In October 2012, after NBA Commissioner David Stern informed the league’s Board of Governors that he would be retiring in 16 months, he gave a strong endorsement for his longtime assistant and then-deputy commissioner Adam Silver to become his replacement.

“He said, ‘Look I think Adam is a very good choice,’” Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck said. “He said, ‘You’ve all gotten to know him. He’s brilliant. He’s terrific and I think you guys should hire him as the next commissioner.’”

But Stern then acknowledged that some owners preferred to use a search committee to help fill the role. He said he did not want to stand in the way of that route if that’s what was wanted. So at the Board of Governors meeting, he said he would leave the room so a more candid discussion about the process could unfold.

Grousbeck was there, of course, and Stern’s persistent, passionate support of Silver had resonated with him. As discussions about a search committee were set to begin, Grousbeck saw no reason to go against an endorsement from Stern, who had so skillfully and successfully guided the NBA for nearly 30 years.

“So they shut the door,” Grousbeck said, “and I said, ‘Let’s vote on Adam now, and if he wins, we’re done. I think he’s the strongest choice. The Celtics vote yes.’”

The vote carried around the room with one yes after another until it was unanimous. Stern reentered the room and was thrilled, not fully realizing the impact his stumping had had.

“The warmth of his feelings toward Adam were so apparent,” Grousbeck said. “The warmth with which he could promote someone else instead of saying, ‘Good luck trying to fill my shoes’ was apparent. David had a generosity of spirit.”

Stern died on Wednesday at 77 years old, three weeks after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

In separate phone interviews on Thursday, Grousbeck and Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca remembered Stern as a strong, determined and compassionate man whose primary focus was to grow the game that he loved so dearly.

When Grousbeck and Pagliuca led a group that agreed to purchase the Celtics from Paul Gaston in September 2002, they informed Stern and told him that they still needed some final funding, but were confident the deal would be finalized.

But Stern saw no reason to wait for that before indoctrinating the league’s two newest owners. He told them to come to the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies that week.

“We had put down the down-payment but hadn’t raised all the money yet, and David knew that,” Grousbeck said. “But at the Hall of Fame he said anyway, ‘Everybody, I want you to know, these are the new owners of the Boston Celtics.’ So I got an ulcer immediately. But David was warm, welcoming, steely and resolute.”

Added Pagliuca: “He treated us like we’d been owners for years. He was really encouraging to us. He believed in the Boston Celtics franchise and thought we could make a difference from Day One.”

After they became owners, Grousbeck and Pagliuca went to New York to go through an orientation session known as ‘NBA 101.’ They were given presentations by leaders from all corners of the company, from security to game operations to ticket sales to marketing. Each session was led by a leader of that department, but it probably didn’t need to be.

“David was at every meeting and he knew as much about each operation as the most detailed person heading every segment,” Pagliuca said. “He’d comment on security and how it worked and marketing and how it worked. There wasn’t much need for anyone else to say anything, because he knew it all.”

Stern and former Celtics president Red Auerbach — both larger-than-life presences in the sport — could both be intense, strong and even stubborn, and that led to some locking of horns between the two.

Grousbeck recalled a year the Celtics were given a six-game road trip. The moment the preliminary schedule was sent to teams, Auerbach called Grousbeck.

“He said, ‘This is a bleeping outrage,” Grousbeck said. “We’ve got six road games in a row. Never allow six road games. Four in a row is more than enough. Five is ridiculous, and six is just David Stern screwing the Celtics. So you call Stern right this minute.’ So I called him and said, ‘I need your help. We’ve got to get this down to five. And I think he got it down to five.”

“[Auerbach and Stern] each thought the other was over the top wrong like 90 percent of the time. I think those battles went on and on. But there was a love and respect beneath there. They deeply cared, and I think they liked having a worthy adversary.”

Both Pagliuca and Grousbeck maintained relationships with Stern long after they stopped working with him. After his retirement he went to Pagliuca’s office at Bain Capital and said he wanted to learn about venture capital. Before long, Stern had helped create Micromanagement Ventures, which consults for and invests in sports tech startups.

Stern became friends with Grousbeck’s wife, Emelia, and offered advice as she helped spearhead the creation of Cincoro Tequila, which counts Michael Jordan and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss among its co-founders.

Grousbeck went to dinner with Stern just two months ago, and they were able to talk basketball, business and family.

“It’s just really heartbreaking to lose him,” Grousbeck said. “He was so full of life and bubbling with excitement and had bright eyes. It’s just tragic.”