Outgoing NBA commissioner David Stern granted an interview to Lee Hawkins of the Wall Street Journal on June 7, and Hawkins asked him about Bryant Gumbel’s characterization of Stern as a “plantation overseer” during the most recent contract negotiations with the NBA players union in 2011. He actually said Stern "always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer treating NBA men as if they were his boys."

Stern slammed back, saying his works for the NBA "dwarf any contribution Bryant Gumbel has made" in bringing diversity in ownership and wealth for black players: