He also didn't sleep all night, and when he saw the news from those media in the morning, his mood was even worse, and the attitude between the media and the alliance was too strong, especially the remarks of several senior executives within the alliance who did not reveal their identities, which made him feel pressured.

He originally hoped that Zhou Quan would not be banned because of Hughes Blake's racist behavior, but now it seems that it can't.

Almost everyone is clamoring for Iron Fist to be expelled from the league, even from the sports world, and if he doesn't even have a ban, how can he explain it to the league and the media?

He was very cautious and deliberately held a press conference to announce the punishment decision for this incident.

First, Hughes Blake was found guilty of racist language against Zhou, and was immediately suspended from the penalty for the season and fined $10,000.

Second, Zhou Quan's violent behavior against Hughes Blake was true, and he was banned for one game and fined $50,000.

Third, three Bulls fans who used racist language against Zhou Quan last night were banned from entering the Bulls' home game arena for life.

In addition, Stern's announcement shows that the NBA has zero tolerance for racial discrimination.

He made such a decision to punish each other in the hope that this matter would end here.

Hughes Blake's loss is $10,000, and there is nothing else to prevent him from coming back to work next season.

Although Zhou Quan was banned for one game, there are still four games in the future, and the SuperSonics have a chance.

As for the $50,000 fine, last year, the Lakers' Van Exel was banned for seven games and fined $25,000 just for violently pushing the referee, which is already very light.

But no one was satisfied with the result of this punishment.

Hughes Blake was not satisfied, neither were his supporters, and even more so was the media targeting Zhou Quan.

Supersonic is also not satisfied, and Zhou Quan is equally dissatisfied.

Immediately after the punishment was announced, Stern felt a tremendous amount of pressure, and the opposition was too loud.

Many of the league's top brass, especially the referees' committee, ran to his office to express their anger at him while disagreeing with his decision to penalize.

"President, he should be banned for life."

"Mr. Stern, if you insist on such a penalty decision, then I'm sorry, I'm going to resign, because I'm afraid that I will be killed by those players in the future."

"I resign, too."

"We can't stand a player who beats the referee on the pitch where we take the penalty, it's impossible."

"Get that damn Chinese out of the alliance."

"The president should cancel his visa waiver."

Stern knew that there was trouble, so many people were against him, even he couldn't withstand such a big pressure.

"Gentlemen, it's the Grand Final, and you know, if we don't let Tekken participate, we'll have a lot less ratings, and in the end, it will affect your salary." He said.

"I'm sorry, Mr. President, but I don't want to be beaten to death on the court more than money."

"Iron Fist must leave the NBA."

Several referee committee executives and referees were unrelenting and resolute, giving Stern a headache to death.

"Gentlemen, don't you know that the company's television contract with NBC has ended and the next contract is now being negotiated? Without Iron Fist, the ratings will definitely drop, and it will definitely affect NBC's next contract, which is very serious. He said in a very serious tone, warning.

"Mr. President, without the Iron Fist and Michael Jordan, he is the guarantee of the ratings."

"Yes, Mr. Stern, the cancer must be removed."

"We still have Michael Jordan, and the ratings won't drop much, I promise."

The attitude of the executives is still very resolute, and it is still internal pressure, and the external pressure is even greater than the internal pressure.

Stern was right, and soon, his cell phone and office phone were ringing.

After receiving a few calls, either from the big sponsors or the media, they all opposed his punishment decision, believing that Zhou Quan should be expelled and banned for life.

On Zhou Quan's side, the media wanted to interview him, but his mobile phone had long been turned off, and no one could contact him by phone.

At ten o'clock in the morning, when Supersonic left the hotel, there were waiting reporters outside, and as soon as Zhou Quan came out, the shutter clicked non-stop.

Everyone else was let go, but Zhou Quan was surrounded by reporters, with long guns and short guns, all aimed at him, and several security personnel surrounded him and slowly squeezed towards the bus.

"Iron Fist King, banned for one game, do you regret beating the referee?"

"NO, racists should be expelled from the coalition, I stand by my opinion."

