New York, in David Stern’s home.
He sat on the sofa, looking over work documents while watching television.
When the game started, he saw Chen Yu sitting on the Phoenix Suns’ bench through the live broadcast.
He didn’t look pleased.
Stern could imagine just how angry Chen Yu was. He had called him several times in a row.
But there was nothing to be done.
As the league commissioner, he didn’t actually care that much about who won the championship.
There was a champion every year, and every year had its own legend.
If the Phoenix Suns defended their title, or even won three in a row, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Phoenix was the fifth-largest city in the country. It was a huge market that had never won a championship, and after their victory last year, the basketball market had clearly improved significantly.
But now, the other teams were dissatisfied, feeling the Phoenix Suns had destroyed the league’s balance—that they were cheating.
As the league’s chief steward, he didn’t want to see internal conflict.
So he had no choice but to impose some restrictions.
But from the looks of it, an enraged Chen Yu clearly hadn’t listened.
Fortunately, he was just sitting on the bench. As long as he didn’t enter the locker room at halftime and use that incredible ability of his to restore the players’ stamina, the fairness of the Finals would be maintained. That was enough.
Soon, halftime arrived.
Stern looked up from his documents and glanced at the television.
The camera panned to the Phoenix Suns’ bench, and Stern clearly saw Chen Yu get up and walk into the home team’s tunnel.
His brows furrowed instantly, and he couldn’t help but sigh.
’My arrangements... Chen Yu didn’t listen at all!’
But then again, what could Stern do?
Placing the documents aside, Stern folded his arms and began to seriously contemplate his next move.
Soon, the halftime break ended.
The game resumed.
The Phoenix Suns found their rhythm again, mainly thanks to O’Neal and Hardaway, who started to exert themselves.
By the midway point of the third quarter, the Phoenix Suns had already retaken the lead.
But just retaking the lead wasn’t enough. The Magic didn’t have many consistent scorers and were heavily reliant on the performance of Hill and Tracy McGrady. As soon as their shots stopped falling, their scoring would plummet.
The Phoenix Suns were different. They had multiple scoring options and could play more patiently by distributing the ball.
In the fourth quarter, as their stamina waned, the Phoenix Suns slowly extended their lead.
Stern raised a slight eyebrow.
Even with his less-than-expert eye, he could tell it wasn’t just the Magic having stamina problems, but the Phoenix Suns as well.
O’Neal was looking gassed under the basket.
Before, he was constantly rattling the rim with thunderous dunks. Now, not only were his shot attempts down, but he was mostly resorting to hook shots in the low post.
’When Chen Yu went back to the locker room at halftime, did he not restore the players’ stamina?’
A smile appeared on Stern’s face.
’In the end, Chen Yu did show me some respect.’
’That’s good.’
Stern felt this could be considered a silent, mutual understanding.
If things really blew up and the media found out, creating a huge public spectacle, it would look bad for both of them.
After thinking for a moment, Stern picked up the phone next to him and dialed Granic’s number.
"Rose, you’re watching the game, I assume."
After receiving an affirmative answer, Stern said with a smile, "Since Chen has shown his sincerity, shouldn’t we also offer a response?"
"I see no problem with that." On the other end of the line, Granic understood what Stern was talking about.
Stern said, "Let’s do it tomorrow, then. Find some reporters in the morning and publicly announce our decision."
Granic was surprised. "David, so soon?"
This was an appointment for the league’s Vice President. At the very least, they should give Chen Yu a heads-up and follow the proper procedures.
Stern was excited. This matter had been troubling him for a long time, and today he finally saw a glimmer of a solution. He chuckled. "Soon? I don’t think so. This has dragged on for long enough. It’s time to resolve it."
Since Stern had put it that way, what could Granic say? "I’ll make the arrangements."
In the end, the Magic failed to make a comeback and lost the game, as expected.
At the post-game press conference, Paul Price’s face was etched with helplessness.
Other teams get knocked out in the first round. They, on the other hand, made it to the Finals only to get swept 4-0 every year.
The key thing was, if they lost again this year, his head coach position would be in jeopardy.
「The next day.」
Stern arrived at the New York Headquarters early.
His mood wasn’t exactly great.
He was happy that Chen Yu’s problem was on the verge of being solved, but yesterday’s Game 1 ratings had hit him like a sledgehammer.
A 7.4 rating, with just over ten million viewers.
The NBA Finals ratings had been gradually declining ever since Jordan retired.
It was just that this year’s drop seemed overly dramatic.
Last year, the rating was still 10.2, with over fifteen million viewers.
A 7.4 rating was even lower than the Western Conference Finals.
Compared to the Chen Yu problem, *this* was the biggest problem.
They held an impromptu meeting to discuss the decline in Finals ratings, so the press conference was delayed until eleven in the morning.
Stern composed himself and walked into the media hall.
Before he even sat down, Stern sensed that something was off with the reporters in attendance.
They were too agitated.
’Did they get the news in advance?’
’That can’t be right. Only a handful of people know what’s about to be announced.’
Suppressing his doubts, Stern was about to speak when a reporter below the stage shot his hand up, eager to ask a question.
"Kevin, just a moment. Let me finish what I have to say first," Stern said, chuckling as he stopped the New York Times reporter.
Just then, Granic suddenly strode in through the entrance of the media hall. He shot Stern a look, as if he had something urgent to say.
