But in the final months of his life, Stern stood tall over every staggering thing he had accomplished. Thorn and his wife Peggy joined Stern and his wife Dianne for dinner a few weeks before the commissioner suffered his December brain hemorrhage at a Manhattan restaurant. “He seemed in such good spirits and health,” Thorn said. “He just had a great look about him. David was always so proud of the league, and of what [his successor] Adam Silver had done. Some of these guys that leave big jobs have a hard time staying away, but I think David did a good job of not trying to take away from what Adam was doing.