The fastest reaction was from the White House, which held an emergency press conference to denounce Sterling's remarks and that the federal government would investigate the incident.
The NBA also immediately announced that it would suspend Sterling indefinitely and immediately launched an emergency plan to deprive Sterling of the qualification to own an NBA team. The Clippers entered the auction process.
All sectors of society responded quickly, condemning and criticizing.
Sterling offended not just black people, but everyone, including people of his own race.
Cool directly.
For a moment, it seemed as if the entire country was the country most opposed to discrimination.
But the influence of Sterling's remarks is not only on Eagle. The eyes of the whole world are focused on Eagle. While condemning, they are also watching the good show of Eagle and the NBA.
The NBA wanted to quickly draw a clear line with Sterling, but things didn't go so smoothly.
Originally, in early August, because Li Ao officially signed a contract with the Clippers and had a high probability of performing amazingly in the summer league, flower growers and other Asian countries and regions increased their investment in the Clippers. The Clippers' market value soared from 180 million to 300 million, and the Clippers suddenly became the team with the most money-making potential.
At that time, passers-by at Takajia's house were all surprised. Wasn't a certain large Eastern country still under the reign of terror of slash-and-burn farming? Why do you feel like you are rich?
But after this incident broke out, all the sponsors withdrew their funds one after another. They just signed the agreement and before paying a penny, they directly announced that they would not pay any money and would sue Sterling.
As a result, the Clippers not only lost the more than 20 sponsors they had just signed, but even the original 9 sponsors ran away.
The Clippers billboards at Staples Center were also taken down overnight.
Not only that, Clippers players led by Li Ao have called the NBA, demanding that their contracts with the Clippers be terminated and they become free agents.
Fortunately, Stern would not agree to this, which would be equivalent to disbanding the Clippers.
The most critical thing is the NCAA's cunning operation. They gave Li Ao the green light to return to the NCAA arena and pretended that participating in the draft had never happened. They were also considering franchising Li Ao to accept endorsements, and the sponsors also changed. Goal, began to contact the NCAA.
This makes Stern want to ascend to heaven where he is. At the critical moment, it is his ally who stabs him in the back!
As a result, the Clippers' market value hit rock bottom.
In this year when all walks of life are frugal due to the boom in Internet stocks, the auction for selling 87% of Sterling's shares with a starting price of US$200 million failed!
The second auction, with a starting price of $150 million, failed again.
Someone who participated in the auction complained to the media, spending $150 million to buy the Clippers in this situation, why not buy the Grizzlies?
The owner of the Grizzlies is also hesitating between selling the team to cut losses and moving.
And the current NBA franchise fee is less than 150 million US dollars.
Sterling is still the owner of the Clippers, and public opinion cannot be calmed down.
For a time, it seemed that the only solution before David Stern was to disband the Clippers?
Today's NBA teams are not worth more than a billion dollars like they were a dozen years ago. Anyway, there is already an NBA team in Los Angeles. The worst case scenario is to disband it first and then recruit another team to join.
Just when Stern was about to grit his teeth and cut off his tail to survive, Sterling's long-estranged wife appeared on the scene and forced Sterling to take Sterling to a psychiatric hospital for an examination. An authoritative Israeli-American psychiatrist gave an examination report. Sterling was diagnosed with delusional disorder and lost his capacity for civil conduct.
According to the laws of the Eagle Family, Sterling's wife Shelly received the right to handle the joint property alone.
Seeing that NBA officials have revealed that they want to disqualify the Clippers, Shelly Sterling went to find a buyer on her own and disqualified the team. This team is really not worth a penny, and it is also It has to pay for the use of the arena that has already signed a lease, pay the wages of players that other teams are unwilling to take over, etc., and it becomes a negative equity.
NBA officials do not want to auction the Clippers at a price below $150 million because they are worried about affecting the overall value of the NBA team. The market value of the Grizzlies is $150 million, and a buyer has made an offer, but the Grizzlies owner Still deciding whether to sell or move.
