Seven new franchises were introduced during Mr. Stern’s tenure, including two in Canada in 1995: the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver (now Memphis) Grizzlies. The league, headlined by new stars like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, reached 30 teams in 2004 with the arrival of the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets). Other Stern innovations included the creation of the Women’s N.B.A. in 1997 and the N.B.A.’s developmental league, known as the G League, in 2001.

In 1985, Jerry Reinsdorf bought the Chicago Bulls for $16 million. In 2014, shortly after Mr. Stern’s exit, Steve Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion. And as franchise values rose during Mr. Stern’s stewardship, so did players’ salaries.

“I think people see all the money in sports and think that it was always like that,” Charles Barkley, now a television analyst for Turner Sports, said recently on the program “Inside the N.B.A.” “When I got to the N.B.A. in 1984, which was Commissioner’s first year, the average salary was $250,000. It’s almost $9 million now. And he is largely responsible for that.”

By the time Mr. Stern ceded his title to Adam Silver in 2014, the N.B.A. had opened offices in 15 cities outside the United States and signed agreements to televise games in more than 200 countries, in more than 40 languages.

The effects of that international growth were apparent on opening night this season, when 108 players from 38 countries and territories populated N.B.A. rosters. It was the sixth consecutive season in which the league had at least 100 international players.