David Stern at the Olipia Building, NBA Headquarters, President's Office, New York, is looking at box office data for the first two weeks of the NBA season.

This year has been a pivotal year for the NBA, as they were hit by the financial crisis last season, with revenue falling by 7 percentage points and attendance and viewership hitting new lows in recent years.

In response to the crisis, David Stern had to lay off 9 percent of the league's staff to cut back on expenses, while raising $175 million through financial institutions, building a team funding fund, and lending to teams to weather the current crisis.

The Detroit Pistons are the worst, the entire city is bankrupt, the attendance and revenue have been cut in half, the Pistons that once threatened the league have fallen apart, and the team has directly changed from a strong team in the East to a fringe team in the playoffs.

The Pistons welcomed back their iconic Ben Wallace in the summer, and with the remaining Hamilton and Tyshawn Prince, there is still some attraction for fans.

Previously, the Pistons tried to trade for Allen Iverson to save the box office, but Iverson was obviously incompatible with the city of Detroit, not only failed to save the box office, but also had a conflict with the team, and became a free agent at the end of his contract.

The Pistons' opener was a good box office, and the home stadium of Auburn Hills Palace was a good sign, but the team lost to the Thunder without any suspense, and they still played the slow-paced, defense-first style of play of the past, and scored very little.

Entering November, the box office of the Pistons began to be unwatchable, with an attendance rate of less than 70%, and the ratings were even more dismal.

Come to think of it, the Pistons' peak was a ratings poison, and the iron bucket defense forced the league to change the rules.

Otherwise, there are no 70 points in a game, and the finals defense battle, and the NBA's revenue is even more visible.

In addition to the Pistons, there are also the Nets, which originally planned to build a new arena to replace the aging Continental Airlines arena.

But now the team can't come up with the money, and Barclays, which backs the Nets, is hesitant and unsure whether to terminate the cooperation.

The Nets' attendance was also dismal, with a so-so 85% attendance in the opening game, and then plummeted, and the attendance dropped directly to 50%.

A few days ago, Stern went to watch the Nets game against the 76ers, and the audience was empty, and those who didn't know thought they were playing the preseason.

The Nets' extremely low box office appeal, combined with Charlotte Bobcats' low box office appeal, created a minimum attendance of 9,205.

Of the more than 9,000 spectators at the game, it is estimated that half of them came to see Bobcats owner Michael Jordan sitting on the sidelines.

Stern looked at the Bobcats' attendance of more than 9,000 people, sighed deeply, and thought that Jordan would take off his suit and play directly, and the Charlotte Time Warner Arena was estimated to be full.

Now the league is Kobe Bryant, but Kobe Bryant can't have the same influence as Jordan back then, and can single-handedly lead the ball market.

In the 2001 season, the Washington Wizards ranked 18th in the league at the home box office, with a total attendance of 630,000.

When Michael Jordan returned in 2002, the Wizards' box office rushed to the second place in the league, with a total attendance of 840,000!

One person, forcibly brought 200,000 more seats, this is still the home field, if you count the away game, and the TV ratings are even more amazing.

Jordan's second comeback coincided with the 911 incident, which took a heavy hit in the confidence of the U.S. financial markets, which fell sharply after the market opened for a week.

Stern was worried about the NBA suffering a blow and persuaded Jordan to come back, so Jordan announced his comeback for the second time on September 25, which was a turning point, the US stock market recovered and rose, and the NBA's revenue ushered in a small peak.

This can be seen from the player salary cap, because the salary cap is directly related to revenue, from 35.5 million in the 2001 season, soared to 42.5 million, an increase of 19 percentage points, the highest increase since the 1995-1996 season.

And why did the 1995-1995 season increase revenue increase?

Because it was Jordan's first comeback.

When Stern saw the box office of the Los Angeles Clippers in the first two weeks, his eyes lit up, although the attendance rate could not be compared with the Lakers, but it was unexpected that the attendance rate exceeded 80%.

And because the Clippers resolutely do not reduce or discount ticket sales, and even raise some ticket prices, their box office revenue is quite good.

Originally, Stern was very worried about the Clippers' lack of any discount and promotion strategy, do you think you are a Los Angeles Laker, the defending champion, and you have to pay more to buy tickets?

You are a broken ship, a thousand-year-old bad team, and no one may go to see the ticket, so you dare to increase the price?

Unexpectedly, their new manager Smart Min quietly brought the heat of the Clippers to various operations.

The first is that Curry won the highly controversial No. 1 pick in the draft, and there may be a third of the topic of debate throughout the offseason about whether Curry will be the most popular No. 1 pick, which is full of topics.

Secondly, the fight between Clippers players due to racial discrimination has once again attracted a wave of attention, making the Clippers in the new season into attention.

The last point is that Griffin's unexpected reimbursement makes people feel that this guy is an unpredictable prophet who successfully avoided a big thunder, otherwise the box office of the Clippers this year would be really dangerous.

Looking at their current record, they eliminated the Lakers in the opener, beat the Jazz, beat the Warriors with two consecutive wins, and the rising star of the league, ranked fourth in the West with 4 wins and 2 losses, and has the possibility of impacting the playoffs.

Stern, who was thinking about killing Min Congda before, now has to admire the superb wisdom of the airborne general manager, who can bring the bad team of the Clippers to a good standout, which is not something ordinary people can do.

Los Angeles is a huge sports market, and if the Clippers can compete with the Lakers, it will play a good role in digging deeper into the entire California region.

"This Smart Min is really a wizard, no wonder Sterling insists on not sacking him, I really underestimate him. Although this guy doesn't talk big or small, aren't all capable people like this? ”

Stern was thinking about it when the secretary's phone came in and said, "Mr. Stern, Mr. Smart-Min, the general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers, is looking for you." ”

It was really said that Cao Cao Cao arrived, and Smart rarely called, and Stern said, "Take it in." ”

"Picked it up, on Line Three."

Stern pressed the phone on Line 3, thinking to himself what this kid wanted to say to me, is it to show his merit and exchange feelings?

As soon as the phone was connected, Min Congda's anxious voice came from the receiver, "Mr. President, can you explain to me why our opponents are always out of line and people are always injured after the start of the Clippers season?" As the president of the alliance, do you want to pay attention to this phenomenon? ”

After listening to Stern, I feel that my brain is a little too much to turn, your opponent lineup is not neat? Isn't that a good thing for you? What did you come to me to say?

Besides, I don't want to see players get hurt, so what can I do?

"Smart, what are you looking for me, I didn't understand what you said."

"I'm okay with you, I just think the league has a problem with the health management of the players, the schedule is too dense, the players are always injured, and it's not a good thing for the box office. Our Clippers played four games in five days, two back-to-backs in a row, and back-to-back games with three days off, which is a big challenge for the health of the players! ”

"Look at our opponents, there are big players missing every game, what do you want the fans to think? Fans want to see the full matchup, and they don't want to watch the remnants fight each other, and the league's schedule needs to be optimized! ”

Min Congda gave Stern a lesson, saying that Stern had nothing to say, because what he said made sense.

Player injuries have always been a headache for the league, so the league has been considering relaxing the schedule in the past two years, reducing on-court confrontation and reducing the risk of player injury.

"Okay I see, I know Smart, thank you for your proposal."

"It's good to know, okay, I'm hanging, you can do it David."

After speaking, Min Congda hung up the phone, and Stern couldn't calm down for a long time listening to the sound of the beep.

"Shet."

Stern finally scolded, as the president of the NBA, how long has it been since no one dared to talk to him like this? I was lectured by this kid and didn't have anything to say, I was speechless.

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