Inside D'Antoni's office.

Suns owner Robert Savile had a painful face, he never thought that he would cause such a big trouble by playing an ordinary away game.

You say that you mess with someone, you have to mess with Richard.

The Suns didn't have a post-game press conference at all, and just after the game, they flew back to Phoenix.

Savile called D'Antoni to discuss what to do.

"Boss, it's my fault, I should have stopped Hunter at the time." D'Antoni said with a bitter face.

Saville waved his hand directly, shook his head and said: "I know very well about this matter, it has nothing to do with you, it was Hunter who died himself." ”

"Now that this guy has caused us so much trouble, let's just let him roll up tomorrow and get out." Savile was angry and prepared to take Hunt away.

Hunter's own transaction value is not large, but it definitely still has some transaction value, but the problem is that the current Hunter is completely a time bomb, who dares to buy him.

Now, if the Suns really show an apology, they can only take Hunter.

Savile was a businessman, a profit-seeking businessman, and he never wanted to have any conflict with hob meat like Richard.

He knows very well that once there is a conflict, it will definitely not be a good thing for their Suns......

D'Antoni nodded, judging from the current situation, this matter can only let Hunter take the blame.

There's no way, who made them the Suns unreasonable, and it was Hunter who made the first move......

"Man, don't worry too much about this, I have a good relationship with Paul Allen, and I'll find a chance to talk to Richard about this."

Savile patted D'Antoni on the shoulder, signaling him not to worry too much about it.

D'Antoni's ability, Savile sees it, although D'Antoni's qualifications are not very deep, but his coaching ability is completely unspeakable.

At least it's much better than the previous Suns head coaches.

D'Antoni nodded, now he can only take one step at a time.

I hope this matter won't make a big fuss, and I hope Savile can get Paul Allen to help persuade Richard.

……

"Mr. President, aren't you angry?" Xiao Hua was dumbfounded, he received a call from Stern asking him to come over for a meeting, originally thinking that Stern was already angry and started smashing things in his office.

But what he didn't expect was that Stern's expression was quite calm.

This made Shaw warn bored, knowing that everything Richard had provoked before had made Stern furious.

And this brawl just happened, in terms of severity, it is enough to rank at the top of the entire NBA history, and it really makes sense that Stern is so calm.

"Angry, of course, Adam, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing."

"The new Pirate Army needs to be known, it needs to open up the ball market, and I think it's not a bad thing for the Pirates to happen." Stern said with a light smile.

Xiao Hua nodded, there was nothing wrong with this, judging from the feedback from the on-site staff, this matter would definitely help the pirate team open the market.

That could allow the Pirates to steal some of the attention of the fans from the Jaguars.

Xiao Hua probably didn't mean what Stern meant......

He Stern really didn't like Richard very much, and could even say hated it.

But in the face of the interests of the alliance, he sees it very clearly.

Stern's goal is to lead the NBA league to squeeze out the NFL league and become the top of the four major leagues in North America.

Any opportunity to increase the impact of the NBA, Stern is absolutely not willing to miss it.

In the city of Charlotte, the basketball atmosphere is not very good, because of the existence of the Jaguars, the previous Hornets have not been very profitable.

In terms of player popularity, the Hornets players are also not well-known, far less than the stars of the Jaguars.

Now that Richard has taken over the Pirates, it gives Stern a glimmer of hope.

On the battlefield of Charlotte, the hope of defeating the NFL.

Xiao Hua was almost a roundworm in Stern's stomach, and he knew Stern's thoughts for the first time.

"But, Mr. President, although this incident is beneficial to us, there must still be a punishment that should be punished, right?"

"Of course, punishment must be punished, according to the normal level, how to punish as you want, don't favor one party, and don't deliberately target one party."

Stern said with a smile.

Xiao Hua nodded, turned his head and left the office, and began to handle the next punishment plan.

……

Stern's disposal plan made Xiao Hua silently admire in his heart, and in the face of major rights and wrongs, Stern was still quite clear.

If you are the president of those small-bellied chicken intestines, I am afraid that you will definitely take this opportunity to rectify Richard.

But think about it, if it is really a small belly, I am afraid that I will not be able to do the position of president of the alliance.

To put it bluntly, the president of the league is a high-level wage earner, serving the owners of the league's thirty teams.