David Stern's idea is that he would rather have one less team in the NBA than sell it at a low price.
But Shelley Sterling doesn't care about this. Even if it's not worth 300 million US dollars, more than 100 million US dollars is still a huge sum of money. David Stern wants to cut off her tail to survive, but it's not the NBA tail that's cut off, but her arm. .
When Shelly Sterling lowered her selling price, soon the Los Angeles Sports Investment Group took the lead and entered the game...
…
When the time came to September 1st, the school started at the University of Southern California. The old man came to the school and found Li Ao who was studying.
"McHale, that means you have become my boss?"
"No, it is the sports management company under the Los Angeles Sports Investment Group that is responsible for managing the Clippers. Our group currently holds a minority share of the Clippers. Shelly Sterling only wants cash. Our group initially wanted to use properties, She disagreed with the real estate management rights and equity swap. We couldn't come up with 130 million in cash at once, and the NBA also had salary reserves. It took us time to raise money, and we were worried that others would buy it first, so we had to find someone with People with cash bought the team together.
The new big owner of the Clippers is Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. He signed an investment plan totaling 200 million with our group, entrusted us to establish an independent subsidiary, and then entrusted this company to our group. manage.
For the 130 million that bought the Clippers, our group contributed 40 million, your teacher contributed 10 million, and the remaining 80 million was paid by Ballmer with other money, that is, he privately held the Clippers 53 % of the shares, our group only holds 36% of the shares, and the remaining shares are in the hands of others. Ballmer owns the management rights of the Clippers, and then entrusts the management rights to the sports management company, and our group manages the sports management company on its behalf. Manage the team on your behalf.
He currently just wants to own an NBA team and got it while the price was cheap, but he doesn't have time to manage it. If he wants, he can change agents at any time. "
"What kind of nesting doll operation is this? Wait, let me figure it out."
Li Ao sorted out his thoughts and said: "Last Christmas I seemed to have seen in the news that Bill Gates congratulated Ballmer on becoming the CEO of Microsoft. He wanted the team and bought it at a low price. He had no time to care about it. Now Your group is responsible for management, that’s what it is, right? Doesn’t that mean you have become my boss?”
"The actual situation is this. How about Leo, have you decided whether to play in college for two more years or stay on the team? I have discussed it with Caesar, my youngest son, who is temporarily in charge of managing the team. He I respect your decision, you want to play in college for two more years, and the team can wait for you to join when the time comes."
Li Ao is confused now.
It had been half a month since this happened, and it happened so suddenly that he was completely unprepared.
When he saw that video, he was immediately angry. He immediately asked Schwartz to find the media to announce that he was quitting the Clippers, and he and his teammates jointly submitted an application to the NBA to terminate his contract.
The NCAA also extended an olive branch at this time, allowing him to return to college to compete.
As Yingjiang intervened in this matter from all sides, he calmed down after beating up Sterling. When he watched the video again... he found that Sterling tasted really strong!
He didn't look closely at it at the time, but looking at it now, he almost thought it was two men doing something indescribable.
The female secretary-general named Tia is more manly than Sterling. I didn’t take a second look and thought that the big dick the female secretary took out would be bigger than Sterling.
Sterling was cool, but he was still stingy.
After he got tired of playing with the female secretary, he wanted to drive her away, but the female secretary took out the video and demanded $5 million.
Unexpectedly, Sterling did not think of any other way, but bargained with the female secretary, and actually reduced the price to $500,000.
The most outrageous operation came. After Sterling paid $200,000 in advance to get the video, he turned his back on the person and refused to pay the balance. He also hired a private detective to install a pinhole camera in the female secretary’s rental house to monitor her. female secretary.
But I didn't expect that they had already prepared it. What they gave Sterling was just a backup of the video. After not receiving the final payment, they sold the video to ABC TV station for US$500,000...
Looking back now, Li Ao felt that Yingjiang's TV station was really wild. From the foreplay in which Sterling started talking nonsense to the 5-minute scene of putting on pants, they were all shown in the live news broadcast without coding.
