The Barclays Center, which was put into use in 2012, has 17,732 seats. With VIP boxes and extra seats, a game can accommodate about 18,000 spectators.
Although the number of seats is less than that of some traditional arenas, fewer seats means a more reasonable layout, more spacious space, a more modern design, and more shops and facilities to serve fans.
This stadium that once bankrupted the Nets and fell into financial crisis is now the stadium with the best viewing experience and the most considerate services in the league.
After acquiring Kobe Bryant to form the Big Four this season, the Nets' season tickets have sold out, and daily package tickets and individual tickets have been sold out every game. The team's financial situation has improved, and the Russian boss has made a small fortune - with his Given the size of their assets, the Nets' profit this year can only be considered a small profit.
But being able to make money is already very good, which shows that the Nets have completely escaped from the previous financial quagmire, and it also shows that Kobe's box office appeal is really strong.
If there were only Pierce and Garnett, it would be difficult for the Nets to reach their current heights. In terms of popularity and status, they are not as good as Kobe. In this year's MVP selection, Kobe ranked third.
Each of the VIP boxes at the Barclays Center has its own unique decoration. Because it is a new arena, it looks more luxurious.
At this moment, Min Congda was sitting on the leather sofa in the box with a cigar in his mouth, waiting for the game to start.
The series between the Clippers and the Warriors ended the day before yesterday. The Clippers easily defeated their opponents and reached the finals without any bloodshed.
Min Congda was free and came to Brooklyn to watch Game 6 to see if the Nets could become the Clippers' opponent in the finals.
Sitting next to Min Congda was a little old man with silver hair. He sat with his hands crossed and looked at the center of the field quietly, looking thoughtful.
This little old man is David Stern. Compared with the previous two years, he has lost some weight. His face is not as energetic and energetic as when he was in office. On the contrary, he looks a little dry and his eyes are dull.
Sure enough, once people step back from the highest position of power, they will age easily. On the other hand, the cerebral hemorrhage during the lockout in 2011 had a great impact on Stern, making him much weaker than before.
In the past two seasons, David Stern is still the nominal league president, and Adam Silva is the acting president. After this season ends and enters the 2014-2015 season, Stern will completely retire, and Silva will The word "agent" in front of the title of president will also be removed.
Before officially resigning, Stern continued to shine in the league and used his influence to do things for the NBA.
In the new broadcast contract negotiations that ended some time ago, Stern personally took the lead in the negotiations and won a super-large contract of US$27 billion for the NBA, which will be implemented starting in 2016.
This is great news for the NBA. It means that the NBA's revenue will increase a lot, the salary cap will also rise, and the NBA will enter the golden era of billion-dollar contracts.
All of this is inseparable from Stern's 30 years of hard work and accumulation, which has built the league into the most well-known commercial sports brand.
He has a transcendent emotion for the career of the NBA. It is his life-long effort and he has devoted all his energy to it.
It was Stern who took the initiative to invite Min Chongda to watch the game at the Barclays Center tonight.
If the Clippers win three consecutive championships this year, it will be the third dynasty of the Stern era.
30 years, 3 dynasties, from a business perspective, this is extremely legendary and a great addition to the NBA brand.
But the far-sighted Stern smelled a hint of danger in the Clippers' success.
Because the Clippers' success is un-American success, if the story of the Clippers is to be told in the future, people will be surprised to find that it is not a classic "American superhero" legend. The most typical one is Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.
Even though basketball is not the number one sport in the world, Jordan's career legend has still created a statue of American sportsmanship. His influence and communication power are unprecedented and unprecedented.
Stern does not expect a second such statue to appear again. James once had this possibility, but after this game, LeBron James is likely to completely quit chasing Jordan.
Kobe + O'Neal, especially Kobe, are infinitely closer to Jordan in influence in the new era.
This is why in 2002, the league had to rely on the Lakers no matter what. Without one champion American hero, it would not be perfect.
But what about the Clippers? What kind of team is this?
In theory, Stephen Curry should be the god of this team and the idol of the new era.
Whether it is his status as the No. 1 pick, the time he joined the team, his statistics, this year's MVP trophy, and his groundbreaking style of play, they all meet the elements of becoming a god.
But although Curry has countless fans, especially among young fans, he is obviously not a Jordan-style superhero. There is too little "divineness" in him.
Anyone who can be "deified" must have many unattainable qualities that ordinary people do not have, and these qualities must be very, very obvious, so that people can see them at a glance.
Jordan's figure, appearance, superior physical fitness, and his subversive playing style are all used to tout his divinity.
