Early morning of April 28, 2000. On a flight from Detroit to New York.
The lights in first class had been dimmed to their lowest setting, and most passengers were already asleep. Only a dim reading light remained on by the window.
Lin Qi sat in the dim light, a thick investigation report, fifty pages long, lying quietly on the small table in front of him.
Bank statements, offshore account activity logs, encrypted call records, witness testimonies from underground bookmakers, and several hard drives.
The dry numbers and dates on each page form a flawless, closed chain of evidence. They unequivocally lead to the same fact, a conclusion powerful enough to instantly collapse the vast sports empire beneath this plane...
NBA referee Tim Donaghy is heavily involved in illegal gambling, and he is not the only one implicated.
Lin Qi picked up a glass of iced purified water and gently swirled it. The ice cubes clinked against the glass, making a crisp sound.
He took a sip of ice water and closed his eyes. Memories of that biggest scandal in NBA history from his past life immediately surfaced clearly in his mind.
July 2007.
Following the original historical trajectory, when the FBI suddenly announced its involvement in the investigation, the name Tim Donaghy was like a nuclear bomb detonating at the FBI headquarters.
The credibility of the entire NBA suffered a devastating blow in an instant.
Fans' faith crumbled. Countless people began frantically searching through old videotapes, scrutinizing every controversial call with a magnifying glass. The media frenzy and subsequent purge followed: The Washington Post's front page scathingly criticized the league's "bankruptcy," and ESPN's roundtable discussions for a month revolved around the same despairing question, "How many clean people are left in this league?"
The sponsors' anger was even more devastating. Nike and Coca-Cola used the excuse of "severe damage to brand image" to exert strong pressure during the contract renewal negotiations, even threatening to terminate the cooperation entirely. Congress even held hearings and strongly summoned David Stern to Washington for questioning.
Lin Qi clearly remembered how haggard and aged the iron-fisted tyrant who had single-handedly built a multi-billion dollar business empire looked at the press conference that summer.
That day, facing countless flashing lights, Stern uttered his famous address in a hoarse voice. "This is the most serious and worst situation that I have ever experienced, either as a fan of the NBA, a lawyer for the NBA, or a commissioner."
Stern spent a full twenty-three years preparing for that day. From taking over a mess rife with brawls and scandals, on the verge of bankruptcy, to introducing the salary cap and creating the legend of Jordan, he spared no effort to raise the league's annual revenue from a paltry $165 million to $4 billion.
Twenty-three years of hard work and reputation were almost destroyed in an instant by a gambler with a whistle in his mouth.
But... that was in the original 2007. That was a future before history was interfered with by this butterfly.
Lin Qi slowly opened his eyes, drank the remaining ice water in his glass in one gulp, and suppressed those horrific images of the future back into his heart.
It is now the year 2000.
FBI agents haven't yet targeted Donaghy. The media is completely unaware of this. Most fans still steadfastly believe that NBA games are fair and just.
David Stern was still comfortably sitting in his president's office on Fifth Avenue, completely unaware that the credibility system upon which the alliance depended was on the verge of complete collapse.
And the key card that could trigger this domino effect was now lying quietly on the small table in front of Lin Qi.
Lin Qi knew perfectly well that as long as he threw this report at the sports editor of the New York Times after getting off the plane, the Suns would rise tomorrow morning and Stern's life's work and the entire NBA's commercial valuation would suffer a devastating blow seven years in advance.
Stern's reputation would plummet. He had just led the negotiations for the 1999 lockout and finally got the league back to normal, only to have the referee match-fixing scandal break out? He would be branded with shame and lose all respect.
Having just experienced a lockout and then Jordan's retirement, what if another gambling scandal breaks out?
That would forcibly cut off the entire development trajectory of the NBA, leading to years of stagnant valuations, or even worse.
But overturning the card table is never the way to maximize profits.
Lin Qi could also choose another path.
They secretly handed the evidence to Stern, asking him to handle it discreetly.
Donaghy would be sent to prison in an extremely secretive process, without the media catching a whiff of it. The FBI investigation would be kept within absolute security limits, and fans around the world may never know that the NBA in 2000 came incredibly close to a fatal crisis.
The disaster was perfectly covered up.
Stern would owe Lin Qi a huge favor.
Lin Qi put down the glass in his hand, leaned back in the spacious airline seat, and gently rubbed the condensation droplets on the glass with his fingertips.
He mentally rehearsed David Stern's psychological state when he saw this irrefutable evidence a few hours later.
First came extreme shock, followed by a chill down his spine. With Stern's exceptionally keen legal instincts, he didn't even need to look at them a second time to gauge the significance of these bank statements and wiretapped recordings.
He'll be terrified. What will happen to the entire league, and what will his career be like once these things get out?
But fear is fleeting; it will be replaced by rage.
Back then, to clean up the league's negative atmosphere, Stern was ruthless in completely removing those star players who violated the rules. Now, a referee dares to trample on the fairness of the game right on the foundation of the league. Without credibility, the NBA will be worthless. This is not just a crime, but a blatant challenge to the league's highest authority.
However, anger will never cloud the judgment of a top professional manager.
Lin Qi closed his eyes, certain that within three minutes at most, Stern would force himself to calm down and begin planning how to cut his losses.
Publicly addressing the issue would be tantamount to suicide; the only chance of survival is a secret separation. Let the FBI make their move covertly, let Donaghy go to prison quietly under another pretext, and cover everything up flawlessly to the outside world. As long as the issue remains unresolved, the alliance's losses can be minimized.
Following this line of reasoning, Stern would immediately realize what Lin Qi's private visit meant.
Instead of handing the evidence to the New York Times, this young man chose to bring it directly to the negotiating table. This sent a very clear signal: Lin Qi wanted a deal that maximized his profits, not a lose-lose situation. Lin Qi gave the alliance an opportunity to proactively defuse potential problems.
Of course, as the leader of the alliance, Stern would not sit idly by and wait for his doom.
He would inevitably become extremely wary, repeatedly testing just how big this young man's appetite really was. If he could use Donaghy to blackmail the alliance today, would he use the same tactic again tomorrow? Stern would definitely try to regain the initiative at the negotiating table and ensure that Lin Qi wouldn't become a huge hidden danger that could get out of control at any time.
Lin Qi downed the last sip of ice water in his glass, his gaze calm.
All of Stern's reactions were within his calculations.
Next comes the real showdown at the card table.
He only needed to convey three unshakeable points of consensus to that iron-fisted CEO: First, the evidence was absolutely fatal. Second, he had no intention of making things difficult for the alliance; he only wanted to take his rightful share of the pie. Third, backroom deals were the only win-win path for both sides... Stern preserved his reputation and the alliance's credibility and commercial value, while Lin Qi received substantial compensation.
But what exactly is the compensation?
Lin Qi gently toyed with a pure silver commemorative coin between his fingertips, lost in thought.
It's not about money. The Boston Celtics have plenty of money, and so does Lin Qi. Within two years, his available cash will grow to at least $3.5 billion.
Yes, what kind of compensation would be appropriate?
This became Lin Qi's biggest headache.