Chapter 550 Internal Strife Within the Alliance (Part 1)
When the Cavaliers changed their lineup in the second quarter, many fans of Win Arena left the stadium in anger and cursed.
Although LeBron's performance and scoring caused several small climaxes, failure is failure, so that at the end of the fourth quarter, half of the seats were empty.
The reaction of the fans at the scene undoubtedly represented the reaction of the fans who supported the Cavaliers across the United States.
Most people were angry and disappointed.
But unlike when LeBron persuaded his teammates in the second quarter, no one cursed LeBron.
People were surprised to find that LeBron scored 50+ points for the first time in his career, and even surpassed Lin Dong in this game and won the scoring champion of this game.
No, more than the scoring champion.
LeBron scored 55 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists, and even 4 steals and 6 blocks in this game!
An oversized triple-double plus comprehensive data on the defensive end, even when the Cavaliers' main players were all out, led a group of substitutes to catch up from 35 points to 25 points.
You know, the Sonics always have one or two main players on the court. They are not the so-called all-substitute lineup that completely lets the Cavaliers score points.
This...
All Cavaliers fans were shocked at this moment.
They suddenly felt that the Cavaliers might not have lost unfairly, but LeBron lost this game too unfairly.
If O'Neal, Wade and Kidd had not all performed poorly, if Artest, that idiot, had not been carried off the court, with LeBron's performance, how could the Cavaliers lose!
Really can't lead... bastard!
What Big Four + All-Stars, what collective superstars? In fact, the old ones are old, the young ones are young, the impulsive ones are impulsive, the abnormal ones are abnormal, all of them are garbage.
The Cavaliers have only one real giant, that is, Ohio's former son of heaven and Cleveland's new hero, LeBron James!
——What a pity, LeBron has tried his best! It's a pity that there is no good teammate around to support him!
——Before the Sonics' main players were not replaced, LeBron also scored a lot of points, but the other Cavaliers were like sleepwalking throughout the whole process, especially O'Neal!
——The Big Shark should be renamed Clownfish now. This guy made too many mistakes. He became fatter and worse. He is not worthy of assisting LeBron at all. If he was replaced by Yao Ming or Duncan, maybe this game would have been won!
——Don't mention Yao and Duncan. Even if LeBron was given a big Ben, the result would definitely be much better than this.
——Wade is not good either. He only scored 2 points in this game. He was completely useless in front of Lin. Only Kidd could barely be used.
——It's a pity for LeBron. Even if he was behind by so many points, he insisted on fighting to the end. What a strong fighting will. At the end of the game, he still tried his best to shoot another 3-pointer from the outside, just to make the team lose decently. He is really a great lone hero. I almost cried!
——The great LeBron, the prodigal son who returned from high school, has a greater sense of responsibility and strong will than any other player in the league!
The various noises on the Internet suddenly pushed LeBron's reputation to a peak.
If LeBron's special training in Japan before the game left a "question mark" in the hearts of American fans, now the question mark has turned into a huge exclamation mark.
It represents responsibility, will, and the self-improvement of a child who came out of the slums.
And on the Internet, if you want to praise any hero, you always need the rhetoric of peers.
At first, the scolding of American fans was focused on scolding LeBron's teammates. After all, they were indeed too stupid, but after scolding, they felt that it was not enough, so soon, the war began to extend to the Supersonics.
About an hour after the game, that is, after 10 o'clock in the evening, someone on the Internet released the results of Artest's injury in the hospital.
Grade II concussion, comminuted fracture of nose bridge, this injury will require at least a week in hospital, and concussion has a great impact on consciousness, and recovery is doomed to be slow, at least a month of rest period, this round of series is directly written off.
The Internet exploded again in an instant...
Before this, American fans were dissatisfied with Artest's attitude. Before he left the court in the first quarter, his entire performance was lackluster, and he did not show the role that he should have played in the second team of the best defense for two consecutive years. This has long destined him to be one of the people who "drag LeBron down", a complete jerk!
But when the result came out, probably one of them felt that he was injured like this, and he was beaten for the team anyway, and it was not authentic to scold him. Secondly, didn't this become a good excuse to attack the Supersonics?
Damn Supersonics, "can't beat" me and cripple one of my generals! Whatever they say, they have to pay enough price!