To be more accurate, this position is very similar to the role of an orchestra conductor.

And those team owners are members of the band.

If a band loses a conductor or the conductor is not good, the overall level will definitely be affected, but the music can still be played, but it is just a little ugly.

And if the band didn't have these musicians, it would definitely not be able to play anything with just one conductor.

There is no doubt that Stern is an excellent bandmaster, and under his leadership, the NBA has flourished and is now ranked second in the four major leagues in North America.

Of course, this second place position is not secure, and latecomers may catch up at any time.

It wasn't until Xiao Hua, an equally good conductor, came on the scene that the NBA really stabilized in the second place.

It is precisely because of Xiao Hua's ability that the NFL bosses in later generations want to poach Xiao Hua from the NBA, and even do not hesitate to offer a sky-high salary of $220 million for five years.

……

Early the next morning, before many fans woke up, the NBA official released a penalty plan.

From this, it can also be seen how neat Xiao Hua is in doing things, and he has not dragged his feet at all.

On the Suns' side, only one Hunter was suspended.

A fine of $25,000 and a 15-game ban for takeout......

This is what Stern said should be punished, and players of different grades, facing this kind of thing, must suffer different punishments.

For example, Malone did exactly the same thing as Hunter at the beginning, but Malone was only banned for one game......

When it comes to a marginal player like Hunter, it can't be a game, and it has directly increased fifteen times!

Only one Hunter on the Suns' side was punished, which is quite normal, after all, when there was a conflict, the Suns' side was dumbfounded.

By the time they reacted and wanted to help Hunter, Marlon and Pippen were already holding them back, not giving them a chance to get close to the warband.

It also saved them from being punished by the Alliance.

After fans and media read the Suns' punishment plan, they immediately continued to watch, and their main concern was not the Suns' punishment, but the Pirates.

It is quite possible that the punishment of the pirates will set a historical record.

……

The first to be punished was Richard.

10-game ban and $300,000 fine......

The penalty plan of the next 300,000 fines was directly skipped by the fans and the media, Richard is so rich, and the 300,000 US dollars are completely sprinkled for him.

Ten game bans? Only ten?

People from all sides looked at this number, and some did not react.

Seems like this punishment is a bit too light......

Before the introduction of Richard's Law No. 1, such a punishment was quite severe.

But now Richard's No. 1 law has been introduced, and this law is directly named after Richard, which is definitely a typical example of knowingly committing crimes.

Stern actually only made ten free throws?!

In the speculation of all parties, they determined that the league's punishment for Richard would definitely not be less than a 20-game ban.

Next is the punishment of Mourning and Pippen.

The punishment for both men was exactly the same, with a 10-game ban and a $15,000 fine.

If you really want to talk about the seriousness, the seriousness of what these two veterans did is actually even more excessive than Hunt.

But such a meritorious veteran, the alliance must give some preferential treatment.

Although there is no blatant partiality like the treatment of Ma Long, the number of bans can be slightly reduced, and no one can find fault with it.

The final penalty was Darko Milicic.

This punishment made everyone not calm......

8 game bans, plus a $15,000 fine?!

Is this punishment a joke? How can it be so light......

In the eyes of everyone, Milicic may be the biggest sufferer of the league's punishment this time, and his suspension will definitely reach more than 15 games, which is impossible to be lower than Hunter.

But the fact now is that the league doesn't seem to have any intention of taking a heavy hand on him.

It's a little weird, it's confusing......

Milicic is not a star, why can he get such preferential treatment?!

In their eyes, Milicic is not a star, but in the eyes of Stern and Xiao Hua, Milicic is a player they value a lot.

It's definitely no secret that Richard thinks a lot of money about Milicic.

Since Richard values him so much, there must be something special about him.

This point, whether it is Stern or Xiao Hua, is extremely convinced.

Although the Pirates are famous, no one can say how long this fame will last.

Maybe every ten days and a half months, the fans will forget about it......

Only if there are superstar-like figures in the team will it be possible to retain the attention of these fans.

In the eyes of Stern and Shaw, only Milicic on the Pirates team can take on this responsibility.

At least in the short term, this burden can only be carried by Milicic.

