Bishop of the Devil

After arriving at the NBA headquarters, Richard saw the figure of Wu Sheng Jackson. He was also invited to this meeting. After all, the players union still has considerable weight and voice in the NBA league.

This incident has a lot to do with the players, so it's not surprising that Wu Sheng appears here.

"Coach, you're here." After Wu Sheng saw Richard, he stepped forward and greeted him respectfully.

In Wu Sheng's heart, he owes his current status to Richard. If Richard hadn't been so smart, he wouldn't be hanging around now, and he might have died miserably on the street. .

"Well, man, what is the attitude of your players union this time?" Richard asked with a smile.

"That will definitely drive Sterling out of the league. We will not allow such a boss in the league." Wu Sheng said decisively.

Richard nodded, "Okay, let's work together this time to drive that old guy out of the alliance."

…

At two o'clock in the afternoon, this meeting officially started, and the most powerful group of people in the alliance gathered together.

Richard and Stern haven't seen each other for about half a year. In this short period of half a year, Richard feels that Stern has aged a lot...

"The purpose of today's meeting should be clear to everyone."

"Although we all know that Sterling must leave the league, the process still needs to be followed."

"Just like Stepien before..." Stern said slowly on the stage.

It is not uncommon for the NBA to depose an owner. At least the Cavaliers owner Shi Taiping was deposed before...

Now Sterling will become the second boss to be deposed after Stieping.

"Nothing to say, just vote. Just follow the voting method that Richard proposed in our last meeting. It's simple and fast!" Thunder boss McClendon said directly.

Stern did not object this time. He was not in the mood to argue with anyone at the moment. Besides, he knew very well that he could not beat anyone...

"Okay, unanimous vote to force Donald Sterling to sell the Clippers."

In just a few minutes, the results of the vote came out, and the venue unanimously voted to kick Sterling from the NBA.

Once the results of this vote came out, even if Sterling did not want to sell the team, the other 29 teams in the league would not play with him.

Of course, if Sterling really insists on leaving, that's not impossible...

After all, the Clippers belong to his property. If he doesn't want to sell it, he still has the right not to sell it.

But if he really doesn't sell, the league has countless ways to make him miserable, such as not arranging a schedule for the Clippers, not paying season dividends, and not distributing broadcast revenue. If Sterling continues to persist, he will definitely lose all his money. No return.

"Okay, then let's quickly determine the candidate to take over the Clippers." Stern didn't want to waste too much time on this matter.

"Currently we have three candidates, three candidate teams to be precise."

"The first one is Magic Johnson's team. They have submitted to us a plan to acquire the Clippers."

"The second one is Diddy, and they also submitted plans."

"The third one is Mr. Ballmer. Although he did not submit a plan, he called me. It can be seen that he has a strong interest in acquiring the Clippers."

Judging from Stern's tone, he is obviously very inclined to sell the Clippers to Ballmer.

Some bosses on the court also nodded. If the Clippers are really acquired by Ballmer, it is not impossible.

The wealthy Ballmer may be able to bring a new atmosphere to the Clippers. If the Clippers can make money, then they can also pay out more dividends.

Seeing that many bosses did not express objections, Stern was ready to announce that he would hold interviews with Ballmer in the next two days to determine the price.

But before he could open his mouth, Richard stood up, obviously having something to say.

"I think the sale of the Clippers should not be rushed. The season is already nearly halfway through, so it is better to wait until the end of the season."

"Of course, I don't mean to keep Sterling in the league. My idea is to let the league take over the Clippers temporarily and wait until the end of the season to discuss everything."

Richard put forward his own suggestion. He suggested that the league temporarily take care of the Clippers and wait until the end of this season to discuss who will take over the Clippers.

Sterling was a little confused, Richard's suggestion was a bit...

Some of them take too much care of their league management committee. If the league takes over the custody, then all the Clippers' income will belong to the league.

There are many teams in the league that are losing money, but this certainly does not include the Clippers in Los Angeles. Although their profitability is far inferior to that of the Lakers in the same city, they can easily make millions of dollars a season.

Is it equivalent to saying that Richard is now proposing to give away millions of dollars to the Alliance Management Committee for free? !

Is he so kind? It would be strange if there is no conspiracy in this!

Stern had this idea in an instant. He was probably tricked by Richard...

Stern frowned and said nothing, thinking about what kind of conspiracy there was.

After much thought, he finally figured it out.

Richard has a plan to get involved with the Los Angeles Clippers!

If Richard doesn't have this plan, then it has nothing to do with him when the Clippers will be sold. There is no need for him to stand up and say this, and then give such a huge benefit to the management committee for free.

The delaying strategy Richard is using now is probably to use the next half of the season to sell the Pirates' equity to raise funds.

After all, it is impossible for one owner to own two teams, even if you think about it...

Selling the team and raising funds will take time, and Stern knows that what Richard is doing now is buying time for himself.

For a moment, Stern hesitated. Should he agree to Richard?

Seeing Stern frowning and saying nothing, Richard coughed twice in embarrassment. He felt that Stern must have realized his purpose.

Not only Stern, but everyone here, except for the somewhat slow Martial Saint, probably guessed Richard's plan.

"Ahem, why don't you vote on this matter?" Richard said with a chuckle.

Stern nodded, just vote. Anyway, no matter what the final result of this matter is, he can accept it.

If Richard buys time, their management committee will get a year's worth of the Clippers' profits for free.

And if the vote fails, Stern doesn't care. It would be a good thing to see Richard's plan go to waste before he retires.

