Legendary Basketball Tycoon

The Chinese Spring Festival in 1993 has already passed, and it is reasonable to say that everyone should be happy and laughing.

But there are always people who have to break this bad atmosphere.

After receiving a call from New York, Bruce suddenly felt uncomfortable. The new year's atmosphere can also make people impulsive. No, Bruce has already brought the New Year goods for the NBA league and the management of the teams to the league headquarters. .

Why are you so angry? It's very simple. Let's start with Canada.

It is no secret that Canada wants to have an NBA team. As early as the early 1980s, local entrepreneur Nelson Scarbania tried to expand the NBA's territory northward, but ultimately failed.

And now another local sports giant Arthur Griffith in Vancouver, Canada, revealed that he is trying to own an NBA team there.

Wealthy businessmen from Toronto are ready to form a team to enter the NBA.

After understanding the content of the controversy between the newly formed expansion committee of the alliance and Toronto about the qualifications to enter the alliance, Griffith believes that Vancouver has sufficient qualifications and can persuade the alliance to expand in a two-city market.

This is the birth of the previous Vancouver Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors.

Stu Jackson was the first general manager of the rich Canadian boss, but Bruce was the first to board.

Stern considered the expansion of the army in Canada this time, so he called the owners of each team and asked him to come to the league to discuss in person.

Bruce was notified by Stu Jackson to come to the league meeting, but he came to New York this time to prevent Canada from forming a team.

When I got off the plane, Stu Jackson waited aside. After receiving Bruce, on the way back to the Long Island Villa, Stu had already given Bruce a rough idea.

Things are moving in a bad way, and Arthur Griffith has persuaded Stern and NBA Finance Secretary Lars Granick.

It seems that Stern is eager to expand the territory of the NBA. To be honest, building an NBA team in Canada can not only increase the influence of the NBA, but also make good money. You must know that the two teams joined the league in 1995. The cost is $125 million, which doesn't make the NBA Secretary of Finance laugh miserably.

After returning to the villa, Bruce gave Stu all the information about investigating the Canadian team's entry into the NBA, and then he was about to go back to the bedroom for jet lag.

Early the next morning, Bruce was woken up by the ringing of the phone. He picked up the alarm clock and took a look. It was only 9 o'clock in the morning. It was really terrible. Bruce, who was getting up, was swearing swear words in his empty bedroom. Who awoke Lao Tzu so early? , Won't you let me lose jet lag?

As soon as he answered the phone, Bruston was refreshed, dare you not answer the call of the "dictator"?

Stern told Bruce to go to the Alliance Headquarters for a meeting two days later.

Bruce agreed directly. After hanging up the phone, Bruce didn't sleep anymore. He planned to call his "godfather" to greet him and talk to Paul Allen about the Chinese New Year. There is no Chinese New Year for Americans. Make Paul Allen feel very fresh.

Of course, Paul Allen is also very concerned about Bruce, and plans to fly to New York tomorrow to see his "godson".

Bruce was not idle in the afternoon. He dialed the private number and said directly, "Be consistent with me at the discussion meeting."

After Paul Allen rushed to New York to chat with Bruce for a night, he also got a new year gift specially prepared by Bruce for Paul Allen-a rooster carved with jade.

1993 is the year of the rooster, so Bruce custom-carved wooden pendants with chicken as the zodiac sign for everyone in the group, of course, including the staff in the league and the management of each team owner.

All the bosses also rushed to participate in the discussion meeting at the headquarters of the alliance. Everyone knew the topics of the meeting for a long time, and some agreed and some opposed.

Bruce accompanied Paul Allen into the specially prepared conference room at the Alliance Headquarters, followed by a few bodyguards holding boxes.

The NBA big guys have already arrived. Before Uncle Si was here, Bruce was very flattering to give the customized wooden sign pendants with chicken attributes to the team owners one by one, and let these bosses take the rest back to them. They are subordinates.

These rich bosses also liked the little gifts that Bruce gave.

So Bruce is very good at being a human being. This wooden sign pendant is not worth money anyway. It is given to the rich and the other staff of the alliance. As a result, this pendant gives everyone a very fresh feeling, just like a sudden collision of Western culture. I want to know about Eastern culture. Secondly, this thing is not worth money. Besides, everyone has it, so it's not a bribe.

Many of the team’s wealthy people asked Bruce about China’s customs and customs, and everyone laughed and slapped their heads.

Uncle Si was finally late, and his face was immediately full of anger when he saw the noisy meeting room.

When the attack was about to happen, Bruce eagerly presented the wooden sign pendant he had given him.

Now Stern nodded in satisfaction, and found that the little one knows how to be a man, basically everyone has it.

Uncle Si didn't say anything in the end, so he ordered everyone to sit quietly and prepare for the meeting.

