Chapter 548 Never Understand
Before the Christmas game, the most watched game in the NBA is undoubtedly the first showdown between the SuperSonics and the Lakers in the new season.
After more than a year of suspension, Battle of the Empire seems to be a memory of a long time ago in the hearts of fans, but when you think about it, it was only last year.
A lot can happen in a year's break.
Kobe is a year older and James looks more mature, but the Lakers don't seem to have gotten over their 2010 Western Conference Finals loss.
This season will determine many things.
Kobe, James and Richard Hamilton are all entering the final year of their contracts.
Should they fail again, the disintegration of the Evil Empire is a foreseeable event.
The problem is, there is no hope within the Lakers.
Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson is trying to fight for power before the season starts. His contract expires and the Lakers want him to coach at least until the end of the season.
But Jackson's thinking is that he's getting old and, with nine rings as a coach, tied with Reed Auerbach, and with George Karl retiring, so to speak, looking at the league, for the foreseeable future. No coach can come close to his championship tally.
His coaching career has come to an end and he now wants to try to follow the path of his godfather.
Because this was Auerbach's favorite point to mock him during his lifetime.
Auerbach believes that his championship team was formed by him as general manager, while Jackson picked it up off the shelf. The two are not on the same track at all, nor do they belong to the same level.
If Jackson wants to prove himself, he can only become the godfather.
But Bass has his own views on the future of the team, and Jackson is not indispensable.
Therefore, Jackson pulled for a while, and finally the Lakers decisively kicked him away, and then hired Mike Brown, who had just been laid off from the Cavaliers, as the team's new coach.
The decision is symbolic.
Jackson was Kobe's preferred coach, and the two had constant battles over the years, but this unhealthy relationship disappeared after Jackson entered the court.
They were recognized by each other, so as long as Jackson was there for one day, the Lakers would be Kobe's team. If Jackson was to leave, Jackson's people should be used to take over, but the Lakers chose Coach Baker.
You can choose anyone, why Bread Coach?
He coached James in Cleveland and is a coach recognized by the Emperor. Does choosing him mean that the Lakers are already preparing to retain the Emperor?
No one knows what the Lakers' top brass is thinking.
But age doesn't lie.
Kobe will be 33 and a half years old after the new year, and James will not turn 28 until the end of next year.
There is no need to say who has a longer peak and more sustained influence.
Where will the future of the Lakers go? Whether the team's No. 1 player is named Ko or James, and whether James will choose to renew his contract in the middle of the season to show that he is vowing to bring a championship to Angel City. These are all better than the Lakers' championship prospects. Something more compelling.
That night, Yu Fei saw Kobe Bryant at midfield and joked: "It's great that you haven't retired yet."
Kobe Bryant vowed last year that he would not let Yu Fei score 50 points in three consecutive games, otherwise he would retire.
In response, Kobe just smiled.
"Sooner or later I will retire." Kobe said, "You will see that day."
"I've seen it." Yu Fei mocked, "And I've also seen that you still only had three rings on your hand when you retired."
Kobe didn't answer.
O'Neal has retired, and the grudges and resentments of the OK group have become history. But until now, neither of them has been able to prove that they can win without the other.
It is undeniable that in the past seven years, they have all had opportunities to prove themselves, but they were all ruined by the same person.
Soon after, the game begins.
The current Lakers are no longer as competitive as they were before. The KJ combination can guarantee the lower limit, but in front of the Sonics, they do not have enough upper limit.
Moreover, KJ seems to be respectful to each other. Kobe has unlimited firing rights, and James has unlimited ball rights.
Therefore, James can get comprehensive data, while Kobe has the power to average 23 shots per game.
"LeBron, long time no see." Yu Fei said sarcastically, "Have you been living the same life this year?"
James said calmly: "This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. You will never understand."
There have been some changes in James' technique.
He participated in Olajuwon's Dream Workshop for two consecutive years, which enhanced his back-up ability to a certain extent. At the same time, the stability of his jump shot also improved. Add to that the millions of dollars spent on his body every year, and he's now truly entering his prime.
However, he used his power cautiously.
He doesn't seem to want to overshadow Kobe and has no desire to compete for the No. 1 spot. Mike Brown's arrival doesn't seem to have any positive implications for him.
His true thoughts have been hidden deep in his heart.
This is a man who has withstood national ridicule and online violence. He can see everything.
When Yu Fei continuously scored on James and used trash talk to stir up his nerves but got little response, when James just did what the team asked him to do without changing his expression, and never paid any attention to things other than his responsibilities. When he threw extra energy, Yu Fei knew that this person had changed.
He has already made a decision, and this decision is definitely not what the Lakers executives want to see.
This could be a good thing for Kobe. If James decides the Lakers aren't in his future, then there's hope Kobe can fulfill his lifelong Lakers dream.