So the Internet was full of suggestions about punishing Hanamichi Sakuragi and the entire Sonics team.
Hanamichi Sakuragi should be suspended for at least 50 games and fined the maximum amount, at least 2 million US dollars, and Chandler, who prevented the Cavaliers teammates from "rescuing" him, should also be suspended for at least 20 games. Even Lin Dong and Payton, who held back Wade and LeBron at the time, should all be suspended!
Not to mention that they didn't fight, LeBron and Wade were going to start a fight, and they could have prevented the situation from developing further, but they blocked it from the side. They were definitely the accomplices of the murderer, and they caused the situation to develop to this point. They are the culprits of the situation. Can your alliance not punish them?
Even if he is not suspended for dozens of games, he will at least be given a second-level flagrant foul and suspended for one game!
There was an uproar on the Internet about this, and the momentum was huge. I thought that under such pressure, the league's subsequent punishment would be issued that night, but what I didn't expect was that after waiting until the next day, the league still didn't respond to the matter. The attitude of taking a stand.
The reason……
In the NBA conference room, a number of important members of the board of directors have gathered together.
The equity structure of the NBA is mainly divided into two parts. One part is some investors when the NBA was founded in the early days. But in fact, after countless rounds of dilution, the shares they occupy are not much anymore. They occupy about 15%, and they are responsible for dividends every year. money.
In addition, the league itself occupies about 15% of the shares, and the other about 70% of the shares are shared among the owners of the NBA's 30 teams, with each team accounting for about 2% to 3%.
The team is the NBA's biggest asset. Buying the team is equivalent to buying shares in the NBA.
As David Stern, who controls the league's voice, represents the league as a whole, he naturally has the greatest voice in the board of directors, but if someone can integrate the team owners who hold the majority of the shares...
David Stern sat at the front of the long discussion table, and the first person sitting on his right was Phil Knight.
It was Phil Knight who spoke at this time, mercilessly criticizing Sakuragi Hanamichi's actions on the court from all angles, and the huge negative impact it had on the league.
Yang Dong crossed his arms and crossed his legs, while Stern sat upright and listened with a smile.
An old fox for many years, he can definitely smell the menace of Phil Knight today.
Targeting Hanamichi Sakuragi and the Sonics or Lin Dong? That was just his superficial purpose. In fact, Phil Knight was preparing to launch a thunderous blow against himself.
Whether Hanamichi Sakuragi is given a heavy sentence will directly determine who has the final say in the NBA in the future, and will also determine the life and death of himself and Phil Knight.
Phil Knight now owns shares in about thirteen teams. Although he only holds about 10% of the shares, the overall shareholding is not large, but this also means that his relationship with the owners of these thirteen teams is , if he already controls nearly half of the 70% voice.
The other 15% of the original investment shares are almost all Phil Knight's business partners. Coupled with Nike's large sponsorship of the NBA every year, they are definitely on Phil Knight's side.
Nearly half of the say...According to Phil Knight's scheming, he shouldn't have launched an attack rashly at this time. He always only fights must-win battles, but because of Lin Dong's defection, Nike is now in extreme trouble. The situation seems to have indeed forced a showdown.
His current goal is very simple. He wants to eliminate the wings of the Sonics and Lin Dong. As long as Sakuragi Hanamichi and Chandler are missing, the Cavaliers will still have a chance to win against the remaining Sonics after they adjust back.
At the same time, he didn't feel it was safe, so he also wanted to ban Lin Dong and Payton for one game, not only to give the Cavaliers a make-up victory, but also to build the confidence and confidence for the Cavaliers to make a comeback again.
Of course I can't let this happen.
On his side, he owns 15% of the league's shares and has the prestige formed after years of controlling the overall situation. As long as he can win the support of the remaining 17 team owners, he can overwhelm Phil Knight in the vote. All plans were made to eliminate him completely.
So the crux of the matter is who can convince and get the support of the 17 team owners left in the conference room at this time.
Phil Knight was just talking about the mistakes of Sakuragi Hanamichi, Lin Dong and others, but he kept hinting at the danger of the Sonics, hinting that if the Sonics win four consecutive championships, then Other teams will never get ahead, and even mentioning fair and balanced development over and over again, they only mentioned the phrase "everyone takes turns to win the championship".
