Chapter 451: Chapter 387: You Don’t Even Want to Be Vice President, Are You After My Position?
"David, calm down."
Seeing Stern swear, Granic patted his shoulder comfortingly and said, "Besides, I think Jerry only announced this publicly to make a statement."
"He wants to tell the other teams in the league that he’ll pay any price to keep Chen, hoping it’ll make them back off."
Transferring ownership shares is no small matter. For a team’s shares, the process—from submitting the plan to the board of governors’ approval and the finance committee’s review—taking six months would be considered fast.
So, an announcement is just an announcement. Whether the transfer will actually succeed is another question entirely.
Stern took a deep breath and waved his hand to show he was fine. "I’m fine. I just never expected a situation like this."
One man, causing so much trouble in the league all by himself.
Stern quickly calmed down and said in a low voice, "I still need to talk to Chen directly."
In reality, Stern had understood from the very beginning that Chen Yu’s personal attitude was crucial to the final outcome.
If Chen Yu was dead set on staying or leaving, no one could do anything about it.
"I’ll call him."
Stern stood up, walked to his desk, and dialed Chen Yu’s cell phone number.
The phone rang and rang for a long while, but there was no answer.
He tried again. Same result.
"He’s not answering my calls?" Stern was a little stunned.
Granic gave a wry smile. ’Probably because you didn’t answer his call yesterday.’
Stern thought of that too. He sighed and said, "In that case, I’d better make a trip to Phoenix."
Some things are better discussed in person.
And then there was Old Kolangelo, who was completely undermining him. He definitely needed to have a good talk with him, too.
The back-to-back announcements had even diluted the hype for this year’s Finals.
The media no longer cared that the Phoenix Suns were just one step away from defending their title.
No one cared that veterans like Oakley were about to realize their championship dream.
And no one cared that Hill had dropped a near-triple-double with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists in Game 1, only for his team to lose, or that he’d gotten emotional and his eyes had reddened at the post-game press conference.
Reporters once again swarmed the clinic’s main gate.
"Reggie."
Passing by Central Lake, Chen Yu stopped and called out toward the shore.
By the shore of Central Lake, Reggie Miller stood all alone. Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought he was about to do something foolish.
Miller offered a greeting, then immediately fell silent again.
As Chen Yu came to a stop beside him, he noticed Miller was holding a bag of fish food and feeding the fish.
Chen Yu felt that Miller was being too quiet.
His injury had actually healed a long time ago, but he never left, treating the clinic like a sanatorium and staying on.
Just as he was about to find an excuse to start a conversation, Miller jutted his chin toward the main gate.
Outside the iron gate, a crowd of heads was bobbing about—a horde of reporters.
"Chen, are you planning to leave the Suns?" Miller asked, turning his head.
Chen Yu countered, "Is that important?"
Miller thought for a moment, then gave an awkward smile. "No, I was just asking casually. It’s just that the newspapers are full of news about you, so I got curious."
Of course, Chen Yu knew that.
It was truly a bigger commotion than the Finals.
After Stern announced he wanted to promote him to Vice President and Old Kolangelo announced he wanted to transfer shares to him, all sorts of opinions started flying around the league.
People like Old Bass, for instance, bluntly stated that transferring shares was against the rules and that the board of governors should stop the Suns.
There were many similar voices, most of them in opposition.
Just as Chen Yu was about to speak, his phone vibrated.
"I have to take this call."
It was Paul Allen.
Miller voluntarily took a couple of steps away, but his attention remained fixed on Chen Yu.
A moment later, Chen Yu hung up.
"What’s wrong? Is there a problem?" Miller asked casually. He felt like Chen Yu’s expression was a little off.
Chen Yu shook his head. "It’s nothing. A call from Paul Allen. Same old story."
He wanted to recruit him.
Except this time, Paul Allen had added a new condition to his offer.
With a tone that said, ’If you wanted shares, why didn’t you say so sooner?’ he claimed that if the Suns could offer shares, so could he. As long as Chen Yu came to the Pioneer, he would immediately transfer 15 percent of the team’s shares to him at a low price.
Faced with such a generous offer, what could Chen Yu say? He could only thank him for now.
Miller was secretly amazed. Of all the team owners in the league, Paul Allen’s pursuit of Chen Yu was by far the most frenzied. Over the past few days, he had been giving interviews constantly, stressing how highly he valued Chen Yu. He was also endlessly fantasizing about what the Pioneer would become if Chen Yu were to join them.
He had probably offered a slew of other benefits, and might even be willing to transfer Pioneer shares to Chen Yu.
Other owners treasured their team’s shares, viewing them as a long-term investment they wouldn’t part with easily. But Paul Allen was different. The man loved basketball, and crucially, he was so rich that he didn’t mind spending the money.
While other owners would be loath to part with that much equity, he wouldn’t be.
"By the way, Michael is coming over. Do you want to go see him?" With the interruption, Chen Yu decided not to return to their previous topic and asked the question instead.
Jordan was suddenly coming for a visit.
Hearing it was Jordan, Miller’s brow furrowed instantly.
As one of Jordan’s foremost rivals, their relationship could hardly be called good. It had only eased up because they had both gotten older and Jordan had retired.
"Alright."
After a moment’s hesitation, Miller nodded.
Just as the two of them were walking back to the medical center, Jordan happened to arrive.
He looked the same as ever, but this time, upon seeing Chen Yu, he strode forward and gave him a friendly thump on the chest. Then, with a look of pure jealousy, he said, "Chen, I’m so damn envious of you."
Although Brian hadn’t publicly announced the exact percentage of shares he was transferring to Chen Yu, media reports alleged it was around 10 percent.
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