……

After the official punishment decision came out, Richard breathed a sigh of relief, Stern's old boy was really powerful this time, and the punishment was far lower than Richard's expectations.

In this game, if Stern is really ruthless, in fact, not only these people will be punished, but Iguodala and Ariza will also be unable to escape the doom.

The two also kicked Hunter in the chaos......

But apparently Stern didn't bother to pursue these details.

"Would you like to call and thank that old fellow under Stern?"

"Forget it, don't want it, that old guy will be angry when he hears my voice."

The phone didn't call, but Richard wrote down the favor, and he owed Stern a favor for this matter.

……

"Hey, why are you kid causing trouble again?"

"Tiana is pregnant, you're about to be a father, can't you be an honest boss?"

"You want me to tell me what is good about you, Saville called me just now, let me say sorry to you, their Suns will give you an explanation for this."

"Remember it in the future, don't be so impulsive, if you really see which player is unhappy, don't go too far, let's clean him up slowly."

Paul Allen's uncle called Richard, and as soon as the phone was connected, he only heard Paul Allen's complaint.

Richard smiled bitterly, it is really good to have such a tyrant uncle.

Savile is the owner of the Suns, and Richard must know this, but he didn't expect Savile to call Paul Allen and ask him to intercede.

But it's normal to think about it, Richard is in a rage right now, even if Saville has Richard's phone call, he will definitely not call himself, maybe it will create a new conflict.

"Okay, Paul, I got ......"

"But this time, you should know, it's completely the Suns' fault."

"I think I'm right, wait and see what kind of explanation the Suns give me, if not, then I won't let the Suns go."

Richard directly told Paul Allen what he really thought in his heart, and the angry Paul Allen was beaten at Richard again.

……

If the Suns' next move displeased Richard, then he will definitely not let the Suns go.

Although the next game against the Suns will be at the end of March next year, when the season is almost over.

But as the saying goes, a gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late, Richard can afford to wait, isn't it just a few months......

Anyway, the Suns have names and surnames, and they can't run.

……

In the afternoon of the same day, the Suns made an official announcement in their own official release.

With Oku returning from injury, the team will waive Steven Hunter's contract after his suspension ends.

Hunter signed a one-year non-guaranteed contract with the Suns this year, and Oku was injured, and it was his turn to start......

Otherwise, this kind of non-guaranteed contract player is basically the role of cannon fodder for the team.

……

When fans saw the official announcement of the Suns, they couldn't help but be dumbfounded, what the hell is the Suns' operation?

Give up someone's contract, why wait for someone else's ban to end......

There is no salary for the ban, is it possible for Hunter to spend a month in Phoenix like this, unable to do anything, and not getting a dime of salary?!

It's definitely a sassy operation, but I can't fault it.

Without a guaranteed contract, the players are the meat on the chopping block, and the team can do whatever they want.

……

Although the Suns gave an explanation that the reason why they gave up Hunter was Oku's return from injury, this explanation was completely trying to cover up in the eyes of many fans.

To put it bluntly, it's not like trying to cut Hunter and then let Richard dissipate.

……

This is not the end, after the Suns' official announcement, the team's head coach D'Antoni called Richard again.

"Li, I'm really sorry about this time." D'Antoni is a humble gentleman in the coaching community, and he is relatively gentle in both speech and action.

He had contact with Richard when he was coaching the Nuggets for half a season in the 98-99 season.

At that time, Richard was definitely complacent, quite young, and led the Trail Blazers to win the championship.

Plus Richard has a good impression of D'Antoni, so the relationship between the two is okay.

When D'Antoni joined the Suns in '03, Richard also called to congratulate D'Antoni.

In Richard's view, D'Antoni is a master of a generation, especially in attack, which is superb.

That is, when he was not lucky enough, when he coached the Suns, the season with the best chance of winning the championship, Xiao Si was reimbursed......

When he was coaching the Rockets, the season with the best chance of winning the championship, Paul was injured again.

If it weren't for that bad luck, the offensive guru wouldn't have a championship ring on hand.

……

D'Antoni when he was a player, although he didn't play in the NBA for many years, was quite beautiful in the Italian league.

Nicknamed the gentleman thief, he can be regarded as the grandfather of the Italian men's basketball team.

Bryant lived in Italy as a child and was a fan of D'Antoni and even imitated his style of play.