Chapter 52 The Biggest Penalty in NBA History

At 11 o'clock, the NBA held a press conference at its headquarters. David Stern and Adam Silver both attended the press conference and announced the decision on how to deal with last night's violence.

First, five security guards at the Pacers' home court, Conseco Fieldhouse, were involved in a violent incident. The Pacers fined the fieldhouse $100 million and required the fieldhouse to fire the five security guards.

Second, the Pacers management failed to prevent the escalation of violence and improperly managed the team, and was fined $100 million.

Third, Ron Artest was suspended for 125 games and fined $20. Reggie Miller was suspended for 15 games and fined $20. Jermaine O'Neal was suspended for 20 games and fined $20. Brad Miller was suspended for 20 games and fined $20. Jamaal Tinsley was suspended for 50 games and fined $20... All wages will be suspended during the suspension period.

Fourth, the regular season game was decided by the score before the game was interrupted, 2:1, and the Knicks won away.

A total of twelve Pacers players were suspended or fined, for a total of 235 games and fined up to $210 million, which is by far the largest fine in league history.

The league is still showing mercy, with most of the suspensions being placed on Artest and Tinsley who are seriously injured and unable to play. As long as they can get through 20 games, the Pacers will be able to recover most of their strength.

Some substitute players who participated in the violent incidents were only fined but not suspended, so the Pacers could barely get enough players to play.

David Stern's approach was very clever. In all his handling of the situation, he did not use the word "fighting", only the word "violence", which represented unilateral responsibility, while avoiding sensitive words such as bullying and racial discrimination.

As soon as the punishment results came out, they spread quickly on the Internet. New York media followed up and then led the media in other cities.

"The Pacers will not be able to recover in the next three years, and Reggie Miller's championship dream is completely shattered."

"The beast Ron Artest is seriously injured and will be reduced to waste."

"The Pacers do not have enough players, will sign a large number of players from the free market, will draw a large number of players from lower-level teams, and may also buy out the contracts of some banned players."

"Wolverine is out of danger and has left the intensive care unit."

"An American cable TV station intends to hire Wolverine as its spokesperson."

“Coca-Cola is interested in hiring Wolverine as its spokesperson.

"And1, the most popular basketball shoe brand this year, has revealed that it intends to join hands with Wolverine."

"According to a Pacers insider, before the game, the Pacers were worried that Wolverine would smash the backboard, so they made a plan to intimidate Wolverine in the locker room. Reggie Miller, Artest and many others participated, which was the real cause of the violence."

"According to internal information, several sponsors of the Pacers have decided to withdraw their sponsorship of the Pacers."

……

In Indianapolis, Reggie Miller, lying on the hospital bed, learned of the league's punishment and knew that the Pacers were completely finished and his dream of winning the championship was completely over.

Moreover, the sanctions from the Polis court were waiting for him. For a moment, he didn't even have the mood to curse anyone. He felt so disheartened.

In the intensive care unit on the upper floor, Artest woke up from a coma.

His mouth was still swollen like a sausage and he couldn't speak.

The nose underwent two surgeries, a stainless steel cover was installed on the outside, and a ventilator catheter and fluid tube were inserted into the nostrils.

He breathed the pure oxygen provided by the ventilator with some difficulty, his mind a little blacked out, and he tried hard to recall his previous memories.

"Where am I? The hospital? Damn it, why am I here?"

"I, I seem to be injured. My chest hurts, my mouth hurts, and my stomach hurts. Damn it, who hurt me?"

"My head is so dizzy!"

"Oh, Wolverine, I remember now. During the game, I was beating him up..." When he recalled this, he finally came to his senses and recalled all his memories.

"Damn bastard! How dare he hit me?"

"Wolverine, you're looking for death!"

"Oh, it hurts, doctor..."

In anger, he felt unbearable pain in his chest and mouth, unable to speak. His head was dizzy and painful, so he could only ring the bell.

Soon, a middle-aged black doctor came in with a nurse.

"Mr. Artest, I'm your attending physician, Frances, and this is nurse Meilin. I've already informed the Pacers that you've woken up. Now let me tell you about your injuries..."

Five minutes later, the injury report was over and Artest was so angry that he felt dizzy, his head was spinning, and he had a strong urge to vomit.

"You have a severe concussion. You must rest and recuperate for at least three months, and keep your emotions calm."

"Your liver and right lung are both damaged and have internal bleeding. The surgery was successful. One-fifth of your liver was removed. The most serious case is that your right lung may lose 30% of its function. So don't get too excited right now, otherwise it may cause injury."

"You have an incision on your right chest and below. The upper incision is 23 centimeters, and the lower liver incision is 21 centimeters. Don't touch them."

"You still have one tooth left, but it cannot be filled for the time being. You can only fill it after your other injuries have healed."

After giving the instructions, the medical staff left Artest behind.

"Asshole! Wolverine, I'm going to kill you..."

He opened his leaky mouth and cursed incoherently.

Soon, Reggie Miller pushed the door open, followed by O'Neal and others.

"Oh, my lungs, oh, my liver..."

After learning the result of the fight from Reggie Miller, he couldn't believe it. He was so angry that his chest heaved. The two surgical incisions in his chest and abdomen began to hurt again. His mouth and nose also hurt from anger, but he couldn't say anything, which made him feel even more uncomfortable.

"We had nine injuries, and Tinsley was the worst. He broke his left leg, a comminuted fracture, and his career is over," said Reggie Miller.

"How is this possible? How could Wolverine be so powerful?" Artest still couldn't believe it.

"There were five security guards helping us, but he knocked down three of them. They are all in this hospital now." Reggie Miller said gloomily.

Artest said angrily: "We are going to sue him for assault."

Unfortunately, no one heard clearly what he said.

"Wolverine is also seriously injured, and the league has just announced the punishment decision..." Reggie Miller said again.

"Has the Alliance gone mad?"

Artest was really going crazy. Wolverine injured so many of them, but there was no punishment at all?

"Ron, the Knicks said that more than a dozen of us fought against Wolverine, and they would sue us for murder." Reggie Miller said again.

Artest's eyes widened. What kind of bullshit is this? We murdered him? At most, we just wanted to give him a warning. Why would we murder him?
(End of this chapter)