The underground organization's billion-dollar turnover and the suspected absence of a Cavaliers star were shrouded in heavy doubt.
A report from ESPN directly ignited a wildfire of traffic in the United States. Previously, ESPN sports newspapers could only sell tens of thousands of copies, but today they had to be reprinted several times, with printing presses running at full capacity, demonstrating the immense storm this match had stirred up.
The allegations of James and Tang Long being involved in gambling, with over a billion US dollars in turnover from the underground market for the game against the Grizzlies, had everyone talking.
In the NBA headquarters building, many owners gathered in Stern's office, their demeanor aggressive.
"President David, if you don't take disciplinary action against Tang, and the fans are dissatisfied, then we will initiate impeachment proceedings."
Morey, the general manager of the Rockets, stared at Stern, strongly demanding that Stern suspend Tang Long before initiating the league's investigation.
"I am already aware of this matter. Suspending Tang now will only affect the league. You wouldn't fail to understand this, would you?"
Imposing a suspension on Tang Long at this point would solidify the news linking players to underground organizations. If that were to happen, a large number of fans would boycott the NBA. After all, fans are a very pure group; if the act of match-fixing were confirmed, fans would unhesitatingly abandon such games.
Of course.
Stern could also see Morey's intentions.
Previously, there was only Yao Ming from China, and with the backing of the Chinese market, the Rockets' valuation had doubled year after year. The Rockets had gradually evolved from a minor team into a powerhouse in the Western Conference. However, with the emergence of Tang Long, who siphoned off the traffic that rightfully belonged to the Rockets, coupled with the All-Star voting where Tang Long was over a million votes ahead of the second-place player, the Rockets felt a strong sense of crisis.
"I think Morey has a point. At the very least, the league needs to show some stance."
The general manager of the Magic also joined the chorus of condemnation against the three Cavaliers players. However, his starting point differed from Morey's. Morey only demanded a suspension for Tang Long, while the Magic's general manager demanded penalties for all three players.
"Do you know what you are saying?" Stern slammed the table and stood up. "Is there any evidence? Bring it out. If I am to impose suspensions on players based solely on a newspaper report, I cannot do it. You all better sober up. I am still the league's president."
"You are the president, but you also have to be responsible to the league."
Morey was not intimidated by Stern at all.
He was the general manager of the Rockets, and the league was composed of various teams. Even if Stern was the president, not everything was up to him.
"I will be responsible."
In fact, Stern had already learned about this matter last night. He had immediately contacted the Cavaliers' owner and learned about what happened in Texas from him.
Originally, Tang Long could have left after assisting with the investigation, but prohibited items were found in James's car. As a result, the group was detained for over twelve hours, which was clearly unreasonable.
Therefore, Stern hired private investigators to look into the matter. Soon, Stern received information from the private investigators.
The items in James's car were placed there by a local drifter.
However, when the private investigators found this drifter, he had already been silenced. On the surface, it appeared to be an overdose of powdered drugs, but anyone with experience could tell that this person had been murdered.
In the United States, the silencing of a drifter was not considered a major event, especially when it was classified as a drug overdose, making it even less likely for anyone to investigate further.
Although the private investigators did not dig deeper, they did learn that this drug addict had met with a drifter before framing James. This drifter belonged to an organization whose primary profit came from underground operations.
As things stood, Stern had a general understanding of what had happened.
This was a meticulously planned operation by the underground organization, with the goal of making Tang Long miss the game. The result was that James and Larry Hughes, out of brotherhood, also went to the Texas police station.
Having been in professional sports for many years, Stern was all too familiar with the operating methods of these underground organizations. Buying off players was only something that low-level drifters would do, as it was not only risky but also easily traceable.
True major organizations made money by exploiting information asymmetry.
The simplest method was to manipulate players' mindsets, and sometimes they would deliberately let key players use sensitive substances.
Of course, these methods were not foolproof. If things exceeded their control, fans would create chaos in the stadium. On football fields, fans would throw fireworks into the stadium; on basketball courts, fans would taunt star players, or even create disturbances within the arena to disrupt the game's rhythm, and then rearrange things – these were all common occurrences.
Soon, the league convened a press conference.
Stern personally attended.
Besides announcing that the voting was legitimate and that one million of Tang Long's two million votes came from outside the United States, the reason for Tang Long and James's absence was also revealed.
However, Stern did not mention the subsequent information from the private investigators, only presenting the surveillance footage of the drifter placing items in James's car.
The release of the surveillance footage undoubtedly dispelled the rumors of Tang Long and James being involved in gambling.
The reporters were in an uproar, and then they bombarded Stern with more questions.
Stern clearly did not intend to continue the interview. He merely expressed his dissatisfaction with ESPN and then ended the press conference.
After leaving the press conference, Stern made a call to the Cavaliers' owner.
...
"Tang, did you watch the press conference held by the league?"
LeBron's call came as soon as Tang Long put down the remote.
Frankly, after ESPN's news broke, despite knowing he had nothing to do with what was reported, James was still a bit panicked. After all, this matter could be serious or trivial, and James wouldn't be surprised by any action the league took.
"I saw it. I didn't expect our president to be so quick."
James sounded surprised. "I can hear it in your voice; it seems like you knew Mr. Stern would do this long ago."
"Roughly. After I got back, I also got a general understanding of what happened on the court. Stern wouldn't allow such things to happen in the league, at least not openly."
"You're still so calm. But, have you forgotten something?"
"What?"
"Coach Mike asked us to clean up. Why haven't you come yet?"
"Sorry, I forgot. I'll be right there."
Tang Long had genuinely forgotten about it because his phone had been ringing non-stop since he got back. First it was Swift, then Scarlett. After finally dealing with Scarlett, Gal Gadot called, and they chatted for another hour.
In addition to these, there was even a fraudster named Zack Snyder who called, saying he had a movie about Aquaman and wanted him to play a role.