Chapter 551 Internal Strife Within the Alliance (Part 2)

Phil Knight said, but his expression was a little uncertain.

Because he didn't see the panic and nervousness that should have been on Stern's face, but instead looked extremely calm.

This damn calmness... He wasn't sure how Stern planned to make a comeback, and he couldn't think of any reason for Stern to come back. However, whenever he saw Stern's annoying smile, he always felt uneasy. .

"What if we add him?" David Stern clapped his hands, and the door to the conference room was pushed open from the outside.

There was a middle-aged man who looked quite unfamiliar, wearing a neat suit. Almost no one present recognized him, only Phil Knight frowned.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Bertner, an ordinary psychiatrist in Portland." He took out a stack of printed papers signed with his own name, and the staff quickly gave one to each ball. The team owner sent it to everyone, and it contained passages of dialogue that were exactly the same as what Artest said when he provoked Hanamichi Sakuragi.

"Philnight hired me to analyze Sakuragi Hanamichi's character and arrange all the provocative language, how to stimulate him, how to anger him..." Burtner said: "If the testimony is not convincing enough, I There is also a recording of the call with Mr. Phil Knight, and Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown can corroborate every word I said."

The team owners looked a little complicated for a while.

Although everyone knows that Phil Knight wants to kill the Sonics and let the Cavaliers win, he not only bribed most of the league officials, he may have even bribed the referees.

But I really didn't expect him to achieve this level.

But to be honest, this incident itself cannot change anything. Even if Stern puts this evidence on the Internet and sets off a wave of public opinion wars that are unfavorable to Nike, it will only cause some moral concerns from fans. Abuse has a certain impact on Nike, but Nike will not collapse because of this trivial matter, and the league cannot sue Phil Knight for this.

At most, the decline in Nike's market value and stock turmoil caused everyone to make less money. It also made the bosses present realize that Phil Knight was insidious and terrifying, and they were afraid of cooperating with him.

But it would not be wrong to say that everyone would turn against Phil Knight because of this.

The bosses present knew Stern very well, and they knew very well that the old man never acted without targets. If he only held such a dispensable card in his hand, he would not be able to behave so calmly.

Even Phil Knight didn't say anything at this time, but looked at Stern coldly. Everyone else in the conference room was also waiting for Stern's next words.

Sure enough, Stern had already played his second card without any hesitation.

"Come in," he said with a smile.

A second person came in quickly, referee Dick Bavetta.

Bavetta lowered his head when he came in, as if he was a little afraid to look into Philnight's eyes. He held a piece of information in his hand, and the first sentence he spoke was: "I deliberately relaxed the penalty scale in G1. , is the main reason that caused and led to the escalation of conflicts on the court. I decided to take the blame and resign. This is the resignation letter I submitted to the league and the board of directors."

Saying that, Bavetta finally raised his head and looked at Phil Knight bravely: "And it was this gentleman, Phil Knight, the president of Nike, who asked me to relax the rules of the whistle and provoke conflicts on the court!"

Philnet was stunned. He really didn't expect Bavetta to do something like this at this time.

Accused him of bribery?

Although this will involve lawsuits, he is not afraid of it. Not to mention that Nike has a good enough legal team. Even if it is finally confirmed that Nike bribed him and undermined the fairness of national sports competitions, it is not a serious crime, and it is just his own subordinates. If you let others deal with it, you can always push it out in court without knowing anything about it.

However, even if Stern is killed this time, Sakuragi Hanamichi is suspended, and Lin Dong and Payton are even suspended for one game each, then the Cavaliers will still have to rely on Bavetta as the referee if they want to win insurance. Phil Knight can no longer trust those idiot players in the Cavaliers.

Unexpectedly, Bavetta took the initiative to resign...

What is this old guy making trouble about? He collected all of his own 8 million US dollars! At his current age, he won't be able to earn enough money even if he works until he retires or even dies!

Does he think he can do whatever he wants now that he has the money? Who does he think he is? I have ten thousand ways to make him spit out the money or even make him disappear. How dare he? !

Before Phil Knight came to his senses, David Stern had already accepted Bavetta's resignation letter with a smile: "I accept your resignation report. In view of the fact that you woke up in time, if you voluntarily withdraw from the bribe money, , the league will not prosecute or punish you."

