New York, Olympia Tower, NBA Headquarters Commissioner's Office.
This is where David Stern used to work.
The office space is not very large, and the skyscraper forest of New York can be seen through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows.
In addition to telephones and computers, the large desktop is often scattered with some simple office supplies, documents, photos and other things.
David Stern rarely tidies up his desktop carefully. Firstly, he doesn't have time, and secondly, he doesn't care much about these trivial matters. He focuses on strategic direction and high-level matters.
Behind the desk, there is occasionally an O'Brien Cup, multiple basketballs used by the NBA, and miscellaneous things.
Anyone who has come to interview Stern will be a little surprised that the president's office is so cramped and messy, completely unlike the place where the most powerful person in the league works every day.
It can also be seen from this that Stern is a person who is informal and does not care too much about the opinions of others because he has been in a high position for a long time.
The office has changed a lot since Adam Silva sat behind this desk.
The desk has become much tidier. It must be wiped clean every day, and all documents and sundries must be sorted and placed neatly in storage compartments.
The scattered small objects behind the desk have been retained, but they have all been rearranged and placed in an orderly manner, making everything look orderly and harmonious.
Obviously, Adam Silva does not dare to completely change the layout of the office, such as moving the desk, changing the cabinet, or replacing all the clutter and photos, because this office does not completely belong to him.
He can only try his best to make this office look as tidy and orderly as possible. Silva is a person with slight mysophobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It can be seen from his daily dress. He is always white and clean, not messy at all, and not at all superfluous. There will be no hair or stubble.
Stern is different. In the past, he still had a mustache and his hair was sometimes unkempt. He grew up in a civilian area of New York. His parents ran a delicatessen. He was not an upper class person at the beginning, although he was not an NBA player. He is a pioneer, but he is also a groundbreaking figure, with a hint of "recklessness" about him.
In Adam Silva's generation, this "reckless" atmosphere is becoming less and less, and it is becoming more elite.
On February 2, after get off work hours, Adam Silva sat in the office with a group of league executives and elites and held an impromptu "cabinet" meeting.
Just over an hour ago, Min Congda held a press conference and stated that he accepted the league's punishment and publicly apologized, but proposed to clean up the referees association and conduct a major change of blood.
This shocking statement undoubtedly intensified the conflict between Min Congda and the referee. Soon Steve Jarvie spoke out again, saying that he did not accept Min Congda's apology and insisted that the league ban Min Congda for life, otherwise the Referees Association would strike. No more officiating NBA games.
The NBA's successive turbulence has once again attracted the media's attention. Silva will naturally hold an internal meeting to set the tone for decisions tomorrow or tonight.
Silva sat behind the president's desk. He had served the owner of this desk for nearly 20 years. Now he sat behind this desk and tasted the taste of power.
Of course power brings pressure, but power brings more fulfillment. He wants to run the league according to his own ideas and realize his ideals and ambitions for the NBA.
After Stern temporarily withdrew from the league, the league's small cabinet naturally underwent some personnel changes.
In addition to Stu Jackson, Joe Bozia, and Yo Robles, two new faces have also been added - the new vice president of Asian descent, Mark Tatum, and the new vice president in charge of the league's legal affairs. Attorney Rick Buchanan.
Like Adam Silva, Mark Tatum is also a newcomer promoted by Stern. He has been in the league for more than 20 years and has been Silva's partner. He is responsible for all operations of the league except basketball affairs. .
Silva was promoted to the position of president, and Mark Tatum successfully moved up a level and became the league's vice president, responsible for entertainment operations.
Mark Tatum and Adam Silva were originally trained together as successors, and the two had a relationship that was both cooperative and competitive.
However, due to various reasons, the league bosses still tend to support Silva as president. After all, Silva is a Jew.
And Mark Tatum has a smiling Asian face. His father is of Jamaican descent, and his mother is of Vietnamese descent. His ancestors are from Shantou, Guangdong, and the group of people who went to Southeast Asia.
It is still difficult for the NBA to accept a person of Asian descent to be in charge of a huge professional sports league.
However, since Mark Tatum can achieve the position of vice president, he must have strong enough abilities and support behind him, otherwise the work will not be carried out at all.
Adam Silva tapped his fingers on the table to signal the meeting to begin.
"I plan to hold a press conference tonight to express the attitude of the league office and deal with this matter. What do you think?"
Adam Silva glanced at his colleagues.
Bozia is definitely on the referee's side. He has been in charge of referee work for many years and has a deep connection with the referee group.
Stu Jackson specializes in basketball matters and is also closely related to the officiating community and is also on the same side with them.
Sure enough, Bozia said: "The pressure from the referees is very high, and their patience with Smart has reached its limit. Moreover, in this labor negotiation, they are not very satisfied with the contract extension given to the referees. This The Smart incident was a trigger. He didn’t want to be suspended, and he also said that he would create a new team of referees to enforce the law... Wasn’t the lesson learned in 1995 profound enough? Not just anyone can be the referee.”
