"Do you really want to do that?" Jordan looked at Xu Yong seriously and asked in a temporarily rented private villa.
Because people were looking for him at the manor and the villa in the city center, Xu Yong stayed here temporarily.
"There's no way they would agree to my conditions now." Xu Yong said firmly.
Just like Butler wants to prove himself, you can say he is ambitious, or you can say he is in a state of high self-awareness, in which he will ignore objective conditions.
For Butler, no matter which team he goes to (it is impossible for him to make the decision to join a strong team given his personality) or stay with the Bulls, the possibility of him defeating teams such as the Cavaliers, Raptors, Thunder, and Warriors to win the championship is extremely small.
As for Silver and the current league executives, they will subconsciously and optimistically estimate the losses caused by Xu Yong's retirement.
"So what is your second condition?" Jordan looked curious. When they were chatting before, Xu Yong told him what had happened before.
Xu Yong smiled and didn't answer.
Compared to the first condition, the second condition is actually much simpler, but it is not appropriate to say it at this time, especially since Jordan is still the owner of the Hornets.
His second condition is that Tatum becomes the new NBA commissioner.
If this is to happen, the prerequisite is that Xiao Hua must step down, which is why the second condition must be met after the first condition is met.
Because if he is unable to seek benefits for the bosses, then Xiao Hua will naturally be replaced by the bosses.
"Your retirement will have a greater impact on the NBA than mine did." Seeing Xu Yong's reaction, Jordan made a judgment in advance.
Although he doesn't have a good eye for people, as a team owner, he is very clear about the current situation in the NBA.
There is actually a big difference between him and Xu Yong. To make an analogy, he brought the NBA from a small town to the whole country, while Xu Yong brought the NBA from the whole country to the world.
During his time, the NBA was prospering, but during Xu Yong's time, the NBA had actually begun to decline.
There is nothing wrong with encouraging offense, and canceling the hand-check is a good decision, but the vertical jump rule, body hair whistles, the small ball era... and of course the involvement of gambling, all of these are making the NBA go downhill. It's not just a matter of viewing pleasure, but also about the players' abilities.
When you can directly decide the outcome with one-point shots or three-point shots, which player would be willing to spend time practicing his skills?
Compared with technology, how to draw fouls, how to throw three-pointers more accurately, how to train and call the roll are what the players will study.
Because of Xu Yong, fans hadn't paid too much attention to this before, but now that Xu Yong has retired, especially before his retirement he had liberated the fans' minds, he couldn't imagine what the scene would be like.
"That's not necessarily true. You are the god of basketball, and I'm just a human." Xu Yong said with a smile.
Jordan burst into laughter after hearing this. Even though Xu Yong has become a god, he is still so likable.
"I think eventually, they'll understand that," Jordan said after putting away his smile.
As one of the few bosses who held opposing opinions, Jordan was essentially different from those capitalists who started out in business. The capitalists would respect him and then ignore him, not to mention that the Hornets themselves did not have much status in the NBA.
Shortly after sending Jordan away, Xu Yong saw the statement issued by the NBA that the NBA would cancel the [vertical jump rule] in the new season.
This result was within Xu Yong's expectations.
This is also the reason why he chose to retire for this reason.
Of course, he would not withdraw his decision to retire until Silver called him to tell him that the cooperation with the gambling company was cancelled.
Although that would put him under public pressure, it was a necessary price to pay.
A week later, the new season's draft and free market will begin.
There is a big news in this year's free market, that is, Westbrook will return to the Thunder.
However, even if Jeff Green's one-year contract expires and the salary cap continues to rise, the Thunder still does not have enough salary space. The two sides will use a sign-and-trade method to reach a deal. It is expected that the Thunder will overdraw multiple future first-round draft picks to complete the deal.
The former big four of the Thunder will reunite in Oklahoma City, which sounds like a throwback to the past.
It is worth mentioning that this time Westbrook’s return was not only not interfered with by the league, but the league even completed the approval in the first time.
You know, although Westbrook's Pelicans career has been questioned, he has averaged a triple-double in three seasons and has been in the top three in the MVP voting.
What? Statistics cannot tell a player's strength? That's not what James fans say when talking about him!
An MVP-level player joining a championship-contending team, just like when Paul joined the Lakers, should theoretically encounter resistance.
Obviously, the league is already prepared to lose Xu Yong and is creating new topics for the new season.
It did attract some people's attention, but it was far less than the anxiety caused to fans by Xu Yong's delay in speaking out.
Since Xu Yong did not speak out, it means he did not withdraw his retirement application.
Then, during this wait, they received an unexpected piece of news: Xu Yong was getting married!
With whom?
Daddario, of course.
All in all, Xu Yong and Daddario have been dating for more than two years, making her the longest-time girlfriend he has ever been with.
Just like what I felt when I ate at a roadside stall in Shanghai, Daddario's personality is the rare type that can get by.
Of course, this is just a premise. The reason for getting married is... yes, the world's problem that has troubled countless Chinese people is the pressure from parents to get married!
Xu Yong is 27 years old this year, 28 in lunar age, which means he should have been married a long time ago according to his parents' generation.