But Curry just took off his godly coat. He looks mediocre in physical fitness, has a baby face, struggles to dunk, and likes to throw three-pointers. It feels like a person with mediocre physical fitness is trying to compete in fierce competition. An opportunistic way of surviving in the NBA - although this impression is incorrect, it is indeed widespread, and this prejudice cannot be eliminated even now.
This has led to Curry having a large number of young fans, but it is difficult for the league to create a god for him. He is not a superhero, but a civilian hero, a story of a thin little man's counterattack. Such a story can be an important part of NBA legends. part of it, but hardly the main theme.
As perhaps the best reality show director and writer in sports history, Stern recognized the problem of the new protagonist of the story, but the bigger problem was still behind, and that was the Los Angeles Clippers team.
The current Clippers remind Stern of the green giants that once monopolized the championship, the Boston Celtics.
A wisp of green smoke floated in front of Stern's nose. Stern coughed a few times, then turned to Min Congda and said, "Stop smoking the cigar. I've been coughing recently."
Min Congda had just become obsessed with cigars during this period. He felt that this thing was more enjoyable than smoking, and it was very stylish.
He put out the burning end of the cigar in the ashtray, took out the cigar scissors, cut off the end, and put it away in the cigar box.
"When did you start smoking this damn thing?" asked Stern, who didn't exactly hate cigars and cigarettes, but he certainly didn't like them.
As a cardiovascular and cerebrovascular patient, he would never touch these things.
"When I started to get used to winning championships, Mr. President," Min Congda replied.
Since he stopped obsessing about bankrupting the Clippers, his mental state has improved a lot, and he is more energetic than before he suffered from mental illness.
When Stern heard Min Congda's words, he felt uncomfortable in his heart. It was not because Min Congda's words offended him, but because his words reminded Stern of a person - Reed Auerbach.
The man who held more than a dozen rings in his hands and almost turned the NBA into a backyard game for the Celtics.
It can be said that after Stern came to power in 1984, a major focus of his work was to combat the erosion and monopoly of the league by the Celtics headed by Auerbach. In the end, Stern succeeded and turned the Celtics into It has become an ordinary NBA team, not a behemoth that monopolizes the league's resources.
To this end, Stern also raised another giant, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Of course, this is only a superficial battle between Stern and Auerbach, a game over the alliance's power, connections, resources, and rules, but in essence it is a battle of ideas, and more broadly, a battle of ideologies.
If we had to cut NBA history into two parts, 1984 would definitely be the year that many people made the cut.
Before Stern came to power, the NBA was a regional basketball league with strong regional rivalry and traditional American sports spirit (this spirit originated from Naismith, American college basketball and the NBL). Auerbach was this The leader in the system of rules is the most successful one.
When Stern came to power, he had a bigger picture and a longer-term vision. He looked beyond the North American continent and around the world. He had an international vision and was committed to building the NBA into a unified organization with clear and complete rules. , a commercial brand that can be promoted to the United States and even the world.
The former is loose and emphasizes differentiation and regionalization, while the latter is close and emphasizes balance and community of interests.
In the end, Stern, who had a bigger picture, won the victory, completely changing the appearance of the NBA and creating a new set of game rules. Basketball is still the same basketball, but the NBA is not the NBA anymore. The way the red head plays, it doesn't matter at all. Used, the old and the new alternated, and he was completely defeated.
However, Stern vaguely saw the shadow of a new bishop in Min Congda.
In Stern's view, Min Congda is completely different from successful coaches and managers such as Popovich, Jackson, and Riley. There is an essential difference.
Jackson, Popovich, and Riley are all products of success under the "Stern Rules", and their success is the best improvement and endorsement of the rules.
Stern admired the superstar strategy, so Jackson, Riley, and Popovich all relied on superstars to succeed; Stern continued to formulate complex trading rules to limit the dominance of one company, so three consecutive championships for Jackson was the limit, and two consecutive championships for Riley. Pop did not win consecutive championships; Stern opened up the international market, and both Popovich and Jackson benefited greatly from international players.
But Min Congda is different. His path to success has nothing to do with Stern's rules.
His players were all acquired through the draft and ordinary trades, and Curry is not a highly anticipated superstar like Duncan or Magic at all. Instead, he is an extremely undervalued player who may become a parallel import.
The complicated CBA transaction terms have no effect on the Clippers. This team is not trading at all now. The core players are not moving, and the role players are also maintained. It is "a stagnant water."
As for the international market, he focused on developing the Asian market, but he opened the Asian Youth Basketball Fund in the name of the Clippers, using the name of an NBA team and using part of the NBA's resources, but it actually has nothing to do with the NBA.
What do you want to do?
In a previous interview, Min Congda said, "Friendship comes first, competition comes second", which aroused widespread discussion.
