Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 205 205. The Explosion of Coincidence: A Private Mutually Beneficial Agreement with Stern's Psychological Game (two chapters in one)

"It's definitely a dirty and ugly game."

"The 36:11 free throws in the game made it difficult for me to say anything, and these 11 free throws were the result of Allen rushing to the inside again and again in exchange for his life."

"I don't know how many times Allen fell to the ground during this process, but even so, it is not as good as the Warriors who can get free throws by leaning on people lightly. This is really a reasonable call."

"In the fourth quarter, the Warriors team got a total of 12 free throw opportunities, of which Byron himself had nine times, but as a comparison, the Timberwolves had only one."

"Most of the Warriors' shots came from outside shots, but the Warriors still got 36 free throw opportunities in the whole game."

"In other words, all the Warriors' breakthroughs in this game were converted into free throws. I don't know if these calls are reasonable, but I think many people can understand Lu's anger."

In the post-match press conference, Lambiel suppressed his anger almost the entire time with a sullen face.

Even after speaking, Ranbir felt that his anger had reached its peak. If he didn't stop talking, Ranbir was afraid that he couldn't help but yell.

As Bill Lanbier said, the Warriors made 36 free throws in the game, more than three times that of the Timberwolves.

The 12:1 free throws in the fourth quarter are even more impressive.

The Warriors are not a team that is good at drawing fouls this season. In fact, most of the Warriors' shots come from mid- and long-range shots.

Although Baron Davis, who felt the referee's help in the fourth quarter, increased his breakthrough frequency, the Warriors' outside shots were still much higher than those in the restricted area.

In this case, the Warriors can still get 36 free throws, which is indeed something worth thinking about.

Lambiel's gloomy voice made the reporters on the scene feel the anger from the Timberwolves, but a reporter still bit the bullet and asked: "Lu rushed into the field and kicked the referee angrily in this game. This kind of thing is relatively rare in the NBA."

"In addition, the home fans threw rubbish into the field, which caused the game to be interrupted for a while. These behaviors are firmly prohibited by the league."

"And Lu is very likely to be suspended from the league. At the same time, the management must also pay for the behavior of the fans and accept the huge fines issued by the league."

"I would like to ask if the current team has any views on these matters."

Lambiel couldn't help but was about to speak when he was interrupted by Raymond waving his hand.

"I believe the league will handle this matter fairly and give an explanation to all the "fans" outside." Raymond deliberately bit the word "fans" very hard, "At the same time, the management will also come forward to defend the irrational behavior of the fans. Paying the bill, these are the responsibilities that the team should bear."

Pausing for a moment, Raymond, who was originally modest, suddenly changed his face, and even his voice became a little colder: "However, we will appeal the replay of this game to the Referee Association, and at the same time make it public to outside groups. "

"I hope the league can respond to this game to ensure the fairness of the game."

"The above is not only the meaning of the team's coaching staff, but also the meaning of the team's management and some fans."

"Even if Kevin (McHale) or Glenn were in this position today, it would be the same."

Compared with the grumpy Lambiel, Raymond is obviously more rational, and he used this incident to put pressure on the alliance.

As long as fans and a lot of external factors are involved, even the league dare not make too much noise at this juncture.

As for Luke, he was called back to the office by general manager McHale after the expulsion, and Timberwolves owner Glenn Taylor was also in the room.

But this time Glen Taylor still stood behind Luke unconditionally, and even took out his mobile phone to start contacting people.

In Glenn Taylor's first words after seeing Luke being expelled: "If he wasn't the referee on the court, he would be killed today even with money!"

...............

As the Warriors won the defending champion Timberwolves in the first game of the Western Conference Finals, the outside world was shocked and accompanied by a lot of anger.

Some fans even edited the foul shots of this game, comparing the difference between the Warriors and the Timberwolves.

Through the video, even fans who did not watch the live broadcast of the game can see how double-standard the referee whistled for the fouls of the two teams.

For the Timberwolves, Iverson broke into the inside again and again, was knocked to the ground again and again, and almost threw himself into the opponent's arms, but the number of free throws Iverson got was still very limited.