To put it bluntly, what he wants is not fairness, but ‘balance’, so that in the end everyone can make money together.
It can be seen that most of the remaining team owners are very moved.
If we support Stern in the past, the Sonics are now a standout, so strong that it makes all teams despair, then the next development of the league will inevitably be like this season, where superstars will continue to gather together, leading to a conflict between the teams. There is an absolute disparity between strengths and weaknesses, and weak teams can only be reduced to a backup place to help strong teams cultivate rookies.
I'm afraid that before Lin Dong and the others retire, their team, not to mention the championship, will even be reduced to the bottom of the league and will never be able to make a difference.
But if you support Phil Knight, then after the SuperSonics fail this season, Seattle's small ball market plus the loss of funds, market value, etc. after the failure, it will be difficult for the SuperSonics to pay high liquidated damages. After all, Yang Everyone knows that Dong's net worth is not that rich. After she has lost a lot of market value, she still has to lose 100 to 200 million in luxury taxes every year to maintain the team. How can she hold on?
By then, the god combination will inevitably disband with Payton's retirement and the maximum salary of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Lin Dong. Even if the Sonics barely retain the top lineup of Sakuragi Hanamichi and Lin Dong, other top 3D players such as Iguodala and Rukawa Kaede will also receive high offers from various teams and will not be able to continue to stay in the Sonics. The league's structure will return to a certain degree of balance...
Besides, if we really want to oppose Phil Knight and completely offend Nike, who will take over the big sponsorship of the NBA next year? Adidas and Reebok have already clearly stated that they will withdraw.
Stars may care about honor, but the bosses only care about benefits.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
After the preparations were almost done, Phil Knight smiled and looked at David Stern: "David, everyone has seen everything you have done for the league, but there is no doubt that you have lost your original calm and sharp judgment when facing the problem of the Supersonics, which will bring a lot of losses to the league..."
As he said this, Phil Knight stood up and looked around at the team owners around him: "So I propose that for the future of the league, David Stern be removed from his position as president!"
As soon as the voice fell, more than a dozen hands were raised. They were the owners of thirteen teams that Phil Knight controlled a certain amount of shares, of course, including Laura Ballmer of the Cavaliers.
The conference room was quiet for a few seconds, and then Wizards owner Pollin also raised his hand: "I agree."
The Wizards had the best chance of winning the championship in the season, but they were suppressed by the Supersonics. Pollin had absolutely no good feelings towards the Supersonics.
Phil Knight's eyes gradually became eager. If two more hands were raised, the victory would have been secured. He couldn't help but turn his head to look at Michael Jordan on the side.
As the owner of the Bobcats, as a man whose dreams were blocked by Lin Dong, and he also holds 5% of Nike's shares, he rarely even communicated in advance about this vote, it must be his!
Unexpectedly, Michael Jordan actually laughed playfully at this time, ignoring Phil Knight, but looking at Pollin meaningfully.
He is no longer a player, but a team owner. After experiencing Pollin's betrayal, Lu Dan has understood the face and gameplay of capital, and understands that a team owner should pay most attention to interests.
He holds 5% of Nike's shares, and he should not let Nike fall anyway.
But, first, he really doesn't want to associate with Pollin, the beast, and secondly, and more importantly...
Michael Jordan turned his head to look at David Stern, and saw that Stern finally laughed at this time, took up his hands that had been on his knees, and placed them steadily on the conference table.
"Before everyone makes a decision, let's show you something first." He gestured to the staff in the conference room.
The lights dimmed, and a picture immediately appeared on the projection screen.
It was the picture of Artest constantly provoking Sakuragi Hanamichi during Game 1 yesterday. The high-definition camera captured the details very clearly, so clearly that you could even see every lip movement of Artest.
At the same time, the screen was also equipped with a lip-reading expert's translation, which translated the process and all the words of Artest's provocation to Sakuragi Hanamichi.
The bosses at the scene frowned, not quite understanding what Stern meant.
Phil Knight couldn't help laughing, and before the clip was finished, he said first: "Isn't it normal to provoke on the court? It's just that Artest was a little too mean, what does this mean?"