March 15, 2029.
On this day in years past, nothing particularly momentous had happened in the NBA. But after today, this date would be remembered in NBA history.
ESPN had originally planned to air a nationwide live broadcast today.
They were going to broadcast the game between the Lakers and the Grizzlies.
King Arthur versus Morant was considered a feast for NBA fans, as well as a preview of this year's Western Conference Finals.
Naturally, it had attracted a lot of attention.
It was safe to say this was the most highly anticipated game of the closing stretch of the Regular Season.
Yet ESPN pulled out of broadcasting a game that had drawn so much attention.
Three hours before the two teams were due to play, they suddenly received word that the game would no longer be broadcast nationwide.
As for the reason, the broadcaster simply said they had other plans.
Morant and King Arthur were both close to cursing them out.
King Arthur publicly criticized them on Twitter: "I know why the NBA is getting less and less attention."
In the past, any player who publicly criticized the NBA like that would have received a fine from the league.
But today, no one even bothered to fine him.
Arthur couldn't help getting a little irritated.
After all, a nationwide broadcast was a great chance to raise his profile and boost his commercial value. How could he not be furious when they'd just decided not to air the game?
Fine, don't broadcast it. Now they couldn't even be bothered to fine me.
Just how much do they look down on me?
But all he could do was get angry. There wasn't much he could do about it.
Then, at 9:00, ten minutes before their game was due to start, they