The Thunder's championship was touching enough, and Durant's words "You are the MVP" to the Thunder fans in his final FMVP speech have become even more classic.
Defeating the villain boss (Warriors) and finally winning the championship, this result can be said to be the most topical in the current NBA.
However, this still cannot change the fact that this year's finals has the lowest ratings in the past decade.
To put it bluntly, the cake in the NBA used to be huge. Even if you sometimes made something that wasn’t delicious, a lot of people would pay for it. But now the cake is less than half of its original size. Even if you make a flower, The number of people who eat it is still limited.
By the end of the season, the bosses couldn't help but fall silent as they looked at the financial reports in their hands.
Their income did not become half of its original value like the ratings, but it dropped much more than that.
Teams like the Thunder and Warriors, which performed well last season, and the Knicks and Lakers, which have solid fundamentals, are in better shape, but some small-market teams even have financial deficits.
This also led to many chain reactions.
The first is the salary cap. The salary cap for the new season will be lower than expected, which will disrupt many teams' plans for the new season.
The second is team investment. When the team has a financial deficit and cannot see the future (Xu Yong will be an assistant coach in the NCAA next season), each team will naturally reduce investment. The specific manifestation is to control team salaries and reduce advertising. Investment etc.
The further impact of these changes is that there are fewer transactions in the market and less player liquidity, leading to a decline in expectations for the new season and a further decline in ratings.
It can be said that the NBA is now on the road to a vicious cycle and slow death.
Xu Yong, who can change this situation, has already begun leading the team in NCAA warm-up games with Sandek.
You may not believe it, but this is a warm-up match against a second-tier league team. The small arena, which can only accommodate more than 3,000 people, has already been packed with fans. Fans have gathered in the aisles, stairs, and even outside the arena. There are a lot of fans, although there is no big LED screen outside to watch the live broadcast.
The person who made all this happen could not be the opponent of the Devils, nor could it be the Devils, it could only be Xu Yong.
Because the opponent was weak, Sandek did not come to the scene for this game, but was coached by assistant coach Xu Yong.
When the head coaches of both teams were introduced before the game, and Xu Yong from the Devils stood up in a handsome suit, the scene quickly went into a boil.
It has been a whole year since they saw Xu Yong in an official game.
Although Xu Yong was wearing a suit, this did not affect their desire to watch the game at all.
The game started soon, and the Devils did not defeat their opponents as easily as expected. The situation on the field was extremely intense.
When Xu Yong and the others led the Devils to win the championship, Arizona State University was also prosperous and attracted many star high school students to join. They have been regulars in the championship for several consecutive years.
As time went by, the influence of the championship slowly faded, and star high school students no longer chose this place.
Because essentially, these star high school students want to be famous, have exposure, be spotted by scouts, and then be selected to enter the NBA.
Without high-quality students, the strength of the team has declined, and the Devils have returned to the weak team of the Pac-10 League in the past.
So this season is naturally different. The addition of Xu Yong means that the Devils will once again become the focus of attention. In the end, Cam Reddish, the second-ranked five-star high school student in the 2018 class, and Jaylen Smith, the 16th-ranked high school student, joined one after another. .
It's just that I don't know if they are still young and can't fight hard, or the pressure on the scene affects their performance, or the opponent wants to prove that they play hard in such an opportunity. In short, there is a stalemate on the court.
Xu Yong was very calm at first. After all, he had to realize that he was now a coach and not a player.
But later on, he began to feel a little unable to sit still, because these people were so good at fighting!
He walked to the sidelines, because the bench was on the defensive end at the beginning, so he loudly reminded the players of their defensive positions, wishing that he was the one standing on the court.
When he stood on the sidelines and saw Reddish hitting the open space one after another, he couldn't help but reach out and slap his forehead.
Apart from anything else, tonight he truly experienced the exhaustion of being a head coach. It was not physical, but psychological and heart-breaking.
And the key is that he can only watch, which is more torture than playing on the court himself.
After a while, he was already a little sweaty.
The NCAA only has 20 minutes in each half. By the time there were a few minutes left in the first half, he was already getting too hot and started taking off his jacket.
It was at this time that the courtside commentator came up with the classic saying: "The head coach of the Devils has started to warm up!"
A piece of hot knowledge, the domestic CBA league allows head coaches to play on the court, but there is no such rule in the NCAA.
In the end, the Devils changed their spirit in the second half, played a wave to open up the score and finally won. Xu Yong also received his first victory in his coaching career.
At the end of the game, Xu Yong fist bumped with the Devils players one by one and gave Reddish a big hug as he rebounded in the second half.