As expected of Yingjiang, she is quite perverted.
The choice before Li Ao now is quite simple. Whether he chooses to continue playing in the NCAA or the NBA, it will be very beneficial to him.
Playing in the NCAA, he will have an easier environment to polish his basic skills and develop his skills, and it seems likely that the NCAA will allow him to play games with endorsement fees. This is the first time the NCAA has done such an operation. He wants to serve Sterling. Fragrant, the kind that costs three sticks for one dollar.
However, after playing with Odom and O'Neal, he was more eager to compete at a higher level.
Constantly challenging himself to become stronger in the world of basketball is the life he longs for.
The old man gave Li Ao time to think about it.
In the afternoon, Li Ao finally made a decision and shook the old man over.
"How about it, Leo, have you made your choice? It doesn't matter. No matter what choice you make, the position of the team's star will be reserved for you. Even if God comes, it will be useless. I said so!"
"Hiate, you don't believe in God! If you talk about God, can you be more sincere?"
"This is not business. Have you ever seen a businessman who talks so hard?"
"That's right...McHale, I've decided to play in the NBA!"
"Oh! That's great. We are prepared to lose money for two years. If you join, we will definitely make a profit!"
"But I have a condition."
"What conditions do you want, other than a salary increase?"
"Change the general manager! Now! Immediately! Immediately! Find a general manager with a normal IQ!
I want to strangle him. How many people has he given to other teams for free over the years?
Maurice Taylor, Lamond Murray, Isaac Austin, Rodney Rogers, Brent Barry, Roy Ott... In the past three summers, whoever played well was sent away. Who is giving it away without any reward? These are all my teammates!
I don't ask for a great general manager, but I do need to have a sound mind.
By the way, McHale, your group will not be as stingy as Sterling in managing the team, right? "
After hearing this, the old man said "Fake".
He has heard of all these names. When he left the Clippers, it seemed that they had just achieved a career-high performance, either averaging 15+ per game, averaging a double-double per game, or they had just shown their talent and entered a stage of rapid rise.
Because there are only one or two every year, he doesn't pay much attention to the Clippers and has no idea.
But putting these names together, he was in bad shape.
"Change! I will ask Caesar to fire him immediately. You don't have to worry about the team's investment in this aspect. The big boss is from Microsoft. He takes the lead and we are only small shareholders.
By the way, Leo, I am only responsible for discussing with you whether to continue playing in college or join the team immediately. Changing the general manager is your requirement to return to the team, but I have no right to interfere with your future affairs with the Clippers. At most Help you convey your opinions. "
"McHale, I didn't expect you, a guy with big eyebrows and big eyes, to be such a thief. Are you worried that I won't play well after entering the NBA and will be worthless? If you kick me, I can't blame you?"
"How could you think so? We are friends... But business, that's how business is... Hey, it's mainly because I'm old. Maybe one day you'll have to bow to my black and white photo. , otherwise I will definitely become my own boss."
"You turtle spirit, you can't hang up for the time being."
"thank you for your good wishes."
Li Ao and the old man exchanged words, but they didn't pay much attention to it.
In this regard, he still has a certain understanding of the old man. He is a businessman.
Suddenly, Li Ao thought of something and said "屮艸芔茻".
The old man asked cautiously: "What's wrong? What else are you asking for? Tell me, I may not be able to satisfy you. I'm not the boss."
"Vac! Why didn't you tell me earlier that you wanted to buy the team? I wanted to give Sterling a beating first! If you hit him now, he might be arrested."
Old man: (￣┏＿┓￣)
Yingjiang has an interesting law. A fight between colleagues will result in a lighter punishment than a fight between two passers-by. As long as there is no trouble, even if the other party wants to sue or go to court, it will be a long time later, and the most you can lose is money. .
But now it is no longer an employment relationship, no longer a colleague, and the court's punishment will be more severe.
Looking at the annoyed Li Ao, the old man had a wonderful expression.
He was sure that this guy really regretted losing the opportunity to beat Sterling without being punished.
What a big-minded person!