But Stern also knows very well that the possibility of failing to pass the vote is extremely slim!

…

Except for Jordan, all the bosses in the Eastern Conference are all smiling!

Richard, the big devil, is going to buy the Clippers? ! Thank heaven, thank God, they in the east finally got rid of this big devil...

It has been almost ten years since Richard traveled east from the Trail Blazers. These bosses in the East dream about Richard getting out of the East day and night.

Because of Richard, the Eastern Conference has become quite strong in recent years and has even surpassed the Western Conference. This has also caused some teams that originally had a chance to enter the playoffs to lose their chance.

Now Richard has a plan to acquire the Clippers, and they are totally in favor of it...

The Cavaliers boss, the Pistons boss, the Green Kai boss, the Magic boss, these bosses are already smiling from the corners of their mouths to the back of their heads...

After Richard leaves, the Pirates may continue to be strong for a while, but sooner or later they will decline, and then teams like them will have a chance.

And if Richard goes to coach the poor Clippers, it will probably take many years for the Clippers to rise. This means that the next few years will be their best chance to win the championship.

The bosses in the east were all overjoyed and wished they could hold a farewell party for Richard now...

The bosses of the Western Conference began to frown. When Richard was in the Western Conference, he was a nightmare for the Western Conference teams. Now that Richard is coming back, it's surprising that they are happy.

The owners of several teams were already preparing to act stupid, pretending they didn't know Richard had a plan to acquire the Clippers, and then voted against it in the voting...

"Let the voting begin." Stern presided over the rest of the vote.

What made Richard dumbfounded was that all the bosses in the east voted in favor...

"How much do these bosses want me to leave the east..." Richard thought speechlessly.

In the west, Richard still has many allies. Paul Allen, Golden Dragon, McClendon and others must all support Richard's suggestion.

The results can be known without statistics. Richard's suggestion was passed.

For the remainder of this season, the Clippers will be temporarily managed by the league. After the season is over, the league will select the Clippers' successor based on the situation.

…

The owners of several teams in the Western Conference sighed. Although Richard may not really be able to acquire the Clippers, after all, there are strong competitors like Ballmer, but even if there is only a small hope, it is enough to give them a headache. of.

Thinking about the fear of being dominated by Richard ten years ago, these western bosses are extremely painful...

The current plan is to take advantage of Richard's inability to compete for the championship in recent years, and then form a super lineup as much as possible, and then hit the championship.

Let’s win a championship first. After Richard completes building the Clippers, it won’t be that easy to win the championship.

…

Richard breathed a sigh of relief. His plan was considered to be successful by another two points. Now it was 70% successful. The last three achievements were a competition for financial resources.

Next, I will wholeheartedly lead the Pirates to win the championship first, let the Pirates win four consecutive championships, and let Iverson and other veterans have a successful career, so that I will have no regrets when I leave the Pirates.

In fact, Richard's plan this time was definitely a last-ditch effort.

If Ballmer goes crazy and spends money like crazy, although this possibility is quite small, it is not completely impossible to happen.

And Richard sold his shares in the Pirates, which means that he will become a rootless person and lose his identity as an NBA owner.

Richard had a hunch that if this situation really happened, Paul Allen would probably kidnap him to Portland and let Richard continue to work for him and help the Blazers build a second dynasty.

Stern looked at Richard and smiled bitterly. He had been "fighting" with Richard for more than ten years, but in the end he was unable to destroy any of Richard's plans. This time, Richard succeeded again.

He can be regarded as looking away. Having Richard in the league is actually not a bad thing. At least the NBA has gained countless topics.

The NBA's ratings have also skyrocketed in recent years, and it has become the second largest league among the four major leagues in North America. He has achieved his original goal, and it is almost time to retire.

But now is not a good time. Stern wants to deal with Sterling completely before talking about it.

…

"Bang!" After Sterling answered Stern's call, he smashed the cup angrily.

"Damn it!"

"What do these sons of bitches mean now? Can't I even sell the team?" Sterling was completely anxious.

At the moment, the team is actually still his team in name, but only in name. The league will fully manage the Clippers, and neither operating rights nor profits have anything to do with Sterling.

After the league finds a suitable buyer, Sterling will sell the team to the league-designated successor.

Sterling was so angry that he lost his mind and wanted to announce now that if he didn't sell it, the Clippers would be ruined in his own hands.

But in the end, reason prevailed over impulse. There was no point in keeping the Clippers. If he refused to sell them, the league could open a new team in Los Angeles and name it something like the Los Angeles Clippers. …

This kind of thing is simply too easy for the alliance. At worst, it will be regarded as an expansion. Anyway, the previous expansion of the Pirates was extremely successful.

If you don't arrange a schedule for the Clippers, then the Clippers will have to deal with themselves?

…

"Damn Richard!" Sterling was so angry that he couldn't speak.

He was convinced that he had been tricked by Richard this time. Although he didn't know how Richard hooked up with Stiavino, he was convinced that it must be Richard's fault.

However, even though he was convinced that Richard was responsible, he could not fight back against Richard and could only suffer the loss of being dumb.

…

The next day, league officials announced the decision of the meeting.

Because the schedule is ongoing, the league will wait until the end of this season to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. Before that, the league will fully take over the management of the Clippers...

As soon as this result came out, it was an explanation to people in the NBA circle. The players union and coaches union expressed their support for the decision made by the league management committee.

Now that I have expressed support, the original strike plan will naturally be cancelled...