Legendary star

Chapter 41: Domestic Concerns

BJ time, December 1999, 12 at 25:8 a.m., this Saturday, countless Chinese NBA fans have already sat in front of the TV in advance, waiting for the upcoming NBA broadcast, to be precise, it is a recorded broadcast, starting from 94, CCTV began to broadcast NBA games via satellite, but this broadcast is limited to the finals and the All-Star Game. Every other Saturday, CCTV will also arrange a recorded game, and the recorded games are basically those. Domestic teams with a large number of fans and high popularity, such as the Bulls and Lakers, are the teams with the most recorded games.

The game broadcast today is the Christmas game between the Lakers and the Spurs. When the players of the two teams began to enter the field on the TV screen, fans across the country suddenly found a familiar yellow face.

"There is a Chinese in the Spurs' starting roster!" Teacher Zhang Lili, who was in charge of the game commentary, was also stunned when he read the starting rosters of the two teams in the press release.

The NBA broadcast time in China is not long. Most of the viewers are Jordan fans, and there are many fans of the Lakers. Therefore, the domestic broadcast and recording basically have nothing to do with other teams except for the finals. , As for the poor Spurs, apart from last season's finals, not a single game has been rebroadcasted. If it weren't for the Lakers' favor, today's rebroadcast would have nothing to do with the Spurs.And this Chinese face in the Spurs is only known to the fans today. It turns out that there is another Chinese in the NBA.

"According to the information we just obtained, No. 5 Meng Xu of the Spurs is a native of XX City in my country. He studied at Wake Forest University in the United States. He was selected by the Spurs at No. 29 in the first round of this year's draft. Authentic Chinese." When he got the press release, Zhang Lili was still wondering why Americans still had this name, but after the broadcast started, he found out that it was an Asian face, and Zhang Lili got it soon All the information about Meng Xu, from place of birth, parents' names, etc. are readily available.In this year's NBA Draft, Wang Zhizhi of the Bayi team was selected by the Mavericks in the second round, which also excited countless domestic fans. However, due to Bayi's life and death, Wang Zhizhi's NBA trip had to be postponed indefinitely.

The appearance of Meng Xu once again made countless fans excited. Finally, a Chinese stepped onto the stage. That is to say, from this day on, Meng Xu had countless fans in China, and the Spurs also replaced the Lakers and Bulls as the domestic football team. The fans' own "home team".

If Meng Xu's performance in this game is not good, it will not attract so much attention. It is just that this game is Meng Xu's best performance this season and the game with the best statistics. He made 3 of 11 three-pointers. Scored 7 points in the fourth quarter, scored 4 points, 18 rebounds, 25 steals, and 7 assists.Especially in the critical moment of the fourth quarter, the continuous scoring of 5 points made Zhang Lili lose his composure frequently.

"Meng Xu is a player who is too selfless and reasonable to play. With such an accurate shot, it is no problem to score 40 points in a game, but when his teammates are physically strong, he basically does not shoot. I am creating opportunities for my teammates, and when my teammates have no energy and can’t start the game, I am standing up, slamming 3 points, and I have no temper at all to beat the Lakers.” After the game was recorded and broadcast, Teacher Zhang Lili still Some of them still had more to say, and they kept giving their own exclusive insights to the audience in front of the TV.

"Yes, and Meng Xu is a young player, but he is very hardworking. He defended Glenn Rice very successfully. This All-Star player who averaged nearly 18 points per game last season, this game It also only scored 6 points, which is also an important reason for the Lakers' loss in this game." After Zhang Lili finished speaking, Teacher Sun Zhengping also took over the quarrel.Put all the credit for the Spurs' victory on Meng Xu, completely ignoring Duncan who was 30+10 in this game, and also ignoring the fact that Glenn Rice didn't even have 10 minutes of playing time in this game.

And the storm brought about by this game is far from over. In the United States, whether it is O'Neal's 40+10 in a single game, 30 free throws in the game, or Popovich's final shark-killing tactic, they are all on board. The headlines of many sports newspapers, a Christmas game attracted a lot of attention, but also brought countless saliva.

And after the ratings data of this game in China was sent back to the NBA headquarters, David Stern also stared at the fax from the other side of the ocean with disbelief, watching it over and over again.

"President, what happened?" Looking at David Stern's trembling fingers, NBA Vice President Russ Granik was also very surprised. This is the first time Lars Granik has seen a gaffe.

"Lars, take a look, the market we dreamed of is about to open, and our ambitious hegemony is about to come true." Not realizing his gaffe at all, David Stern excitedly handed the fax to Lars • Granik.

"Oh, God, it's unbelievable." After browsing the fax, Lars Granik was also shocked by the content of the fax. Although the game between the Lakers and the Spurs was recorded and broadcast, it was broadcast on CCTV in China. Amazing 7 % of the audience rating, we must know that the highest audience rating of the previous game recordings was only about 1%, and even the finals between the Bulls and Jazz were only 2.5% of the average audience rating.

"David, do we need to take care of this little guy?"

"Hmm." David Stern nodded when he heard the assistant's suggestion, and was even thinking about sending Las Granik or himself to San Antonio at the right time to give Popovich a hint. As long as Meng Xu can be given more opportunities, the league will take care of the Spurs appropriately. Although in David Stern's mind, he doesn't like the style of the Spurs, but for the vast market behind Meng Xu, With the future plans of the NBA, what can a little personal preference count for?

Similarly, the ratings of this game also alarmed the top management of CCTV. After an emergency meeting of 1 hour, CCTV also passed an important decision to send Su Qun back to the NBA. Su Qun was stationed in the United States by CCTV in 96 and followed him Interviewing the NBA, but after Jordan retired and the league was shut down, CCTV is not very optimistic about the prospects of the NBA. Not only is the broadcast rights contract being negotiated terminated, even Su Qun, who was stationed in the United States, was also recalled.

This time Su Qun returns to the NBA, not just alone, but will go directly to San Antonio with a team. Su Qun and his team will follow every game between Meng Xu and the Spurs.

(End of this chapter)