The meeting began.

...

Stern briefly elaborated on the excitement of the game from 1992 to 1993 and the development of the NBA.

Everyone nodded in satisfaction.

To be honest, Stern is the best president in NBA history, no one, at least everyone thinks so.

"Now let me talk about the wealthy Canadian businessman Arthur Griffiths wanting to expand the team through the league to establish a team in Canada. Do you have any comments?"

Seeing that everyone was silent, Stern thought that everyone basically agreed, and he was about to vote on everyone to settle the matter.

Nonsense, of course there are opinions, but this is only a part of people who have opinions. I haven't seen that no one speaks first. No one wants to be this early bird and is worried about Stern.

But there are always stunned people rushing to the forefront. Our "prince prince" is such a person.

"I object, I don't agree to establish an NBA team in Canada!"

Bruce stood up and said in a loud voice.

The rich people around followed watching the excitement and did not make any comments, but Paul Allen was sitting next to Bruce. He pulled Labus worriedly. It would be unwise to take this head at this time.

Stern was taken aback, his complexion gloomy, so wow, not long after you came to the alliance, you dare to provoke my authority, it seems that it should be cleaned up.

Stern said with an ugly face, "Bruce, why are you against it, and talk about the reason."

After giving Paul Allen a relieved look, Bruce said proudly: "President Stern, in fact, I am not opposed to the expansion of the alliance, but only in cities in the United States. The expansion of the military in other cities is not good for the alliance."

Not bad, Stern laughed, he only saw the future of the NBA slowly going global.

In his opinion, Bruce is entirely a child's mind, and he thinks where he is.

"How unfavorable?"

"Okay, then I will talk about the disadvantages of the league."

Bruce knows the future development of the league. Before the rebirth of his previous life, the bald president wanted Mexico to establish an NBA team. Although he didn't see the result, he wanted to know how many people opposed it.

"No. 1. I don’t know if you have calculated the tax rates in the United States and Canada. I have a piece of information here. It writes about the tax rates that players need to pay for playing in Canada and the food, clothing, housing and transportation for each team to go to Canada to play away games. Everyone take a look."

Bruce took out the printed documents from his briefcase and handed them to the bosses one by one.

"No. 2. I don’t know if anyone has asked the players if they would like to play in Canada. I have a questionnaire survey of the players of the New York Hans team. At present, there are 12 people in the team. None of them are willing to play in Canada. , Have you guys ever asked? If my team is used as a percentage, 98% of the players in the league are unwilling to go to Canada to play."

"President Stern, it is true that you are considering expanding the NBA's influence in North America, but you probably never thought about the pressure that the players union will bring to you."

"It's not my nonsense. As long as the league announces the establishment of a team in Canada, I believe that labor negotiations will come soon, and the loss will not only be the league, but also the interests of all of us."

Stern looked at the information that Bruce had sent, and listened to Bruce's words.

The more I heard the latter, Stern began to sweat. At the beginning, he only saw how much interest he had in North America, and didn't pay attention to these details.

Bruce is right. No matter how big the benefits are, they cannot be as fierce as the labor-management negotiations. If these players are really pressed, they will definitely go on strike. By then, the NBA will be famous in the four major leagues, and his president must be He would become a sinner of history, which he couldn't imagine.

At this time, the other rich people look at Stern's eyes a bit special. You Stern formed an NBA team in other countries and regions, and your league has benefited, but for us, it will hurt us if we do it for a long time.

Bruce looked at Stern's expression and decided to add fire to kill the seeds of this expansion to other countries and regions in the cradle.

"President Stern, I know that you are eager to expand the NBA's global influence, but I am very opposed to this kind of behavior of building teams in other countries and regions. If I really want to expand my influence, I would not be in the league when I entered the league. New York has formed a team, and you know that I am a Chinese. Wouldn’t it be better for me to form a team directly in China? At that time, everyone will be very welcome to play away games in China."

Bruce said to the bosses with a warm welcome expression on his face.

This sentence welcomes everyone to come to China to play away games. One stone stirs up waves. Please, it takes at least 13-14 hours to fly from China to the United States. How can this be played? Every day going back and forth doesn't make everyone tired. What if the players in the team go on strike? You Stern is what we invited to make money, not to add trouble to us.

No, we absolutely must stop Stern's plan to expand his military in Canada.

This time all the rich men of each team were opposed, all arguing against Stern, Stern didn't expect to be like this, and deeply complained about Bruce in his heart.

There is no way, now the bosses are excited, this is about to catch up with the riots, it seems that this matter is not enough to form a team in Canada.

In the end Stern could only say helplessly: "Well, well, let's discuss this matter later."

After speaking, he left the meeting room silently.