As for the owners of the other teams, they didn't think Wang Yi's suspension would have much of an impact on them.
But that afternoon, one by one, the owners began to worry.
The impact of Wang Yi's suspension was already showing up in the stocks of their various businesses.
Although the NBA wasn't publicly traded, and none of its teams were listed either, the owners all had businesses of their own, some of which were closely tied to the NBA.
Many NBA teams were operated by publicly traded companies owned by their respective owners.
For example, the New York Knicks, one of the most profitable teams in the NBA.
The Knicks weren't a publicly traded company. They were operated by Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (MSG).
MSG was publicly traded, and its largest shareholder was also the owner of the Knicks.
When Wang Yi was announced as suspended for 40 games, MSG's stock began to fall.
In just half an hour, it had dropped 7%.
What did that mean?
The U.S. stock market had a circuit breaker system to protect the market.
The system had three stages.
If a stock fell 7% in a day, the first circuit breaker would kick in, halting trading for 15 minutes.
If it fell 15% in a day, the second circuit breaker would kick in, halting trading for 15 minutes.
If it fell 20% in a day, all trading in that stock would be suspended for the rest of the day.
Wang Yi's suspension was announced, and within half an hour, it had triggered the circuit breaker. That showed just how big an impact it had.
And MSG wasn't the only stock closely tied to the NBA that took a big hit.
The mechanical company owned by the San Antonio Spurs' owner also