An interesting passage from the much-anticipated book "Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN," deals with NBA Commissioner David Stern's relationship with ESPN's former programming head Mark Shapiro. Following is an edited transcript from the James Miller and Tom Shales book, which will be released officially next week. The book’s publisher, Little, Brown and Company, lifted an embargo on the book earlier today.
Shapiro: David Stern was by far the best and most intimidating negotiator I'd ever faced. No one stands up to David, and to have me standing up to him, not just once, but multiple times over the course of the relationship, especially given that 'who the hell is this kid versus me' thing of his, never went well. I tried to be respectful, but I wasn't afraid to push back.
David would just scream and yell. Scream and yell. He'd even scream and yell at George [Bodenheimer]; he didn't care. We got off on the wrong foot over the WNBA. He wanted the WNBA on the air. I told him the WNBA stinks, it doesn't rate, and I didn't want it. No one watches it. Men don't watch it. Women don't watch it! My goal was to get this off the air.
Read more of the excerpt.
