Chapter 296: Insomnia Cafe

New York, Manhattan, Fifth Avenue, within the Olympic Tower, resides the headquarters of the NBA.

In the presence of NBA Commissioner David Stern, Arthur Smith purchased the Los Angeles Clippers for $85 million from Donald Sterling!

Arthur secured loans of $100 million each from Bank of America and Wells Fargo, completing the transfer of the club within half a month.

The former general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers, Elgin Baylor, was dismissed, and Joe Petree took his place.

"Congratulations, Arthur, you are the youngest owner in NBA history," David Stern handed Arthur a glass of champagne, and they clinked glasses.

It was evident that David Stern was genuinely pleased. "You have also helped the league resolve a significant issue!"

Arthur sipped his champagne, "The Clippers have missed the playoffs for fifteen consecutive seasons, especially in the last ten years, becoming the underdogs in the major market of Los Angeles."

"It's truly unfortunate. In the past two seasons, under the leadership of coach Larry Brown, we finally made it to the playoffs, even if we were eliminated in the first round."

"Luckily, I managed to retain Larry Brown, who was about to be fired, after negotiating with Donald Sterling!"

David Stern's vision for the NBA included big ideas, big markets, big stars, and a big world, and the scandal-plagued, shameless Donald Sterling holding an LA team was infuriating.

Now, with a Hollywood mogul from Los Angeles taking over, everything seemed perfect.

"Arthur, how did you persuade Sterling to sell the team?" David Stern was genuinely shocked.

After all, Sterling was known as one of the league's notorious penny-pinchers!

Arthur chuckled, "Maybe his conscience dawned on him, realizing he wasn't fit to run a team."

David Stern shrugged, "So what big plans do you have next?"

Arthur didn't hold back, "Yes, I plan to build a new professional multi-purpose stadium in Los Angeles. The current home, the LA Memorial Sports Arena, was built for the Olympics long ago, and it's outdated in both facilities and services. Moreover, starting next season, the Clippers' home games will be at the Honda Center in Anaheim."

"A new stadium!" David Stern was indeed surprised. "The city government of Los Angeles probably doesn't have enough funds, right? There are so many areas requiring expenditure."

Arthur shook his head, "No, my Clippers will build a stadium by themselves without spending the city government's money. Mayor James Hahn is very supportive of me!"

A commercial stadium in the downtown area, along with supporting facilities, business centers, hotels, parking lots, and residential buildings, would significantly boost Los Angeles's economy.

"A self-funded stadium?" David Stern's eyes widened. "That's quite impressive!"

Is this how super-rich people operate? It seems Arthur Smith intends to turn the Clippers into a powerhouse team in the league.

Arthur's gaze was firm, "In the future, the Los Angeles Clippers won't just be an appendage to the Lakers. I want everyone to know that the Clippers are the true kings of Los Angeles!

I am not like that crap-filled Donald Sterling who, despite having a coach that led the team to the playoffs, still thought of changing rather than building a solid roster.

The failure to attract star players is entirely his fault!"

After chatting for a while longer, Arthur bid farewell to David Stern and left the Olympic Tower with Jennifer Aniston, who was waiting in the lounge.

As they were about to leave, Jennifer Aniston exclaimed, "Hey, Arthur, look at the entrance! Michael Jordan is here!"

Indeed, Michael Jordan, surrounded by a circle of reporters, stood at the entrance of the Olympic Tower.

Arthur was startled. Could it be that Jordan was here to discuss his retirement?

Although he knew that Jordan was set to retire this year, now, as an NBA club owner, he truly understood what Michael Jordan meant to the NBA.

Previously, as a non-NBA owner, it didn't matter much, but now he felt a wave of discomfort.

"He's probably here to meet David Stern regarding some matters," Arthur said, patting the back of Jennifer's hand.

Jennifer Aniston nestled her head on Arthur's shoulder, "A few years ago, you said you wanted to buy an NBA club. Now your dream has come true!"

"Tonight, let's celebrate," Arthur said, knowing he still had to negotiate with the Mayor of Los Angeles and the City Council about building a new sports arena. The future looked promising.

Back at the office in the Galaxy Tower in downtown Manhattan, Arthur inquired about Jennifer Aniston's movies this year.

"Army of Darkness did alright; after all, it's directed by Sam Raimi. The other romantic comedy performed just so-so," Jennifer Aniston's career seemed quite moderate.

Arthur smiled as he pulled Jennifer onto his lap, extracting a few drafts and creative notes from the drawer.

"What's this?" Jennifer Aniston, sitting on Arthur's lap, looked at the seven or eight draft pages on the table.

Arthur kissed her on the cheek, "It's a sitcom focusing on the friendship and romance of young urbanites."

"It's about six young people, three men and three women..."

Insomnia Cafe is a storyline created by producer and screenwriters Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane.

Arthur had always sought the creative storyline for Friends, keeping an eye on urban sitcom ideas, and he had finally found it.

However, Friends was still called Insomnia Cafe at this stage, and the creative script was only a rough seven pages.

But, Galaxy Television had already purchased the rights from the trio and hired them to produce the sitcom for Galaxy.

Jennifer Aniston looked at it, "Are you suggesting I play a role in this?"

Arthur nodded, "Yes, dear, I think the role of Rachel suits you perfectly.

ABC's newly aired show The X-Files is produced by Galaxy Television and has decent ratings, but I have even more confidence in this idea!"

"Really?" Jennifer Aniston, who wasn't too comfortable with films yet, had no objections to doing TV shows. She had built a decent resume in movies over the years, but hadn't really made it big.

Arthur moved closer, "Definitely, I promised to make you a star, and I intend to keep that promise!"

Friends wouldn't be complete without the famous Aniston-style Rachel.

*****

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