In the evening, Min Congda went to dinner with Adam Silva at a well-known Italian restaurant on Fifth Avenue in New York.

The reason why Silva chose the Italian restaurant is to take care of Min Congda's wife Ida, and tonight both of them brought their other half, which was a small family gathering of four people.

Ida wore a low-key black loose dress and followed Min Congda into the restaurant with a big belly, she looked a little nervous.

In the past two years, Ida's identity has changed too quickly, and in his early years, he was just an intern secretary by Min Congda's side, but he didn't expect to climb all the way to the present, and was directly promoted to the wife of the general manager and the wife of the assistant to the president.

Ida is only 26 years old this year, and she is still very young, and she is still apprehensive about this very formal high-level family dinner, such social events she has only seen in movies and TV series in the past.

"Smart, I'm a little scared." Ida whispered.

"Oh, don't be afraid, Silva is so scary, you used to call the president's office a lot." Min Congda comforted his wife.

"It doesn't feel the same, I think... That kind of social situation, everyone has something to say, I... I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing and embarrassing you. ”

Ada knew that Silva had invited Min Congda to dinner tonight, and there must be something important to discuss, and Ada was afraid of getting involved in this kind of-for-tat.

Min Congda gently held Ada's hand and said, "No, you are my pride, it is my luck to have you, you will never embarrass me." Don't worry, if you feel nervous, it's okay to talk less, no one will dare to embarrass you. ”

Her husband's comfort made Ida feel a lot more at ease, as long as she was with Min Congda, Ida felt that there was no difficulty that could not be overcome, and no difficulty that was difficult to face.

What's more, what Min Congda said was right, Ida used to call the president at the alliance office, and Silva also called Ada, and they knew each other.

Silva also brought his wife, Maggie Grace, to the party tonight, who, like Ida and Min Congda, just got married this year, and Grace is also pregnant.

In this way, there are a lot of common topics between the two pregnant women, and the gap caused by the age gap has been flattened at once.

Unlike Ida, Grace is not a sports practitioner, but an interior designer with an understanding of the NBA that stays at the stage of ordinary fans.

So when Min Congda and Silva talked about some matters within the alliance, Grace was not too interested, but pulled Ada to talk about parenting or something.

Of course, when his wife was there, Silva and Min Congda would not talk about any too deep topics, and Silva was very friendly to Min Congda about some of the work essentials of the referee business, the focus of the work in the next one to three years, and joked about the referees of the league one by one.

For example, Dick Bavita, who recently retired is an acting freak who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, said that the Oscars owe him a lifetime achievement award and that he should go to the Hollywood Walk of Fame to leave his fingerprint.

It is also said that Joe Crawford suffers from mania and performative personality, and is constantly trying to create some famous scenes on the field and steal the camera, in order to find himself a suitable job after retirement - such as being a clown in the New York circus.

There's also the retired Steve Jarvey, the master troublemaker, the archetypal of self-respect, and with him there are always some problems in the game where he enforces, and then he will step in and solve them well.

He seems to be a trouble-solver, a master of field control, but the problem is that if he didn't control the game before, the two teams might not have clashed, so he naturally had no chance to perform.

The two talked happily and lost several well-known referees, including the referee Foster, who was "popcorn bucket violently" by Min Congda.

In the case of the gradual withering of the older generation of famous whistles such as Bavita, Crawford, and Jarvey, Foster has become one of the "old whistles" in the current league, blowing many important and crucial games, and also causing a lot of controversy.

He was known for his toughness, and coaches and teams across the league had a dual mentality of disgust and awe for this meticulously combed white man's cold face, but Min Congda's once earth-shattering button undoubtedly made his majesty diminished, and since then it has become one of Foster's biggest weaknesses.

As soon as a player mentions the word "popcorn" during a game, Foster is likely to give him a T or take good care of him in the rest of the game.

The two couples chatted about topics of interest and talked happily, Ida watched Silva and Min Congda talk very openly, and the worries in her heart were also put down a lot, and she catered to Grace more actively, hoping to provide a good social relationship for her husband's career.

Min Congda and Silva actually had a very good relationship earlier, and when Silva first took office, he also reached a joint cooperation with Min Congda, using Min Congda's destructive power to shuffle the alliance.

However, with the failure of the Clippers owner change, Min Congda's refusal to intervene in the internal affairs of the Lakers Buss family, and conflicts on other issues, the previous cooperative alliance between the two gradually broke down.

Of course, on the surface, the two still maintain a friendly relationship, everyone is drunk, and the atmosphere at the dinner table is very harmonious and warm.

At this time, Grace suddenly covered her mouth, and she gave Ida a look, and Ida understood that Grace should have morning sickness.

So the two helped each other to the bathroom to solve it, touched up their makeup by the way, and then gave Silva and Min Congda a little private space to chat.

As soon as the two ladies left, the atmosphere at the table immediately cooled down, the smile on Adam Silva's face disappeared, his already thin face looked longer, and his eyes behind his glasses flashed with a cold light, giving him the appearance of a shrewd Jew.

"Smart, you really caught me off guard when you left the Clippers, why don't you stay in Los Angeles and run to New York?"

"I've explained, I'm tired of being in the Clippers and I want to change tracks."

Min Congda didn't tell David Stern, although Silva knew in his heart that it was Stern who carried Min Congda over.

"A change of track? You can go to other teams, the Lakers, the Timberwolves, the Kings, you can do it. It's not a good choice to come to the league office, your talent is here, it's too difficult to show. ”

"How do you know if you don't give it a try? And as you know, I still have a pretty good relationship with the referees. ”

In the absence of the woman, the conversation between the two became-for-tat, and it was clear that Silva did not welcome Min Congda's arrival.

