How Much Does David Stern Make?

With the right Google search, you can find out exactly how much money each and every NBA player makes in about 45 seconds. You can even track down often underreported coach and GM salaries with a bit of savvy. But one of the NBA's most important employees -- commissioner David Stern -- has a paycheck that's always been a secret.

Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski digs in.

Many owners don't even know what Stern makes. "I'd say three or less know," one NBA owner told Yahoo! Sports. Several believe it's somewhere in the range of $20 million to $23 million a year, but no one knows for sure. Maybe it's more than that, but the fact that some owners don't know the answer is beyond belief.

Just a couple NBA players currently make more than $20 million a season: only Kobe Bryant, Rashard Lewis, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett hit the threshold last season. (One of these guys is doing his own thing. One of these guys is not like the others.) As Woj implies, if Stern and the owners have their way, no players will be hitting that salary in the future.

Regardless of Stern's salary, which is at any rate a mere fraction of the league's expenses (more than $4 billion last season), the fact that no one knows is mind-boggling. Surely some committee of owners has to approve Stern's salary ... right?

I look forward to a union official introducing the idea of the NBA Commissioner Salary Cap at a future bargaining session. And then falling through a trap door into a tank of sharks.