The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 355 - 191: It Doesn’t Matter, I Will Make a Move

Chapter 355: Chapter 191: It Doesn’t Matter, I Will Make a Move

After an absurd game had ended, the outside world was now most concerned about two matters: the first was how the League would punish this incident, and the second was whether the Heat Team would be swept out of the playoffs.

These two matters weren’t mutually independent; or rather, the most critical was actually the first.

Because Stern always imposed heavy penalties for such malicious incidents, let alone during the finals.

But if there were to be suspensions, there was really no need to even play Game 4, as the Heat were already trailing 0 to 3. If they lost 2 key players on top of that, they could well just set up the table.

It could only be said that Hansen truly deserved to be from East University; he played this game of putting the best horses against the weakest opponents too smoothly.

Popovich’s blatant manipulation paled in comparison to this.

So the first matter was actually set in stone; the League couldn’t possibly go for suspensions, because if they did, the viewership ratings for Game 4 would be gone.

This involved a point of knowledge: players with level two malice weren’t necessarily suspended, only those whose level two malice was confirmed to be particularly bad after a League review would be suspended.

This was essentially the League leaving themselves a loophole, to allow for flexible handling.

As for Stern’s principles and the like, principles aren’t as important as money.

The next day, the League issued a statement summarizing the events of the finals’ Game 3, which essentially amounted to one sentence: the nature of this conflict was extremely malicious, but we will not suspend anyone, only impose hefty fines, totaling over $200,000 between the two teams.

James announced on social media immediately after the announcement that he would pay the fines for his teammates.

Of course, whether he would actually fork out the money was another matter altogether.

After all, as far as Hansen knew of the "history," Dentye Jones had openly revealed to the media that James had promised to pay his fines and hadn’t delivered for five years.

As for the Grizzlies, during the halftime discussion, Hansen had actually promised to take care of all the fines.

In the words of an East University person, who wouldn’t use a bounty to recruit a few daredevils?

In fact, after the announcement was made, Hansen had also given each of the punished a valuable Rolex watch.

There was no need to worry about money; though Hansen was on a rookie contract, his annual salary from his new shoe contract with UA alone was in the tens of millions, not to mention the various endorsements that Thomas had signed for him over the season, along with the short-term investments he had Rondo make on his behalf.

In a nutshell, not only did those who fought enjoy themselves, they also got paid handsomely.

Then, right after the League announced the punishment results, TNT’s latest show used the finals brawl to create a program effect.

Barkley and O’Neal, one dressed in a Heat jersey and the other in a Grizzlies jersey, had a wrestling competition in the studio.

It could only be said that TNT’s duo created a strong chemical reaction and cashed in on the Grizzlies’ traffic.

Of course, this also fed back into the finals. Though the big 3 to 0 score didn’t seem to leave much suspense, the viewership for Game 4 of the finals exploded.

On June 19, the finals’ Game 4 between the Grizzlies and the Heat continued at the American Airlines Arena.

There were many changes at the venue this time around.

First was the change of the head referee, from Foster to Joey Crawford.

Yes, that’s the famous strict referee who ejected Duncan for laughing on the bench, and Stern absolutely would not allow another violent incident like the one in the previous game.

There were also a lot of NBA staff present, as this was the Grizzlies’ possible championship-clinching game, and they needed to be ready to conduct the championship ceremony for the Grizzlies at any moment.

Additionally, the family members of the Grizzlies’ players were all in attendance, as they definitely couldn’t miss such an important occasion if the Grizzlies were indeed to win the championship.

Hansen’s parents were unable to make it in time, but two special figures appeared on the scene.

One was Scarlett, and the other, yes, was Swift.

Hansen knew about Scarlett coming, after all, if the finals ended tonight, he would then enter the off-season.

But Swift, you can’t replace an East University person’s thinking with an American’s.

There was no enmity between them; she wanted to witness Hansen’s moment of success, her former boyfriend.

And what Hansen didn’t expect was that they were sitting together, chatting and laughing; it was unclear what they were discussing.

Of course, Hansen didn’t pay too much attention to this, as getting tonight’s game was far more important than matters between men and women.

Especially what Guy had said before, the outcome of the Heat Team was in the Grizzlies’ hands.

If they could really sweep the team, it would be more than just a sweep, it would be a disbandment.

The significance would be entirely different, even more meaningful than defeating them twice in a row.

The venue proceeded with the opening ceremony, and the cheers from the Miami fans were still enthusiastic.

Despite being down 0 to 3, like last season’s Lakers fans, they still hoped for a miracle.

Both sides’ starting lineups were released; the Grizzlies stuck to their usual starting five, while Spoelstra once again shuffled the lineup, going back to their regular setup.

The match started quickly, with the Heat team taking the lead in the beginning.

It wasn’t that they brought out any particular momentum from the start – after all, it’s a bit unrealistic to expect any when you’re trailing 0 to 3.

It was the Grizzlies who played abnormally.

Or more accurately, there were problems with the Grizzlies players’