Chapter 705: 489 Chapter 705: 489 Just as the League announced this year’s All-Star Game roster, the Supersonics quietly hit the jackpot.

Team owner Clay Bennett signed a six-year broadcasting contract with Seattle’s three major TV stations KOMO-TV, KING-TV, and KIRO-TV.

Although the exact figure was not public, the “Seattle Times” revealed, “The contract is worth a nine-figure sum.”

That is to say, the Supersonics could ensure tens of millions of US dollars in revenue each year just from the local TV broadcasting contract.

This was unimaginable a few years ago.

Subsequently, the TV station executives indicated that they had an exit clause.

If the Supersonics moved this summer, the contract would be voided.

All signs indicated that the Supersonics had ten thousand reasons to stay in the Emerald City and not a single reason to leave.

However, at the same time as the Supersonics were making their fortune, a larger conflict was brewing within the NBA.

The NBA’s labor agreement was set to expire in the summer of 2011, and the players’ union was eager to gain more benefits in the next agreement, while many teams affected by the financial crisis two years prior had yet to recover, especially some in smaller markets that were running at a deficit.

This made most owners want to establish a hard salary cap similar to the NFL’s and eliminate all exceptions to the salary cap, including the current “Larry Bird” clause, which allows teams to re-sign their own players for a higher amount than other teams can offer. The owners also demanded shorter player contract terms and that all existing contracts be “adjusted” according to their proposed new system.

This was a clear touch on the players’ union’s bottom line; neither side was likely to give in.

Before the official negotiations began after the end of the season, both sides were to meet during the All-Star weekend. This meeting was mainly to exchange suggestions and see exactly what each side wanted.

As the most influential player of his time, Yu Fei could not stay out of the fray.

With nearly a month left before All-Star weekend, Derek Fisher, the current Players Association president, gave Yu Fei a call to brief him.

“Frye, we’re going to meet the ‘Great Whites’ in Dallas, and we need you there,” Fisher said.

“Great Whites” was a jargon term within the players’ union, originating from the 1970s.

At that time, racism was rampant in the United States, and the NBA was losing a large portion of its middle-class audience due to an influx of African American fans. They felt that basketball games were “too black, and not enjoyable to watch.” In reality, the issue wasn’t that they weren’t enjoyable but that they were “too black.”

To win back viewers, NBA teams would place white players in marginal roles, displacing African American players due to the color of their skin. These white players who replaced black players based on their skin color were called “Great Whites.”

Decades later, the phenomenon no longer existed, but the meaning of “Great Whites” had changed.

It started to be widely used to refer to the League and the owners.

Knowing his position, Yu Fei asked, “What do I need to do when the time comes?”

“You don’t need to do anything; we have specialist negotiators for that, your mere presence will be enough,” Fisher replied.

If he was just going to be a backdrop, Yu Fei certainly had no other thoughts.

As he was about to hang up the phone, suddenly he remembered something.

Isn’t Jordan now one of the owners?

One of the main reasons for this labor-capital strife was that the owners of the smaller market teams felt they couldn’t make ends meet and wanted to redistribute the profits.

The Bobcats could definitely be considered a small market team, so was Jordan one of those pushing for renegotiation?

“Will the owner of the Bobcats be there?” Yu Fei asked specifically.

Fisher understood; as a leader of the players’ camp, people like Yu Fei couldn’t just play a symbolic role if they were to fight the owners.

But how to awaken Yu Fei’s fighting spirit?

That was a problem, because Yu Fei was doing well in Seattle, where management and the owner regarded him highly, so there was no reason for him to have problems with the owners.

However, if the person standing against him just happened to have a last name Jordan and just happened to have a first name Michael, then it would be a different story.

“Michael is one of the initiators and also one of the owners demanding the introduction of a hard salary cap,” Fisher said, “He’ll definitely be in Dallas.”

Yu Fei laughed and said decisively, “He must not succeed.”

After hanging up the phone, Fisher told the people around him, “Frye has decided to join the battle.”

The season is filled with all sorts of things that can divert attention.

Labor negotiations were just one of them.

After defeating the Golden State Warriors at home, the Supersonics started their Texas trip, where they would challenge the Spurs and Mavericks consecutively.

As for the Spurs, with Duncan resting, the Supersonics had the upper hand in the paint throughout the game.

Discontented small forward Caron Butler lost his composure in the matchup with Durant.

Durant scored jump shots over him repetitively, and Butler tried to respond in kind, but many of his choices were vetoed by Popovich.

Popovich disliked his style of play.

This small forward, who had come to Saint City as part of the trade for Kidd, was now in his contract year but did not wish to renew with the Spurs.

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Therefore, the Spurs wanted to trade him.

Amidst such internal strife, the Spurs’ stability plummeted.

Yu Fei was hitting threes like it was a practice session on the perimeter.

In addition to bursting through Butler, Durant was also satisfying in the playmaking department.

Tonight, Durant racked up 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists.