On July 17, 2002, Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment, once again expressed his stance on the loss of NBA broadcasting rights:

"We lost the football game two years ago, but we still ranked first in the ratings, and after losing the baseball game, we were still number one."

"Even though losing basketball will take a bit of a toll on us, we can reschedule the show in prime time, and NBC is still that NBC."

NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol also voiced his opinion:

"I think the definition of victory has been completely distorted now, and if you win the broadcast rights and you end up losing hundreds of millions of dollars, what are you winning?"

"When faced with the prospect of significant financial damage, we choose to leave because NBC is accountable to shareholders."

"We left football, it was the right thing to do, and the same is true for the reason we left baseball, and now the NBA demands are going to cost us hundreds of millions of dollars, so the answer is simple, let's quit."

All media people naturally know that what the sports president said is the truth.

In the 2000~2001 season, the NBA finally made NBC lose nearly 100 million US dollars, and in the 01~02 season, the loss amount doubled, even reaching 200 million US dollars.

The icy numbers speak for themselves, with NBA regular season ratings dropping from 4.3 to 3.0 from the early '90s to 2000;

The playoffs did not escape such a fate, dropping from 6.5 to 4.9.

New York's hot ball market and the Knicks' rising market value can't change the fact that fans don't buy it.

The polarized ball market has taken a huge toll on NBC in terms of ratings.

James Dolan and MSG executives may not know anything about basketball, but they do know what New York fans like to watch, and pouting singles are not as good as fancy dribbling on the outside.

2 points under the basket, it is better to break the air and catch the dunk.

The so-called iron-blooded pure basketball is worthless in the face of ratings, and New York's success is largely a blood-sucking of the entire Eastern Conference.

NBC officially said goodbye to fans not long ago, and when recalling the 12-year broadcast process, the early stage of the short film is naturally the Bulls dynasty, and Michael Jordan is a well-deserved protagonist;

From '96 to 2002, the protagonist in the short film naturally became the dynasty of the Knicks, and Lee Woo reached four consecutive championships and became a well-deserved protagonist.

A long time ago, Marf Albert, Steve Jones, and Bill Wharton discussed NBC's end of cooperation with the NBA league during the broadcast;

In the last episode of the show, when Bob Costas said goodbye to the fans emotionally in the studio, it still made many old fans feel sad:

"It's great to witness the Jordan and Lee era, and it's great to see the Lakers break the Knicks' dominance in their final NBC season."

"Lee is only 24 years old, I don't know how many more championships he will win in the future, and I can't predict if the Lakers will be able to create their dynasty again."

"But at this moment, when we look back on it all, when we say goodnight again, what I know for sure is that this is the last time you'll see the NBA on NBC."

The end film montage is shot in an empty arena and shows a basketball bouncing in the background, ending with "Thank you for the memory."

The day before the freeze was coming to an end, the sports media began to discuss the future of the NBA:

"How do you get the ratings back?"

"How do you get fans to buy tickets and enter the stadium to watch the game?"

"How to make the small ball market rise? Instead of watching Los Angeles VS New York for three years in a row! ”

Earlier this year, the NBA signed a six-year deal with The Walt Disney Company and Turner Sports;

Renewing an existing agreement with TNT and allowing ABC and ESPN to acquire the rights to broadcast league games, ABC and ESPN pay an average of $400 million per season.

Another part of the deal is that ABC gets the rights to broadcast the NBA Finals, at least five playoff games and 15 regular season games, as well as Saturday morning NBA Inside Stuff.

Compared to NBC, ABC will take over fewer broadcasts, with the former broadcasting 33 regular season games in a season and the latter halving the number of regular season games in the new season.

The new broadcast plan will naturally stimulate the small ball market!

Just as Ray Allen in Milwaukee was not as exposed as Kobe Bryant and Lee You, David Stern hopes to boost viewership by reducing the broadcast of games, but the ultimate gain may be that the small ball market is marginalized.

This will affect the endorsement of players, and sponsors will also favor the big ball market stars, and in general, the small ball market has become the object of blood sucking.

Another piece of news is that Reebok will become an official sponsor of the NBA.

However, there are 11 teams in the league that are uniformed by the hooks, and the Knicks were not in this ranks in the past, and after Li You became the hook's brother, the team naturally signed a new contract

At present, the NBA league is not a hook world, Reebok is very strong, if it weren't for Iverson's record is really stretched, and there are constant off-court turmoil, maybe their influence will be greater.

On July 18, New York Mayor Bloomberg received the British Prime Minister, and a large number of New York celebrities and celebrities were naturally invited to a private banquet that night.

Li You has acted as a "mascot" again, and Blair, who was successfully re-elected last year, is naturally a big man with all sides.

Britain's youngest prime minister, last year's approval rating was as high as 75%, and he was naturally the absolute protagonist in the banquet.

Talk about music with well-known singers, and talk about sports such as football with sports stars like Lee Woo.

England finished 6th in the World Cup and didn't win the title, and the prime minister talked about it endlessly, even complaining like ordinary fans:

"Sports are all about championships, and I don't like the excuse of losing to a champion team."

'When I hosted England at Downing Street, I told the media that if the results were not good, that was the responsibility of manager Christian Eriksen.

"I don't like the choice of coaches for the national team in recent years, the previous head coach Hoddle actually wanted to bring the wizard with him, God! How did this guy get the head coach? ”

Most of the celebrities in the banquet got this point, because everyone didn't care about football, but Li You remembered the gossip news of the last World Cup, and appropriately acted as a "cheer":

"So you ended up firing the manager, didn't you? I think that's what everybody wants to see! ”

Blair nodded quite smugly, and raised a glass to Li You and the others by the way:

“Cheers！”

Bloomberg also smiled and drank champagne, and Li You noticed that Tom Cruise had been looking this way, and after smiling unobtrusively, he nodded and left.

Because of his height, Tom has never been to make do with Li You.

When the two stand together, the tall and strong Li You will set off each other as "dwarfs", and big stars with idol baggage will not be boring.

Although there were no Hollywood gossip reporters at the scene, Tom was not happy to be photographed together.

There are almost 100 people in the banquet hall on the second floor, and Li You can see the careful thinking of this big star, and some people in the other circle of actresses naturally noticed this.

Women don't care about big people, but gossip at banquets that will be the talk of the week ahead.

Mariah Carey just signed with Universal Music not long ago, and there are a lot of moths in the record industry.

In addition to gossiping about Justin and Britney's bloody romance, the news in New York did not forget to educate the public about the grievances and hatred between the big singer and her ex-husband.

When Maria Kelly, who was dressed in a white dress and dressed up in a shiny manner, approached Li You's side, she whispered in a coquettish voice:

"I remember that at the party of the former president and his wife, he didn't like you a little, Lee, did you have an intersection?"

Compared with previous years, this Miss Kelly has gained a lot of weight, and in a few years, it is estimated that she will become the smiling Sister Niu in Li You's memory

"Maybe it's Nicole's sake, you know, Jimmy and her have some calls, and men have some weird possessiveness!"

Maria Carey covered her mouth and chuckled when she heard this, and took the opportunity to clink glasses with Li You, and she didn't forget to lose a few winks.

If he still maintains the figure of the early 90s, Li You may "not want to work hard" tonight, but at the moment he is really not interested in pressing "F", and his eyes are thrown to the blind

Matt Parker, who became the president of Hook Global Footwear, is expected to be the CEO of the future, and it is only natural that such a party will join in the excitement tonight.

Seeing Li You being surrounded by several 30+ actresses and making fun, he stepped forward to solve the siege, and by the way, he also complained about Li You's aesthetics:

"Miss Kelly is a big beauty!"

"The waist is too thick", Li You complained in his heart, and then naturally changed the topic and asked:

"I thought the hooks would choose to be the league's jersey sponsor, but I didn't expect you to take over."

Thinking of Reebok's competition, Matt Parker just smiled:

'11 teams, that's enough, some teams have a limited impact on the ground and they're not in our plans.

"If you can join a club like Manchester United in the future, maybe we can have a chance to work together."

