Green was eventually diagnosed with a severe back fracture and a broken nose. He had to stay in bed for at least three months, plus the recovery period, so he was basically certain to miss his entire sophomore season.
Moreover, the NCAA organizing committee upgraded Green's flagrant foul action after the game and added a ten-game suspension for him.
That means Green's junior season will also be affected.
In this age that still advocates confrontation, the punishment from the organizing committee can be said to be quite severe.
But there's no way, the city of Detroit is too sensitive.
Especially since there is still the last and most anticipated final to be played, the organizing committee would never want this situation to happen again in the final.
Green was treated as a "chicken" in this wave and was killed as a warning to others.
The NCAA finals is the ultimate stage for the crazy three.
In order to make way for this game, the NBA has announced in advance that it will suspend the game for one day, just like in previous years.
These two days, NCAA has been the most discussed issue.
[Predicting who will be the champion] This is something that not only the media likes to do, but NBA stars also like to do it.
But whether it is the media or the stars, almost all of them believe that North Carolina will become the champion.
For example, the big guys who graduated from North Carolina started opening champagne in advance.
James Worthy: Go Tar Heels! Chapel Hill's fifth championship banner will be yours!
Vince Carter: You better believe it... Go Tar Heels, 2009 Champions!
Jerry Stackhouse: Except God, no one can stop us from winning the championship, North Carolina soul!
…
North Carolina has many big names, even the god of basketball came from North Carolina. In comparison, Arizona State University seems much more desolate.
Looking through the "family tree", the most famous basketball alumnus may be Byron Scott, who is currently the head coach of the Hornets. If you count further down, there will be Eddie House, Ike Diogu and others.
Xu Yong and his team now represent the highest peak of Arizona State University.
The mainstream view is that North Carolina will win, but there are always people who like the non-mainstream, and Charles Barkley is the most handsome guy in the crowd.
"When you take Arizona State lightly, they're going to win their first championship."
Barkley's remarks naturally caused an uproar and even criticism from fans, but this was the show effect he wanted.
…
A private residence in Charlotte.
Jordan had just finished a phone call with Roy Williams, the head coach of North Carolina and also his former assistant coach when he played in North Carolina. In a good mood, he picked up a cigar from the table and lit it.
North Carolina has won four championship trophies before, three of which he has experienced. One time he personally scored the buzzer beater to help the team win the championship, but he missed the other two.
One was in 1993, because the Bulls were at a critical moment in their first three consecutive championships; another time was in 2005, when he was busy divorcing his ex-wife Anita and acquiring shares in the Bobcats, and he didn't have much mood to pay attention.
Now that he has successfully ended his marriage with Anita and successfully bought shares in the Bobcats to become a minority owner of the team, his life has entered a new stage and he naturally doesn't want to miss it again this time.
In fact, he went to the scene when North Carolina played in the semi-finals last year. Unfortunately, North Carolina lost in the end and did not even make it to the finals.
So he hesitated during the call with Williams, but in the end Williams dispelled his concerns.
“Those guys are all looking forward to witnessing the championship moment with you.”
Williams' words can also be understood as that the group of people in North Carolina hope to prove themselves in front of him.
Because he left so suddenly last year, it must have put a lot of pressure on those guys.
But this time was different. It was his second time going, and those people knew he would go. They all said they wanted to witness the historic moment with him, so the psychological pressure was naturally gone.
Since it won't bring them psychological pressure, what's the problem!
Of course, Williams also put forward a condition, asking him not to coach the North Carolina players.
This old friend knew him very well and was afraid that he would not be able to control himself and say something like "Can't you jump up first and then wait for him to fall before taking action?"
In a good mood, he held a cigar in his mouth and sent a text message to his closest friend Barkley.
That guy actually said Arizona State University would win the championship. That's as ridiculous as saying that Karl Malone could beat him.
He put down his phone and took another puff of his cigar, but then he received a call back from Barkley.
"Michael, I don't think it's a good choice for you to go to the scene." Barkley began to persuade after the call was connected.
"Charles, don't worry, when North Carolina wins, I won't mention what you said. I know you said that for the show effect." Jordan said with a smile, holding a cigar in his hand.
He and Barkley have been friends for more than 20 years. How could he not understand Barkley?
Barkley is well versed in how to attract traffic. Many of his seemingly stupid remarks are not because he is really stupid. On the contrary, he is very smart.
I have to give a thumbs up to a certain whale here. If you say that the whale’s idol is Curry, it would be better to say that the human idol is Barkley.