Bozia emphasized the importance of referees, and there have been conflicts between the league and referees in NBA history.
The last two were in 1995 and in 2009.
On those two occasions, the league and the Referee Association had conflicts over salary issues, and the Referee Association went on strike, which affected NBA games.
Of course, in order to prevent the referee team from being enlarged and the strike preventing the game from continuing, the league has specially set up a reserve referee team to supplement personnel when necessary to maintain the normal operation of the game.
Therefore, during the two referee crises in 1995 and 2009, the league used backup referees to officiate games.
But the effect is not satisfactory, because NBA game law enforcement relies on more than just professionalism. Accuracy of judgment is not enough. It is also necessary to grasp the balance and communicate well with players and coaches on both sides to make the game as consistent as possible with players and coaches. The coach and fans were satisfied and the rhythm continued smoothly.
As for whether the penalty is accurate, it is actually secondary.
Those backup referees may be professional enough, but their field control experience is far behind those of the veteran referees.
In November 1995, after the NBA activated reserve referees, the league fined referees a total of more than 200,000 US dollars due to misjudgments, and readjusted the penalties in 26 games. The league was in a state of chaos for a while.
At that time, O'Neal was fouled by an opponent during the game and had to undergo surgery on his thumb. Chris Webber got into a fight with an opponent, causing a shoulder injury and missing a month...
If it is an experienced referee, he will use the whistle to protect these star players and protect them from the opponent's vicious fouls as much as possible. After all, they are the focus of the game. If they are injured and cannot play the game, who will buy tickets to watch the NBA?
But the reserve referees don't understand this. They just mechanically follow the rules and the result is that the situation easily gets out of control.
Of course Adam Silva knew this, but he did not give a direct response and turned to Stu Jackson.
Jackson said: "I agree with Bozia. It has only been two years since the last strike, and the negotiations with the players have just been completed. This time it is a shortened season. There are too many unfavorable facts." This guy is too willful. The fine imposed on him this time is heavy enough, but it is not enough. He must be suspended and the referee team must be appeased, otherwise the league's ratings and attendance will be in jeopardy."
"Also, Smart also said this time that he will build a new referee team. This is clearly to stimulate the people of the Referee Association. We have tried to form a new referee team before, but you know, officiating in the NBA requires a lot Special experience and coordination skills are not just a matter of a little training. You need to accumulate a lot of experience and establish relationships with many people in order to control the game. Smart is adding fuel to the fire, and we must suppress his arrogance. "
Stu Jackson is in charge of basketball affairs and also has a lot of power in the league.
However, several major NBA transactions in the new season are driven by Adam Silva.
Especially for the big trade between the Hornets, Lakers, and Clippers, Stu Jackson didn't receive the news until the deal was finalized, and it became a rubber stamp in the end.
This made Jackson quite unhappy.
In the past, it was okay for Stern to put pressure on him. With Adam Silva, we were at the same level in the past, but you are also putting pressure on me?
So this time, Stu Jackson chose to stand with Bozia and used the Referees Association to put pressure on Adam Silva, forcing Silva to severely punish Min Congda.
Based on their understanding of Min Congda, once he is completely banned, it will be strange for this monkey to not fall out with the genius.
At that time, as the president, Silva will be very anxious and will inevitably be criticized.
Of course, Bozia, Jackson and others do not covet the position of president. This seat is not so easy to take.
They just hope that as vice presidents, they can gain greater say in their respective fields.
After all, Stern has suppressed everyone for so many years, and when a "weak leader" comes up, everyone below him wants to loosen his grip.
Adam Silva still nodded without saying anything, and then he turned his attention to Mark Tatum.
Tatum was still smiling and said: "Smart is indeed a problem. Even Mr. Stern sometimes can't deal with him. If this trouble can be solved, I think it will be a kind of Mr. Silva's ability." Reflect. The league office still needs to be tough enough, right, Mr. Buchanan?”
Tatum said a few words briefly before turning the conversation over to lawyer Buchanan.
Buchanan is the legal director of the entire NBA. Previously, Buchanan took part in various legal issues such as labor negotiations. He also holds the title of vice president of the league.
But before Adam Silva took office, he was not qualified to participate in such small cabinet meetings. He was not qualified enough.
Now that David Stern has retired, Buchanan has entered the top circle. Everyone suspects that Buchanan may have been an informant installed by Stern.
Because Buchanan's acting style is very similar to that of Stern, who also worked as a legal consultant at the time. He is tough and a well-known hawk at the league headquarters.
