Bishop of the Devil

When Stern saw the reports in dozens of newspapers and periodicals, he couldn't help but become even more angry!

These newspapers and periodicals, except for the local newspapers and periodicals in Salt Lake City, actually all sided with Richard? !

How can this be? !

How could Richard, that lunatic, get so much support from the media?

What makes Stern even more unacceptable is that many of the newspapers listed Stockton as the culprit and asked the league to punish Stockton!

Stern couldn't understand it at all. Stockton was a real sufferer. He only woke up the next morning. He didn't know how long it would take to recuperate. These damn media actually asked the league to punish Stockton? !

…

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the owners or owners' spokespersons of each team appeared in the large conference room of the NBA headquarters!

The people who can attend this meeting are the most powerful people in the entire NBA!

Some owners are too lazy to come over, so they ask the team's executives to come over for the meeting on their behalf...

What many people didn't expect was that Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen actually appeared at the venue!

Stern realized that things were a bit tricky today, and Paul Allen's appearance would not be without purpose...

And Jazz owner Larry Miller was also present at this moment. Not only him, but also the owners of about 14 or 5 teams in the league were present at the venue.

These owners, except for Paul Allen, are basically all owners whose main business is the team.

In other words, apart from the NBA teams they own, these bosses have no other properties...

Anyway, I have nothing to do, so I came over to join in the fun.

Larry Miller's net worth is less than 500 million U.S. dollars. In the league rankings, he is probably at the mid-level, around fifteenth place. However, compared to Paul Allen, his net worth is much lower than that of Paul Allen. A fraction of Allen’s net worth…

…

The arrival of Paul Allen made the scene lively. Many team owners or management came forward to greet him warmly.

Among them are the Heat, Magic, Rockets, 76ers, Warriors and other league teams...

There are also some small bosses who may only have a net worth of one or two billion US dollars, who want to get close to Paul Allen.

Paul Allen directly became the focus of the venue!

Larry Miller was extremely unhappy. He had already contacted Stern. The purpose of today's meeting was to make Richard and the Blazers players pay a heavy price!

But now with the arrival of Paul Allen, it is obviously not that easy...

"Okay, now that everyone is here, let's get started. Everyone, please take a seat!" Stern walked to the host's position and said to the bosses who were still chatting.

The NBA is a business league. To put it more vividly, it is a group company. Each team is a subsidiary of this group company. The only difference is that this group company is just an empty shell. It is not responsible for creating revenue, only responsible for Management work.

The leaders of each team are the shareholders of the group company, and Stern is their spokesperson elected to help them manage the group.

…

After seeing all the bosses sit down, Stern cleared his throat.

"I think you all already know what happened last night. Now you can share your opinions."

Stern did not vent his dissatisfaction with Richard right away. That was definitely not something a shrewd person like Stern would do.

If Paul Allen wasn't here, he might have a little rhythm and express his intention to punish Richard severely, but now that Paul Allen is here, he can't say such things.

…

"Our Jazz are the victims of this incident. I think I, Larry Miller, will express my opinion first!" Larry Miller cannot be a coward at this time. He is the real victim of the incident.

"Stockton has just regained consciousness. According to the team doctor's examination, he will need to rest until at least March next year! And Karl Malone's injury is not serious. He will need at least two months to recover!"

"Our Jazz has suffered huge losses!"

"The Trail Blazers' troublemaking players must be severely punished. Kobe Bryant and Ben Wallace are suspended until the end of the season. Other Trail Blazers players who take action or have offensive intentions must also be suspended!"

"As for Richard, I believe everyone knows that he is the real culprit. I request that he be kicked out of the NBA. You can think about how many things he has caused after entering the NBA!"

"He will destroy our alliance!"

Larry Miller stood up and spoke fiercely.

The venue was quiet. Good guy, the little boss Miller is a bit ruthless. He wants to suspend him for the entire season, and then expel Richard from the NBA?

Paul Allen looked at Larry Miller teasingly.

Larry Miller is a smart man. He deliberately made the incident more serious, especially saying that Richard would destroy the NBA. He just wanted the owners of each team to choose to side with him because of their interests.

"Larry, that's beautifully said!"

"I underestimated you before. You are a smart person, but you are not smart enough to treat us like fools!"

Paul Allen knocked on the table and said with a faint smile.

"You, Sir, have indeed suffered heavy losses this time. I admit this, and it has something to do with us, the Trail Blazers!"

"But, are you suffering from Alzheimer's disease? Have you forgotten how Stockton treated my players last season?"

"My Blazers didn't lose anything last season?"

“Your money is money, but my Paul Allen’s money is not money?”

Paul Allen's tone was quite calm. In his opinion, this kind of thing was not worth getting angry about.

"Can't you take care of your damn players? Without your provocation, things like last night would never have happened!"

"You said Richard will ruin the NBA? Sorry, since Richard took charge, my Blazers' market value has increased by about 20%!"

"After last night's incident, I was originally going to refund the ticket, but guess what? Not a single fan refunded the ticket!"

"And today our Blazers jerseys, sneakers and other peripheral products are already sold out!"

"Larry, where did you start with your statement that Richard will ruin the NBA?"

…

"That's just you Blazers who benefited, but the league has to pay for it, and our other 28 teams have to pay for it!" Larry Miller roared.

Before Paul Allen could speak, Pat Riley spoke...

"Larry, what do you mean? We on the Heat are not in the habit of paying for others. Don't tie us up. This is a matter between you Jazz and the Trail Blazers. Don't tie us up!"

"That's right, Larry, will Richard's appearance affect our Magic ticket sales? Are you sure you're not kidding?"

"Our Rockets were not affected. Larry, you are an adult and you must be responsible for what you say!"

"We Warriors do not recommend severely punishing Richard, because this matter has nothing to do with Richard. The rules we have set are that coaches can appear on the court when conflicts arise! Now if you want to punish Richard severely, you must give A reason?"

"Yes, what's the reason? Did Richard hit someone on the court? Or what? You have to explain this to us, the Philadelphia 76ers, and you can't just attack whoever you say you want to attack. There are twenty-nine teams in the NBA. , but you can’t mess around just because of your own ideas!”

"Rules are rules. We must follow the rules. Could you please give us a reason to severely punish Richard?"

The owners or spokespersons of each team spoke one after another, and Larry Miller was speechless when he refuted.

"Larry, so what do you want to do now? If you want me, Paul Allen, to pay for the loss of your Jazz..."

"I can tell you very clearly, no way!"

Paul Allen said coldly to Larry Miller.

Stern's scalp was numb. In fact, after he answered Larry Miller's call last night, he had given the other party a certain promise on the phone and promised to deal with the matter seriously!

Stern was also angry at the time, so he naturally agreed easily...

But now it's over. Seeing this situation, some influential bosses in the league are all on the side of the Trail Blazers. This makes Stern not know what to do at all!

Several team owners who have good relations with Larry Miller, there are three or two kittens, and they don't know how to open their mouths to help Larry Miller at this moment.

"Mr. Stern, since Larry has nothing more to say, shall we officially start?" Paul Allen frowned and looked at Stern.

This look gave Stern an even more headache...