Bavetta immediately said: "I have prepared the 8 million US dollars given by Mr. Philnight. It will be handed over to the court when the time comes, and the federal court will hold Mr. Philnight responsible for bribery."

Phil Knight still didn't come to his senses.

It sounds like this means that it was because David Stern threatened him first and made a private agreement with him to avoid punishment, so Bavetta turned against him in battle?

It shouldn't be... This guy already understood that he might encounter the situation he is in today before he collected his money. He was already prepared to go to jail with the 800, just to use a few years of jail time to exchange for money. That's all, how could he take the initiative to spit out the money now just because Stern was exempted from punishment?

If the psychiatrist's previous evidence that Nike "designed" Sakuragi Hanamichi was just a minor ailment, then the bribery accusation from Bavetta is nothing more than a flesh wound for Nike. Ernight's personal impact may not be too great, but such a scandal will definitely cause huge damage to the Nike brand.

Don’t forget, the advertising slogan they always use to fool consumers is ‘pursue your dreams’, but now, it turns out that Nike’s dream is to control referees?

No matter how Stern persuaded Bavetta, at the very least, everyone at the scene began to realize that Nike was about to face a huge scandal, and Nike's stock price was bound to plummet. Then...Nike will still have the strength to continue to work hard next year. Will supporting the NBA bring huge benefits to shareholders?

At the same time, if everyone chooses to support Nike at this time and kill Stern, then Stern, who is desperate, will inevitably choose to expose these scandals, which will affect not only Nike, but the entire NBA.

This Super League, which has finally managed to keep pace with the NFL, will be labeled unfairly from now on. It is almost inevitable that its popularity will plummet, and it will inevitably affect everyone's income.

But if you don’t support Nike, the NBA will definitely lose a lot of sponsorship fees next year.

All the bosses frowned, and the situation that they originally thought Phil Knight had completely controlled has become confusing. Stern is still Stern after all, and he is not a softie that anyone can pinch. persimmon.

Someone's mind came alive and tried to persuade them to make peace. With both parties holding the lifeblood of the NBA's future, each side would give in. Stern would continue to be in power and accept Nike's suggestion to break up the Sonics. This would probably be the best for everyone. the result of.

But Stern immediately played his third card.

Two people walked in again outside the door.

"Hi, everyone, it's very lively." The first person who caught everyone's attention was a man from the Dragon Kingdom. Most of the bosses present knew him. After all, when their wealth reached their level, investment was a topic they could never avoid. The man from the Dragon Country in front of him is the head of SoftBank, the world's largest investment company in the United States, and everyone's God of Wealth - Chu Bufan!

Everyone has dealt with him to one degree or another, so it's hard not to recognize him.

Many bosses put smiles on their faces, and then they saw another person following Chu Bufan.

Bavetta stepped aside automatically to make way for the two of them. David Stern also stood up to greet him: "Mr. Chu doesn't need my introduction anymore, so let me introduce this other person to you."

Stern said with a smile: "Under Armor's president, Mr. Plank, has already planned a US$1 billion sponsorship for the NBA next year."

Everyone suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Stern had the courage to have a showdown with Phil Knight. It turned out that he had already attracted new sponsors for the NBA.

However, how can Under Armor, a small company, compare with a behemoth like Nike?

Although Under Armor has developed very rapidly with several popular sneakers this year since it cooperated with Lin Dong at the end of last year, seizing a lot of Nike's market, the size gap between them is still very large.

Based on Under Armour's current marketing alone, it is still a question whether it can earn this 1 billion a year, and even if it does, it must expand the production line, so that it can develop in the long run, so where will he get the money to sponsor?

"SoftBank has invested US$3 billion in Under Armour, buying 49% of Under Armour's shares, and is expected to continue to invest more in the future." Chu Bufan said with a smile, in a way that had nothing to do with the scene. , in fact, he is endorsing Under Armor: "I believe in Under Armor's potential, and I also believe in Mr. Plank's ability and character, and I believe everyone is familiar with my investment vision."

"Compared to Mr. Phil Knight." Plank also smiled and said to everyone: "I am just a pure sponsor. I will not own the shares of any NBA team, nor will I participate in any influence on all teams in the league. This is a promise I make to everyone.”

All the bosses suddenly realized this.

If it relies on SoftBank, Under Armor's development will be immeasurable, at least it will never be strapped for funds.

At the same time, the scandal that Nike encountered and the losses it suffered after betting all-out on the Cavaliers have offended the entire Asian market, and may even cause heavy losses to the American market.

As one goes and the other goes, the league's destiny may really change. It could be three to five years later, or one or two years sooner. Under Armor, backed by SoftBank and the NBA, will surely have the strength to compete with Nike, or even replace it!

Phil Knight didn't wait for them to get going.

He understood everything now.

Just looking at the expressions of the psychiatrist and Bavetta, he understood why those two people turned against each other.

He gave them money, but Plank or Chu Bufan gave them more! At the same time, it can also protect them from moral punishment.

This is a game... I am facing not only Stern, not only Lin Dong and the Sonics, not only Plank who wants to make a comeback, but also someone who doesn't know where the link is wrong and suddenly wants to intervene. SoftBank, a venture capital firm in the sporting goods space.

They joined forces to 'short' themselves. What they want is to kill Nike, win all of Nike's markets, and divide Nike's cake in the U.S. sporting goods field!

By that time, the Sonics and Lin Dong had won the championship, Stern continued to hold power, Plank had obtained the Nike market and development opportunities, and SoftBank had also received a generous return on investment.

And what about Nike? Nike only has failed endorsements and various scandals.

Every one of them is a winner, only Nike loses!

"I will put Artest's provocative words on the Internet, and I will make my own judgment at that time." Stern said: "So my decision is to exempt Hanamichi Sakuragi and Chandler from suspension. A flagrant foul and a fine of $1.5 million, and he will bear all of Artest’s medical expenses.”

After speaking, Stern looked at everyone in the conference room.

This time, there was silence in the conference room, and no one objected anymore. Even the thirteen bosses who were originally aligned with Phil Knight began to hesitate.

Phil Knight's face was extremely gloomy at this time. With his quick thinking, it only took a matter of minutes to connect all these things.

For the shareholders of the league, with an investment of US$1 billion next year, they don't care whether Nike or Under Armor provides sponsorship, but Stern holds evidence that is not conducive to the development of the NBA, and his reputation is destined to fall. , it is obvious which side these wallflowers will take.

Not to mention those people, even Michael Jordan, who holds shares in Nike and should be firmly on his side, said nothing from the beginning to the end.

He holds 5% of Nike shares, which is Michael Jordan's largest source of assets.

However, the old guy cares more about his reputation. As early as when he bought the Bobcats, in order to raise funds, Michael Jordan sold part of his Nike shares. If he guessed correctly, he might have sold off all his Nike shares in advance. Stock.

Obviously, he had already received Stern's hint and knew today's result. This guy had already made a decision. He believed that Nike would definitely lose, and naturally he would not choose to stand with him again.

Even the owners of the thirteen teams who were originally tied to him now have a passive attitude.

I lost... No!

Phil Knight's breathing gradually became faster.

All these accusations and scandals, as well as the change of NBA sponsors, are indeed enough to give Nike a fatal blow, but a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and it is not easy to bring Nike down.

He still has a chance to make a comeback.

I can no longer influence the league and the referees, but as long as the Cavaliers can win against the SuperSonics and defeat Lin Dong's myth, then with the card of LeBron James and after paying a certain price to settle all public opinions, Nike can still be in full swing!

Phil Knight did not continue to wait for everyone's decision. He knew that no miracle would happen if he waited any longer.

The Cavaliers still have room for improvement, such as changing coaches before the battle, such as using money to motivate those idiots...

He will do his best to achieve this. Even if the Cavaliers still can't help him, even if this Supersonic team is really invincible, when it is really necessary, he still has the last resort!

The outcome of the game does not necessarily have to be decided on the court, everything can be decided off the court too!

When things got to this point, there was no turning back.

He can only continue on at all costs, he has not lost yet!

"Short-sighted guys... what a bunch of rabble!" Phil Knight simply stood up, looked around coldly at everyone present, and finally rested his gaze on the face of Chu Bufan, whom he once considered a friend. Phil Knight Te said coldly: "You will regret it, and Nike will not fall down and become someone else's meal. We will see!"