On July 19, after the freeze period ended, the teams also began to move.

The Pistons, who had a good season in the Eastern Conference last season, signed Chauncey Billups in free agency;

Despite his average starter performance with the Hawks, there were some highlights throughout the season, and a playoff team like the Pistons offered an olive branch, and Billups naturally chose to join.

The Spurs finally waited for Manu Ginobili, and although he was drafted by the Spurs as early as 1999, the Argentine Flyers finally landed in the NBA three years late.

The deal is not destined to be a loss, and although the World Championships have not yet begun, Argentina is destined to surprise the United States in this tournament, and Ginobili will also make a name for himself.

In the summer league, the Knicks' rookies performed well, and D'Antoni also felt that the team's talent seemed to be enough at the moment.

Stoudemire stood out when he played in the McDonald's High School League, and most of the time he was a talent crusher.

In the summer league, Stoudemire did not receive too many beatings, relying on his excellent talent, and played a "cruelty" performance.

Everyone knows that the team has changed managers, and if they can make a good impression, maybe they will get more opportunities in the new season, so the summer league has won a championship.

The Knicks also made a move after the freeze period ended, with 23 million for 4 years and a contract extension for the team's main power forward, Kurt Thomas.

Korte, who is about to turn 30, made some compromises, with a guaranteed three-year contract and a last-year player option.

Although the Knicks' interior line can't withstand O'Neal, they seem to be at ease in the face of the Eastern Conference.

Kurt Thomas, who was drafted by the Heat with the 10th pick in '95, is at the age of 30 and is in his prime, and the Knicks are hoping that he can prop up the team's interior defense.

The first signing of the offseason can be regarded as the team's expression of the importance of him.

After completing the contract renewal, Kurt Thomas also took the initiative to state in an interview:

"Even though we lost the finals last season, we're going to win it back!"

"I love playing in New York and Lee will lead us to continue winning championships and we're ready for it!"

The New York Post was happy with the signing, and it was too hard to sign an All-Star caliber big man.

However, the melon-eating crowd was not attracted by this news, but it was Artest and Stephen Jackson who "punched Rock Park" to make everyone happy.

The news even made it to NBC's news channel, where NBA players and streetball players mingled and lost all the money

While Lee Woo has been busy attending events and parties for the past half month, Artest and his good brother Stephen Jackson have been working their balls.

As a child from Queens, Artest likes to pretend to be an X in front of a group of friends and family.

In order to show his influence, Artest took Stephen Jackson to eat, drink and have fun with him after the start of this offseason.

Training is naturally boring, and not long ago, Artest had a brain pump and wanted to go to Rock Park to install X.

As a champion striker, Artest is still very ranked, and when he arrived at the scene, the "wild DJ" held a microphone and yelled, and the onlookers also cheered.

The first two days were a bit of fun, but the black brothers were always playing full of confrontation, and inadvertent trash talk made Artest break the defense.

After a tall, lanky black player managed to shake off Artest and hit a three-point jumper on the right flank, the hot black streetball player shouted:

"Ni! Look at my shots! If I'm with the Knicks this year, the championship will still be ours. ”

This kind of trash talk of "I can do it too" suddenly made Artest get on his head, and he was really almost funny about playing flowers, but he had a "punch the size of a punching bag"!

Faced with this provocation, Artest finally chose to solve the problem by force, and Stephen Jackson was also crazy, which eventually developed into a big scuffle.

"Knicks player Artest was involved in a brawl at Rock Park, resulting in multiple injuries"

When NBC suddenly broadcast the news, it immediately made New York fans happy.

The gossip about the champion Lakers has been the most discussed on TNT's show lately, and it was only after Artest grabbed the headlines that the topic was changed again.

On last week's show, the trio talked more about offense, and with Artest making headlines, it was natural to talk about defense.

At this point, Kenny Smith would make sense with facts and use Excel to strengthen his arguments:

"Last season, there were 26 players who averaged more than 20 points per game during the regular season."

"Obviously, the defense has more influence on the game, which is also in line with the idea of the championship team."

