NEW YORK -- Adam Silver has become the NBAs fifth commissioner. Jordan Eberle Jersey . The NBA posted a picture on its Twitter account Saturday of Silver holding a basketball and shaking hands with outgoing commissioner David Stern. "Its official: Adam Silver succeeds David Stern as NBA Commissioner" the caption read. Stern retired after exactly 30 years in charge, making him the NBAs longest-serving and most successful commissioner. Silver joined the NBA as his assistant in 1992 and has been the deputy commissioner since 2006. "It is a source of great satisfaction to me that the NBA will now be led by Commissioner Adam Silver, for whom I have tremendous admiration, respect and expectations as he and his experienced and dedicated team take the NBA to successes that were unimaginable even a short while ago," Stern wrote Friday in a thank you email to media members. Stern announced he would retire on Oct. 25, 2012, and owners unanimously chose Silver as his successor. The NBA will now begin using balls with Silvers signature in games. Like Stern, Silver left the legal field to join the NBA. Originally Sterns special assistant, he went on to become NBA Chief of Staff before running NBA Entertainment for about a decade before replacing Russ Granik as deputy commissioner in 2006. Silver was the leagues lead negotiator during the 2011 collective bargaining negotiations and seemed to be more Sterns partner than deputy in recent years. "Its been Davids show. Even up to the last meeting. But there has never been a question whether Adam was involved in every important decision," Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wrote in an email. The leagues owners unanimously approved longtime league executive Mark Tatums appointment as deputy commissioner this week. Wayne Gretzky Jersey .com) - The Toronto Raptors set their sights on a second straight victory with the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the Air Canada Centre tonight riding a two game streak of their own. Boyd Gordon Oilers Jersey .Santanas deal, which guarantees him $55 million, contains a club option for 2019 that could become guaranteed.The 32-year-old was 14-10 with a 3.95 ERA for Atlanta this year.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Chip Ganassi bristles when his No. 02 team is called the star car.Truth is, the moniker couldnt be more appropriate right now.Ganassis all-star driver lineup of three-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray, Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan and NASCARs reigning top rookie Kyle Larson won the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona on Sunday to give the team owner his record-setting sixth victory in 12 attempts.Ganassi made it clear he doesnt endorse the star car nickname, and he and team manager could pick their eight drivers names out of a hat to set the vaunted two-car lineup.I dont know who named it, but I dont approve of that name, he said. Thats like any other car on our team.It didnt look like any other, team, though as Dixon drove a gritty and lengthy final leg Sunday as his three teammates confidently believed hed pull out the win.Dixon relieved Larson with 3 hours, 32 minutes remaining in the twice-round-the-clock endurance race, and set out to conserve fuel, make no mistakes and follow the Ganassi strategy down to the checkered flag.The Iceman delivered, and made it look easy, too.He totalled more than seven hours behind the wheel of the Target/Ford EcoBoost Riley Prototype and carried the heaviest load on the team.We had such a good group of guys driving, an awesome team, McMurray said. Its about Scott Dixon to me. Its really hard to appreciate the talent that guys have from other series until you race with them, and its crazy the pace that Scott is able to have in the car. Its so much fun to sit up there and watch it.It was the second win for Dixon, who was part of the 2006 victory with Casey Mears and Dan Wheldon.After picking up his second watch, the New Zealander downplayed his role.The car was very consistent, and I think we had good speed, but everybody pulled their weight, he said. Everybody did what they needed to do, and thats what gets you through this 24 hours. Everybody kept the car in one piece.I cant emphasize how big of a team effort it is. Its not one person that ever wins this race. Its everybody involved, and this weekend everybody on the 02 team did their best job, and that was obviously enough to get the victory.It was the first Rolex win for McMurray, Kanaan and Larson, who felt he was so underwhelming in his debut last season that he let his team downn and never wanted to return to the sports car race. Ben Scrivens Jersey. Instead, he drove his own impressive three-plus hour stint in the middle of the night, then put together a brief but error-free run Sunday morning to get the team into the time window to turn the car over to Dixon.Its crazy how much a year can do. I hated this race last year. I was terrible, Larson said.McMurray joined AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win the Daytona 500 and the Rolex, while Kanaan joined a limited list of drivers to win both Indy and the 24 Hours.Its awesome, man. I love watches, Kanaan said. I always bought them, so Ive finally got one for free today.Ganassi beat defending race winner Action Express Racing, which was driven by Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais, by 1.33 seconds.Wayne Taylor Racing, runner-up the last two years, lost a shot to challenge Dixon when it realized under a caution with 20 minutes remaining that Jordan Taylor had exceeded his allotted time allowed in the car. He was forced to pit from second to let older brother Ricky Taylor close out the final 9 minutes of the race.Its a bit disappointing, but we win and lose as a team, said Taylor.Ganassis other entry, the No. 01 led by five-time winner Scott Pruett, was in the mix for the victory until the clutch broke and the team was forced to retire with under two hours remaining.Corvette Racing won the GT Le Mans class with drivers Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe.PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports won the Prototype Challenge class with drivers Mike Guasch, Andrew Novich, Andrew Palmer and Tom Kimber-Smith. It appeared that CORE Autosport had that win locked up until Colin Brauns fiery crash with roughly 20 minutes remaining brought out the final caution and ended what seemed an easy victory.CORE Autosports owner Jon Bennett could only shrug.We did 23 hours and 46 minutes very successfully, he said. I think we had small contact with another car, which caused Colin to have a tire going down. We were trying to get back, we didnt a splash of gas, anyway. Thats how racing is, I love it.The GT Daytona class was won by Riley Motorsports and drivers Ben Keating, Dominik Fambacher, Al Carter, Kuno Wittmer and Cameron Lawrence. Keating, who is a Dodge Viper car dealer and driver for the SRT team, choked back tears after the win. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '
