On the sofa in the general manager’s office, Larry Bird watched Su Wan and Foster leave the scene on the TV and said to the side to Walsh, "Alright, now you can go and save the day!"
Walsh had co running to him in a panic as soon as the chaos had begun.
Larry Bird sat calmly, waiting for the signal to be cut off and then for it to be reconnected. "What for? You think you could have stopped it? Don’t worry, it’s just fans hitting players. That bastard David would offend anyone, but he would never offend the fans. Just look at how the Auburn Palace incident was handled. Other than the two fans who led the riot, all the severe punishnts were placed on the players."
"Just wait, the Spurs are done for!"
"Not just this season, but next season as well!"
Unable to persuade Bird, and too scared to go to the scene alone for fear of accidental injury, Walsh just sat there until the ga had ended.
Now, Bird was sending him in.
"What for, what am I supposed to do now?" Walsh responded with the sa question to "Big Bird".
"Of course, to show our players and fans support!" Bird stood up, his eyes cursing at Walsh:
You idiot!
At this ti, Su Wan and the other players had just finished their interviews, and reporters were still standing outside the locker room corridor, taking photos.
Don’t think these photos weren’t significant.
But these were photos of the Pacers’ ho team tunnel after the "Conseco incident", with just a hint of disarray. They could stir the fans’ imaginations, wondering if after the match, they had chased the Spurs’ players down to the hospital and beaten them up again?
The appearance of Bird and Walsh imdiately gave the reporters a target, they approached them and encircled them, asking for their thoughts on the riot that had just happened.
Larry Bird said, "I regret to see such an unfortunate incident occur during what should have been an exciting Finals. However, I completely understand the feelings of the Pacers’ fans. We’ve been through a lot this season, and just when we were about to erge from the muck and create new glory, so teams tried to ruin it all with dirty tactics. This is absolutely not permitted in Indiana. One last thing, if in the ’80s there had been a team that made the playoffs by continuously injuring core players of the opposition, they would have been sent to the hospital by now. The league needs to give everyone an explanation, how teams like the Spurs should be handled. If playing dirty counts as passion, then we surely can be even more passionate!"
Walsh, who had been listening by his side, pushed up his glasses and added seriously, "The league must give an explanation!"
"You must give a result as soon as possible!"
As Bird demanded an explanation from the officials in front of the caras, at the sa ti, David Stern was slamming his hand on the desk in the commissioner’s office.
He was shocked at tonight’s "Conseco incident".
How long had it been since Auburn Hills?
From last November to this June, less than eight months...
He thought the punishnt he had handed out last ti was heavy enough to deter so people.
But now, it seed that the earlier treatnt had been too light.
No, he absolutely had to eliminate the root of the problem this ti. He could not allow similar incidents to happen again.
He asked for a detailed report from his staff, from the beginning of the whole incident to the end, written very ticulously.
When he first saw the change in atmosphere on the scene, starting with Bruce Bowen tripping O’Neal, he was so angry he threw his gold-rimd glasses onto the table. "That old bastard Greg really thinks the league condones this filth, huh?"
Over the years, he had made considerable efforts to achieve "one man, one city", making sure every team had a representative superstar.
So far, it had been successful, with Philly represented by Allen Iverson, Cleveland had LeBron Jas, and the "Holy City" had Tim Duncan.
To give the stars in smaller markets more confidence, Tim Duncan had been set up as a pri example by him.
He longed to see Tim Duncan achieve even more, which led him to turn a blind eye to Bruce Bowen’s actions.
But he hadn’t foreseen that Popovich would beco more audacious. From the second round of the playoffs this season, every ga they would try to disable an opponent’s core player. Stern had already planned a "reckoning" after the season, intending to issue new rules to restrict Bowen.
Especially since, with Su’s instigations, the fans and dia of other cities were increasingly resentful towards the Spurs.
He couldn’t pretend it wasn’t happening.
But it turned out he was a step too late...
Of course, he hadn’t expected Bowen to beco the spark for a second "Auburn Hills Incident".
If he had known it would co to this, he would have imposed heavy penalties earlier!
Then he saw Foster apply a "naked strangle" to Tim Duncan’s hand after the ga had restarted, and he felt his breathing constricted in that mont.
Of course, this was yet another scene he did not want to see.
He had also heard the harsh words Su Wan had spoken before the ga.
He thought Su Wan was rely being a brash youth, trying to intimidate the Spurs so they wouldn’t dare to play rough.
"That bastard Greg!"
The more he thought about it, the more Stern cursed out Popovich.
Don’t you know what kind of temper Su Wan has?
A typical "stab once, I’ll stab you back" person.
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