Chapter 416 Justice and Fairness

- Michael! Michael! Michael!

——Wizard! Wizard! Wizard!

——Defense! Defend! Defend!

Towards the end of the game, the atmosphere at the scene became more intense. More than 20,000 fans kept making noises, and fans from all over the world also kept roaring.

86:86, the two sides tied.

91 square meters, 93 square meters, 98 square meters, 105 square meters...

109:109!

By the end of the third quarter, the scores were tied again.

Jordan has taken his personal heroism to the extreme and scored almost all the points in the third quarter. His personal score has reached 46 points. Lin Dong followed closely with 36 points, and Yao Ming scored 29 points. But he contributed 6 rebounds in the third quarter, and his personal rebound count has reached 15.

Frankly speaking, this was a thrilling and speechless moment for each other's coaches.

Doug Collins's tactical intention in the third quarter was to hope that Yao Ming would carry the banner on both ends of the offense and defense, so that Jordan could get the fullest rest to take over the fourth quarter. But now Jordan's early outbreak, although Yao Ming's physical strength can not sustain it, After that, Doug Collins was extremely worried about the basketball god's performance in the fourth quarter. At the same time, he still insisted on team basketball, and perfectly displayed the SuperSonics' combat power in the third quarter, and even improved the SuperSonics' outside shooting percentage. Lin Dong, who has risen again, is also the most difficult terrorist bomb for the Wizards to contain.

For the Sonics, even if they tried their best and even let two people consume Yao Ming in some cases, in order to drain Yao Ming's energy and prevent him from playing again in the fourth quarter, they could Now the tactical intention has not been achieved at all. Although Yao Ming is no longer active, it seems that he can continue to fight. The Wizards' two hard nails, Jordan and Yao Ming, the SuperSonics used up all the time and energy in the third quarter. But they couldn't even pull out one of them, and they were dragged into the fourth quarter.

Although from a common sense point of view, Jordan should have run out of energy, the old guy's face was full of excitement at this time, as if he had been on stimulants, making it impossible to see his limits and fatigue. None of this is a good sign.

Frankly speaking, from this moment on, Doug Collins and McMillan, the two coaches on the sidelines, felt that they had lost their reading and control of the game.

Because I can’t understand!

The God of Basketball, and the Asian newcomer who claimed to have reached a certain level of truly challenging Jordan, even each other's coaches had a feeling that they couldn't understand them.

I don’t know where their upper limit is and how far they can go.

Compared with these two guys who can no longer use common sense to judge, the two coaches actually feel that the referees on the field are 'easier to understand'.

Throughout the third quarter, the Wizards got 8 free throws.

Every whistle seems to be fine, there must be actual contact, but the problem is that with the same defensive intensity, the Sonics only got a pitiful 2 free throws.

Frankly speaking, whether it was Jordan's all-encompassing superstar basketball or Lin Dong's positioning as a team leader, both sides performed at a very high level in the third quarter, at least on the scene it was impossible to tell whether they were winning or losing.

However, the SuperSonics were able to recover a 4-point difference, and this point difference was precisely due to free throws.

Judging from the home whistle, this is actually a relatively clean call, and it is also the usual advantage of the home court. Who told you that no one had a good record in the regular season? If this is aside from the SuperSonics' home game, with the same performance, the SuperSonics may not be tied now, but lead the Wizards by at least six or seven points, and the entire league will not think this is anything, and will think it is normal.

But McMillan has a faint worry. What if the balance tilts a little more toward the Wizards in the fourth quarter?

There was only a short five-minute break between the third and fourth quarters, and just when McMillan was worried about this problem, he saw someone handing referee Dick Bavetta a phone call.

If the referee needs to communicate with the league at the scene, he can just use the microphone. There is no need for a phone at all. The call comes from outside the field.

And off the field?

Thinking of these two words, McMillan's heart suddenly tightened.

Of course, it's possible that this is just the referee's personal phone call, perhaps from his parents, wife, and children, but it could also be something else...

At this time, in the VIP room on the other side, David Stern also happened to see this scene.

The referee was on hand to take calls from outside the field. I can't say that this was illegal, but it was very unprofessional.

Stern couldn't help but frown. What he was thinking of was not just unprofessional.

Dick Bavetta is a legendary referee who has been serving in the NBA for more than 20 years.

Having officiated more than 20 finals games, I am absolutely rich in experience and there is absolutely no possibility of any unprofessional operations.

But correspondingly, there are also many controversies in the whistleblowing career.

For example, when he became famous in the 1980s, he ejected both Dr. Eliminated, more like last year's Western Conference finals, he made the Lakers go to the free throw line 27 times in the last quarter, etc...

Everyone knows what this means, let alone Stern.

While thinking about the referee's past, Stern also thought about another phone call he received ten minutes ago.

That was the call from Mark Parker, now the CEO of Nike.

"Dear David, you should be very clear about what Michael means to the NBA, very clear about what he means to Nike, and you should also be clearer. This will determine our cooperation next year and Nike's investment direction." On the phone. Mark Parker said calmly to Stern: "Although I have great confidence that Michael will win this game, I still hope that you can intervene appropriately. If Michael loses, what will happen to our company, the NBA, and even It will be a heavy blow to yourself!”

Of course Stern knew.