"There's a league executive suggesting you should be kicked out of sports, do you think it should be?"

"I think the racist should be expelled from the world of sports, he is the trash of the human race."

"Do you condemn violence?"

"Of course, but I condemn racism even more."

"Do you think you still have a chance to defend your treble?"

"No amount of despicable means can stop me, including those shameful racists."

"Do you think this has anything to do with the bulls?"

"I don't know. But when I left the court, a lot of Bulls fans used racist language against me, and the league has punished me. ”

"Will you choose to leave the NBA?"

"I'm racially discriminated against right now and don't have the energy to think about what you're talking about."

Journalists are speechless, can you stop mentioning racial discrimination, we just want to mention your violence, we don't want to hear the word racism.

With a short distance of thirty meters, it took Zhou Quan more than ten minutes to pass, and after entering the bus, the door was closed, and the world was quiet.

"Iron Fist, are you alright?" Seeing that Zhou Quan's face was not very good, Ballmer asked.

"No, I'm fine." He shook his head.

After the team arrived at the airport, he went through another round of reporters.

At this time, Roger Philip was still in the hotel, using his mobile phone and landline to talk to Bob Arum and Tang Jin on the phone, discussing the impact of this incident on Zhou Quan's boxing world.

After the incident, Arum and Don Kim were also very annoyed, they invested 170 million US dollars for Zhou Quan and Tyson's World Boxing Championship, and Philip only accounted for 20 million of them, such a large investment, if this matter was affected, the loss would be immeasurable, and it could even directly bankrupt the two.

Don Jin's frantic voice sounded from the landline microphone: "I'm going to find someone to kill that shit referee, what's his name?" ”

Philip hurriedly persuaded: "Mr. Donkin, calm down, don't make things bigger, then it's completely over." ”

Arum said calmly: "Playing the referee is indeed a very troublesome thing, it is quite bad for the iron fist, we have to deal with it."

Although the media has now downplayed Hughes Blake's racist behavior, not all media outlets are like that, and there are still media outlets who speak out for the Iron Fist.

What we need to do now is to mobilize more media, and even some social organizations to fight against racial discrimination, so that we can turn reactive into proactive.

In short, before the boxing match, it is necessary to eliminate the adverse impact of this incident on the Iron Fist Champion and ensure the smooth progress of the boxing championship. ”

Donkin's manic voice sounded again: "Simply expand this matter, mobilize several anti-racist social organizations, and we have an anti-racism march in New York, which can definitely turn the situation around."

I can find a few anti-racist leaders who have a high reputation among blacks, and if they give them some money, they will definitely be willing to help us with demonstrations. ”

"It's a genius idea! We can indeed consider it. Rogge, you're coming to New York right away, we're going to have to act right away, buy some media to hype up that shit referee's racist behavior, and then launch an anti-racist march as soon as possible. Arum said excitedly.

"Racist the greatest athlete on the planet, if we do it well, can peel that damn guy off the skin and those media. A slap in the face of him is a fart, and racism is the big problem. Don Kim said excitedly.

"Okay, I'll book a plane right away." Philip said.

Then he rushed to New York to deal with the matter with Arum and Donkin.

On this day, many current and retired NBA players and players' agents were interviewed by the media and expressed their opinions on the matter.

"He should get out of the Union, out of the United States. Yes, I'm talking about him, the guy called Iron Fist. Vernon Maxwell, who had been beaten out of by Zhou Quan, said angrily in front of the media.

"I don't support violence, especially against referees." Out of jealousy of Zhou Quan, Tim Hardaway said when facing the media.

"He's the world's boxerweight champion, and it's dangerous to beat up a defenseless referee. If this kind of behavior happened on the street, he would definitely be prosecuted and go to jail. So he should be banned, banned for life. Pippen said.

"Hughes Blake should call the police because Tekken is the world professional heavyweight champion and he is not an ordinary person." Sean Kemp said.

"Beating the referee, that's the ugliest act! What I want to know is that Hughes Blake has an injury, he should file a lawsuit against Iron Fist, and he deserves a lot of compensation. Gary Payton said.

"I can't stand racism either, if it were me, I would also choose to use my fist to deal with that bitch guy, Iron Fist did a fantastic job! That's how he should be taught. Reggie Miller exploded in foul language when interviewed by the media.

Russell, the Lord of the Rings, stepped up and said, "I hate racism, and even though I won eight consecutive championships, in the locker room, the white players still refused to sit with our black players, and our celebrations had to be separated.

Of course, violence is wrong, but the act of resisting racial discrimination is commendable, and I support the Iron Fist. ”

David Falke said in an interview with the media: "I don't agree with Iron Fist's behavior, he has a lot of fans, and his violence against Mr. Referee will affect those fans and create a series of social problems, and he should be punished more severely, or even expelled from the sports world." ”

Speaking to the media, Grant Hill said: "Iron Fist should have complained to the league after the game about the referee's racist behavior, and violence is something I don't approve of. But I also disagree with racist behavior, which is disgusting behavior and thinking, and it is another form of violence. ”

Magic Johnson said in an interview: "I don't approve of violence and racism, but Iron Fist chose to deal with the problem in the wrong way, and he was impulsive." ”

Speaking to the media, Assassin Thomas said: "I strongly oppose racism, and I am surprised that a referee is deliberately deliberately racist against the league's signature star, the first active superstar with a huge reputation in the world?

I think it's that he's deliberately provoking Iron Fist, and this should be a conspiracy, a conspiracy against Iron Fist and the supersonics, and some people don't want to see a Chinese complete a three-peat.

In fact, since the beginning of this season, the media has been targeting Iron Fist, even if the SuperSonics have the best record in the West, Iron Fist is the best stat in the league, and they are also targeting him, and now they are getting more and more excessive. ”

Facing the media, Abdul-Jabbar angrily said: "Hughes Blake is too much, he shouldn't have said something like that, it's an insult to a billion people."

And Iron Fist's anger was to be expected, and if someone faced me and said, hey,, I'm sorry, I'm going to blow him in the head instead of just a slap in the face. ”

O'Neill said in an interview with the media: "We should not be discriminated against, black and white people are all human beings, and yellow people are the same, this is a social problem. ”

Zhou Quan's teammates and friends have been interviewed by the media, expressing their support for him and their opposition to racial discrimination.

In addition to the NBA, there are quite a few people who have come forward to speak out on this matter.

For example, some of Zhou Quan's friends, Roberts and Stallone, have expressed their support for Zhou Quan and their opposition to racism in front of the media.

And Michael Tyson, who spoke to the media about the racism he had received in prison, scolding racists in the worst of words.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, three sponsors of Zhou Quan publicly announced the unilateral termination of their contracts with Zhou Quan, all of which are world-class first-line brands.

This season, the media has been targeting Zhou Quan, and Zhou Quan has long been mentally prepared, speculating that there should be endorsement brands to abandon him, but what he guessed has not happened until today, when it finally happened.

Philip said on the other end of the phone: "Zhou, these three companies also said that they want you to compensate for the loss, and I am coordinating with them, but in the end there may be a lawsuit." week, maybe there will be brands to terminate the contract later, you have to be mentally prepared. ”

Zhou Quan said in a deep voice: "Rogge, it's okay to terminate the contract, if you compensate me, then accuse these brands of supporting racial discrimination, and I want to make them lose more than they gain."

Also, I don't have the energy to deal with these things right now, you can handle it all and I'm going to do my best to prepare for the next series. ”

"Okay, then I won't tell you about these things for the time being."

“OK。”

Philip concluded: "Zhou, there are some players in the league and their agents who have made some bad things about you, don't take it personally, they're just jealous of you.

You know, you've made a lot of money in the last few years, and it's easy to make people blush. At this time, few people want to see you hello, they just want to see you unlucky. ”

"I know."

Zhou Quan suddenly thought of those executives within the alliance, so he said: "Rogge, you can think of a way to find out which of the alliance's executives are targeting me." ”

"OK, it's easy, the Alliance Headquarters is not monolithic." Philip said.

……

(End of chapter)