In the past four years, he has always opposed the league, criticized the league at every turn, and paid no attention to fines. In the past few years, he has been fined several million, and he has successfully established a persona of "I am at odds with NBA officials."
There are also Clippers documentaries. There are currently four documentaries, two of which have been released in theaters. The fourth one, "Apocalypse," has received a lot of praise.
A sports team releases a documentary every year to promote the team's unique cultural value. What kind of operation is this?
What worries Stern even more is that Adam Silva and other senior executives are secretly holding Min Congda in check. Of course, there is a rift between Silva and Min Congda because of the change of Clippers boss, but overall, Xi Jinping Silva hopes that there will be a Clippers dynasty and that Curry will become the banner of the new era.
But David Stern knows that the flag of this new era is extremely dangerous. What if one day this flag is bigger than the NBA flag?
Stern is over 70 years old this year. Most people at this age have the idea of "I won't care about the flood after I die." But Stern is still thinking deeply.
At this time, the game between the Nets and the Cavaliers has begun.
The Nets' offensive firepower was quite fierce at the beginning. Pierce and Kobe hit consecutive shots from the outside, but the Cavaliers' offense failed. The Nets took a 6:0 lead at the beginning and took the advantage.
"Smart, I heard that during the series, you contacted Kobe and taught him some methods?" Stern asked.
"Who did you listen to? Are you placing spies around the players? Or are you using the power of the FBI again? Why would you?"
"I'm just asking, and you just answer me. News spreads very quickly!"
"Okay, yes, I taught him some methods. Let him provoke the relationship between Irving and James. But this is a very normal method. Soldiers never tire of deceit. Besides, the effect of provoking someone else will not be very good. Kobe will go , absolutely useful.”
Irving regards Kobe as his idol, and of course he hopes to completely defeat Kobe in the game.
However, Owen's brain circuit is indeed very strange. In order to complete his own ideas, it is difficult to guess what he can do.
In order to respond to Kobe and defeat Kobe, it seems that the Cavaliers' winning or losing is not important, so that many of his actions in the game have hurt the team.
However, Min Congda can guess Irving's logic: he hopes to lead the team to victory like a team boss, and he firmly believes that he can be the boss, but he lacks an opportunity.
I have to say that only psychopaths can understand the thinking of a psychopath.
With the Cavaliers' offense in trouble, Irving made consecutive breakthroughs and layups.
Starting from the third game, Irving's direct opponent became Kobe, which further stimulated Irving's fighting spirit.
The Cavaliers continued to chase points, while the Nets' offense was very stable. Kobe's role as point guard was a huge challenge for him, because his glasses and the basket will automatically lock the pairing, and how to unlock it is a problem.
Fortunately, the Nets' head coach is Kidd. Kidd has a deep understanding of how to be a good invisible point guard. He can help Kobe solve this problem.
In the first quarter, the Nets led the Cavaliers by 4 points 26:22.
Irving scored 12 points in the first quarter, more than half of the team's points. James only contributed 2 points.
James didn't play the 2012 semifinals at all, the kind of who-is-who-would-be game.
On the contrary, he acted out of anger in the first quarter and handed over the core position of offense to Irving, as if to say: "I'll give you the ball, let's see how you lead the team."
But sitting on the bench, only James knew that a kind of panic surrounded him.
When he picks up the ball on the court and looks at the basket, a feeling emerges in his heart:
"You can't make the shot."
This feeling lingers, just like Kobe's words.
In fact, he still hasn't figured it out yet. Did Kobe say that at the beginning?
In the VIP box, Stern learned how Min Congda communicated with Kobe and asked Kobe to attack the Cavaliers, James, and Irving.
"Why did you do that?" Stern asked.
"I want to fulfill my summer commitment with Kobe. Isn't this a good thing? How legendary. Doesn't the NBA like stories like this?"
"I like it, but it's best not to use it in this way. Stories that are natural and natural are the most moving. The alliance is responsible for setting the stage, and you are the one who sings the show. We can't control everything."
"That's you. I don't represent the league. I just want Kobe to enter the finals. Beating James is not too challenging for us. The potential of the Cavaliers has come to an end. This is a grave. You should not have done it in the first place. For the Ohio market, let LeBron go to Cleveland."
"I told you, we can't control everything!"
"Come on~ But I also want to thank you for supporting the Clippers."
Stern changed his position, no longer sitting upright, but lying on the back of the sofa.
He turned to look at Min Congda and said, "Smart, have you ever considered becoming NBA president in the future?"
"What?"
"I asked, have you ever considered becoming NBA president in the future?"
"Being NBA commissioner? Can I fine myself?"
"..."
(End of chapter)
