The WNBA was not launched because of a huge stack of heartfelt thank-you notes that David Stern read nearly a quarter-century ago. But … they certainly didn't hurt.

As Stern steps away from his job as commissioner of the NBA, there's so much to talk about in regard to how that organization -- and basketball worldwide -- grew an amazing amount under his stewardship.

Part of his vast résumé is the founding of the WNBA in June 1997, thanks to Stern's belief in the concept -- and his ability to sell the NBA's owners on it.

"Without his vision and engagement, the league wouldn't have gotten off the ground," said Val Ackerman, who was the first WNBA president. "He was the mastermind, and the WNBA was really in line with his vision about how sports and society are intertwined.

"David's list of accomplishments is so long, you have to talk in categories. The NBA was there when it came to innovations in technology. The NBA was there when the world was getting smaller, and globalization became not just a buzzword, but a business mandate. And the NBA was there with women. As they were becoming more a social, athletic and economic force, how could the NBA not be there?"

As the WNBA grew from eight to 16 teams and now 12, David Stern's commitment to the league has stayed rock solid. Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty Images

Ackerman, who played college basketball at Virginia and is now commissioner of the Big East Conference, began work in the NBA as an attorney in the late 1980s. She advocated for the NBA's greater involvement in women's basketball, with the long-range goal of sponsoring a pro women's league.

In 1990, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association went to Ackerman with a plea. The main sponsor had pulled out of the annual coaches party -- a networking and social event -- at the upcoming NCAA Women's Final Four. The WBCA asked Ackerman if the NBA would consider subsidizing the party, and the league agreed.

"Then, within two weeks' time, I must have gotten at least 800 handwritten notes from coaches, thanking me and the NBA for putting up the money for that party," said Ackerman, who then gave them to Stern. "I think that sort of struck him as, 'Wow, there's a big basketball world out there, and here's another segment of the game, and it might make sense to connect more to it.'

"My guess is the little things along the way that were happening back then [with women's basketball] were adding up in his mind and having a cumulative effect."

That Stern did not miss these so-called "little things" -- which might have escaped the notice of other executives of his stature -- can be attributed to his constant and voluminous intake of information.

"He pays attention to everything," said Donna Orender, who followed Ackerman as WNBA president, from 2005 to 2010. "He's able to see the open spaces and the unknown, and those things don't frighten him. If anything, they tempt him."

After the financial blueprint for the WNBA was put together in the early 1990s, Stern waited for the right time to greenlight the league. That came with the large crowds and enthusiasm generated by the gold-medal success of the U.S. women's basketball team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

That another pro women's basketball league -- the ABL -- had started in the fall of 1996 was no deterrent to the WNBA's launch the following summer. It seemed pretty obvious which one, ultimately, was going to prevail.

Even so, the WNBA and Stern were criticized by some in the women's basketball community for "undermining" the ABL, and for opting to have the nontraditional summertime season for the WNBA.