Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

A public opinion storm about the Timberwolves has been brewing without the knowledge of these Timberwolves players.

When Garnett delivered the newspaper to Wu Dao, he didn't know how many citizens of Chicago had already read it.

And it's not just newspapers that are the information medium. The morning sports news has also begun to report extensively on news such as "doping in martial arts."

The media reporters who reported this incident were obviously very smart. When they spread this news to the public, they did not use any conclusive words to prove that Wu Dao must have cooperated with the biopharmaceutical company and used stimulants during the competition.

In order to avoid possible troubles, these media reporters also described the meeting between Wu Dao and the representative of the biopharmaceutical company in a relatively "objective" way. At the same time, they also disclosed to the public the information that Rory Jensen was a pharmaceutical representative, the company behind him, and the "special" products of the biopharmaceutical company.

The rest is left to the public to guess and associate.

The media reporters have a clear and directional guidance method, which will naturally make the public subconsciously associate martial arts with stimulants. The public will naturally wonder whether it is possible for martial artists to take stimulants during competitions.

The incident was exposed by media reporters in Chicago, and behind these media reporters, there is a force that is fanning the flames and accelerating the spread of this incident.

The morning martial arts training was naturally interrupted by this sudden accident.

Not only did Garnett learn about this through the newspaper, Coach Philip was also awakened by the team leader who learned the news. Even the team owner Glen Taylor and the team's executive chairman Kevin McHale, who were staying in the same hotel as the Timberwolves players, were alarmed.

An internal team meeting was held in the small conference room of the hotel.

"Budao, everyone here is our friend. Tell us the truth. Have you ever used performance-enhancing drugs in previous competitions?"

"Whether it's an oral medication or an injectable medication, do you have any?"

There were only four people attending this internal meeting. In addition to Wu Dao himself and the team owner, coach Philip and CEO Kevin McHale also attended the meeting.

Although Wu Dao's agent was informed of this incident, he did not have time to arrive at the scene.

This matter absolutely cannot wait. The longer the Timberwolves take to react, the greater the impact of this public opinion storm will be.

For the Timberwolves, if this matter is not handled properly, it will not only affect the player Wu Dao, but also the entire team.

The paper documents issued by the league are actually very severe in punishing players who take performance-enhancing drugs.

The penalties include fines, suspensions, and expulsion from the league.

Among them, the fine is the most lenient, but Kevin McHale himself is very clear that if Wu Dao’s use of performance-enhancing drugs is confirmed, at this juncture of the championship, the league’s punishment will definitely not be as simple as a fine.

It is true that there are many players in the league who secretly use stimulants, and there are even many players who clearly violate the ban and smoke marijuana.

But those things are all under the table. Once such things are weighed, their weight will be very heavy.

At this time, McHale and others urgently wanted to know one thing, that is, whether stimulants were used in martial arts, even if they had been used before, it must be made clear.

This is very important for their subsequent response measures.

"Mr. President, I can guarantee that I have never used performance-enhancing drugs in my basketball career."

"As for my daily diet, I rarely eat out. When I go out for competitions, I eat with my teammates. If food infection occurs, it will also be a group event."

"I have indeed seen the person reported in the news media."

"But we just had a brief conversation and he wanted to work with me, but I refused."

"Coach Philip can prove this. He was there when I met him, wasn't he?"

Faced with McHale's questioning, Wu Dao naturally had no intention of hiding anything and told everything.

When this public opinion emerged, Wudao's first suspect was Coach Philip. The reason was very simple, because the medical representative was introduced to him by Coach Philip.

But after careful consideration, combined with the confusion and guilt shown by Coach Philip at this time, Wudao felt that this was not something Coach Philip did on purpose. Perhaps his own coach was also being used as a gun by the other party.

Or maybe, all of this was just a coincidence, and the scene of their meeting happened to be captured by some paparazzi who wanted to get an "exclusive".

"Yep!"

"It was indeed the first time that Budo and that person met. I can testify to that."

"And I also believe that doping has never been used in martial arts before."

Coach Philip's words were very insightful. He was reserved about whether Wu Dao had used stimulants before and did not speak too confidently.

However, when it came to the meeting between Wu Dao and the medical representatives, he stood firmly on Wu Dao's side and agreed with what he said.

His statement also made McHale and Glen Taylor focus their attention back on martial arts.

"What did you talk about when you met?"

"Have you ever promised him anything?"

"Budao, I hope you won't hide anything from us about this matter."

“It’s for your own good, but also for the good of the team.”

McHale asked, his expression very serious. On the contrary, the team owner Glen Taylor was very calm, holding the teacup, quietly waiting for Wu Dao's answer.

"The other party was indeed trying to sell me stimulants. Although his words were rather obscure, I could understand what he meant."

"But Mr. President, you can rest assured that I have clearly refused."

"Even if the call records are really leaked, it would be a good thing for me."

"You can rest assured about that."

Wu Dao's expression was sincere, his eyes were bright and firm, and this look gave McHale great confidence, and also made the boss Glen Taylor secretly relieved.

"Kevin, I choose to believe what Wu Dao said. Look, how should we deal with this matter?"

Boss Glen Taylor made the final decision and set the tone for this internal meeting. Since they had reached a consensus internally and chose to believe in Wu Dao, the only thing left to do was to help Wu Dao restore his innocence.

Try to reduce the impact of this incident on martial arts and the Timberwolves as much as possible. "It's a bit troublesome."

"Public opinion has already spread, and it is simply impossible to completely eliminate the impact."