When the Referees Association went on strike in 2009, Buchanan participated in the negotiations with Stern as an assistant. He cursed the representatives of the Referees Union as a bunch of lunatics. He sometimes proposed such conditions, and sometimes said that the league was not sincere. He also criticized the Referees Association for its lack of sincerity. The media made a lot of nonsense to engage in public opinion attacks.
In short, Buchanan has never been interested in the referees association.
If Buchanan also supports punishing Min Chongda during this meeting, then Adam Silva will be at a loss and will have to increase the punishment of Min Congda.
As a result, Buchanan immediately spoke out against increasing the punishment: "Our punishment has been set, and the Clippers have also accepted it. If we revise it because the Referees Association is not satisfied, what does that mean for our league? We are not You will be threatened by the referees casually! The worst is to use a backup referee again! I think Smart is right, maybe we really should form a new referee team to prevent the current group of old referees from threatening to strike at every turn! "
Buchanan objected to increasing the penalty, and then Europas, who was in charge of international market development, also agreed with Buchanan, saying: "The league should not be threatened, and the fine of US$1.5 million has set a record for a sky-high fine. For Smart, The punishment is severe enough, and it is simply unrealistic to ban him from attending games for life. Although he is not the owner of the Clippers, he is deeply trusted by Sterling and is a member of the board of directors. Is it possible that we can still ban our own boss?"
Bozia immediately retorted: "What kind of boss? He is just a professional manager, just a representative of the boss! Moreover, even if he is a shareholder or owner of the league, we still have the right to ban him from attending the game. This is absolutely in line with Specified."
What Robles said makes sense, but Bozia is right too. It doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want when you become the boss.
Once you violate certain rules, the alliance can kill you, whether you are a big boss or a minority shareholder.
There is some truth in what both sides say. When there is a dispute, the most important right of opinion is of course in the hands of Silva.
Silva was fortunate that Stern stuffed Buchanan into the "small cabinet". Otherwise, in tonight's meeting, the group that punished Min Congda would definitely be at the top, and Yo Robles would not be able to compete with the other three.
Anyway, the International Market Development Department doesn't have to worry about the refereeing issue, so he will definitely be in good stead.
Now that Robles and Buchanan are opposed, Adam Silva will not be alone. He will obviously not punish Min Congda, but will fight to the end with the Referees Association.
He also holds a trump card in his hand.
Adam Silva said: "As for the penalty imposed on Smart, I think the fine we gave before was already heavy enough. If we continue to increase the penalty, we will still be threatened by the Referees Association, which will be a great blow to the authority of the league." The damage will never be allowed to happen. Moreover, during this year’s labor negotiations, we have given the Referees Association a new five-year contract. They have no reason to go on strike again. Otherwise, how can this broken season continue?”
"But..." Bozia wanted to interrupt, but was stopped by Silva.
"Also, Robles is right. After all, Smart is the representative of the board of directors. His punishment should not be too severe. Unless approved by the shareholder board of directors, should we report it to the board of directors for negotiation?"
Silva said that he would report it to the board of directors, but Bozia and Jackson stopped talking. They knew that if they reported it to the board of directors, the board of directors would probably not agree to increase the punishment.
Because Smart is ultimately a board member, and he has close relationships with many of his bosses.
The Lakers all expressed support for Min Congda, because Min Congda helped the Lakers a lot in the Paul trade.
There is also a big mouth like Cuban. If he is dragged into the battlefield again, it will be a mess again, which will not be good for everyone.
At this time, Tatum suddenly spoke and said, "I wonder what Mr. Stern thinks of this matter? What opinions does he have?"
Tatum moved out the big Buddha of Stern and made a final struggle. After all, Stern is the person who can most destroy Silva's prestige.
But Silva seemed to have expected this, and Tatum's question played into his mind.
He took out his mobile phone from his pocket, opened the text message, showed it to everyone, and said, "I have already asked Mr. Stern for instructions on this matter. He said that it is up to the current NBA president to decide."
Everyone stood up and glanced at the text message, and it was indeed true.
Now, those who support the referee strike know that there is no chance.
The smile on Tatum's face gradually disappeared, but he immediately smiled again and said: "Then we should hold a press conference as soon as possible to convey the alliance's intentions."
Silva said: "No, don't worry, let's wait until tomorrow morning. Everyone should have a good rest tonight. You need to rest after a busy day."
Just now, he clearly said that he would hold a press conference tonight, so he wanted everyone to give their opinions.
Now it has changed to not being in a hurry and waiting until tomorrow morning, which makes Tatum quite embarrassed.
Seeing Tatum unable to laugh anymore, Silva burst out laughing in his heart. This position of president is mine after all.
Of course, Silva's struggle is not just to consolidate his authority as president.
He must keep the Referees Association firmly in his hands.
In this way, his future mission of cooperating between the NBA and gambling can begin slowly.
Some people died, but not completely...
