The National Basketball Association, my friends, is back. The turnaround the NBA has made over the past few years is truly remarkable considering the dark days it suffered for most of the 2000s. While a number of factors have accounted for the comeback, much of the credit should go to one man—commissioner David Stern.

The bleakest moment in the NBA’s recent history came on November 19, 2004 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit, Michigan. When Ron Artest made the ill-fated decision to enter the stands and attack a fan who had thrown a Diet Coke at him, the fate of the Association changed forever. “The Malice at the Palace” confirmed a wide held belief among basketball fans that pretentious thugs dominated the league. Whether or not this view was accurate is up for debate, but many fans became disenchanted with the sport and Stern realized that its image needed to be refashioned.

Part of the solution to this problem came in the way of a controversial dress code, which was instituted in 2005 and helped the NBA turn the corner. Gone were the days when players appeared on the sidelines dressed in velour tracksuits with gold chains around their necks. Now ballers are seen as classy professionals who try to out-swag each other on the sidelines with the freshest fashion trends. Rather than Allen Iverson sitting at a post-game press conference in gangster clothing with an “I just don’t give a f*#$” attitude, LeBron James rocks a cardigan with skinny jeans and hipster glasses. Stern’s decision received a lot of heat initially but it was a smart move that helped the league clean up its image and rebound from the melee in Detroit.

The second decision made by Stern that changed the makeup of the league was instituting an age minimum to enter the NBA Draft. In 2005, the commish announced that players had to be at least 19 years of age before becoming eligible to be drafted. The talent in the league had become diluted due to a plethora of high schoolers who forewent the college experience to chase millions in the NBA. These youngsters were poorly prepared not only in the basketball sense but also psychologically. For every Kobe Bryant who successfully made the jump from high school to the league, there were twice as many Kwame Browns and Eddy Currys whose careers were destroyed because they made the ill-fated decision to skip university. Instead of attending college and growing both physically and mentally, these players were thrown into the fire of professional basketball and burnt out quickly.

Do you think it’s a coincidence that there are suddenly myriad young superstars looking to dominate the league for the next 20 years? It all comes back to the ingenious decision to create an age minimum. Players like Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and Blake Griffin all benefitted from the university experience, both on and off the court. In a recent interview, Durant noted that, “Once I went down to school I grew up a lot as a person—as a man—off the floor, and it prepared me for my time in the league.”

The work is not done for Stern. He is about to encounter another turning point for the NBA as the collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of this season. I pray to the powers above that a deal gets completed to avoid a lockout. I could not imagine life without the NBA. No more awe-inspiring Kobe Bryant buzzer-beaters that stab teams in the heart worse than Brad Pitt did to Jennifer Aniston. No more Derrick Rose crossovers that are so nasty they make you want to puke. No more Kevin Garnett getting his Charlie Sheen on every time he steps on the court.

Let’s not even talk about what would happen if there was no fantasy basketball. The beauty of fantasy sports goes beyond crunching numbers and vying for the prize at the end of the season. Managers live and die with their teams while trying to scrap their way into the playoffs. It’s about finding that hidden gem on the waiver wire and watching him blossom into a fantasy stud. There is no greater feeling than seeing fellow league managers at a bar and talking shit about how they drafted David Lee in the second round. These are the joys of life that I cannot go without.

So please Commissioner Stern, get a deal done. Do whatever it takes. As fans of the game, we cannot afford to have something so meaningful taken away from us. In the meantime, let’s be thankful that we are about to witness possibly the best NBA playoffs we’ve ever seen. Ever.