He hopes that Min Congda would be better able to retreat from the difficulties and go to another team to take the position of general manager, form a team, and win the championship, wouldn't it be beautiful.

"Good relationship? Didn't Bozia tell you that the Referees Association was already brewing a strike? They don't want to work with you. ”

"Strike? Didn't they do this last time? Just go straight to the reserves, you're not that vulnerable, aren't you? ”

Previously, the referees association had proposed a strike over Min Congda's ban, but Silva was suppressed by the reserve referee, and by the way, Silva used this opportunity to establish his authority, purge a group of people, and further consolidate his power.

But this time the situation was different, Silva was on the side of the referee, he said: "This year is different, you have to negotiate with the referee in August, even if it is a reserve referee, you have to talk to them. Does the league have to go against all the judges? ”

Min Congda said: "So what? What should I do? I just had a press conference in the morning, and you invited me to dinner in the evening just to remind me that I am not up to the job and want me to resign? ”

Silva's voice softened and said, "Of course I won't let you quit, I can offer you some quiet and well-paid positions." Or... Are you interested in the position of NBA Asia Pacific President? ”

Min Congda smiled and said, "I just moved from Los Angeles to New York, do you want to drive me to BJ right away?" I'm not a ball, I'm going to be kicked around like this by you. ”

"Of course, I won't let you go right away, but you can work in New York for a year or two, get acquainted with the work of the league, and arrange some job opportunities for you to increase your qualifications and experience," Silva said. ”

Silva's words are quite explicit, which means that you will be here for a year or two, and then you will be sent overseas to raise you with a high salary, and you will not be involved in the affairs of the headquarters.

If it were someone else, Silva wouldn't have said it so directly, but the two of them were very familiar with Min Congda, and Silva knew that Min Congda liked to go straight, so he was not welcome.

Just then, Ida and Grace returned from the bathroom, and the two ended their-for-tat exchange of opinions, and Silva looked at Min Congda with inquiring eyes, hoping that he would think it carefully and give an answer as soon as possible.

Min thought to himself, it seems that the harmony between David Stern and Adam Silva is not as harmonious as it seems, and the struggle has never stopped.

Especially in the past two years, there must have been major differences between the two sides on the direction of the future path of the NBA, and Silva has not fully embraced Stern's philosophy, but has tried to take a different path.

Stern originally thought that Silva was a person he cultivated and would inherit his spiritual will to some extent, but he didn't expect this guy to become the subordinate dog of the major shareholders so quickly, and the league is sliding towards complete gambling and capitalization.

Of course, all of this is going to take a process, and the summer of 2015 is undoubtedly a very, very critical juncture, a fork in the road the NBA will take.

In August, the league will hold labor negotiations with the referees, followed by a board meeting in September to discuss whether to legalize gambling and determine the strategic path for the next 10 to 20 years.

Min Congda realized from Silva's attitude that his arrival would have an impact on the future direction of the NBA, and he was definitely an immeasurable heavyweight chess piece.

Min Congda is a magical person, he never underestimates himself with medium intelligence, once he realizes that he is important, he will kick his nose and face to maximize his importance.

It's the same as his coaching style.

"Silva, this dog, knows that I will ruin his plans when I come, and tries to threaten me and get me out."

"Since you invited me into New York, there is nothing really good, you want me to leave casually, there is no door!"

If Stern is familiar with the Three Kingdoms, he should know that his move to transfer Min Congda, the general manager of Los Angeles, to the office of the League, as early as more than 1,500 years ago in China, some people tried to recruit border generals into Beijing to quell the chaos in the palace, but in the end it was a big deal.

Min Congda came to New York from Los Angeles, comparable to Dong Zhuo when he entered Beijing, he came and came, how could he leave easily before he did something.

"Mrs. Silva, it's a very, very good idea to choose an Italian restaurant tonight, I used to have an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, and the pizza was a must." Min Congda took the initiative to talk to Grace.

"Oh, I know, I know, it's the red-headed boots restaurant? It's not a small reputation, but I heard that it's closed? It's a pity that I haven't tasted it yet. ”

Grace knew that the owner of the Red Head Boots restaurant had died and closed the shop.

"Yes, it was a tragedy, but thankfully I found the murderer for Ada's uncle, you know, a thug who killed people casually for the sake of fame, for the sake of fame on the road. He used a bomb to kill Christopher, who was parked on the side of the road... I later saw him with my own eyes... He wanted to flee at the time, but it was too late, and the upper half of his body was blown into a honeycomb, and it was almost impossible to recognize his appearance......"

"Oh, terrible, it's horrible." Grace shook her head, and it was clear from the look in her eyes that she didn't really want to continue on this horrible topic.

Ada also kicked her husband lightly, hoping that he would not say such inappropriate words.

Min Congda continued: "But the first thought in my mind at that time was that I must avenge him, for my friends, and for the people with whom I have friendships. So I wasted a lot of energy, paid some price, and with the help of the FBI, I was able to find the murderer. You know, how unreliable the Los Angeles police are. But I insist that this is our traditional righteousness in Chinese, and I am somewhat similar to the Italians in this respect, which is why I will come together with Ida. I've heard that some people will call Italy the China of Europe, and I think there is some truth to that. ”

Min Congda's words were recognized by Ada's eyes, and Min Congda's emphasis on feelings and righteousness was indeed appreciated by Ada.

And these traits can be said to be less and less in the capital-led, ruthless NBA league.

As for Silva and Grace, they are both Jews, and the word "righteous anger" rarely appears in their life dictionaries.

From Min Congda's words, Silva has already heard the answer, "We are not on the same path, I will not leave my current post, I will do things for Stern." ”

Silva sighed inwardly, he knew that this kraft candy, stinky shit-like guy couldn't get rid of him after all, and he had to fight him well.

(End of chapter)