On the other hand, the breakthrough of the Warriors Baron Davis can be described as "eighteen falls". As long as Davis and Timberwolves players collide physically during the breakthrough, the referee's whistle will sound immediately, even for a second. The clock does not delay.

The referee's blowing in G1 of the Western Conference Finals was obviously biased, and Luke rushed into the field and kicked the referee angrily, which made this game more attention-grabbing.

If it's just an unfair game, this kind of thing happens every year in the league, and the outside world will not continue to pay attention to it for too long.

But Luke, as the leader of the new generation of basketball coaches, is already very popular.

Coupled with the fact that Luke kicked the referee angrily, the heat of this matter has become more and more heated.

Not long after the game ended, it was widely announced by the media, and it became the most eye-catching news in the sports sector for a while.

...............

"hateful!"

"What a bunch of nasty guys."

Late at night, in New York, in the NBA headquarters office, league commissioner Stern said through gritted teeth.

It is not the first time Stern has done this to influence the trend of the game through referees.

Even now that Stern's methods are restrained enough, it was even more ugly when Stern did things back then.

But as the Timberwolves made things bigger and bigger, the external pressure on Stern was also far beyond imagination.

It is foreseeable that once this matter is not handled properly, the reputation of the NBA will plummet, and unnecessary losses will be suffered from multiple angles.

In addition, since that night, the NBA's stock market has been declining all the way. According to the calculations of industry personnel, the NBA has evaporated more than [-] million US dollars in just two hours.

Although the [-] million in the stock market is not real money in the hands, it represents the current impact on the NBA.

It was just a trivial matter at first, but as the matter got bigger and bigger, Stern found that things had gradually escaped his control, and even he himself became an ant on the hot pot.

Worst of all, Stern had just received a call from referee Crawford that a garbage truck carrying scraps had exploded in front of Crawford's house.

The explosion shattered all the glass on the aisle side of the room, and even the walls were severely damaged.

Fortunately, Crawford's wife and children lived on the second floor, and there was not much damage except for being frightened.

The driver of the garbage truck narrowly escaped unharmed by parking his car on the side of the road and went to a convenience store to buy cigarettes. Apart from being a little panicked, he was also unharmed.

At present, the police are investigating the incident. The preliminary judgment is that the garbage in the car spontaneously ignited, causing the explosion of flammable materials.

However, although the police believed that the incident was just a coincidence, Crawford knew that Luke must be involved in it.

After the game, in order to prevent himself from being retaliated against, Crawford did not even leave the sight of his companions, and stayed with other staff members throughout the entire process to ensure safety.

As a result, only a few hours passed, and I was indeed unscathed, but this happened to my wife and daughter far away in other cities.

Even though the incident didn't cause any injuries, it looked more like a warning.

But Crawford still had lingering fears, and immediately called David Stern.

After all, just as Luke didn't believe that Crawford didn't blow the whistle, Crawford also didn't believe that this was really just a coincidence!
And Crawford is not sure whether he will face some other dangers in the future, which makes Crawford, who is hiding in the room, frightened, and even the people around him can't give him any sense of security.

What's more, Luke was able to find the location of his wife and daughter in a short time.

Judging from what happened before, if Luke wants to make some moves next, all Crawford can do is probably just watch.

After calming down, Stern looked down at the phone. After a long time, Stern dialed a number.

...............

Taking out his mobile phone, Luke instinctively wanted to reject the call when he saw that it was an unfamiliar number.

But in the end, as if he had thought of something, he pressed the connect button.

After the call was connected, Luke did not speak, but fell into a strange silence like the other party.

The atmosphere of silence lasted for seven or eight seconds, and finally a voice came from the other end of the phone: "Lu, you are a coach with great potential. I don't know if you are interested in coming to New York to coach next season. I think you should understand me." the meaning of."

The voice on the other end of the phone was so hypocritical that Luke knew it was David Stern as soon as he heard it.

The old fox didn't ask about Crawford when he came up, nor did he talk about the game.

It seems that Stern was afraid of the recording of the phone call, and just borrowed other things to express his meaning.

"It really is an old fox."

Couldn't help breaking his heart, Luke was silent for a moment and said, "I don't like that place in New York."

