naaapseattle Chapter 364
Chapter 364
Chapter 364
No one thought that Michael Jordan, who stood on the side of the players in the labor negotiations in 98 and yelled out the most crucial sentence, actually became the most ruthless team owner in the labor negotiations in 2011...
Countless people originally had expectations for Boss Joe, but now they feel endless disappointment.
Most of the players, like Lao Du, expressed their disappointment in private.
Media reporters are not so polite——
Fox Sports pundit Jason Witrock slammed Boss Joe:
"This is downright ungrateful. The NBA is filled with a large number of young African-American players. Most of them grew up wanting to be like Jordan, but now they see Jordan for what he is: a petty, mean, despicable, cruel, greedy, forgetful white-eyed wolf..."
The "Chicago Tribune" also quoted Jordan's words to ridicule him: "If you can't make your team profitable, then you should sell your team!"
Fortunately, Jordan is not Xiaodu, otherwise he will definitely go back: his team is now profitable.
But it is precisely because Bobcats are profitable that Li Ke will be disappointed with Lao Qiao.
He knew very well how the Bobcats made their profits——
The Chinese market brought by Li Ke and the bonuses brought by the outstanding playoff results in these years are the key to the Bobcats' profitability.
Whether it is the Chinese market or Li Ke's participation in the finals three times in four years, this is all brought by Li Ke.
Simply put, the Bobcats' profits are largely due to the players.
In order to make more money, Old Joe turned his head to squeeze the players...
Li Ke couldn't accept this.
"What am I thinking? No one is perfect, and Michael Jordan is the same. Just like Wittrock said, Michael, this guy, has always been a stingy person to the extreme."
Li Ke is very rational, he knows that this is the nature of Old Qiao.
Although disappointed and unacceptable, he did not continue to struggle.
On the contrary, I became more and more certain in my heart: Want a perfect boss?It's very simple, buy a team and be your own boss!
……
The progress of the labor negotiations is not very optimistic, and the pace of the alliance has not stopped.
The draft lottery was quickly completed, and the Heat had a bad season and won the No. [-] lottery as they wished.
The Timberwolves ranked second, and the Jazz got the draft pick from the Nets, followed by the Clippers, Raptors, Wizards, Kings, Pistons, Jazz, Bucks, Warriors, Suns, Pacers and Rockets.
The position of the lottery area has not changed much. The biggest change is that the Heat won the No. [-] pick in this draft.
Pat Riley smiled happily, but soon, he couldn't laugh anymore...
Another round of labor negotiations broke down, which made many rookies who were originally planning to participate in the NBA daunting next season.
After the draft lottery, a large number of rookies declared their withdrawal from this draft.
According to media statistics, as many as 25 rookies in the United States have announced their withdrawal from this draft.
Including overseas rookies, a total of 41 rookies withdrew from this draft.
Among them, Terrence Jones of the University of Kentucky, Harrison Barnes of the University of North Carolina, Perry Jones of Baylor University, and Jared Sullinger of Ohio State University are among the rookies who announced their withdrawal from the draft.
Perry Jones, Harrison Barnes, and Kelly Irving, who did not withdraw from the draft, were the top three favorites in this draft at the beginning, and the rest are also lottery favorites.
After such a retreat, the top rookies in front of the lottery team are only Kelly Irving, Derek Williams, Kemba Walker, Brandon Knight, etc. who originally only had the top eight prospects in the lottery.
Seeing the template Pierce's Harrison Barnes and the template McGrady's Perry Jones slip away from the eyes, only the template Paul Irving is left to choose.
Because the loss of high-quality rookies is too serious, Derek Williams, the template Beasley, also instantly became the top pick.
If Pat Riley could still laugh, he'd have to go to a mental hospital.
The draft has not yet started, and the draft experts are already swearing: "This will be the worst and smallest one-year draft in NBA history!"
Not only experts, but many NBA executives think so too.
Immediately after the draft lottery, there were rumors that the Timberwolves were selling their second pick.
Larry Bird also said that the Pacers' No. 13 pick is for sale if there is a suitable offer.
But at the same time, Danny Angie, who is out of stock, also declared: We have no interest in trading up draft picks. The quality of this year's draft is too bad. The lottery rookie is even far worse than Avery Bradley, who was selected in the middle of our first round last year!
