Chapter 859 Mourning Retires

This morning, Li Ba entrusted Gao Gaoyuan to send the girl to the plane. The girl went to Los Angeles and was about to return home.

In the evening when the Suns played against the Clippers, Li Ba lifted his ban and returned.

Without Li Ba, the ratings of the Suns plummeted in these two games. His comeback naturally attracted the attention of countless media.

In the afternoon, Li Ba went to the team for training, and a large number of reporters came to the Suns' training headquarters, wanting to interview him.

But most of the domestic media reporters were blocked outside and could not enter, which made them quite angry.

Their anger didn't dare to go to the security guards who blocked them, but it was all directed at Li Ba.

"Get out of the car, get out of the car for us!"

"Get out of the car, or let us go in for an interview, you have no right to stop us!"

They blocked Li Ba's car and refused to let him in. They kept banging on his car windows and doors, and kept yelling.

Li Ba directly called the security guards and forcibly dispersed the group of people before he was able to enter the arena.

Before the start of the game, Stern, who was far away in New York, and even the owners and management of all the teams were staring at the ratings of the game.

Although Li Ba was only banned for two games, it has seriously affected the ratings of the league. Not only the ratings of the Suns have plummeted, but other teams have also dropped a little.

This is very serious. Under the leadership of the Suns, the ratings of each team are on the rise. Who knows if they can turn around after this drop?

The rise in ratings shows that the NBA fan base has grown significantly, but now it has plummeted. Who knows whether these people who left will come back?

The fans that the NBA has finally won from other sports, once lost, it is really not easy to come back.

For example, the basketball project itself, the United States has not only the NBA, but also a large number of basketball business leagues, and the most popular basketball league in the United States is not the NBA, but the NCAA. A lot of fans came over, it might be lost again.

All their hopes are placed in this game.

That night, Li Ba led the team to blow up the Clippers at halftime, ending the losing streak.

He was banned for two games. This time his performance was very bloodthirsty. He hit 5*5 + quadruple double + double twenty explosive data in three quarters. If the Clippers were not weak, he would have given up the game in the fourth quarter and let his Insufficient playing time, otherwise it is really possible to hit a second five-double.

Seeing that Li Ba didn't play in the fourth quarter, Stern wanted to fly to the scene, pull him up, and let him get another five-double.

In this game, the average ratings of the Suns reached 40 million, and the highest peak was at the end of the third quarter, reaching 52 million.

This ratings made everyone in the league feel relieved.

From this ratings, everyone knows that although the media is targeting Li Ba, there are still many fans who support him, and his influence and attractiveness are still extremely strong.

After defeating the Clippers, the Suns flew to San Antonio the next day.

The Spurs only have Parker left, and Parker still wants to leave. The management and Popovich promised that if they fail in the 2007 draft, they will let him leave.

On November 10, the Suns beat the Spurs lightly and achieved a record of 3 wins and 3 losses, temporarily ranking 8th in the Western Conference.

The playing time was not enough, Li Ba only played 25 minutes, and only played 5*5+ double 20, which affected the ratings, only 30 million.

This made Stern and the league boss realize that it is necessary to build more strong teams and create a strong competitiveness.

The management of the league realized that don't pay attention to any balance. If you don't want to invest in a team that only wants to make money from the league, you will be eliminated if you are eliminated.

Stern is even thinking that it's time to contact some bosses. The league needs to drive some cheap team owners out of the league and replace them with rich and willing bosses.

He first set his sights on Clippers owner Sterling.

The Clippers have such a good market in Los Angeles, but they are overwhelmed by the Lakers. The most fundamental reason is that the boss is not willing to invest.

Since Li Ba hit a five-double and the league has entered a period of rapid development, there are countless capitals hoping to enter the league. He is not afraid that there will be no boss who is willing to invest and has a long-term vision to replace people like Sterling.

For example, Ranadive, a minority shareholder of the Warriors, has billions of dollars in assets and has always wanted to become a major shareholder of a team, but unfortunately he has never had the opportunity.

Speaking of the Suns, the Suns had a difficult start this season, and then they will have to fight against strong teams. First, they played back-to-back away games against the Mavericks on the 11th, and then returned to the home court to face the Grizzlies on the 13th.

These are two teams that have strengthened in mega trades and are also tough to play.

In the first eight games, the Suns will have to take turns for the four teams that have strengthened in the big deal.

After defeating the Spurs, the Suns flew to Dallas overnight.

As big as Mavericks, Li Ba was invited to dinner at noon the next day.

"How is it, Da Zhi, this way?" Li Ba asked.

"Not bad, help the driver, average 20 minutes per game."

Dazhi smiled, and then asked with concern: "The domestic media has been targeting you these days, and the sky is about to turn upside down. How are you doing?"

"Can you hurt me a hair?" Li Ba said indifferently.

Dazhi smiled and said: "Some official media are targeting you, Hammer, you'd better be careful."

"It's okay, those media are also kneeling, I don't care." Li Ba smiled.

In the evening, Nowitzki invited Li Ba to dinner.

This afternoon, Mourning announced through the media that he had retired.

When receiving this news, Li Ba happened to be sitting at the dinner table with Nowitzki.

The two were silent for a while, and Li Ba said: "Another veteran who has fought his entire career without a championship in his life has left."

"Not you, he won the championship last season." Nowitzki said.

Li Ba laughed and said, "It can only be said that his choice was wrong. Look at Peyton, he is almost getting his third ring."

He laughed a few times, stopped suddenly, stared at Nowitzki and said, "Dirk, try to play better tonight, I want to play a dozen more."

Nowitzki's meat-cutting action froze, and he felt a bad feeling in his heart.

After dinner with the old driver, Li Ba and him came to the Mavericks' home arena at the American Airlines Center.

After sitting down in the locker room, he first called the girl.

The girl stayed in Los Angeles for two days, and she was about to board the plane back home with her mother.

"Hey, Big Hammer, are you at home or playing a game?"

"No, I'm in Dallas, and I have an away game tonight. Sissy, please pay attention when you return to China. The media is targeting me, and it may involve you. Don't accept interviews, and don't reveal the news of your return to China. .Also, bring a few people with you, be safe."

"Well, I see."

"Be careful when filming, don't get hurt in those fight scenes. I will say hello to Brother Jie and Brother Chenglong."

"Yeah. By the way, mom and dad arrived in Chengdu today. My mom and I flew directly to Chengdu. Let's go and see them first."

"Okay, okay, you let them stay in one place for a few more days, and then leave after playing enough, we are not in a hurry."

"Yeah, I got it. Big Hammer, what should you do if you are alone at home? By the way, you are not allowed to go out to play, just stay at home obediently."

"That's for sure. I play basketball and train every day, and I have to practice boxing when I have time. Where can I go to play?"

After chatting for about twenty minutes, the girl was about to get on the plane, so the two ended the call.

Colangelo came in at this time and said to Li Ba: "Tie Hammer, some Chinese media that you banned from interviewing were also banned by the Mavericks."

Li Ba was taken aback, he didn't say hello to the Mavericks?