On December 12, 2019, Stern suffered a brain hemorrhage and underwent emergency surgery. He died in Manhattan on January 1, 2020, at age 77. In remembrance of Stern, all NBA teams wore black bands on their jerseys for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. Several basketball legends and players mourn his death, including LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Kobe Bryant (who also died twenty-five days after Stern's passing).