Corrupting the League's atmosphere was not allowed by David Stern.
Of course, before LeBron, there had already been players forming groups.
Like Boston, like the Lakers.
Since others had done it, LeBron had to be allowed to do it too.
David Stern had no intention of forbidding it, it's just...
You can do it!
But you can't be so ostentatious about it, as if what you're doing is something that should be emulated.
Now that LeBron had done it, he became that attention-seeking monkey.
To prevent others from going even further in the future, David Stern of course had to "kill the chicken to warn the monkey"!
Meanwhile, in another office, Xiao Hua was watching the game, and seeing the referee call a foul on LeBron right from the start, Xiao Hua knew then and there that it was something David Stern had done on purpose.
But in Xiao Hua's heart, there really was no need for David Stern to do this.
Keep in mind that LeBron's decision brought massive exposure to the League.