Before Jordan, although the NBA also had a series of superstars such as Magic, Baylor, Skyhook, etc. who were not inferior to Jordan, and there were even times when they were more dominant than Jordan, but that only allowed the NBA to survive.

The reason why the NBA has gone from being a second-rate professional league that no one cares about in the United States to becoming popular all over the United States is because of the huge success and various topics created by Michael Jordan on the court.

It can be said that without Jordan, there would be no current NBA. For him to win this seventh championship means a lot to the NBA.

This is especially true for Nike. Not to mention that they are now facing competition from various brands. Not to mention that the day Jordan came back, Nike's stock price directly rose by 4 percentage points, helping them make billions of dollars in minutes. Even if Just from the perspective that Nike wants to destroy Under Armor and steal Lin Dong's endorsement from Under Armor, letting Jordan win over Lin Dong is a result that Nike must see.

But……

Stern didn't pay much attention to him at the time, but as the NBA's main partner, he still had to give him some basic face, so he promised on the surface but actually didn't take any action.

The whistleblowing in the third quarter was approved by Stern. A little home whistle is an NBA characteristic, which is understandable.

But now, after he had perfunctoryly dealt with Mark Parker, and at this juncture when the fourth quarter was about to begin, a referee who had had countless controversies answered an off-court phone call. This really couldn't help Stern not think more.

He felt that at this time, a huge remittance might have been transferred to the account of Bavit's relatives.

Stern hesitated for a moment and then told his assistant: "Give me the referee's microphone and tell him that if I see any unfair penalties beyond the home whistle in the fourth quarter, his career as a referee will be over." I will also thoroughly investigate and apply for monitoring of all accounts related to him. If I find any large-scale fund operations in the near future, I will prosecute him in federal court for fraud!”

After the explanation, Stern kept paying attention to Bavitt's movements through the transparent window.

I saw that Bavitt was chatting with others, but soon he frowned and pressed the earphone to listen carefully, and then his excited face gradually became ugly.

About two or three minutes later, he walked to the referee's chair, asked someone for a phone number and called back again.

No need for more careful investigation, the simple performance already made Stern understand what happened specifically, and also understood Bavitt's choice.

Sure enough, within less than 2 minutes, a call came in.

Mark Parker!

"David, let me be blunt. As long as Jordan wins his seventh championship, I will increase Nike's investment in the NBA Development League by US$500 million next year! I also have a little gift for you, haha , I just bought a very nice yacht... you know, but if Jordan loses..."

David Stern laughed and interrupted the other party directly.

"Since you care about Michael so much, you should understand him. Michael will not accept a charity victory." Stern said with a smile: "I will not harm the future of the league for the sake of immediate interests. You should be very careful." Clearly, Michael is old, the league needs a real successor, and Lin Dong is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate, so this game will be clean, a little home whistle is understandable, but I will never interfere with its process ”

"Successor? That guy from Dragon Country?" Mark Parker couldn't help laughing on the phone: "There are many outstanding players in the league who are worthy of your selection and training, such as Kobe Bryant, and the Cavaliers who are also Wade, who is in his senior year, and even LeBron, who is very topical and has experienced ups and downs in life, they can all carry the future of the league, but you want to choose an Asian? "

"You are just deceiving yourself." Stern said with a smile: "If those three are as good as you say, then they will be the ones preventing Jordan from winning his seventh championship now."

"..." There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, as if he was organizing his thoughts: "But you still shouldn't choose an Asian, especially since he is from the Dragon Kingdom. He is not a truly high-quality idol. Young people in the United States are now The pursuit of him is just a temporary novelty, and the rise of the Dragon Kingdom will definitely become a stumbling block for the great United States in the future. Are you sure that the guy you are admiring will be accepted by the United States in the future? Are you short-sighted? ! When you are betrayed by your fans and even get involved in political trouble, you will regret your decision today."

"I'm just a businessman." Stern laughed: "I don't understand politics, and I don't want to be involved in politics. I will praise whoever has the ability. By the way... It's still early for the Dragon Kingdom to threaten the United States. Very well, one day, I would have retired long ago, hahaha, none of that has anything to do with me.”

"David, you are like this..."

"Okay." Stern interrupted Mark's persuasion with a concluding sentence. He said lightly: "First, I also hope that Michael wins. You know, my favorite is the braised egg, but that's Win on his own!"

"Second, if Lin Dong really wins, I believe you will still have a way to lure him away from Under Armor. It's just a matter of paying more chips. As long as you are willing, you will always find Michael. replacement of."

"Third... The whole world is now paying attention to this game. The NBA is fair and impartial. In Asia, this game has higher ratings than in the United States. This is the first time we are experiencing global supervision... There is a bottom line in everything. I have worked hard for decades to bring the NBA to the world. Now is the harvest time. I will not let anyone mess this up. I will not compromise for you as a company. We will never let anyone destroy the future of the NBA."

"That's it!" Stern said with a smile: "Now, cut off your phone and enjoy a game quietly. Don't try to seduce that old guy Bavitt. If you really let me see the injustice, , believe me, I can stop the following battle at any time, I can even set a precedent of replacing the referee on the spot for this game... So don't try to do anything else, it will only make me no longer trust Your Nike brand, thank you!”

After watching the giant panda and the red panda, hahaha, my soul has been purified. They are worthy of being national treasures and mythical beasts. So, give us a clean game^^ The finals will end tomorrow~~