Avery Bradley was inexplicably Cue, but this also shows that the quality of this draft has been so low that it is recognized by all walks of life.
In contrast, Pat Riley is okay, at least, he can still choose Irving, who looks pretty good.
……
Labor negotiations broke down again, and Joe Sr. came back from New York and reappeared in the Bobcats.
He clearly felt the change in the atmosphere in the team. As soon as he entered the training hall, the players who were still discussing heatedly would immediately quiet down.
In the eyes of Lao Du and Xiao Qiaodan, there was no reverence in the eyes like before, and they were not even very kind, rather hostile.
Old Joe could only pretend to be calm, as if he had never left Charlotte during this period, and stopped Li Ke who wanted to leave after the training as usual.
"Sheldon, played well in the Eastern Conference finals, do you have confidence in the finals?"
It was as if nothing had happened.
Li Ke probably understood that what Old Qiao meant was that he was right, he came to the labor negotiations only because of his different positions.
Li Ke, who can understand this, of course will not be entangled. He nodded as if nothing happened, "Don't worry, this year is different from last year, no problem!"
After saying this, Li Ke was not in a hurry to leave, because he saw that Old Qiao wanted other things.
Of course, Old Joe still has something to do. The draft is coming. In previous drafts, Li Ke’s opinion was very important. Old Qiao feels that it will be the same this year.
"What do you think about the draft? We have a draft pick with the 30th pick in the first round this year..."
"Is it the draft?"
Li Ke frowned. Everyone was saying that this year was the ultimate draft year.
But he knows that this year's draft has produced a lot of talents.
The problem is that the Bobcats' draft picks are too low, and even if there are still talents, there are not many.
"So many popular rookies have been retired this year. I don't know what the draft is like, but I can be sure of one thing—"
"what?"
"Try those European rookies, it's always good."
Most of the native American rookies who withdrew from the election had a bit of hard power.
They all feel that if they come back next year, they will also have a good draft prospect.
Otherwise, he would not choose to withdraw from the election just because of a lockout crisis.
In contrast, the withdrawal of overseas rookies may also be an expression of extreme confidence.
But there is one difference, that is, even if overseas rookies withdraw, as long as they are over 19, NBA teams can still be selected.
Therefore, when the draft is not high and the high-quality local rookies who have not withdrawn cannot be selected, it is worth waiting for a European withdrawn rookie for two years.
Li Ke probably looked at this year's draft list, and he saw a few familiar names——
Like Nikola Mirotic, Bojan Bogdanovic, David Bertans...all from Europe, all good choices.
"understood."
Lao Qiao really understood. What Li Ke meant was very simple. 25 local players were withdrawn, which was equivalent to the quality of rookies starting from the middle of the first round, which was almost the same as the previous second round.
By the end of the first round, the Bobcats may be able to select rookies, and they will be in the middle and end of the previous second round.
It is really not a good idea to choose immediate combat power and local rookies for this position.
It's better to choose a European rookie who can't come for the time being and wait for two or three years. As long as he can come, it will be excellent.
But if the target is European rookies, there is no need for draft training.
Watching Li Ke leave, Old Joe told Rich Joe beside him: "Let the scouting team determine a list of European rookies. This year, our focus will be on European rookies."
……
The Western Finals continued to entangle,——
In G5, the Lone Ranger played at home, relying on the stable output of the old driver and the explosion of hackers, narrowly defeated the Thunder by 4 points and won the match point.
But in G6, Du scored 40 points and led the Thunder back to another victory.
In this way, the Western Conference finals tiebreaker.
"Who do you think will win the tie-break?"
As soon as the Western Conference finals were over, the finals came next. Li Ke and Shen Liren, a domestic reporter stationed in Charlotte, sat together.
It's a bit like an exclusive interview, but it's more casual.
"It's hard to say, the Thunder are strong, but they lack experience."
"Then who do you want to win this tie-break?"
"Hope? Thunder."
Li Ke hesitated for a second, and finally made a choice, Lei Ting...
The main reason for this choice is that he has no bond with the Lone Ranger, and he really can't think of a reason to choose the Lone Ranger.