After saying this, Luke could feel the atmosphere on the other end of the phone becoming more and more weird. Presumably Stern was trying his best to suppress his anger.

"However, there are still many cities I like. Who knows if I will have the opportunity to visit in the future."

"But these are things that should be considered in the summer. With all due respect, I only have the game in my eyes now, and I only want to finish the season well." Before Stern spoke, Luke continued.

After Luke finished speaking, Stern's ugly face seemed to have improved a little. After calming down, Stern said slowly: "Don't worry, the purpose of the league has always been fair and just. I will deal with this matter." Handle it yourself."

"The Timberwolves are very strong this season, so I wish you success in winning the championship in the future."

After hearing Stern's words, Luke's face was still very calm, "I have a good word from you."

In fact, Luke experienced this kind of thing more than once in Europe, otherwise Luke, who led the Tawu team to four championships in five years, would not be so anxious to go to the NBA.

It's just that what Luke didn't expect was that Stern was far calmer and more cunning than he imagined.

"I think you can really think about New York. This city needs a hero." After a pause, Stern continued, "A new dynasty can also be established."

At this point, David Stern, who had achieved his goal, hung up the phone first.

Luke didn't know how Stern felt after hanging up the phone, but what Luke knew was that the Timberwolves would finally be able to play the game fairly and justly.

Even if the league will not secretly wish the Timberwolves a helping hand in its original intention, at least it will not cause trouble for the Timberwolves.

For Luke, for the Timberwolves, this is enough.

As for Stern's last subtext, Luke also knows it well.

New York, as the most economically developed city in the United States, has a messy team record, basically ranking at the bottom of the league every year.

Occasionally being able to enter the playoffs is also a round trip, which makes David Stern, who is the president of the league, very anxious.

This feeling is as if there is a golden mountain in front of your eyes, and the value of the golden mountain is even more visible to the naked eye, which makes everyone dying.

But no matter what, I couldn't find a hoe to dig out this golden mountain. I could only watch the existence of this golden mountain, but I couldn't develop the value of the golden mountain.

For Stern, who is the president of the league, this kind of thing is undoubtedly a pity.

Needless to say, the economic capacity of the city of New York, the NBA headquarters is established here.

The Knicks are the only NBA team in New York, but if the Van Knicks can play steadily, the league can earn at least hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

But the reality is that the last time the Knicks won the championship dates back to the 72-73 season. To be honest, David Stern hadn't entered the league at that time, let alone become the president of the league.

In other words, since Stern took office, the city of New York has not been able to play the value it should play.

Luke is an excellent basketball coach, especially his ability to build teams with insight, which even David Stern cannot refute.

So Stern naturally hopes that Luke can coach New York next season and turn New York into a championship team.

Just as Stern expressed at the end, if the New York Knicks instead of the Timberwolves are building a dynasty, the league will not only not interfere with it, but may also help behind the scenes, for fear of accidents in the three consecutive championships.

This is how the two cities of New York and Minnesota are treated differently.

It's a pity that although the city of New York is located in a treasured place of geomantic omen, the team management is really incompetent, and the boss Dolan is not a guy who can dig his heart out.

Before Luke wants to use New York's attention to pave his way, it is difficult for the Knicks to appear in Luke's selection list.

Even if the Knicks are really willing to spend money, the team's salary this season has reached 700 million US dollars, a full 4000 million US dollars ahead of the third-ranked Los Angeles Lakers, which is about three times that of the bottom-ranked Bobcats.

But even that doesn't change the fact that the Knicks are a bad team, because the team is rotten to the bone.

Luke has a way to get the Knicks to the top of the league within two years, but Luke can't guarantee that he will have a good end in the Knicks and leave a good reputation.

At the very least, current Knicks general manager and team coach Insaiah Thomas is a complete jerk.

James Dolan can choose to believe in this guy, no wonder the Knicks have been bad for the past two years.

Now, Luke heaved a sigh of relief after finishing the matter.

Even if there is a high probability that he will be suspended by the league, before leaving the city of Minnesota, the Timberwolves finally won the opportunity to establish a dynasty and won the fairness that should exist in competitive sports.

(End of this chapter)