So I took advantage of the free time during my retirement, and after two years of getting along, I felt that we were a good match in every aspect, so I got married.
Of course, there is another point. Over the years since Xu Yong entered the NBA, he has counted his ex-girlfriends, from Megan Fox, to Taylor Swift, to Scarlett Johansson, and then to Charlize Theron, whom he met one night. He has dated actresses of all types and professions, and in the end he met such a top-notch one. He has no regrets in terms of love.
They chose Miami as their wedding venue, mainly because Daddario loves the sea, so the wedding will be held on the beach.
Then this moment became the most eye-catching thing of this summer.
The wedding is scheduled for September, which is still two months away, but many people have already contacted Ship, hoping to attend Xu Yong's wedding.
There are many NBA stars, of course there are also celebrities from all walks of life, and even many politicians.
Xu Yong seems to have retired from the NBA, but his influence has not diminished at all.
Xu Yong also found several NBA players to be his best men. In addition to Harden, DeRozan, Ayers and Butler, he also invited Durant.
This is not to say that the relationship between Durant and him is as good as that with the other people, but that Durant was the only superstar who stood up in the previous turmoil. He is a friend worth making close friends with.
Time flies and it is September now. Xu Yong still shows no signs of retracting his decision to retire. People who are paying attention to this matter can only turn their attention to his wedding.
Xu Yong's wedding was held in a grand manner. Even in Miami, which is known as the "gathering place for overseas wealthy people", this wedding was the most eye-catching one of the day.
However, because the wedding attendees were asked to temporarily put away their mobile phones when entering the venue, no relevant images were released. But according to those who attended, the atmosphere inside was very lively and Xu Yong also had a great time.
Over the past two months, Xu Yong's mentality has also changed.
Because at the beginning he was not sure whether he really wanted to retire. After all, if Silver agreed to all his conditions, he still had to prepare for the new season.
But the current situation has shown that the situation is a foregone conclusion, and he has completely entered [retirement mode].
To put it in the most appropriate way, you have been playing ball all your life, can't you enjoy yourself?
There was a small episode in the middle. Yao Ming came to attend Xu Yong's wedding. After knowing that Xu Yong was really going to retire, he also asked Xu Yong whether he wanted to return to China to play in the CBA so that he could maintain his competitive form.
Xu Yong declined, but said that he would return to China to promote CBA if he had the chance.
Because there is no such thing as maintaining competitive form in low-level leagues. It's like adults playing against elementary school students, which won't have any effect.
However, after the wedding, all teams have started training camps for the new season, and Xu Yong has still not announced that he will withdraw his retirement decision. This made fans begin to realize that they may really have to face a season without Xu Yong.
The Bulls' situation at this time is very similar to the last time Jordan retired, and they did not make any major adjustments to the lineup.
In October, Xu Yong, who was still on his honeymoon overseas, received a call from Lauensdorf.
The general meaning is that even if Xu Yong retires, they will pay Xu Yong's salary for the remaining year of his contract.
This is a normal operation because he did the same thing when Jordan retired last time. He may be the only boss with relevant experience in dealing with this issue.
Moreover, this motivation is too easy to understand. After all, Xu Yong is only 27 years old. Does it mean that he can never make a comeback after retiring?
As his old club, the Bulls are naturally the most ideal place for Xu Yong to make a comeback one day.
In response to Lauensdorf's request, Xu Yong said: Thank you for your kindness, but I am already a free agent.
Yes, unlike Jordan back then, this year is the last year of Xu Yong's contract, which has a player option. He also opted out of that option when the free market opened and became a free agent.
The purpose of doing this is to give more freedom in the future.
What Jordan experienced back then gave many people experience, but it also gave him more to learn from.
Of course, this does not rule out the possibility of him returning to the Bulls in the future, but at least the initiative is in his own hands.
Finally, in late October, with the start of the preseason, the 2017-2018 season finally began.
The outside world is paying attention to the impact of Xu Yong's retirement on the NBA, but the players have already begun to be eager to try.
Over the years, especially in the past two years, Xu Yong has shattered too many people's championship dreams, and now they have finally got their chance.
The season opener, the Warriors' second game against the Thunder.
In this game, the Thunder directly beat the Warriors.
On the Thunder team, the three reunited brothers showed a strong desire to play.
One thing you have to admit is that although there are many problems in his playing style, Westbrook is the kind of person who can bring excitement to the team, which is something Harden and Durant do not have.
Of course, in addition to this, what is more important is the impact of the [vertical jump rules] on the game.
The Warriors' inside strength is still not good, but the Thunder's entire inside defense intensity has suddenly increased.
Curry's performance did not have a big impact, after all, he makes a living by three-pointers, but James suddenly became unable to play basketball when facing the inside combination of Capela + Ibaka.
And there is a detail that has been overlooked, that is, although the Thunder have overdrawn future draft picks, the changes in the lineup are actually not that big.
Because after letting Howard go, they are a dual-core team, so there is no need to even think about dismantling the entire bench to make room for Westbrook.
The game ultimately attracted a lot of attention, and the ratings did not drop much compared to last season.
