Chapter 811 [Forced to Sell the Team, Compete for the Best]
The Clippers began a road trip, playing against the Cavaliers away from home on December 7.
Before the game, the Clippers players did not accept routine interviews and wore their warm-up jerseys inside and out. During the official game, they all wore black socks, including wrist guards, knee pads, and leg guards, to express their feelings for each other. Dissatisfaction with racist discrimination by boss.
Yang Rui couldn't see the deep meaning of this. He was dissatisfied with the protective gear? I am dissatisfied that everyone should wear a white headband like James with "Sterling must die" written on it to boost morale.
Of course, Yang Rui would not give them such advice.
The Clippers players, who had not practiced for two days, were in very bad shape. They lost to the Cavaliers in the away game 98-105, and their winning streak was ended.
James scored a triple-double of 31 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, but winning the game is not about how well the Cavaliers' Big Three played. The Clippers' failure to score more than 100 points is an abnormality.
After the game, Yang Rui took full responsibility for the defeat. "The loss is all my fault. As a coach, I should prepare everyone and work hard to play every game. Only in this way can I be responsible to the fans who support us. It's a pity that I didn't do that tonight."
When asked if he would communicate with Sterling, Yang Rui said: "This is Donald's own business. We don't need to communicate. I will only focus on the players and the game. The opponent will not care what happens to your team. , if we don’t concentrate, we could lose and disappoint the fans. That’s what I care about the most.”
Yang Rui repeatedly mentioned the fans in order to gain their support and not affect the Clippers' future popularity. As for taking sides and criticizing Sterling, it is completely unnecessary. This guy's reputation is so bad that you can throw stones if you fall into a well. queue.
The situation is developing in the direction Yang Rui expects, and someone will come forward to challenge Sterling.
On the 8th, President David Stern announced at a press conference: "Sterling is prohibited from getting involved in all matters related to the Clippers or NBA, effective immediately. Sterling cannot watch NBA games and practices on site, and cannot He cannot enter any Clippers facility, cannot participate in any team and player affairs, cannot participate in NBA board of directors meetings and any activities related to the league. Sterling is fined $2.5 million."
This is the maximum fine stipulated in the NBA charter, and the league has no room for relaxation with Sterling this time.
On the 9th, the Clippers defeated the 76ers 114-87. The outside players found their sights again. Seeing Sterling being severely punished, the players were in a good mood.
The next day, Stern held another press conference and said: "I will urge the NBA board of directors to use their power to force Sterling to sell the Clippers as soon as possible."
President Obama, who loves basketball, immediately expressed his support for this penalty decision.
Former star guard Kevin Johnson, mayor of Sacramento, California, also praised Stern for taking steps to address the problem.
The Clippers players collectively issued a statement saying: "Welcome and fully support the president's decision."
Sterling was confused. When he negotiated with the president, he did not agree to sell the team, but the other party did not give him any face and forced him to sell the team.
The racial discrimination incident triggered a series of chain reactions, and Sterling was unable to restore people's hearts. Two days ago, he naively thought that as long as he apologized, he would have a way out and could continue to own the Clippers without affecting his money.
Because the Clippers have the best record, fans will not give up going to watch games at home, which will not affect ticket revenue.
In terms of television broadcasts, Sterling does not have to worry about heavy losses. He can obtain a share of the television broadcast revenue from NBA. In addition, the broadcast contract signed by the Clippers and the Los Angeles cable TV station "Original Note" does not expire until the summer of 2016.
Therefore, even if fans and TV stations boycott Sterling, the "rob the rich and give to the poor" agreement reached between NBA team owners in 2012 can reduce Sterling's economic losses. This agreement stipulates that each team must contribute 50% of its annual profits every year, which generates huge amounts of money and then distributes them equally to each team. This also means that if the Clippers take a hard hit,
The losses will be borne by the other 29 teams.
Precisely because of this agreement, forcing Sterling to sell the team became the best sanction measure. Everyone is waiting to take advantage of the Clippers, a big player. Who is willing to help the Clippers in turn?
Major media said that Stern will urge the NBA board of directors to vote. If the votes in favor of selling the Clippers reach 75% of the total votes, Sterling will have to sell the team.
For this kind of thing, his vote rate is definitely 1oo%.
Moreover, if Sterling continues to own the Clippers, many of the Clippers' big-name stars will ask to leave the team. Sterling is finished, he can only sell the Clippers and leave the NBA. ?
On February 1, 2014, Stern, who has been the president of NBA for 30 years, will officially retire. Driving Stern out of the league before leaving his job will add a lot to his career. The old man feels that Excited, very energetic when working.
Some media have put forward conspiracy theories, believing that Sterling was set up. But no one doubts that it is Yang Rui and Thomas, the two giants of Facebook, who are behind this. The reason is that Facebook is much stronger than the Clippers. If they want to plot against Sterling, how can he win this year? The Clippers changed owners in 10 years.
This guy is really sick. If others want to plot against him, they can't make him say those stupid words. So even if there is a conspiracy, no one will speak for Sterling.
Yang Rui led the team to an away game and communicated with Thomas using Minions in the hotel. After discussion, he decided to do nothing and just wait and see what happened without leaving anyone behind.
Thomas was very happy. He could win the Clippers without any effort, much earlier than expected. He doesn't expect to make much money with the Clippers, but the advertising role played by the team is priceless and saves Facebook a lot of trouble.
The two of them were very careful. They didn't use the phone when talking about this matter. They used the software developed by their company. As long as they had the intention, they would not leave any records.
On the 11th, the Clippers defeated the Celtics 123-88 in an away game.
People found that Sterling's impact on the Clippers' game was not that big. The players could still score high scores, but they continued the habit of wearing clothes to protest.
The Greens lost Garnett in the summer, and star point guard Rajon Rondo was also absent due to injury. However, 10 wins and 13 losses after the start of the game is not bad, and there is hope for the playoffs. The team mainly relies on Pierce, Jeff Green, Gerald Wallace was supported by three swingmen.
In back-to-back games, the Clippers lost to the Nets 1o3 to 1o4.
Blatche hit the key ball in the low post with 6.3 seconds, and Gay's buzzer-beating mid-range shot missed the basket.
Joe Johnson and Blatche scored 2o+, Yao Ming, Deron Williams, and Jimmy Butler also scored in double figures. Favors matched up with Griffin, and he only had 7 points and 6 rebounds. down, reducing Griffin's efficiency.
Griffin was very ineffective in this game. He played 30 minutes and made 2 of 8 shots, 2 of 2 three-pointers, 8 of 13 free throws, and only had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists.
Griffin played 33.1 minutes this season, averaging 22.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1 steal per game, shooting 52.8% from the field, 27.3% from the three-point range, and 71.5% from the free throw line. The data is very beautiful, but he is unstable.
Griffin is not as reliable as usual at critical moments. Yang Rui is not satisfied with his style of play. He is unwilling to shoot more three-pointers because it will reduce the overall shooting rate. Now his overall shooting percentage is good enough. When he rushes to the basket, teammates like Yao Ming and Bu Laiqie can't catch the weaknesses of slow lateral movement.
Yang Rui guessed what Griffin was thinking. This year the Clippers may win the best record again, and with Paul gone, the team's new core will be highly rated. He wants to compete for mVp.
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