The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!

In the 2000s, his crazy "star-making" was all about wanting the League to witness another "Michael legend".

That's why he wanted Su Wan to be so successful.

Because the current Su Wan is the next "Michael Jordan."

But Su Wan was only 25 years and 340 days old.

With his dominance, he would rule the League for many more years.

This was what David Stern didn't want to see.

He hoped there could be another Jordan, another Su Wan...

So that the NBA wouldn't become Su Wan's NBA.

Honestly, David Stern genuinely hoped that Su Wan, like Michael Jordan, would take up some other hobbies, perhaps try out football or baseball.

To give the League's new stars a couple of years to develop before coming back...

Instead of growing up in his shadow and still not being able to stand tall when they've grown.

This was pretty common in the 90s.

Back then, if you were a Western Conference superstar, making it to the Finals was like reaching the summit; for Eastern Conference players, managing to play a few rounds against the Bulls in the conference finals was considered a peak.

At that time, the most popular saying on the basketball court was...

Losing to Michael was normal!

David Stern had a premonition that this sentence would soon return to the League, only the saying would now change to;

Losing to Su Wan is normal!

This was where David Stern felt conflicted and tangled up inside.

The good news was that the international viewership had been rising recently, probably because for the past n years, it had been the "Dream Team" of the United States dominating the international stage, and now seeing an international player thrash the Americans in the NBA, these international fans were very excited.

And since Su Wan had joined the New York Knicks, backed by 6.5 million New Yorkers, the domestic viewership in the United States was also quite stable.

This year's Finals weren't as hyped as usual, but still drew an audience of about 31 million.

Looking at the audience share,

New York contributed at least 5 million to the viewership.

Next were cities with significant Asian and Asian-American populations, where the number of NBA viewers also increased noticeably.

Overall, the NBA was still on a steady rise.

So this dilemma was kind of a happy problem for David Stern.

At least he didn't have to worry that Su Wan's long reign would cause a major loss of fan interest.

In fact, there was indeed some fan attrition.

But compared to the amount of Asians and Asian-Americans who found a "pillar of support" and rekindled their interest in basketball, particularly among New York fans, this domestic fan loss could be described as negligible.

However, David Stern was also considering how to win back these lost fan groups...

Of course, these were things for him to ponder as the League Commissioner. For Su Wan and the crowd of New York fans, they were focused on just one thing right now—the O'Brien Cup!

They could hardly wait to claim the Championship Trophy, inscribed with the name of the New York Knicks.

"I declare the 2010–2011 NBA Championship Trophy belongs to..."

"New York!"

"Knicks!"

For the past 38 years, New Yorkers had heard David Stern announce the champions every year, but during those 38 years, his words always named other teams.

Los Angeles Lakers!

Boston Celtics!

Philadelphia 76ers!

Chicago Bulls!

...

Now, finally, it was their turn, the New York Knicks!

The old Knicks fan who couldn't help but cry while watching Su Wan was now shedding unstoppable tears.

Completely overwhelmed.

The hysterical cheers of the crowd seemed to never end, echoing endlessly.

The O'Brien Cup began passing through the hands of every New York Knicks player until it reached Su Wan.

Dolan and Donnie Walsh also moved to the front of the team at this time.

They would represent the team in receiving the trophy.

Dolan had always been very reluctant to appear in front of New Yorkers.

Because as soon as he did, he was sure to be met with a resounding chorus of boos and...

"Dolan, nmsl!"

"You BYD, why don't you hurry up and sell the team?"

"Dolan, you son of a bitch, you're dead tonight!"

Such profanities were endless.

He felt quite aggrieved.

You know, back in '02, he had already put a billion dollars into the Knicks roster.

He wasn't the general manager; that was all he could do, and he did all he could, but in the end, when the team didn't perform, the fans still pointed their fingers at him and cursed.

As an owner, he felt quite "un-Li-like".

But now, he finally didn't have to fear the New York fans.

Because...

New York had won the championship!

He confidently picked up the microphone and, sure enough...

The cheers immediately turned to boos!

Deafening!

I mean...

We've just won the championship, and you still won't leave me alone?

Dolan was stunned.

He, who had seen much of the world, could barely maintain a smile on his face.

It's okay, he could pretend these boos were cheers.

But New York fans had their reasons for doing so:

Dolan, the BYD, would get too bright if given some sunshine.

If they gave him cheers now, they wouldn't have to wait until tomorrow for him to cause a major disaster, letting the whole of New York know who the Knicks' biggest menace was.