On the other hand, if James decides to take the throne in Los Angeles, then Kobe, who has not proven himself after leaving O'Neal, will not have the same extraordinary privileges as he did with the Lakers in his previous life. With his temperament, he is destined to be unable to be willing to bow down to others.
In the end, James scored a triple-double of 30 points. Kobe was slightly inefficient, scoring 28 points on 11 of 25 shots. Hamilton misfired. Although the role players performed well, they could not compare with the Sonics.
Yu Fei led his team to an easy victory over the Lakers with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists.
After the game, the reporter asked him: "The Lakers don't seem to be putting any pressure on you. Why is this happening?"
Yu Fei said directly: "Ask the guy who made 11 of 25 shots."
If the loss to the Mavericks opened a difficult December schedule, then the subsequent defeats against strong opponents such as the Spurs and Lakers proved the strength of the Sonics.
They are not the arrogant and arrogant kings that the outside world thinks.
The outside world is increasingly looking forward to their Christmas battle with the Big Three in New Jersey.
Just before that day arrived, an organization that had been out of sight of the media and fans for a long time once again broke the news.
Players Association. No one who follows the NBA wants to see them, because once this organization becomes active, it means that the league is at risk of shutting down.
But this time, the news about the union was because of internal struggles.
During the lockout, Billy Hunter, the executive vice president of the team's union, accused the then union president Derek Fisher of colluding with the management to sell out the players' camp and the collective interests of the team.
Although Fisher argued hard, Hunter relied on his connections and reputation that had been rooted in the union for many years to quickly confirm Fisher's betrayal without evidence, and then used an internal democratic vote to make Fisher The chairman steps down.
Later, Chris Paul, a young superstar who was extremely enthusiastic about union affairs, became the acting chairman and was elected to officially attend after the lockout ended, officially opening the era of chairman gun.
Hunter thought that a young man like Chairman Pao was easy to handle and would never come back to bite him like a veteran like Fisher who had been struggling in the league for many years and had intricate connections.
Unexpectedly, Chairman Pao would carry out "self-purification" within the union as soon as he came up.
Through a series of investigations, backtracking, and account inquiries, Chairman Pao discovered that Hunter not only arranged for many of his relatives to work in the union, but also misappropriated public funds many times to do unclear things. Therefore, Chairman Pao found out in the latest competition Leigh Hunter made a surprise appearance at an internal meeting that he did not attend, presented his findings, and then announced the suspension of a series of jobs for Billy Hunter.
Fisher immediately praised Paul's move on Twitter: "Chris did something absolutely right. Starting today, the Players Association will belong to the players, and it will never become someone outside the system seeking for themselves. Tools of profit.”
Hunter said he had "yet to receive any pink slip."
"If true, this demonstrates the extremely troubling procedures followed by the NBPA over the past few weeks," he said in the statement. "In the coming days and weeks, my legal team and I will begin to scrutinize the actions taken and comments made against me in conference rooms where I was absent. I will be gathering evidence of how certain individuals ensured The results are predetermined”
Paul then drew up a list full of current superstars and sent them via text message.
Paul wanted these men to become union vice presidents to help him run the union.
Yu Fei is one of the invited superstars. Chairman Pao believes that Yu has unparalleled influence on both players and management. He showed a strong enough attitude in the early stages of the labor dispute, which proved that his loyalty to the player camp is reliable. People like him If you can join the players union, you will definitely become the backbone of the union.
Yu Fei said: "Thank you for the invitation, but I can't."
Paul immediately made a second invitation, and he was even willing to give up his position as chairman to Yu Fei.
Paul believes that if a person like Yu Fei, who has huge influence in every word and deed, becomes the chairman of the union, it will be beneficial to the entire player camp.
"I'll stand with you." At least for now, "but I don't want to get an extra job."
This was Yu Fei's response.
Finally, Paul said that Yu Fei does not need to participate in daily affairs and only attend major decisions.
"You want me to be an irresponsible decision-maker like Michael Jordan?"
Both Paul and the union were sincere enough, but Yu Fei firmly refused.
This made the union leaders very sorry, but they could only respect Yu Fei's wishes.
Yu Fei doesn't want to get involved in the union's muddy waters for three main reasons. He is not good at palace fighting. The union's waters are too deep and muddy. He must keep the possibility that he may change his position in the future.
It is not difficult to understand that he is not good at palace fighting. He has used upright strength to get what he wants along the way. However, it is said that he was removed from office in a referendum like Fisher, or like Billy Hunter when he did not have the power to do so. Is the incident of being attacked by Chairman Cannon at the meeting he attended fair and square?
He did not believe Fisher was innocent, and as union president, he voluntarily gave up 7% of his profit sharing - equivalent to saving team owners $10 million per year for the next five years. How can this position not be questioned?
He also doesn't believe that Hunter is innocent. It is true that he installed relatives into the union and embezzled public funds.
At the same time, Yu Fei also did not believe that Chris Paul, who was personally promoted to chairman by Billy Hunter, came to ask him to become the chairman of the union with a public heart.
