The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 327 - 185 Urine Test Incident_3

Chapter 327: Chapter 185 Urine Test Incident_3

Of course, this right is generally only used at crucial moments in the League’s development.

For example, when the Clippers’ owner’s racist recordings were exposed, and when electing a new president of the League, all 30 owners voted together on these matters.

Su Wan’s case could be big or small.

To put it boldly, it was on the same level as the aforementioned incidents.

Mark Cuban, joining a few other owners, pressured the League to drug test Su Wan. To some extent, this was dismantling the normal operations of NBA power.

This was something David Stern could not tolerate.

Thus, last night, he called the other 29 team owners, and at this moment, he had already persuaded more than half of them, just waiting for Mark Cuban’s final tremble.

If Mark Cuban did not agree to do as he said, he would immediately kick Cuban out of the League.

The reason he didn’t immediately kick Cuban out?

It’s because this guy was willing to spend money!

This was one aspect why David Stern tolerated him. He liked owners in this circle who spent big money.

He was also not afraid that Mark Cuban, under such a threat, would take himself out of the League.

Leaving aside other matters, with the League’s flourishing prospects at present, few owners would choose to leave at this time.

Moreover, as an avid NBA fan, Mark Cuban had yet to achieve his dream of winning a championship; particularly this year, when he faltered on the finals stage, just one step away from the championship—David didn’t believe Cuban would willingly leave at this point.

Sure enough, after a silence, Cuban relented, "What do you want me to apologize for?"

David Stern thought for a moment, "You could find a national newspaper and publish your apology. I think that should clear this matter up."

"This is impossible!" Cuban panicked, how could he possibly do such a thing!

David Stern sneered coldly, "This is the consequence of causing trouble. I’m not negotiating with you but informing you!"

He then hung up the phone with a much tougher attitude.

He believed Cuban would eventually bow down.

Now, he just needed to sort out his side of things.

Around 10:30 in the morning, Su Wan’s "Conquest Alliance" both in momentum and public opinion, had already taken the upper hand, and the mockery from the outside world was incessant.

The New York Times commented, "The reason the Mavericks’ play style is so soft is found—it’s because the owner, Mark Cuban, is a softie himself. He always likes to do baffling things."

Barkley said, "No player can endure such an insult, especially Su Wan. Mark Cuban must pay the price for this!"

Los Angeles media even exposed Cuban’s old tricks, "Back then, in order to acquire Su Wan, this Mavericks owner bid several times against the Cavaliers, but unfortunately, Su Wan was ultimately sent to Indiana. At that time, did he ever consider drug testing Su Wan?"

Then, they saw the latest statement from the League. Besides a lengthy explanation and a sincere apology to Su Wan, they also announced the termination of the contract with the executive general manager in charge of approving the drug test action, Mark Tatum—effective immediately, he would no longer be NBA’s executive general manager.

Additionally, they imposed a $500,000 fine on Mark Cuban.

Because Cuban had interfered with the normal operations of the League.

Clearly, this was the League’s way of settling the matter.

The public was quite satisfied with this response.

However, this shifted the pressure to Mark Cuban.

With such a low stance from the officials, if Cuban’s stance wasn’t lowered to the utmost, the public might not be satisfied.

Now that the officials had taken this step, to what extent should Mark Cuban go to provide a satisfactory response to the public and to Su Wan?

The answer was soon revealed:

ESPN published Mark Cuban’s apology letter.

In the letter, Mark Cuban expressed remorse for his reckless actions and apologized for the troubles and negative impacts he had brought to Su Wan, elaborating at length with seven to eight hundred words.

With this, Su Wan did not continue to escalate the matter.

After all, he had achieved his goal:

The League had backed down and even fired an executive general manager; Mark Cuban had also bowed, and now all over the United States, everyone knew he had written an apology letter to Su Wan, published in the newspapers.

Su Wan even felt it was somewhat unreal. He had thought he could win, but he had assumed it would be a "tug-of-war." He hadn’t expected the League and Cuban to bow down so quickly.

But considering the support he had:

Embassies, Indiana, Asian Association, Nike...

On national, business, spiritual, and even racial levels, almost all the forces that could be mobilized were at full capacity.

No matter how powerful the NBA was, it was still just a business league.

If entangled in political strife, it could easily become a sacrifice.

Considering Morey’s later comments, which had caused chaos to the League—from coaches to players, except those with less sense, everyone spoke cautiously because they knew a misstep could be disastrous.

David Stern clearly understood that a League experiencing rapid development could not afford to get caught in such a dilemma and thus dared not delay.

Putting it plainly, was there racial discrimination in the League?

Definitely!

But would they dare to make racial discrimination overt?