…
With the change of ownership of the Clippers, the storm has calmed down.
With a new owner and a new atmosphere, the Clippers announced that they will move their training venue back to Memorial Stadium, which is only a 20-minute walk from Staples Center.
This operation made all the Clippers players happy.
Although the city is a bit congested, it doesn't mean you have to drive for an hour to go to training.
After Li Ao learned that the Memorial Stadium was still collecting the Clippers' training venue rental fee, he felt that the old man's family just wanted to make more money.
Although it is cheaper to rent a warehouse in an old industrial area, you still have to pay rent.
But renting Memorial Stadium not only reduces the vacancy rate of large training facilities, but the money is still in the left hand and in the right hand.
But he is also very happy. Going to school, going to competition venues, and going home are all closer.
And it's not his money that was spent. Ballmer has no objection, so he doesn't feel bad.
That's right...
"Leo, call the boss and listen."
"I don't want it, Aunt Vivian, you are not the big boss."
"I also want to be a big boss! I have invested all my money, that's all, but the Clippers are so expensive, I can't even afford it if you sell me... Hurry, call the boss."
"I don't!"
Seeing Li Ao's aggrieved and stubborn expression, Vivian couldn't be happier.
Li Ao didn't expect that he would be ridden on the head by the hospital assistant aunt.
no! He has to work hard! Have to fight! He wants to turn over and ride on the boss's head!
Sterling's previous turmoil did not have much impact on his training. The NCAA was very decisive and offered him an olive branch almost immediately, with the idea of using him to open up the Chinese market.
The way he dealt with his anger during that time was to train, train hard, and ignore external affairs, lest he couldn't help but stab the Sterling knife.
It would be a shame if he really did that. The group of people in Washington are the most angry. Those people are eager to come out and kill Sterling alone.
There is still some time before the training camp, and Li Ao has now entered into a life of attending classes at school, training at Memorial Stadium, and returning to his apartment.
Occasionally, I have to shoot a commercial, and it won’t waste much time. The University of Southern California has an art school, so it’s very convenient to shoot a commercial or something there.
As he made the decision to play in the NBA, sponsors began to resume cooperation with the Clippers.
The two brands endorsed by Li Ao have also restarted their endorsement contracts.
Originally, because he might return to play in the NCAA, the two brands planned to postpone the endorsement until after his college career was over. I don’t know how the NCAA would handle it. Now he can continue shooting commercials.
When the team's training venue moved to Memorial Stadium, Li Ao had more contact with his teammates.
The veterans are returning one after another, and their attitude towards Li Ao is... more fearful than that of the young people.
The older the Jianghu are, the less courageous they are. They are really afraid of stupid young men like Li Ao. The key is that this stupid young man is not only a fierce fighter, but also a genius, and his commercial value is extremely high.
Give up and stay safe.
Li Ao's current training includes a sparring job, where he takes the initiative to be a sparring partner.
Guarding Odom, guarding Kenyon Dulin, guarding Maggette... Occasionally, if I can't think of it, I will take the initiative to ask O'Neal to be a sparring partner.
At first, the teammates were afraid, fearing that they would be beaten after beating Li Ao.
But after trying a few times, they became bolder after discovering that Li Ao would furiously practice his defensive steps even if he was beaten.
They usually dare not speak loudly, but when they are one-on-one with Li Ao, they dare to use force boldly! He began to actively invite Li Ao to be his sparring partner.
Seeing this, the veterans began to make moves. McGinnis, Brian Jenkins, and Telon Naseby, three veterans with ball-holding abilities, joined the ranks of looking for Li Ao as a sparring partner.
Gradually, the teammates felt that it was not difficult to get along with Li Ao, as long as the mental endurance was strong enough. It would be better if there was a mouth that was more damaging than this guy with an extra mouth...
…
…
Last night I was having fun at work and didn't get home until after 1 o'clock. I wrote an update until after 3 o'clock. I couldn't get up in the morning and was crying... The update was late, Xiaofeng's fault.
(End of chapter)