This coaching experience is very special and meaningful to him, because he needs to guide the players' mentality during the midfield.
He did not choose to scold the players, but asked them to forget about themselves and the audience around them and do what they are good at.
This ended up working, because essentially, their talent was much better than their opponent's, they just didn't use it.
The Devils got off to a good start, and then they won back-to-back games in the warm-up game.
It may be strange to say it, but you can clearly feel that Xu Yong, who cannot play, has become the greatest source of confidence for the players on the field.
And this performance also had subsequent effects.
We all know that fans often watch things to see what's new. Last season's NBA attracted a lot of attention at the beginning, but after that the ratings dropped again and again.
But Xu Yong's gimmick, coupled with the Devils' record, made the outside world pay more attention to them.
One reality is: Xu Yong is not only dominating the game as a player, but he is also winning as a coach.
This may be the biggest difference between him and Jordan. Jordan can't be understood just by looking at him, let alone coaching.
When the new NCAA season began, the Devils continued to win consecutive games, even defeating Duke led by Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett. Fans even paid more attention to the Devils than the NBA.
Especially when the new NBA season is still full of a lot of match-fixing and all kinds of monotonous three-point games, the contrast becomes even more intense.
Although the NCAA has the disadvantages of being of lower quality and less commercial than the NBA, its authenticity and purity have allowed it to attract a large number of new audiences.
The NCAA committee also seized the opportunity to increase publicity. Fans are much more willing to pay to watch the NCAA in the new season than the NBA.
Yes, you read that right, the NCAA seems to be the cradle for cultivating NBA players, but in fact they are still competitive.
Of course, the premise of all this is Xu Yong.
Just like McGrady, who can no longer play in the NBA, can detonate the CBA league. Even if Xu Yong is wearing a suit and not playing, his command from the sidelines is enough to attract fans to watch the game.
This time, the NBA is declining faster.
If it weren't for the fact that the NCAA is essentially a student league, those capitalists would have been eager to enter.
On this day, after Xu Yong led his team to another victory, an unexpected uninvited guest was waiting for him at the door of the locker room.
Xu Yong recognized him, although he pretended not to know him and was introduced by others.
Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft.
Unlike what Xu Yong knows, perhaps because the Clippers do not have Paul, Ballmer did not participate in the competition to acquire the Clippers in 2014. He is not the owner of any team now.
However, after sitting down and chatting with him, Xu Yong felt from his words that he had the idea of purchasing the team.
Ballmer, after all, is a person who loves basketball.
Even in a sense, his and Xu Yong's current situation is similar.
Since he had retired from Microsoft, he needed something new to fill his life.
And his second hobby is basketball.
"I want to know, will you go back again? Or is it no longer possible?" Ballmer asked Xu Yong a question that everyone would ask, but he asked it in a different way.
Although he loves it, and although buying an NBA team may be just like buying a big toy to him, he is still a businessman in the final analysis. Businessmen must pay attention to investment and returns. It is impossible for him to throw money into something that he cannot see. Any industry with a return on investment.
Xu Yong looked at Ballmer.
Everything he is doing now is essentially to get the NBA back on track, not to destroy it. If an owner like Ballmer who is willing to invest in the NBA can join the NBA, it will definitely be a good thing.
"Mr. Ballmer, nothing is completely impossible," he replied with a smile.
Ballmer was stunned for a moment, then laughed and nodded.
There are some things Xu Yong will not say, but the hints are obvious enough.
Time flies to November. The ratings for the new NBA season are appalling, and some owners are already starting to quit.
The first person to quit was unexpected, but if you think about it, it was expected. Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks.
Cuban is an owner who loves basketball so much that he is willing to continuously invest in the team, but he also likes to get involved in team management.
Since Cuban took over, the Mavericks have basically exceeded the luxury tax every year. Whether in history or in reality, the Mavericks' salary during the championship season is among the top in the league.
The reason why it feels like a David and Goliath defeat is just because the team has many veterans and the injured lineup is uneven.
But now that Nowitzki has retired, the current situation of the league does not allow him to continue to invest heavily. You must know that his personal assets are much worse than other NBA owners.
Even as an owner who loves basketball, he can no longer fall in love with the current match-fixing.
It was at this time that Ballmer took action.
He bought the Mavericks from Cuban for $2 billion.
The Mavericks were originally valued at US$3 billion before Xu Yong retired, but in just over a year, his market value shrank by 50% with the decline of the NBA. It can be said that it has almost returned to its value around 2012.
Moreover, Ballmer bought it at a premium, because other competitors only paid up to 1.8 billion.
