NEW YORK - David Stern spent nearly 30 years growing the NBA, turning a league that couldn't even get its championship series on live prime-time TV into a projected $5 billion a year industry.

Confident the NBA is in good shape and certain he has found someone who can make it even better, Stern is ready to end one of the most successful and impactful careers in sports history.

Stern will retire as commissioner Feb. 1, 2014, 30 years to the day after taking charge of the league, and be replaced by Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver.

"I decided that things are in great shape and there's an organization in place that will ultimately be led by Adam that is totally prepared to take it to the next level," Stern said Thursday during a press conference following the league's board of governors meeting.

It's hard to be any better than Stern, perhaps the model sports commissioner.

Name an important policy in the NBA - drug testing, salary cap, even a dress code - and Stern had a hand in it. A lawyer by trade, he was a fearless negotiator against players and referees, but also their biggest defender any time he felt they were unfairly criticized.

"For all the things you've done for the NBA and for sports generally, I think there's no doubt that you'll be remembered as the best of all-time as commissioners go and you've set the standard, I think not even just for sports league commissioners, but for CEOs in any industry," Silver told Stern sitting to his left on a podium.

Stern told owners of his plans during their two days of meetings, and the board unanimously decided Silver would be his successor. Owners will begin negotiations with the 50-year-old Silver in hopes of having a contract completed by their next meeting in April.

Stern, who turned 70 last month, became commissioner on Feb. 1, 1984. He has been the NBA's longest-serving commissioner, establishing the league's brand around the world, presiding over team expansion and overseeing the establishment of the WNBA and the NBA Development League.

"There is no debate that David Stern has earned his spot in the pantheon of sports commissioners. Deservedly,

his name and reputation will always be synonymous with the phenomenal growth and success of the NBA over the last three decades," union executive director Billy Hunter said in a statement. "His absence will surely be felt by anyone connected to the NBA and the sport of basketball, although clearly the league will be left in very capable hands with the appointment of Adam Silver as the next commissioner."