Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 48 Lord of the Alliance! David Stern's Ambition!

This night was absolutely perfect for Chicagoans! They taught the arrogant SuperSonics a lesson, reclaimed their top spot in the league, and dispelled the prejudices many people held against them!

Jordan's 50-point performance in three quarters and Lin Tian's amazing performance of taking on three opponents at once were a double celebration for the people of Chicago!

What could be more exciting than having an unbeatable superstar on your team, and an unbeatable fighting expert?

That's all!

From this day forward, Chicago fans will no longer be afraid of or worried about anyone!

New York? Denver? Utah? Indiana?

If they dare to come, if they dare to provoke me, Lin Tian will beat their mothers to a pulp!

Many Chicagoans have even started chanting new slogans overnight.

"Kill Malone! Kill Stockton! Kill Barkley! Kill Miller!"

What do you mean by arrogance? This is arrogance!

On this night, besides the excited Chicago fans and the disappointed Seattle residents, there was another group of people who couldn't sleep—

The league's top leadership, headed by David Stern!

Even before the game was over, Stern had already called a meeting with several high-ranking league officials.

They need to discuss how this matter should be punished!

"Severe punishment! They must be severely punished!" the league's public relations director roared, slamming his fist on the table. "How difficult is it for us to build a healthy league image? We've worked hard for ten years! We haven't had any fights or brawls for ten consecutive months! These two teams have ruined everything! Ruined all our efforts!"

"At least 20 matches! Those troublemakers, none of them will escape!"

"I think you're insane!" the marketing manager frowned. "Do you even know what Chicago and the SuperSonics mean in the league? Their viewership ratings are both in the top five, and their arena attendance and jersey sales are also in the top five! Their record is simply number one in both the Eastern and Western Conferences!"

"You're going to suspend the key players of these two teams for 20 games? How about you make up for the lost revenue this season?"

"But there has to be punishment, otherwise how can we manage?" Stern's chief assistant, Adam Silver, said. "Otherwise, it will have a very bad influence on the teams. They might feel that the league's management has become lax again, and their opportunity has come!"

"But we can't be too strict. If it affects the ratings and the league's revenue, then it's not worth it."

"Adam, congratulations on spouting some useless nonsense!" None of the others at the scene gave Xiao Hua any face; they all snorted coldly, completely disregarding him.

"Alright, gentlemen, alright!" Stern finally spoke at this point. "I know what you mean. I know better than you what situation we're in!"

"I can still remember the mess I faced when I took over as president of the alliance 12 years ago! Drugs, brawls, gangs, promiscuity... terrible public opinion, terrible environment, terrible reputation, everything was so bad and despairing!"

"I still remember how shocked we were when Bias died of a drug overdose the day after the draft, and I also remember how desperate we were when Magic Johnson was diagnosed with AIDS, but we got through all of that, didn't we? We're on the right track now, and we've become a healthy and excellent league!"

"Compared to real crises, what's a little brawl? It's not worth arguing about!"

"The reason I called you all here wasn't actually because of this brawl! We can handle this kind of thing according to the league's rules! Larry, according to our rules, how should this conflict be handled?"

Larry, head of the referee department, said: "Payton started the trouble and should be suspended for 1-2 games and fined $3-$5. Jason and Kemp escalated the conflict by rushing in and starting trouble. They should have been suspended for 2-5 games, but they didn't hit anyone, which is very rare."

Larry almost laughed out loud at this point, then shook his head and said, "As for Lin, a 5-10 game suspension and a fine of $5-$10, that's it."

Stern chuckled and said, "Let's not punish them too harshly this time. I think Payton should be suspended for one game and fined $30,000. As for poor guys like Kemp and Jensen who only got beaten up, let's not suspend them, just fine them $20,000. As for Lin, a five-game suspension and a $50,000 fine, let's do it this way!"

"See, it's solved! It's that simple!"

"David, so why did you call us here?" The head of the public relations department shrugged, expressing his confusion.

"It's also related to this brawl! Or rather, it's related to one of the people involved." Stern stopped abruptly and changed the subject.

"Ladies and gentlemen, although the league is thriving right now, and we have even successfully brought in two Canadian teams, we must also admit that the league's development has indeed reached a bottleneck! In the competition with the NFL, MLB and NHL, we do not have the advantage, and we are still only the fourth largest league."

"Therefore, if we want to continue to develop and progress, our best goal is to turn our attention to overseas markets! This is also the most important reason why I'm so pushing for professional players to participate in the Olympics and trying to get European stars into the NBA!"

"We need to go international, we need to go global! We need to set our sights on the whole world! That's why I've been traveling all over the world for the past 5-6 years, hoping to get them to broadcast, or even broadcast, our matches for free!"

After a pause, Stern continued, "We need to increase our brand awareness! But I have to admit, our progress hasn't been smooth. Neither Sabonis nor Schremeff, and even Kukoc, on whom I had the highest hopes, have been able to deliver the performance and impact I wanted. Our development in Europe is far from ideal!"

"I know it's not everyone's fault! It's just that football is too popular! All of Europe is playing football, and there are simply too few people willing to play or watch basketball! So I think we should shift our focus, no longer concentrating on Europe, but looking towards Asia!"

"A rapidly developing region, experiencing economic take-off, no longer a barren desert! Four years ago, I went to China alone! That vast country with a population of one billion! That country that was completely unfamiliar to us! Its development speed has absolutely exceeded all your expectations!"

"Skyscrapers, all kinds of modern cities and all sorts of new gadgets—the capital there is probably more prosperous and bustling than half of the cities in the United States! I waited there for a full five hours before I finally met with their manager."

"And all I got was to send them a videotape every week so they could play a 20-minute highlight reel during the news or at a certain time!"

"At the time, many people didn't understand why I was so humble, why I was so subservient to a developing country, but now, I hope you all understand why I did it!"