The extra 200 million bought his love for basketball.
The conclusion of this deal also caused another impact on the NBA.
Because the previous market value valuation was higher than Ballmer's purchase price.
This becomes like the second-hand housing market, there is a listing price, but the actual transaction price is lower than that price, a classic [there is a price but no market].
This means that when other team owners want to sell, they may not even have this price.
At this time, they have only two choices, squeeze and sell, or change the status quo.
Different bosses have different choices, but after all, it involves billions of transactions, and some bosses began to put forward Xu Yong's requirements again.
[To save the current NBA, the only way is to bring Xu Yong back]. After hitting the south wall and jumping into the Yellow River, the bosses gradually reached such a consensus.
But the current situation is no longer as easy as it was at the beginning, because it involves breach of contract with the betting company, which is a big expense.
Since money is involved, and it's big money, it can't be accomplished so quickly.
However, even if many people begin to feel regretful, they still have to participate in the discussion, because if this continues, the money they will lose will only increase.
Finally, when the time came to 2019 and the bell rang on the first day of the New Year, Xu Yong received a call from Tatum.
"Xu, we need to meet."
After learning that the league was ready to cut off the company, Xu Yong agreed to Tatum's proposal to meet at the New York headquarters.
Before setting off, he counted the time. It was almost exactly a year and a half since he left the NBA.
This was much faster than he expected.
In fact, NBA ratings, including all aspects, have dropped significantly, but they are almost back to the level around 2012.
For those owners who spent only a few hundred million or even tens of millions to buy NBA teams in the 1990s, they are still making huge profits.
But again, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. If you have experienced the value of 3 billion, then it is 3 billion. If it becomes 2 billion, it is a loss. For capitalists, they will not take it and initially Than.
Xu Yong arrived at the NBA headquarters and went directly to the conference room.
On the phone, Tatum had already told him that this was not just a meeting between them. He said "we" instead of "me", and this "we" is actually the league committee.
So this is the first time in NBA history that players or retired players have participated in a league committee meeting.
There are only two things discussed at the committee. One is finalized, that is, the league will end its cooperation with the gambling company early and pay liquidated damages. This liquidated damages will eventually be shared proportionally by the owners of the league's 30 teams. .
The second thing is the reason why Xu Yong came here.
"So, Xu, what is the second condition for your return?" Tatum looked at Xu Yong and asked, and everyone else in the conference room also looked at him.
Xu Yong knew that since he was invited here, there would be no obstacles to his conditions the next day, so without any cover-up, he looked at Tatum and said directly: "You become the president of the league."
As soon as these words came out, the bosses were stunned at first, and then there was a burst of discussion.
Because no one expected Xu Yong’s second condition to be this.
One person's expression attracted the most attention at this time, Xiao Hua.
Xiao Hua, as the president of the league, was of course also present. After hearing Xu Yong's second condition, his face turned the color of pig liver.
No wonder Xu Yong didn’t say what the second condition was. It turned out that he was going to oust him!
And the key point is that on such an occasion, Xu Yong made such a request, which was clearly meant to embarrass him.
Soon, the discussion stopped.
Although not every boss knows why Xu Yong made such a request. After all, there is actually no major public conflict between Xu Yong and Xiao Hua. However, compared to the first condition, this condition is much simpler. .
So soon, almost all other bosses turned their attention to Xiao Hua.
In this kind of thing, you still have to pay attention to decency.
After all, Xiao Hua is the current president of the league. If word spread that the league committee voted to vote him out, it would be very unpleasant.
"I..." Xiao Hua's words were stuck in his throat. He looked at Xu Yong, as if fire was about to burst out of his eyes.
Of course he understands what his bosses think, and it is the most honorable thing for him to resign.
It's just that he obviously doesn't want to. This is not only because the position of NBA president has a lot of power and interests, but also because he is ousted by Xu Yong. How could he be willing to do so!
But in the end, looking at Xu Yong's indifferent expression, he could only choose to say: "I will resign as NBA president."
Yes, he is dishonorable and these bosses will help him show his dignity.
Although he seems to have obtained Stern's original voice in the league committee, he is not Stern after all, and he cannot become Stern.
"So Xu, when will you return?" Tatum looked at Xu Yong longingly at this time.
Now can be said to be the lowest period of the NBA. If Xu Yong returns, becoming NBA president does not make much sense.
Xu Yong's expression was very relaxed at this time. He turned to look at Xiao Hua, as if he was looking at his little tiger named "Joke", smiled, and said calmly: "You can do it anytime."
(End of chapter)
