David Stern served as NBA commissioner for 30 years from 1984 to February 2014 when he retired and gave way to Adam Silver. According to Bleacher Report, Stern became the longest-serving commissioner in professional sports in that span.

In a report by Page Six, friends of the former NBA commissioner are urging him to run for the mayoral office in 2017. Stern is a lifelong Democrat, a regular contributor to the party and currently an associate at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Sources of Page Six said, "He's pretty bored. He's always been interested in politics, and he's always been interested in running for office." Stern is a New York native and lawyer before becoming the NBA commissioner.

While an Executive Vice President of the NBA in 1980, Stern helped the NBA develop a drug-testing program and salary cap system. He helped the great relationship between owners and the players' union as reported by CBS Sports.

When he was appointed as commissioner in 1983, there are only 23 teams in the NBA, which grew into 30 teams today. He also developed the lottery system to determine the order of selection in the NBA Rookie Draft.

Also in the CBS Sports report, Stern has signed multibillion-dollar television deals throughout the years that helped the NBA transition into the globally popular sports today. Under his tenure, players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James increased the popularity of the league.

Leagues like the WNBA and NBA D-League was formed under Stern. There were also some controversies during his stay as commissioner.

Hand checking and illegal defense were removed as well as having a dress code for players. Lockouts also happened in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2011.

Probably the most controversial moment came when "The Malice in the Palace" happened. Ron Artest and several Indiana Pacers players charged the stands and fought the fans in a game in Detroit in November 2004.

One associate told Page Six, "He's tough as nails. He's popular with the black community. New York would be lucky to have him as mayor." Current Mayor Bill de Blasio will not be too pleased with Stern adding to the list of potential candidates, including wealthy businessman Don Peebles, NYC comptroller Scott Stringer and public advocate Letitia James.

However, Stern said that he is not interested in running for office. He feels flattered, saying, as quoted by Page Six, "I remain a happy Westchester resident and am very busy as a senior adviser to a number of enterprises."