"Michael, if North Carolina loses, I mean just in case, you will be more eye-catching than the championship," Barkley continued to persuade.
Barkley's words made Jordan stop smiling, and he pondered for a moment with his cigar.
This is indeed something that needs to be taken into consideration. If North Carolina doesn't win the championship after he goes there, it will be very embarrassing for him, and the media will definitely use this as an excuse.
Barkley understands the nature of the media, so he reminded him as a friend.
But he also knew that because of his gambling addiction, the media had labeled him as "always losing when gambling."
Although he has retired for many years, the influence of the God of Basketball is still unmatched.
"Charles, you know I won't do anything without confidence." Jordan said, taking another puff of his cigar and blowing out smoke rings.
Johnson didn't understand the situation. Don't you know how Michigan State University made it to the semifinals? Can it win the championship? No! It doesn't have that ability, you know?
But North Carolina is not comparable to Michigan State, and Arizona State is definitely not a rival to North Carolina.
After hearing what Jordan said, Barkley was silent for a while, and then he said, "Michael, didn't North Carolina lose when you went there last year?"
"I'm not a superstitious person." Jordan put down his cigar and leaned back in the soft chair.
Barkley on the other end of the phone was silent for a while after hearing this, and knowing that Jordan had made up his mind, he didn't say anything else.
The two chatted about some trivial matters in life and finally hung up the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Jordan thought for a while, stood up, left the room, and went straight to the storage room in his basement.
From the most conspicuous cupboard, he took out the pair of shorts that he had treasured for many years.
This pair of shorts has a great history. They are the shorts he wore when he scored the buzzer beater to help North Carolina win the championship in 1982.
In the more than ten years of his NBA career, he would wear these shorts inside his pants every time because he believed that they would bring him good luck.
How could the gods of basketball possibly need superstition, except for these shorts.
To be on the safe side, he'd better wear these shorts to the scene.
Just then, his cell phone rang. It was a call from Magic Johnson.
As the number one "Jordan fan", Johnson and Jordan have a very close relationship.
So after the call was connected, Johnson directly advised Jordan not to go to the scene.
Because as the last person to watch the game in person, he was already regretting it to death.
Some radical Michigan fans denounced him on social media, saying that they lost the game because he went to Michigan State University.
He will never do such thankless work again.
After hanging up the phone, Jordan looked at the shorts in his hand and fell into hesitation.
…
Two days later, the NCAA finals kicked off under the attention of the public.
On that day, televisions across North America were all broadcasting live coverage of the game. Even the president's speech was reduced to a small box and moved to a small corner in the upper left corner.
No, it should be said that not only in North America, but even in the country across the ocean, there are quite a lot of fans waiting in front of the TV.
Because of Yao Ming, the development of basketball in China has reached a peak, and the supporting facilities for broadcasting and live broadcasting have naturally also come up.
This is the first time that a Chinese person has stood on the stage of the NCAA finals, and there is no way CCTV-5 will not win.
There was still an hour before the finals started, and Zhang Weiping and Yu Jia had already started explaining the various NCAA rules in the studio.
After all, for most domestic fans, their understanding of the NCAA is very limited.
In particular, I don’t know why "Sports Weekly" rarely writes articles about Xu Yong now. They just know that Xu Yong plays well there.
At that time, at Ford Field, there were 80,000 people, half in North Carolina blue and half in Arizona State red. The fans all wore T-shirts in the colors of their schools. It was like two armies facing off, and the atmosphere was quite intense.
However, there was still some time before the game, and the players of both teams were still making final preparations in the locker room.
In the Devils' locker room, the players looked somewhat nervous.
After watching North Carolina's previous game against Villanova, they felt a little unsure.
The game was about to start. As the captain, Xu Yong gathered everyone and gave a pre-match speech:
"Guys, don't have any pressure, we have made history, we have nothing to lose, just relax, show yourself, enjoy the game, and play our best."
Xu Yong's words always hit the nail on the head for the players, and the players nodded one after another, then folded their hands together as they did in the past and shouted slogans...
"Devil Team! Come on!"
Then, he trotted out of the locker room, ready to face the last game of the season.
Just as they were leaving the player tunnel, they heard a huge cheer coming from outside.
The team members all looked curious, and Xu Yong was also confused.
Then, they went out of the player tunnel and looked up to see the source of the cheers.
At this moment, on the big LED screen, a familiar boiled egg was sitting in his seat, smiling and waving at the audience.