"What we can do is to restore our reputation as much as possible. The most important thing is to hold a press conference to clarify the facts."

McHale's thinking is also very clear, but this is actually a disguised way of falling into his own trap.

Once the seeds of doubt are planted, the Timberwolves will have to endure endless suspicion. It is simply impossible to eliminate the impact of this incident through a simple press conference.

Even if Wu Dao directly arranged for someone to conduct a drug test on himself today, and announced the drug test report to the public in the form of a press conference, I am afraid he would not be able to gain the trust of the people.

Even if the public really sees that there is no problem with your report, they will still doubt whether your report is false; even if no one doubts that your report is false, they will still suspect that the stimulants you used have been metabolized by the body, so they cannot be detected.

Once a person falls into the self-proving trap, he is doomed to be in trouble.

McHale is an experienced person. When talking about holding a press conference, he quickly thought of the things that might happen later. His face became very ugly at this moment, and he didn't know what method to take for a while.

Seeing that McHale had an unhappy expression on his face, Wu Dao naturally understood what the other party was worried about.

As the youngest, he showed a calmness and composure that was unimaginable to others when facing this matter.

"Boss, Mr. President and the coach."

"This incident happened because of me. I have an idea that I want to talk to you about."

Everyone looked towards Wu Dao. The calmness he displayed at this moment infected them, and they were willing to listen to what Wu Dao, the person involved, thought.

6 month 8 day.

The news about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in martial arts continued to ferment, and the Timberwolves players also completed their gym adaptation training with trepidation on this day.

After that internal meeting, Coach Philip did not announce to the players what their next response measures would be. He simply told the players that Wu Dao did not use stimulants and asked them to train with peace of mind, and that was all.

But such an answer obviously could not satisfy the Timberwolves players. Although they had been in closed training before the game these days, they could all feel that the atmosphere in the team had become a little weird because of this incident.

Some young players who originally had great respect for martial arts were also secretly discussing this matter in private.

The team's starting players and main rotation players have had less communication with Wu Dao these days. Only Garnett can get along with Wu Dao as usual and is not affected by this incident.

But this kind of atmosphere is obviously wrong. If the Timberwolves enter the game in this state, they will inevitably fail.

The Timberwolves did not respond promptly to the surging public opinion. After learning the news, Wu Dao's agent was extremely anxious and wanted Wu Dao to hold a press conference, but his proposal was rejected by Wu Dao.

What's more strange is that the league's attitude towards this matter is also somewhat confusing. Normally, this matter not only has an impact on Wudao and the Timberwolves, but also has a great impact on the league.

However, the alliance did not take any countermeasures, and did not even send people to conduct drug tests on Wu Dao. It just allowed public opinion to ferment.

The league's top management is more determined than the Timberwolves management.

The team and the league have been slow to respond, but public opinion is growing more and more intense. Although Timberwolves fans strongly support their team, they are also feeling a little overwhelmed by the overwhelming public opinion.

The team has not made any statement, so these fans have lost their backbone. Seeing that the team has not responded and seems to be preparing to deal with the situation coldly, the fans can't help but wonder whether Wu Dao really used drugs in the previous game.

No one knew what these people were up to until June 6th.

On the night of Game 4 of the finals between the Bulls and the Timberwolves, at the pre-game press conference, the Timberwolves, who had been silent for many days, also invited Coach Philip and Wu Dao to attend the pre-game press conference.

All the cameras were pointed at Wudao. The Chicago media reporters were eager to try it out. When they saw Wudao on the road, their faces were filled with excitement.

However, as soon as the pre-match press conference began, Wu Dao tapped the microphone lightly, leading the rhythm of the press conference:
"Hello, hello."

"Hello, media friends present here. I am Wu Dao, a player of the Timberwolves."

"Seeing your expressions, I actually know what you want to ask."

"Of course I've read the newspapers these past two days. Now many people are suspecting that I used performance-enhancing drugs during competitions, right?"

"Haha, this time, in front of many media reporters, I want to clarify to everyone that I have never used performance-enhancing drugs in competitions."

"I know that such a simple sentence cannot dispel people's doubts and concerns about me."

"Therefore, I have contacted the Anti-Doping Agency through the team and invited them to conduct a drug test on me."

"Today, before our game between the Timberwolves and the Bulls!"

Wu Dao's words echoed in this small conference hall. The cameras of media reporters were all pointed at Wu Dao, and no one commented on his clarification.

Below, a Chicago reporter stood up from his seat immediately after Wu Dao finished speaking, and asked directly without asking Wu Dao whether he agreed to answer his question:
"Mr. Wu Dao, I'm sorry, what's the point of you doing the so-called drug test today?!"

"Even if there is no problem with your drug test today, does it prove that you have not used stimulants in previous competitions?"

“Isn’t this a little too persuasive?”

"Also, can you tell me why you are connected with a biopharmaceutical company? And the other party happens to be a pioneer research institute in the development of stimulants?"

The question from this Chicago media person was very pointed, and his words also attracted responses from the media at the scene.

"Haha, my meeting with that person was just a coincidence."

"I don't know that person, and the content of our conversation is not very meaningful, just some gossip. If you are skeptical about this, I think you can seek help from the medical representative and ask him to tell you what we talked about that day."

"The drug test will be conducted before the game today. By the way, in order to ensure that the drug test is strong enough, I will also take another one after the game."

"As for whether today's drug test can prove my innocence, I think the next game will tell you the answer."

(End of this chapter)