"In this year's Finals, both teams shot less than 30% from beyond the three-point line, and this result was naturally affected by defense."

Kenny Smith gave his opinion to the camera, and the director did not forget to show some relevant data:

There are only 7 players who average more than 25 points per game, and Lee You's average of 32.1 points per game is almost a break in the lead!

Iverson, who is ranked second, is averaging 31.4 points per game, but everyone doesn't talk about it too much.

With a shooting percentage of less than 40%, a true shooting rate of 48.9%, and a PER of 21.9, Iverson naturally won't be noticed.

Charles Barkley, as always, likes to be thick with the past and the present, and at this time he began to blow again:

"The fact is that the league has not changed much in defense over the years, and the reason for the low scoring is related to the number of rounds, but also to the individual ability of the players."

"If my peak comes in this era, I can also average 30+ per game, there are no big men in the league who can limit me, maybe a triple-double per game is not a problem for me!"

"Look at the performance of Kenyon Martin in the Eastern Conference Finals, this guy can't attack when he leaves this area, except for a reliable finish within 0~3 feet."

"The players are too soft nowadays, and they don't want to work hard to polish their skills, and the players' ability is declining, which is the real reason why there are fewer and fewer points."

Ernie Johnson noticed that Jeff Van Gundy, who was invited, had not yet spoken, and then took the initiative to ask:

"Jeff, which do you think is more important, offense or defense, for a championship team?"

Jeff Van Gundis, who put on a handsome shelf and wore a black suit and a red scarf, said slowly:

"No doubt, defensively, of course!"

"Whether it's a winner-or-lose game or a seven-game series, defense is the most important thing, and good defense can change the course of the game."

"When you don't feel good on the night of qualifying, defending can help you win the game."

"Maybe the fans like the offense, but for the manager and the players, they prefer to defend because defense brings championships!"

With four championship rings in his hands, Jeff Van Gundy's words were indeed convincing, Kenny Smith smiled and nodded, and followed the topic:

"It looks like Jeff is backing the Spurs next season, and the Spurs were number one last season in terms of limiting opponents' points per 100 possessions, and they did get the second place in the West on defense."

Jeff Van Gundy nodded smugly, but of course he had some of his own thoughts:

"Tim Duncan is underrated, both in terms of base and high-level stats, and he played at an MVP level last season."

"If it weren't for Lee, I think Tim Duncan would have won the MVP last season!"

"It's a shame that the Spurs ended up losing the Western Conference semifinals, and the most important thing for them in the offseason is to replenish the perimeter players."

"As long as the tactics are right, I think the Spurs can get their revenge next season!"

“.”

After this episode aired, the fans in San Antonio watched with enthusiasm, and the call for "Popovich is out of class" was even louder.

Spurs fans have completely run out of patience for this coach who will only "smash Duncan", and just before the championship coach has a contract, everyone began to call on management to fire Popovich.

Originally, the Spurs kept a low profile in the offseason, and Popovich, who signed Ginobili, was making a fortune.

As a result, after watching the show, Popovich secretly shouted that it was not good, and even fools could hear that this one wanted to replace him!

Jeff Van Gundy seemed to want to join the Spurs, but the management didn't respond, and Popovich sensed that something wasn't right and hurriedly went with a bottle of red wine to appease Duncan.

On the weekend of July 20, Duncan talked about the loss of the season while participating in the local show in San Antonio, and took the initiative to help Popovich say good things:

"This season has been a success for the Spurs, we've added new talent and improved our defense on the wings."

"The team is still on the rise, I want to bring David a championship before he retires, Coach Popovich is our dependent, and I believe that next season, the Spurs will be successful."

“.”

When these words came out, Jeff Van Gundy knew that he was out of the Spurs, and his thigh was bound by Popovich.

The bald young marshal really wanted to prove himself again, and his best partner Thibodeau was back with him, along with assistant coaches Don Chaney and Ewing.

The coaching team is full of talent, and Jeff Van Gundy just wants to find another big leg and continue his legendary coaching career.

