into the black.

Enter David Stern. The new commissioner had a knack for marketing and branding. Using Jordan as his main showcase, Stern was able to garner interest in professional basketball across the United States and into countries far and wide. Everywhere people went there were Jordan posters, Jordan shoes, Jordan t-shirts, and Jordan videos. The direct correlation between his popularity and the rise of the NBA is no coincidence. And Stern had his hand in making that recipe. But it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Consider these points of accomplishment:

1. Remember, David Stern took over the NBA in the 80s when Eastern Block Communism was in full force. At that time many Americans were building bomb shelters and worrying about the threat of World War III. Russia was an enemy and certainly unwelcome in American sports. However, as The Berlin Wall crumbled, Stern was first in the pool to get European players over to the states in mass commodities. Now we have Russians, Croatians, Latvians, Germans, etc. as regulars on draft day.

2. In just eight short years, the NBA went from an afterthought to the Dream Team in Barcelona. In 1988, the United States Men's Olympic basketball team lost to the Soviet Union and ended up with a bronze medal. The loss was certainly unacceptable to the costless world. Enter the Dream Team which consisted of the likes of Jordan, Magic, and Bird, etc., etc., etc. As the best team ever assembled ran roughshod over whatever the rest of the world had to offer, Stern stood back and looked as a huge marketing frenzy took the world by storm. All of the sudden citizens of all ages in countries all over the globe were emulating the Dream Team.

3. Not everyone likes to look women's basketball, except, as it turns out, women. David Stern saw an opportunity to expand the fan base and oversaw the creation of the WNBA which launched in 1996. Stern smartly handled the new league, offering support to floundering franchises and expanding the league from eight teams to its current count of 12. Many of the franchises are no longer associated with NBA teams, but Stern was highly instrumental in creating, developing, and nurturing a league that is still underwater overall, but has several financially successful franchises and, perhaps more importantly, a solid fan base.

4. The true measure of business success in the bottom line. David Stern has turned the NBA into a billion dollar operation. The numbers are staggering. 14 NBA teams are owned by billionaires. The average value of a league franchise is $634 million. League merchandise sales are up into the billions of dollars. Homeland and overseas popularity is at all time highs. The NBA is available in countries (China, for example) that we never thought we'd see American influence.

The list of David Stern's accomplishments could go on and on. He has done more for the NBA than any other commissioner has done for a major sport. And on Friday, he was honored with enshrinement.

However, as is always typical with Stern, he made the honor less about him and more about the game.

"The reason I am here is because of thousands of people over the years who have done so much. You got to love the game, and everything that we do is always about the game," said Stern. "In China, we had a guide that told us she was a big fan of the red oxen. She was corrected; she meant Bulls. It is always about the game. And we have wonderfully articulated our values together. We go around the world and talk about exercise and fitness and good health. We enroll a million Indian children into junior NBA and junior WNBA because we teach them about discipline, about hard work, about sacrifice, teamwork and about a sense of confidence that comes from accomplishing something. It is absolutely incredible but it is always about the game."

Stern has been away from his post for just a few months, and quite a lot has happened in that time under new NBA boss Adam Silver: Donald Sterling and the tumult with the Los Angeles Clippers; the loss of AC in San Antonio during Game 1 of the NBA Finals; the return of LeBron to Cleveland.

Throughout it all, Stern’s influence has been felt by owners, coaches, and players alike. Despite its troubles, the NBA brand is at its most popular point worldwide than it has ever been.

"I think the future is incredibly bright," Stern said on Friday. “The league is in spectacular shape going forward under the extraordinary leadership of Adam Silver."