New York, Olympia Building, NBA headquarters, commissioner's office.
David Stern called several vice presidents over for a private meeting.
Stern looked at the group of capable men under his command. They were all elites who had been with him for many years. They had accompanied him to develop the NBA into a giant little by little.
Joe Bozia is in charge of refereeing affairs. In fact, he controls the rules and scripts of the league and is equivalent to the Minister of Etiquette.
Stu Jackson, the president of basketball affairs, has the power to make decisions on transactions, signings, and drafts for each team, and is equivalent to the official minister.
Yo Robles is in charge of international market cooperation and development, expanding territory for the NBA's global strategy, and becoming a general in the East.
Adam Silva, President of Basketball Operations, is responsible for the business operations and development of the entire NBA, and is the Chief Bachelor of the Cabinet.
He once served as Stern's chief special assistant, equivalent to the chief eunuch, a future successor with full qualifications.
These people have experienced in many positions, have rich experience and outstanding abilities, so they can become Stern's capable officers.
Now, Stern has called them together, obviously encountering some more difficult issues that cannot be discussed openly.
For example, regarding Tim Donaghy's problem, Stern would convene a small meeting to discuss how to deal with it. After all, refereeing issues should not be discussed in public on a large scale.
In Stern’s nearly 30-year history as president, I don’t know how many secrets were decided in such small meetings and then hidden.
Stern, who usually has a smiling face, sat behind his large desk with a serious and gloomy face.
Privately, Stern has always been iron-faced and iron-fisted. This short Jew, who was a lawyer, has an absolutely calm mind and ruthless strategies, and will never tolerate or compromise in order to achieve his goals.
But at the same time, in order to achieve other goals, he can grovel and put down his dignity.
In the history of NBA development, Stern is a decisive figure. He mainly did three tasks.
One is to establish the NBA draft system, and the second is to promote the internationalization of the NBA and include it as a strategic development goal. The third one is the salary cap.
If there is another achievement, it is that the team is not allowed to gamble, which has a great bearing on the fate of the team.
I am ashamed that I have only done a small amount of work, but it does not hinder his pioneering and importance.
Such a person with deep roots is now having a bit of a headache by a new general manager who has entered the league.
With a gloomy face, he picked up an express package from the table, put it in front of Joe Bozia, and said, "There is a video tape in the mail from Los Angeles. Guess what it is?"
Bozia, don’t you think it’s your peach image?
Of course, he didn't dare to say nonsense, so he said: "From Los Angeles? Could it be... that it was sent by the Clippers?"
Stern nodded and said: "It was sent from the Clippers. It was the whistle issue about LeBron's last walk. Smart actually collected a bunch of highlights of LeBron James' walks and sent it to In my office, there is also a referee report about the game against the Cavaliers!"
Bozia swallowed and said: "More than two weeks have passed since this game. Why is Smart still hanging on? Is he dissatisfied with the $100,000 fine?"
Stern shook his head and said: "I negotiated the terms with him and said that the fine could be reduced, but he refused. Give me another trick. Send a video like this. If it spreads to the media, it will be a damn referee. Topic! And Donaghy has just been released from prison recently, so it is inevitable that some people will join forces to hype it up."
Attacks and controversies against NBA referees have never stopped, and Min Congda who sent a videotape to Stern is not the first.
It's just that this is a special period. Donaghy has just been released from prison and is clamoring to write an autobiography to break the news. It will be very troublesome if he and Min Congda form a joint force to trigger a storm of public opinion.
Although it will not cause fatal damage to the NBA for the time being, this kind of biting from time to time makes Stern very irritated, and he does not want to get entangled in this issue.
As the saying goes, a thousand-mile embankment is destroyed by an anthill. The issue of refereeing credibility cannot be ignored, otherwise the negative impact will be devastating.
"Smart is a guy who doesn't eat salt or salt, and doesn't take soft or hard. What do you think he wants? To give his team more whistle bias, like Cuban did?"
"I think it's possible, but...some of his emails are not focused on Clippers games, he also cares about other teams. I always feel..."
"What do you think? Don't hesitate and talk."
Stern urged Bozia impatiently.
Bozia said: "I always feel that he is not winning for the Clippers and is not afraid of fines. I think what he does is for reputation."
After listening to Bozia's words, Stern nodded. People in the world are not seeking wealth but fame, and this is no exception at home and abroad.
Since he took office, Min Congda has made various moves to get out of his position. It is obvious that he is seeking fame. Now he is indeed famous.
But he was not satisfied enough. Stern thought, the best thing to do was satisfy him and let him enjoy the limelight.
Stern said: "In this case, why not give him the best general manager of this season?"
The award of Best General Manager is inherently insignificant, and fans pay far less attention to general managers than to players.
However, it is definitely a huge honor for a new manager to land in the NBA and win the best general manager in his first year.
Adam Silva stood up and objected, saying: "The Clippers' results this year are still not enough. Besides, they gave him the best general manager so soon. What if he wants to go further in the future?"
Stern felt that what Silva said made sense and asked, "What do you think?"
Adam Silva said: "The All-Star Game is coming soon. The Clippers recently filmed a short documentary. They invited a Cameroonian young fan to come to Los Angeles to watch the game. The young fan's father gave 30 teams They all wrote letters, but only the Clippers responded to him and invited him to watch the game. This is a good story, very promotional, and Cameroon is very poor. We are going to set up a new basketball fund. When the time comes, let Smart He will take the lead in raising funds. Then we can present this year’s Walter Kennedy Best Citizen Award to him.”
After hearing Silva's opinion, Stern's eyes lit up. He was indeed the former eunuch Bingbi.
The Best Citizen Award, combined with a fundraiser, is simply the best combination for gaining fame in American society.
Bozia said: "But the Best Citizen Award is always awarded to players or coaches, and to the general manager... there is no precedent, right?"
Silva said: "This is the norm, but it may not be an exception. The general manager is also a staff member of the league."
"I think this suggestion is good. If he needs fame, give him the Best Citizen Award. Then raise funds and ask him to donate some. Anyway, he is not short of money, so he needs fame."
"Yes, he doesn't care if he is fined 100,000 yuan, so let him donate some and give him a good reputation."
"By the way, there is another question I want to ask you about. There is an account on the Internet recently, NBA-Batman."
(End of chapter)