Even the highlight of the next day's game between the Bulls and the Cavaliers attracted the attention of some fans.
This also makes some people outside optimistic about the impact of Xu Yong's retirement on the NBA.
"Xu, after all, is not Michael!" Someone even made such an exclamation on social media and it became a hot search.
However, just one month later, this person deleted the status himself.
Because the NBA's ratings have fallen drastically, plummeting by one third.
This is caused by many factors.
The most important thing, of course, is Xu Yong's retirement.
Fans have discovered that the league no longer has the Satan whose playing is so entertaining and who can easily defeat his opponents.
Just like Jordan back then, those fans who were originally attracted by Xu Yong to watch the NBA have gradually chosen not to watch it.
Secondly, and this is something that many people probably didn’t expect, is that many of the current NBA games are so ugly.
Yes, that's right, it's ugly.
After the vertical jump rule was cancelled, the intensity of interior defense increased significantly, and many players, even stars, seemed to have lost their ability to play basketball.
Among them, players such as James and Antetokounmpo are representative.
As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. If you are used to the loose defense in the penalty area, it will be unbearable if it is tightened all of a sudden.
This requires an adaptation process, but this process is by no means something that happens overnight.
In other words, this is labor pain, and this labor pain will also lead to a decline in NBA ratings.
As December came, NBA ratings continued to decline.
NBA New York headquarters.
Xiao Hua's dark circles were much darker than when he first met Xu Yong.
He was feeling real pressure now.
It's not only because of the decline in popularity caused by Xu Yong's retirement, but also because of the pressure from the spinach side.
It is very difficult to control this kind of game now. The bookmakers who were supposed to reach an agreement with the NBA in the summer have begun to hesitate.
He originally wanted to use the method of canceling the rules to put public pressure on Xu Yong, but Xu Yong didn't care about it at all, and a series of events later also showed that it had a huge impact on Xu Yong.
After all, what Xu Yong said on social media was that "the current league is not the league he wants", not because the [vertical jump rule] failed to be canceled.
The two seem to be in a tandem relationship, but they are not the same.
As a result, the rules have been cancelled, but no one watches the game anymore.
Under tremendous pressure, he chose to convene another meeting of the league committee, and it was an on-site meeting. There was only one topic to be discussed, which was to restore the [vertical jump rules].
This immediately caused a lot of discussion among the bosses. If you keep changing your orders every day, the fans will think you are just playing house!
But Xiao Hua finally convinced them.
Because they have no way back now, the top priority is to win the contract from the gaming company, otherwise they will lose both their money and their lives.
Besides, the current games are ugly. If we make them interesting again, won’t the ratings go back up?
So just two months after the cancellation, the NBA officially announced the restoration of the [vertical jump rule].
Xu Yong had already ended his honeymoon and returned to Chicago. When he heard the news, he was not surprised at all.
Because of this incident, he was fortunate enough to see it with his own eyes in his previous life.
That was in the 2021-2022 season. In order to regain viewership, the league relaxed the standards for game referees.
Xu Yongde admitted that the game was really more exciting for the fans, and it had the same punch-and-fist feeling as at the beginning of the century.
But the price is that most of the stars had diarrhea, which is even more exaggerated than the current situation, because most of the stars' drinks were diluted with water.
This was also the reason why the Dream Team had difficulty in international competitions at that time. The players in that version just couldn't play high-intensity games.
As a result, although the alliance did not issue a statement, the standards were quickly returned to normal.
So this back and forth trouble was not a surprise to Xu Yong.
This did have a certain effect, and some fans who liked to watch small ball came back.
It was also at this time that the league officially announced that it had signed a cooperation contract with the gaming company. Of course, no one knew the specific term and amount.
Then, after another month, the ratings that had recovered began to decline again, and at a faster pace.
Because many fans find that the current games are not only ugly, but also really boring!
All kinds of three-pointers and one-point shots, the game was monotonous and boring. Except for a few teams that could still use some tactics, the other teams were playing defense instead of offense.
The shooting competition is truly worthy of its name.
The point is, without Xu Yong, they can only look at Durant (Leonard is still recovering from injury), and none of the new generation of stars give them a sense of strong skills.
Even Curry, in their opinion, depends more on luck.
They are used to eating fine grains (Xu Yong), so how can you expect them to adapt to these hard-to-swallow leftovers?
Today's competitions are so easy to cause aesthetic fatigue, and people have absolutely no desire to pay to watch them.
Moreover, there are a lot of fake matches.
By February 2018, before the All-Star Game, NBA ratings had plummeted to half of the previous season.
This is not just horrible. You have to know that when Jordan retired, the NBA ratings only dropped by 39.7%.
This does not include overseas markets, which have almost evaporated, especially the Asian markets.
No, it's not just the ratings, the attendance of each team has begun to show a very obvious decline.
Even the outside world's valuations of NBA teams have begun to plummet.
The NBA finally faced its most severe challenge half a year after Xu Yong announced his retirement.
Finally, in a TNT program before the All-Star Game, Barkley reenacted what Magic John did back then and knelt down in front of the camera: "Xu, come back! I beg you, come back!"