Don't talk trash to him.

Chapter 60 Detroit, a bunch of weaklings

20 years later, the NBA's recognized "No. player in the league" is Michael Jordan.

But from the perspective of league management, the number one person in the NBA still has to be David Stern!
In 1984, the NBA's market value fell to 1550 million US dollars and was on the verge of bankruptcy. David Stern, a lawyer, took the position of president at this time. Subsequently, a series of reforms brought new vitality to the league.

In order to create hype, he turned the All-Star Game into the All-Star Weekend, adding skill-based competitions such as the "Slam Dunk Contest" and the "Three-Point Shooting Contest" so that players can give back to fans in many ways.

Another major initiative must be the "Christmas War"!
On Christmas Day, when the other three major leagues in North America have no games, two or three "focus battles" with a lot of gimmicks are arranged to increase the NBA's competitiveness in the United States. - Facts have proved that this idea has no problems except that the players who have games on that day will curse. In more than a decade, the current "Christmas Battle" has become a major "golden sign" of the NBA, just like the "All-Star Weekend".

Many families watch "The Christmas War" as their Christmas entertainment.

This year David Stern has arranged two "Christmas games".

One game is between the Heat and the Lakers.

This will be the first time the "OK" combination meets on the court after parting ways. The love-hate relationship between Kobe and O'Neal will make this game full of highlights.

Previously, the league promoted this game as a "Christmas dinner".

But the league's hype was in vain on what should have been a mediocre night in mid-November. Now the outside world's attention to this game is far less than that of another focus battle:
Pacers vs. Pistons!
The first meeting between the two teams after the "Palace of Auburn Hills Incident" was held at the Pacers' home court. Everyone wanted to see if the two teams would have a second "all-out fight" in the "Christmas War"!
Sure enough, basketball's ratings can't beat MMA...

David Stern wanted to slap himself in the face.

Why were these two teams arranged to play the "Christmas Game" in the first place?

Then he recalled that at that time he felt that the two teams played tough and classical styles, and the scene was quite 90s, so he wanted to "recall the past" in the "Christmas Game"... Now, I don't know if it is a "recall the past", but if these two teams really fight each other on the stage of the "Christmas Game", the owners of the 30 teams in the league will probably kill him.

He immediately arranged a series of measures, urging the Pacers' top management to upgrade the stadium's security system, and also ordered the media to stop fanning the flames and stirring up the emotions of the players of both teams before the game.

Donnie Walsh quickly carried out David Stern's orders.

For this game, Conseco Fieldhouse temporarily deployed a hundred security guards in a circle in every corner of the stadium. There were 10 security guards arranged behind the Pistons bench, who watched the fans' every move with a keen eye.

A layer of tarpaulin was also set up on both sides of the visiting team's player tunnel to prevent Pacers fans from throwing things when the Pistons players entered and exited.

The seats next to the field were tied together, so even the most impulsive fans couldn't swing chairs and commit violence like they did in Auburn Hills.

Barkley looked at the serious atmosphere and couldn't help laughing: "You can feel the Christmas atmosphere all over the United States, even the White House, except Conseco."

The Pistons' security configuration today is also very different from the past.

In the past, there was only one security guard accompanying the team, but today there are three more.

Each of these security guards looked as if they were facing a great enemy. I guess they had already made arrangements for their funeral arrangements with their families before entering the stadium.

It wasn't just the security guards who were under pressure, the Pistons players were also a little scared.

After all, the fans of Detroit did go too far at the time, and the subsequent punishment looked like "50 points on each side", but...

It’s no big deal that four season ticket holders are missing from the stands, as they will soon be replaced by newcomers.

The team is going to lose four main players, or even the core, and this season is basically over.

So before going on the court, Larry Brown kept emphasizing: "No matter what those crazy bitches are yelling at you, just ignore them and play the game well." This is actually asking them to "not fight back when they are beaten, and not talk back when they are scolded by the audience."

They felt much more at ease when they saw the tall tarpaulins on both sides and the 10 additional security guards behind the bench.

They felt relieved, but the Pacers fans who came to watch the game were very unhappy.

Many of them are planning to cause trouble!
But now, their own stadium protects the opponent's players so much...

"yu..."

The boos started and never stopped.

All kinds of trash talk came out of their mouths, and the scene was like the howling of thousands of ghosts. Even the energy cube known as the "devil's home court" was much inferior to Conseco tonight.

However, the attacks of trash talk and booing alone could not shake the Pistons at all.

They looked much more relaxed and were conducting their pre-match warm-ups in an orderly manner.

The Pacers fans at the scene were so angry that they were about to eat their lunch. Su Wan entered the stadium with the team and noticed this situation.

When the home player came out next, he walked out to the accompaniment of "Extreme Ways", which caused huge cheers from the audience.

The Pistons players sitting on the bench all looked sideways. They didn't expect that the newcomer Suwan could make the Indiana people like him so quickly in such a short time.

Su Wan walked to the center of the venue without stopping, but walked to the sidelines, took a handheld microphone from the commentator, and then jumped onto the technical table.

There was a sudden low cheer from the audience, and everyone unconsciously revealed expectant looks.

The first time Suwan jumped the technical platform was during the summer league, when he shouted to the audience, "This is my horse"; the second time he jumped the technical platform was during his professional debut, when he performed a pre-match ritual of throwing magnesium powder.

Now these have become his classic moments.

After joining the Pacers, Suwan had never jumped over the technical table, so this jump...

Even the BGM disappeared, and the noisy scene suddenly became so quiet that even the panting of the woman jogging at night could be heard clearly.

They waited for Su Wan's next move.

The "two Wallaces" looked at each other and saw the disdain in each other's eyes. They sneered at Su Wan's behavior.

But at this moment, Su Wan spoke and ran towards them...

“What can I say?”

"Detroit……"

Su Wan looked towards the Pistons bench and happened to meet the eyes of several of them. He stretched out his index finger and kept shaking it at them:
"A bunch of weaklings who fight when they can't beat the ball!"

Don’t worry, those “James fans” who mainly watch the friendly exchanges with LeBron James, because after the Christmas game, there will be a James-James drama that you like best.

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(End of this chapter)