On the morning of February 20th, New York, NBA headquarters at Olympia Center.
Adam Silva came to President Stern's office in a hurry.
He almost didn't sleep well last night, and his already pale face looked even more bloodless.
When I met Stern, I found that this little old man was not much better than me.
Definitely worried about what happened on Twitter last night.
As soon as Stern saw Adam Silva, he immediately asked: "What's going on? What's going on! Have the people behind the NBA-Batman account found out?"
Adam Silva was sweating on his forehead and said: "Not yet... The legal department is trying to find some legal loopholes so that the FIB can intervene in the investigation. But currently we can't find a reason."
Stern said angrily: "Even if you can't find a reason, you have to make up one for me!"
The NBA has no law enforcement power, and it is impossible for Twitter to leak user data to it.
The only way is to use legal means to find loopholes and sue Twitter and the account owner.
In this way, the FBI or the local court intervenes in the investigation, and the identity of the account owner may be exposed.
Adam Silva said: "I learned about this account through some special channels. Insiders said that the registered address of this account is in China."
Stern frowned even more tightly and said, "In China? Why are you in China? It must be a cover, just to avoid surveillance. Is there any reaction from James' team?"
Silva shook his head and said: "There is no reaction at the moment."
Stern sighed deeply, this NBA-Batman is really hateful.
On the 18th, he almost dominated the trade deadline and monopolized all trade rumors.
Some NBA general managers have followed NBA-Batman, saying that the news on it is the fastest.
Stern knew that an insider must have leaked the transaction information.
But this is an unspoken rule in the NBA, and every year someone leaks the news to different people.
Some were given to reporters, some were given to management, and some were even leaked to players.
If you look it up, everyone around you has a history of leaking information—including Stern himself.
The problem with NBA-Batman is his speed, he's too fast.
This is due to his unofficial status and the convenience of the medium of Twitter.
Historically, Twitter really shined in NBA trades and drafts in 2011.
Min Congda, a time traveler, advanced the time by two years, making traditional media realize the power of self-media.
What makes Stern feel even more worried is that this guy can just post some trading news to attract fans.
Last night, I posted a short video in the middle of the night and @tagged many well-known stars.
The content of the video is exactly the scene of LeBron James being dunked by college students at the training camp, which was previously removed from public relations.
The tweet was immediately retweeted and shot to the top of the trending list.
became a trending topic on Twitter yesterday and today.
It can only be said that good things don’t go out, but bad things spread thousands of miles.
Good NBA news never makes the hot list.
Once so-and-so dies, so-and-so makes sexy news, and so-and-so beats someone.
It immediately became a topic of conversation among American fans.
In ten or twenty years, they will all be dug up and talked about.
Melon-eating people love to see these things, and they are the same regardless of whether they are domestic or foreign.
What Stern is most worried about now is that the topic will ferment and have a negative impact on the NBA.
James is the current top player in the NBA and the future banner figure.
He is only 25 years old this year and signed a super contract with Nike before he entered the league.
Stern is full of expectations for James, hoping that he can become the second Michael Jordan.
Jordan's success was too impressive and too important to Stern.
Jordan entered the league the year Stern became president.
His rise, growth, dominance, retirement, and dominance again.
It can be said to be the most perfect story of heroism in the history of professional sports.
This perfect story has successfully helped the NBA expand its influence.
The NBA reached its peak in the 1990s.
After Jordan retired for the second time, the league ushered in an unprecedented general strike in 1999.
Then the ratings and attendance dropped all the way, and the 911 incident happened again.
The so-called successor to Jordan that the league has been looking for is nowhere to be seen.
Therefore, Jordan came back in 2001, and Wang Zhizhi landed in the NBA in 2001 to open up the Chinese market.
When Yao Ming landed in 2002, the Chinese market was completely opened.
The Lakers won three consecutive championships and created a new dynasty, even if they did not hesitate to kill the King.
Then, Jordan retired, and in 2003, LeBron James came to the NBA as the "Son of the Chosen".
Stern used a series of operations to survive the difficult years from 1999 to 2002 after Jordan retired.
Here comes another player who can write a new heroic chapter.
Who knows that the Cavaliers team is not living up to expectations, and neither is James.
They just can't win the championship, or they are beaten into the finals by the Spurs, a ratings poison.
In 2004, watching a defensive team like the Pistons win the championship, the popularity of the league plummeted.
Stern immediately reinstated the "No-handcheck" rule that had been on hold for 10 years.
This set of rules was tried out in 1994, but was not popular with the old players at that time.
The referees didn’t call the system very much, so the trial was canceled after one year.
In 2004, the league could no longer watch the Pistons allow their opponents to score only 70 points a game.
So the ship was replaced with a new version.
When the Pistons played against the Spurs in 2005, the ratings dropped to freezing point and Stern's hair was pulled out.
In 2006, the Pistons began to be unable to guard Wade.
I couldn't guard James in 2007, and I couldn't beat the Big Three in 2008.
The Pistons were beaten repeatedly in the Eastern Conference Finals, and their era was over.
But James' era has not yet come.
Now there is Yao Mozi who was dunked in a training match.
The public relations team worked hard to protect James' image.
I tried my best to guard against this NBA-Batman.
Stern was thinking a lot, thinking that James was really unsatisfactory.
I even thought about it: The Cavaliers are a bad team and Adou, who cannot afford to support them, should they increase the allocation of resources?
Seeing Stern's silence, Adam Silva said cautiously: "Mr. Stern, actually LeBron being hacked is not a big deal. There are no stars who are not hacked. Michael Jordan..."
"Michael is different! Also, do you think the league didn't work hard on Jordan's scandal back then? It's just that you were in a low position at the time and didn't know about it!"
There is also a lot of negative news about Jordan, such as gambling, cheating, marital problems, etc., all kinds of negative news.
However, the public relations teams of the NBA and Nike handled it very well and prevented the negative impact from expanding.
At that time, the Internet was very underdeveloped, and the only influential people were traditional media.
We are all acquaintances, so it is relatively easy to get public relations.
How is it like now? I don’t even know who is posting the news!
Silva did not dare to speak nonsense and asked: "Then...how to deal with it now?"
Stern said: "Let the media departments of each team continue to investigate. Also, what I care about is not James' reputation. What I care about is the reputation and influence of the entire NBA. And, Donaghy's problem."
Stern is not particularly worried about James' little secret.
If James fails one day, the league will change the object of praise.
What Stern is really worried about is Donaghy's upcoming autobiography.
In December last year, the publisher announced that it would cancel the release of Donaghy's autobiography.
The reason was "possible legal risks."
Needless to say, this legal risk comes from the NBA’s powerful legal team.
After finally suppressing the matter, Stern felt threatened by the NBA-Batman account.
This is like a huge haze hanging over Stern and the NBA.
"Who is the master behind this account? What is his special purpose? Is he from China? Do you want to involve the CIA?"
(End of chapter)
