Chapter 683

On July 1, 2011, the last effective day of the NBA's labor agreement, the NBA and the players' union held their final negotiation, but unfortunately, there was still a significant disagreement between the two sides, and they couldn't reach any agreement.

So, on July 1, 2011, the NBA officially entered a lockout.

David Stern, the president of the NBA, said at the NBA headquarters on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York: "We all deeply regret the NBA's lockout. Here, we want to thank the fans who enjoy NBA games. The past year has been a great year. But for many of the team owners, even such a great season was not profitable. Those small-town teams just did not have the same fun. Our goal is to make the operations of the league more cost-effective and for all 30 teams to be competitive."

Adam Silver, the NBA's deputy commissioner, also told the media: "The newly expired collective bargaining agreement was not a win-win system. That agreement led to massive financial losses for our teams. We now need a sustainable business model that allows all 30 teams the opportunity to compete for the championship, pay players reasonable wages, and obtain considerable economic returns under good management."

In the conference room at the NBA headquarters, James Dolan joked with Charles Capet, "How is it that as soon as you come to New York, the NBA has to stop? The Barclays Center is so beautiful, the maintenance costs must be high, right?"

As soon as James Dolan spoke, Heat owner Micky Arison also laughed.

Charles Capet flipped him off, "James, take care of the Knicks. From now on, the Knicks won't be taking a single win from the Barclays Center. And you, Micky, the Heat was the biggest joke this year. You built a Big Three just to get beat by the Mavericks. And you made fun of Nets?"

Sure enough, as soon as Charles Capet spoke, more owners started laughing, especially Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who gave Charles a thumbs up.

James Dolan's rank was low, barely top 15 among NBA owners, not even making the Forbes 400 list. Micky Arison, however, was doing well, being among the top five NBA owners this year. And Charles Capet had overtaken Paul Allen of the Trail Blazers, now the richest owner in the NBA league.

Charles didn't bother to say much more and directly asked the bald deputy commissioner in attendance, "This lockout needs to be resolved quickly; we can't let it drag on!"

"Yeah, so what's the solution? Otherwise, our losses will also be substantial."

"Exactly, a lot of players are talking about going abroad to make money."

"In any case, we need to solve the problem quickly..."

During the lockout, NBA players did not receive salaries, and players could not use team training facilities for any reason. However, teams could not hold any summer training camps, exhibitions, team meetings, or coach meetings. Additionally, NBA team websites could no longer use player images or hire players as promotional representatives. Teams could not negotiate, sign contracts, or trade players!

At that moment, nothing related to the NBA could proceed, and certainly, many team owners had complaints.

The bald vice president Adam Silver quickly reassured, "Ladies and gentlemen, both the league and the players' union are not passive. We will continue to meet and negotiate in the next two weeks!"

"But the league has already announced there won't be a summer league. What if the two sides can't reach an agreement quickly?"

"We'll lose more than just the summer league; we might miss the preseason and training camps starting in October!"

"Yeah, look at the NFL. They've been locked out since April and haven't resolved it yet. We might even miss the regular season starting at the end of October..."

The owners started complaining again, mostly criticizing players for being greedy, with Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan being the loudest.

Due to the NBA lockout, Charles Capet attended because he was in New York, otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to waste time. Now, two of North America's four major leagues were in lockout!

...

In the afternoon, Charles met with Lily Ying in the Capet Tower office.

"You know that popular Malaysian-Chinese tycoon Jho Low, right?" asked Lily Ying.

Charles shook his head, "A second-generation rich kid from Southeast Asia, playing fast in Hollywood, with many ties to Hollywood starlets and socialites. What's up?"

"Nothing, I just met him at a business dinner today. Nobody knows what business he's in, but he's loaded!" Apparently, Jho Low's way of doing things made Lily Ying suspicious.

Charles laughed, "Probably Malaysian state capital along with investments from a few wealthy Middle Easterners in his so-called company. In the past few years, he's been throwing money around in America's entertainment and fashion circles, hooking up with many actresses and models. By the way, Donna said this guy also knows Leonardo DiCaprio. He even invested in The Wolf of Wall Street, which DiCaprio produced and starred in!"

The Wolf of Wall Street was produced by DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions and co-produced with Universal Pictures, with Universal responsible for distribution. The portion of the capital for Appian Way Productions was provided by Jho Low!

Lily Ying laughed, "Seems Hollywood really is complicated. It's totally true that Hollywood has the best lawyers and accountants, just like on Wall Street."

Charles shrugged, "Hollywood has always been the second-largest money-laundering spot next to Las Vegas casinos!"

"By the way, the introductions I gave to those Middle Eastern tycoons were good, right?" asked Charles. "These oil guys are rich and should be quite interested in your fund."

Lily Ying nodded, "I've already received at least $1 billion in investments. But right now, my main focus is watching over Capet Universal's IPO. They will send people to Hong Kong to discuss it with me when the time comes!"

"Well, not bad," Charles thought for a moment. "After Capet goes public, I'll accompany my mom to Hong Kong to attend your Prada IPO!"

*****

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