The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 184 - 130 David Stern Only Cares About Ratings!_2

Chapter 184: Chapter 130 David Stern Only Cares About Ratings!_2

The entire Pacers team had been influenced by him, and revenge was never postponed overnight.

"This fucker," he had spoken harshly, and yet dared to provoke...

You deserved to go to the hospital!

Continuing on:

Popovich was on the sidelines clashing verbally with Su Wan, threatening "One day, Su Wan, you will be treated the same way"...

When the fans in the stands heard his threat, they couldn’t control their emotions and charged right in.

The "Conseco Incident" had completely erupted.

David Stern, once again, closed his eyes in despair.

Wow, Popovich, if only you had spoken less tonight, the "Conseco Riot" would have never happened.

Damn it!

Truly damn it!

Seeing this, David Stern had a clear judgment of the cause of the entire incident and also had a general standard for the punishment of both teams.

The next morning, the "Conseco Incident" became the headline news across all major media.

Fans who hadn’t watched the live broadcast were kicking themselves.

They had missed the "Auburn Palace Incident," and now they had missed the "Conseco Incident" too?

Were they just not destined to be part of the action?

Most media cried out "Thrilling!"

But what can you do, the Spurs have committed many wrongdoings.

Take just this season’s Western top eight, which team’s main player hadn’t suffered from Bruce Bowen’s "Black Hand"?

Only some narrowly escaped without injuries!

An unnamed player said, "The entire Spurs team should be hospitalized so they can understand if Bruce Bowen is actually a good guy or not!"

The New York Times never misses such a chance to mock, "I really want to know if in Tim Duncan’s eyes, is Jeff Foster a good man? In the Spurs’ eyes, are the Indiana fans good people? If not, unfortunately, the rest of the League views the Spurs the same way."

Almost everyone sided with Indiana.

Only the San Antonio media were still harshly criticizing the Pacers and Indiana fans.

Even Detroit, the city that most hated Su Wan, dared not speak out in his defense at this time.

They too understood that this was a moment when everyone turned against the fallen wall.

After all, everyone knew that the Spurs, who had attacked the fans, were completely finished, at least for the next season, they didn’t stand a chance.

Around 10 AM, the official swiftly updated the rulings on the "Conseco Incident."

First, for the Pacers’ side.

Jeff Foster, who performed a naked strangle on Tim Duncan, was suspended for 4 games; Su Wan, who had led fans to beat up Bruce Bowen, was suspended for 15 games, but he pleaded for calm among the fans later, so his sentence was reduced to 7 games;

No other players were penalized.

For the Spurs:

Like Artest, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, who brawled with fans, were directly suspended for one season, including all 82 regular season games and any possible playoff games;

The "instigator" Bruce Bowen was suspended for 30 games.

Old Horry was suspended for 25 games;

Popovich was suspended for 20 games;

Other Spurs players who had engaged with fans were also suspended for varying durations from 5 to 8 games.

As for the lead troublemaking Indiana fans, like before, they were handed over to the police.

The security personnel from that day, like those from Detroit, were all fired.

After the punishments came out, there were some surprises, except for Popovich’s punishment, which wasn’t very unexpected.

This was handled with the same severity as the "Auburn Palace Incident."

Popovich became the first head coach in NBA history to be officially suspended.

The League also introduced some new regulations.

For example, the number of security personnel per game was increased from the original 4-6 to 6-10.

Also, each arena’s security staff must now be equipped with tasers and similar devices.

These measures are naturally aimed at reducing the probability of fan riots.

That afternoon, the League released another new regulation:

The fines for "flagrant fouls level two" had increased, from originally varying between 20 to 50 thousand, to now at least 50 to 100 thousand—and players with more priors would face even higher fines.

It’s clear who this rule was targeting.

The media quickly named the new regulation:

The Bruce Bowen Clause.

As for whether it worked,

most media believed it could have a certain effect.

After all, everyone knew how bad the Spurs’ financial situation was; the owner didn’t have the money to pay fines for the players every day.

And Bruce Bowen only earned so little in a year, he couldn’t possibly use all his earnings to pay fines.

More importantly, the Spurs’ team members no longer had the guts to keep playing "dirty"...

The injury report for Tim Duncan, who was "choked," had come out:

Severe wear on the arm joints, forearm fracture, and muscle tears; optimistically, Tim Duncan would need until January of next year to recover.

Then there was Bruce Bowen, with a broken nose, dislocated jaw, at least a dozen teeth lost, and his cervical spine was also affected, showing some dislocation. This showed how fierce Su Wan’s dozen-plus slaps were.

The earliest he could recover was by December.

Manu Ginobili and Parker were in better condition; basically, they had physical injuries. The situation looked brutal, but they’d be alright after a week’s rest.

The worst was Popovich; he was reportedly taken directly to the ICU that night and even experienced temporary amnesia after being resuscitated.

That fan really struck him hard, smashing his head repeatedly on the floor.

Popovich really thought he was going to meet God...

It wasn’t until the next day that Popovich’s vital signs gradually stabilized, and he was moved out of the ICU.

But that same night, he was transferred back to the ICU.

The reason?

He asked about the League’s reaction.

When he heard that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were suspended for a season, and two or three other main players faced about 20 games of suspension, he nearly spit out a mouthful of old blood.

The devices attached to him started beeping incessantly at that moment.

Several nurses immediately pushed him back into the ICU.

Su Wan was also dealing with the aftermath.

He was not surprised by his own suspension.

After all, he had beaten Bruce Bowen beyond recognition.

However, the punishment wasn’t severe—just a 7-game suspension. What was this, a vacation?

He was handling the aftermath at Conseco Arena.

Those handed over to the police were all Pacers’ fans!

True warriors.

Su Wan couldn’t just ignore them; he had Bill Duffy secure bail for all their families to get them out first. He would let them do community service afterward; he didn’t need to worry about that.

Then there were the security guards from Conseco Arena, whom the League mandated be fired; he had Bill Duffy call them all. If they were willing, they could come work as bodyguards for him, with the same salary and benefits they had at Conseco Arena.

All these actions were done by Su Wan in private, but the local media in Indiana still found out. Su Wan specially called them, asking them not to publicize it.

But even so, many fans in Indiana knew about it.

Fortunately, the internet wasn’t highly developed in this era, so it didn’t blow up too much.

And Su Wan was okay with only the Indiana fans knowing about it.

Two days later, Game 5 of the Finals proceeded as usual at the Conseco Arena.

This must have been the most stark Finals in NBA history.

The Spurs were filled with "water cooler managers," not to mention, on the Pacers side, O’Neal’s report came out: severe ankle sprain involving the bone, and his entire foot was swollen like a ball, possibly needing 1-2 months to recover.

Plus, Su Wan and Foster were suspended.

The only main players left on the field were Tinsley, Stephen Jackson, and Reggie Miller.

But this lineup was still much more luxurious than the opposing side.

David Stern also arrived at the scene, watching the game with a stern face.

Honestly, he wanted to postpone this year’s Game 5.

Because in his view, it was too controversial.

But soon, his assistant told him a piece of news: this game’s real-time viewership had reached 28 million.

His expression immediately became less stern.

Good playing!

Good playing!

It’s the NBA, isn’t it? Isn’t it still the NBA without a riot?

As long as it helps boost viewership, what does an occasional riot matter?

Hmm...

David Stern only cares about the ratings!