Chapter 722: Chapter 494: When the Opportunity Comes (Unity) Chapter 722: Chapter 494: When the Opportunity Comes (Unity) Yu Fei and Jordan’s argument became the opening act of the day.

It was also a microcosm of the entire meeting.

Seek common ground while reserving differences? When it comes to direct interests, it’s difficult to reach a consensus.

As Yu Fei and Jordan’s argument escalated, it looked like it was about to get physical, and people from both sides came over to calm them down.

“I’m still saying the same thing!” Yu Fei said, “If you can’t make your fans willingly buy tickets to watch the games live, then you should look more at your own reasons. I would like some people to ask themselves whether their team is worth the fans’ time and money to watch the games live every year.”

Jordan was furious.

The unpopularity of the Bobcats in the Charlotte area cannot simply be explained by mismanagement.

First of all, the people of Charlotte felt more of a connection to the Charlotte Hornets, the predecessors to the New Orleans Hornets, and since becoming the big boss, Jordan had wanted to inherit the Hornets’ legacy in Charlotte.

But the thing is, the Hornets didn’t dissolve; they just relocated.

They were still calling themselves the Hornets in New Orleans, so the Bobcats couldn’t tell the locals that they were the Hornets.

Secondly, Jordan privately admitted that there were some problems with the management of the team; they failed to select a player in the draft that could rejuvenate the market.

And that was the crux of the issue.

Yu Fei kept saying that those losing money had management problems and couldn’t attract fans, but isn’t that the same reason the other teams are losing money?

Is it a problem of management? In fact, it’s a problem of there being too few Yu Feis and too many NBA teams.

Without the likes of Yu Fei as a frontman, it’s impossible to stimulate the basketball market and create a thriving professional sports economic effect like the one the Supersonics had.

Yet Yu Fei blames all the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of these money-losing owners, which is simply unacceptable to Owner Jordan.

Stern took control of the situation.

“Frye, Michael, let’s calm down.” Stern said, “Today isn’t about labor negotiations; we’re just airing out our views. Owners have their difficulties, and the union has its own thoughts. Let’s exchange some opinions. The issue won’t be resolved today, but effective communication can lay a good foundation for our future negotiations.”

In the players’ union, Yu Fei’s strong stance against Jordan and his scathing criticism of the money-losing owners made Fisher and Billy Hunter’s blood boil.

As the leader of the player’s camp, Yu Fei’s ardent support could be compared to the year when Oscar Robertson shouted for a strike to seek welfare for NBA players.

After today’s kerfuffle, Jordan, the so-called player traitor, has thoroughly lost his deity status in the hearts of Fisher and other union executives.

Now, hearing Stern make his suggestion, Fisher replied stiffly, “Our thoughts are simple: we want to increase the welfare for the middle and lower-tier players on the basis of the existing CBA agreement.”

“Dream on!” Not only is Jordan an owner of a small-market team, but he is also one of the owners with the thinnest financial backing in the NBA. The current situation of operating at a loss was already giving him a headache, and if he had to increase welfare for the players, how would he survive?

His mood had already been agitated by Yu Fei, and hearing Fisher’s words, he responded almost reflexively with an outburst.

“If you don’t have money, why be an owner?” Yu Fei mocked, “Take my advice and sell the team. You don’t deserve it.”

In this moment, Jordan could fully empathize with the late Abe Pollin.

As an ambitious young owner, rising from the player rank to owner was one of the things Jordan was most proud of. He had sworn to prove that he could win a championship as an owner, but now, they were facing serious survival issues, and this damn Yu Fei was still making sarcastic comments.

“No one can tell me what to do.”

Jordan said coldly.

“Maybe you could listen to our proposed improvements after our research?”

Stern knew the players’ union wouldn’t give in an inch, so it was best to let them know directly what the owners wanted.

“Let’s hear it.”

Stern began to speak slowly.

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Fisher and Hunter could probably guess the owners’ demands.

They thought the owners only wanted to step forward, but they didn’t expect that the owners’ demand was to resolve the issue in one fell swoop, to completely eliminate the dispute.

For a long time, the struggle between the NBA’s labor and capital had revolved around one topic: money.

In the beginning, the players were in an absolutely disadvantaged position. They used strikes to threaten the league to recognize the legitimacy of the players’ union, and they succeeded. Subsequently, through strikes, they demanded the NBA guarantee players’ daily living expenses and retirement benefits and medical care, and they were successful again. This was in the 1970s; from that time on, the NBA quickly expanded in commercialization, with capital always at a disadvantage. Until 1983, the owners had had enough because Magic Johnson and Moses Malone each signed huge contracts, and this trend showed no signs of slowing down. If this continued, the NBA would turn into the United States’ CBA, playing money-driven basketball.

The owners began to counterattack, forcing the players’ union to agree to a salary cap after a season of covert warfare. After more than a decade of development, the owners realized that while the salary cap was good, it had too many bugs–like no upper limit on individual maximum contracts. To fix this pile of ‘code smell’, the NBA shut down in the summer of 1998. The owners were successful once again. Now, they had targeted another bug that needed fixing: the uneven distribution of income between labor and capital.