Stern hesitated for a second, then motioned with his eyes for Granic to wait. He waved his hand to quiet the reporters and said with a smile, "Everyone, I have more work to attend to shortly, so I’ll keep this brief."
"I’ve said before that we would be discussing giving Chen Yu greater responsibility. That matter has now been resolved. I am honored to announce that we will soon be appointing Chen Yu as the league’s Vice President. We will also be establishing a brand-new Health and Medical Department within the league, which will also be headed by Chen."
He announced the news quickly, then looked out at the reporters with a smile.
’There should be applause here.’
But there was little reaction.
Instead, many reporters quickly raised their hands, wanting to ask questions.
Stern suppressed his confusion and called on the reporter from before, Kevin.
He immediately stood up. "David, I’d like to ask for your thoughts on the Phoenix Suns’ announcement that they are preparing to transfer a portion of their shares to Chen Yu. In other words, is Chen about to become a shareholder of the Suns?"
Huh?
Stern froze.
’When the hell did this happen? How do I not know about this?’
Not far away, Granic saw Stern’s stunned expression and sighed silently. He had also just received the news after his meeting and had immediately rushed over to stop Stern from making his announcement.
Who would have thought that Stern would ignore him and announce it first.
Stern was utterly shocked but quickly regained his composure and asked Kevin when this news had broken.
"About half an hour ago. Brian in Phoenix made the public announcement," Kevin said, glancing at the time.
The corner of Stern’s eye twitched. His mind was in turmoil.
He had announced the appointment of Chen Yu as Vice President to get him to leave the Phoenix Suns.
And what was the result? The Phoenix Suns had gone and directly transferred shares to Chen Yu, making him a shareholder of the team.
’The key thing is, did you even run this by the league?’
’Sabotaging me like this... this is going too far!’
"I am not aware of this matter at the moment and cannot offer any comment," Stern said, his mind a complete mess. He couldn’t help but feel a surge of regret.
’When Kevin was so eager to ask a question earlier, he was probably trying to ask about this, to warn me.’
’If I had let him speak first, I probably wouldn’t have announced the appointment.’
’And now look. It’s all gone to hell!’
Stern rose abruptly and, ignoring the reporters, hurried out of the media hall.
Granic sighed and quickly followed.
Stern stormed back to his office. Only after sitting down did he slam his fist on the desk in anger. "What is the meaning of this, Jerry?"
The league belonged to everyone. Couldn’t he at least give them a heads-up before making such a major decision?
"No. I don’t approve, and the Board of Governors won’t approve either," Stern said without hesitation.
’You want to become a team shareholder? First, ask if the Board of Governors agrees.’
Of course, given Chen Yu’s contributions to the league, accepting him as a team owner in the future wasn’t out of the question.
’But not now.’
’I was just plotting to separate Chen Yu from the Suns, and what do you do? You turn around and give him shares. How is Chen Yu supposed to leave the Phoenix Suns now?’
Granic said, "David, this matter is a bit complicated."
"What’s so complicated? The sale of shares requires the approval of the Board of Governors. Do you think the other team owners would agree to sell shares to Chen at a time like this?" Stern interrupted Granic.
Granic silently rolled his eyes and let Stern cool down for a moment.
Stern sat down, seething with indignation.
He had every right to be angry about being undermined like this.
Granic said, "I called Livingston and confirmed it."
Livingston was a minority shareholder in the Phoenix Suns and a friend of Granic’s.
"David, don’t forget, years ago Jerry and 14 other investors teamed up to form the SWT Investment Company and bought the Phoenix Suns for 44 million. This time, what he’s transferring to Chen aren’t shares in the Phoenix Suns, but shares in the SWT Investment Company."
"In other words, once this share transfer is complete, Chen will have indirectly become a minority shareholder of the Phoenix Suns."
Stern was stunned for a moment.
"Is that even allowed?"
Granic rubbed his hands together. "It’s hard to say. This is an internal matter for them. As long as their board of directors approves, it shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, even if Jerry did submit a report to the league to accept Chen as a minority shareholder of the Phoenix Suns, with Jerry’s connections, he could probably persuade enough people to approve the plan."
Having been in the league since ’66, Old Kolangelo had been around the NBA for nearly forty years. His network of connections was vast.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to leap from general manager to team owner all those years ago.
After all, the league’s 29 teams weren’t a monolith. Plenty of owners opposed the Phoenix Suns this time, feeling they were disrupting the league’s balance, but how many of them were truly dead set against it?
The vast majority were just following the trend.
For many owners of weaker teams, owning a team was just a long-term investment. Not to mention whether they even had the ability to poach Chen Yu, even if they did, whether Chen Yu would be willing to go was another matter entirely.
There was only one Chen Yu, and if he were to go anywhere, it would certainly be to a team with championship potential.
They’d make a lot of noise and likely get nothing out of it. Under those circumstances, it shouldn’t be a problem for Old Kolangelo to use his connections to secure enough votes.
"Fuck."
Stern couldn’t stop a curse from escaping his lips.
Offering high salaries, giving away villas... especially Paul Allen. He had said in a media interview that as long as Chen Yu came to the Pioneer, he could name his price. It wouldn’t even be a problem for him to join the team’s management and become the general manager in the future.
The various preferential treatments were, to say the least, extreme.
But Old Kolangelo was even more ruthless—he was willing to directly transfer shares of the team.

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