Li You doesn't have to attend the party anymore this weekend, he has been busy for more than half a month, and he has a rare rest time, so he naturally has to practice hard.

rejected the invitation of "Sister Niu", naturally because there was a better choice.

When he woke up on Saturday, Li You Chiguo put on his upper body, looked at the blonde girl in the apartment busy at the dining table, scratched his head and subconsciously said:

"Don't tell me you woke up so early to make breakfast?"

Catherine, who was making scrambled eggs, gave Li You a blank look, turned her head and responded:

"That's all I'm good at! Everything else is bought, don't you feel hungry? And it's almost 16 o'clock, it's dinner! ”

Just last year he played a role in the hit NBC series Law and Order: Criminal Tendencies.

Li You is a loyal viewer of Law and Order, and he met Catherine Winnick at a party in the crew.

The two are the same age and have similar birthdays, but this chick has two older brothers, and they have a strong independence, so they can meet because of this frequent encounter in Hollywood.

Li You noticed the time, the two tossed for most of the night last night, and after several overtime games, they slept in a daze until the afternoon.

came to the table with scrambled eggs, and wanted to push Li You to the bathroom, but the two twisted together with a grin, and when they noticed Li You's plan, Catherine half pushed and half pushed, and after being hugged, she simply laughed and scolded:

"What a bastard you are!!"

By the time the two of them returned to the table, the pizza they ordered had already cooled down, and after reheating, the taste could only be deserved.

"Why don't you go to the restaurant for dinner, even if it's a weekend, you don't have to worry about reservations."

Hearing Li You's words, Catherine glanced at him again, and while eating pizza, she complained:

"Your life will corrupt me, I don't like to go to those famous restaurants, I need makeup, I need the right clothes, and most importantly, a dinner is my meal for a month."

The 24-year-old blonde girl is the most beautiful time, Catherine is convex and concave, likes sports, has muscles on her body, and has excellent physical fitness.

Looking at the girl who was eating heavily, Li You suddenly remembered the Nets Hope Dorazik, the two chicks have completely different personalities, the latter is a master of fish farming, and the surface brother Kidd is fascinated by it.

Li You also gulped on pizza, noticed that the other party was in a good mood, and asked again:

"In fact, you can have a better life, at least you don't have to look at people's faces for the sake of a role like now."

Catherine, who ran into walls everywhere, could naturally hear what Li You meant, as long as she often read newspapers and magazines in New York, she knew that Li You was very generous to beautiful girls.

Catherine, who got up to receive the water, just smiled, returned to the dining table, and sat in Li You's arms, although she had very few clothes on her body, but at this time she hugged her generously and said:

"I love being on screen, it's that simple, I'm only 24 years old, and if I'm 30, maybe I'll choose another life."

Although Li You felt that another life was to find a pick-up man to marry, he still did not dismantle the stage at this time, and changed the topic and said:

"Where do you want to go on the weekend? How about I'll show you around the city! ”

Touching the strong muscles on Li You's body, Catherine had a smile in her eyes, and suddenly leaned into her ear and whispered:

"Looks like the little man can't do it?"

Under such provocation, the two quickly got together, and finally rolled the sheets again.

On July 22, when Li You drove to the Talitown Training Center, he parked the car and rubbed his waist, noticed himself in the rearview mirror, and secretly complained in his heart:

"Wounded by wine, so haggard! From this day on, you must stop drinking! ”

It was the first time that Li You, a girl with such physical fitness, had encountered it, and the fancy ball control attack in overtime couldn't solve the problem, which really tired him.

The Knicks staff all stepped forward to say hello after seeing Li You, and when they came to the general manager Grenfield's office, Artest was also there.

"God! You're an NBA player! Going to Rock Park to fight with amateur golfers? ”

"Ron, you have to learn to control your temper, why don't we go to play away and the crowd yells and scolds twice, and you go up and punch the crowd?"

"It just so happened that Lee also arrived, and the trouble you caused made the Knicks a joke, and now, we all want to hear your assurance!"

When he saw Li You, who was wearing a gray T-shirt and his face was pale, Artest hurriedly made a serious guarantee:

"I'm never going to Rock Park again, I'm going to shoot 35 percent from three-point range this season!"