Paul's move reminded Yu Fei of Robert Baratheon in "Game of Thrones" who invited Ed Stark to be his prime minister. Yu Fei believes that he probably won't die like Ed, but who knows what will happen?
Finally, there is his identity.
His position is already quite delicate.
Because of him, Clay Bennett became the most envied, despised and hated owner in the league. When a player can bring hundreds of millions of dollars in profits to the owner every year, he deserves to have a status that transcends players and management.
Yu Fei cannot guarantee that he will not become the owner of a team like Jordan in the future.
He cannot grin at the employer while serving as the chairman of the union, and one day become the representative of the employer, shouting at the players, "I will give you 47% at most!".
So he had to reject this invitation that seemed to make him even more special no matter what.
Frye Yu who plays can become a player camp leader, but Frye Yu who doesn't play may not.
Just as the internal storm in the players union was happening, something also happened within the management.
After solving the problem of too much dividends for players, the management's own problems also need to be solved.
The income imbalance between big market teams and small market teams leads to unfair competition. Although the super luxury tax will be restricted, is this enough for small markets?
After months of discussion, David Stern has accomplished one last monumental thing in his career.
A new income distribution system within the employer.
In addition to the known revenue sources such as cable TV broadcast contracts, the rest, such as tickets and local TV station contracts, are not included in the total revenue. Starting from this season, each team will share 40% of the money, thus making each team profitable.
There was strong opposition from big-market teams that had long profited under the old system, but the vote was overwhelming.
Since this matter only concerns the management itself, there is no need for the players union to be involved, it just happened.
Clay Bennett walked out of the meeting red-eyed, knowing how much money he would lose.
This is a small thing that no one pays attention to.
It just happened.
No one cared about it, but this little thing directly led to things like a certain team being unwilling to pay a certain player a certain amount of money, so they could only trade or let him go, which severely damaged their competitiveness.
The fans called it stupid, they couldn't understand it.
And the bosses know they are just defending their wallets.
A championship is great, but if the benefits brought by the championship are not enough for the luxury tax paid by oneself, and not enough for the money distributed during the championship season, then it is not good.
The seeds were planted like this, but the only person who knew the significance of this matter was the boss himself.
Christmas
This is the most important day of the year in many Western countries.
For Fei, he has habitually treated Christmas as New Year's Eve.
Today is a good day, good because besides the good day, there are also good things happening.
Elizabeth Olsen decided to give birth to her child.
Before the game started, she said to Fei: "We have taken safety measures. I heard that the probability of such an accident happening is less than 5%. Frye, will you try the last shot with a hit rate of only 5%?" < br>
Yu Fei smiled and said: "I don't know, it might be, at least it's not 0."
"So, this may be God's choice." Elizabeth stroked her belly softly, "This child is chosen."
It’s time to contact Gary Smith and ask him to write a “Chosen 3.0” article for his children.
According to Elizabeth's description, this child may be more "the chosen one" than either him or Tiger Woods.
This made Yu Fei excited all day long.
He first brought good news to his mother, who was determined to open chain stores across the country: "Are you ready to be a grandma?"
Yu Fei was a little embarrassed by her mother's response: "Is it Scarlett or Christina?"
Then, Yu Fei asked Lin Kaiwen to choose a good day to pick out a ring, and he was going to propose to Elizabeth. This decision was sudden, but he had to show this attitude.
With Elizabeth's age and future, she decided to keep the child instead of making the choice that Yu Fei least wanted to see. He had to take on the responsibility of a responsible mature man. It was not possible to do what he had done in the past.
After arranging these things, Yu Fei got on the team bus and headed to Key Arena.
They will face the Nets at home.
The opponent is the currently popular New Jersey Nets.
They have the league's top center, the league's top point guard (Yu Fei is currently playing the fourth position) and the top three small forwards in the league.
When the three names of Paul, Anthony, and Howard appear together, it is enough to conjure up the blueprint of a 60-win team in people's minds.
So far, the Nets have lost 4 games, while the SuperSonics have lost 3 games.
Tonight's win or loss will determine who will be ranked No. 1 in the league heading into the New Year.
"Fry, are you really going to stop thinking about that?"
Chairman Pao still refused to give up and wanted to make a final effort.
Yu Fei answered the question with a smile: "Chris, how many children do you have?"
"One," Paul laughed, "but my second child will be born next fall."
Yu Fei asked: "How does it feel to be a father?"
"I can't tell you this, you'll never understand."
There is a group of people in the NBA who believe that Yu Fei will never get married and that he will always be addicted to women like the founder of "Playboy".
Yu Fei smiled and nodded: "Yes, you are right."
However, "forever" in Chairman Pao's dictionary may be a time unit of 30 years, which is longer than a generation.
Yu Fei understands that his "forever" is another measure. But even such a long "forever" will eventually be broken by the wave of change. Those years are coming to an end, very soon.
(End of chapter)