This season has been so strained and ushered in the team option, if the head coach does not give him a chance in the new season, Artest knows that he will definitely be cold.

He hasn't made a lot of money yet, so naturally he won't get along with the American knife, and more importantly, Artest, who has calmed down, also feels that he has lost his style, and the champion striker actually fights with amateur players

Looking at Artest with a sad face, Li You couldn't cry or laugh, handed the other party a membership card of the club, and then whispered:

"If you want to practice, don't go to the street players, this club has an indoor basketball hall and good facilities, give Tim Grover a call, he can help you find a lot of professional sparring partners."

Hearing Li You's advice, Artest, who took the membership card, took the initiative to hug and greet him, and finally said with some embarrassment:

"I'll never fight with an amateur player again, Lee, and thank you for your support."

When Artest left, Grunfield shook his head helplessly, this matter was indeed a bit humiliating, the champion striker was shown by the amateur golfer and fought, which was an advertisement for the amateur golfer

Thinking of something at work, Grunfield handed Li You a piece of information, and at the same time briefly introduced:

"The Bucks are going to trade Glenn Robinson, and we only need to pay two wing players and a 2003 first-round pick to bring him to New York."

"Traded for an All-Star forward, Lee, what do you think of Robinson?"

Hearing this news, Li You knew that Ray Allen had won a phased victory, no wonder the other party returned to Milwaukee early, and it is estimated that the locker room has been dominated by this time.

"Forget it! I know him, Ray doesn't think well of him, we already have enough attackers and there's no need to disrupt the existing roster structure. ”

Looking through Glenn Robinson's profile, Li You quickly responded, and Glenfield nodded, and he didn't care about it.

The curly-haired boss wants another All-Star level player to the team, but Grunfield wants to change to a big man, and the "big dog" with a bad reputation is almost out of breath, and he doesn't look down on the other party in his heart.

Handing over a document again, Grunfield smiled and introduced:

"The 76ers are going to send Mutombo, and we have a chance to get him, and with the same leverage, the 76ers should agree to the deal."

These two All-Stars should be the big fish this offseason, Li You is a little disappointed, and he is also not optimistic about Mutombo:

'What we need more is young talent, we can play in the new season and coach D'Antoni may have some more requests.

"As for this deal, forget it, we need more flanks."

Grenfield nodded again, Mutombo may be an excellent center in the Eastern Conference, but when it comes to O'Neal, he is not optimistic that the opponent can play too much

Li You, the two big fish in the offseason, was not interested, and Grenfield, the general manager, also knew that Li You's schedule was tight, so he simply asked directly:

"Lee, what type of players do you think should be added to the team? The Knicks still have salary space. ”

Li You pondered slightly, thinking of his existing talent, and quickly spoke:

"Maybe you need some big guys who are good at defending big men, Pau is too young, and Wright isn't doing well defensively."

"That's all I can think of, in fact, the team doesn't have to worry about the regular season record, as long as we don't suffer injuries, in the Eastern Conference, we have a good chance of still getting 60 wins."

Hearing this answer, Grunfield touched his stomach with a smile, and he believed that Li You could guarantee the team's lower limit:

"Looks like I need to talk to Mike again, don't worry, Lee! As long as there is a suitable star player, we will notify you as soon as possible! ”

The two stopped talking about work and bragged about it, and Li You was going to visit the equipment manager Mike, and by the way, he had lunch to replenish his energy.

Out of the office, Li Youcai saw the text message on his mobile phone, and his good brother Ray Allen seemed to be very happy:

"Lee, I succeeded, the Bucks have become my team completely!"

Apparently management has also told Ray Allen that they are trading "lazy dogs".

There will be a change in the broadcast side for the new season, a small ball market like Milwaukee will be missing another star player, and Ray Allen will be less exposed.

Li You didn't plan to remind his good brother of these things, he simply blessed the other party, and some memories came to his mind:

"Sure enough, I still have to suffer a beatings before I can achieve brother basketball!"

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(End of chapter)