But the Thunder, he and Xiao Du met in the finals, should be what many people, including David Stern, would like to see, right?
Thinking of this, he took out his phone, clicked on WeChat, edited a message, and sent it to Xiao Du.
……
In the tiebreaker, in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, in the locker room of the visiting team, Xiao Du's cell phone lighted up.
If it was someone else, maybe they wouldn't pay attention to the little thing that the phone turned on at this point in time when the life-and-death battle was about to start.
But Xiao Du was different. He noticed it immediately, and, ignoring the warning eyes of head coach Scott Brooks, he picked up his mobile phone.
Then, he saw the WeChat message from Li Ke——
"Come on, Kevin, I'm already waiting for you in the finals, you can't miss the appointment!"
In such an instant, Xiao Du felt overwhelming pressure on his head.
……
Of course Xiao Du didn't want to miss the appointment, but this matter was beyond his control.
The game started quickly, although David Stern would love to see the Thunder win the tiebreaker and reach the Finals.
But the referees in the tiebreaker still didn't have any preference.
At the beginning of the game, everything went smoothly.
The top-of-the-arc pick-and-roll combination of Rondo + Daluo quickly cooperated effectively and drove Xiaodu on one side.
Teacher Tony and Rondo's defense on the outside line was also perfect, but problems and accidents still inevitably appeared.
"Dirk Nowitzki, three-pointer, it's in!"
"The Lone Ranger's offense swept through, the ball was passed to Dirk, the golden rooster was independent in the middle distance, and he scored consecutive points!"
"It's still Dirk, another three-pointer! The goal is scored!"
"God, who's going to stop Dirk Nowitzki, he's already dominating the game!"
"..."
In the second half of the first quarter, the second half of the second quarter, and the start of the fourth quarter, the old drivers broke out one after another.
In the end, in a 48-minute game, the old driver played 42 minutes intensively and scored 48 points!
He was unstoppable, led the Lone Ranger, defeated the Thunder without too many twists and turns, and won the tiebreaker!
With a total score of 4 to 3, the Lone Ranger won the Western Conference Championship trophy at home.
They will also learn from the Bobcats and compete in the 2011 Finals!
Charlotte, Li Ke shook his head.
Xiao Du still missed the appointment. In this year's finals, they still have to face the old driver of Dirk, who is in the history of this season's playoffs.
Li Ke didn't know that the WeChat message he sent Xiao Du before the game put a lot of pressure on Xiao Du.
Xiao Du's performance in this game was not a problem, with 34 points and 7 rebounds, against the old driver Biao.
But the problem is, in the end, he lost.
In the wave at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the old driver broke out, and he failed to keep up.
Thunder, just out of the game...
"The youth army Thunder is out, so in the end, the matchup in the finals will be another youth army, facing a group of lone rangers composed of veterans!"
"The old and new confrontation, will the Bobcats win the championship after 08, or the Mavericks will win the first championship in team history?"
"Let's watch the finals G6 starting on June 11!"
……
Either way, the Thunder are out.
After the game, Li Ke hesitated for a moment, then sent Xiao Du a comforting text message, and then made an appointment to see you later in the finals.
Although the suspension of the alliance has not yet been confirmed, in Li Ke's view, there should be no changes.
Then, the two backup players that Li Ke prepared before can come in handy.
3v3 basketball is what he prepared for non-star players in the NBA, and he is not prepared to participate.
But in the CBA, Li Ke definitely wants to participate.
Li Ke and Dayao jointly guaranteed that Lake Sports won the right to operate the CBA for the next season.
Then there was a change to the rules. First, the start time of the season was reasonably moved to the end of September, and then some games were reduced and merged, compressing the time of the entire season and the playoffs to four months.
In the end, a schedule is formed that can end most games before the NBA lockout ends.
Once the schedule is changed, the foundation for attracting NBA star players is laid.
Lake Sports invested part of the funds, and with the subsequent investment promotion, the CBA League hoarded a sum of funds and set up a "sponsorship fund".
Every CBA team that signs a foreign player with NBA All-Star experience can receive a split of funds from this sponsorship fund, about 300 million U.S. dollars.
And this is to encourage the 17 CBA teams to replace foreign aid with NBA star players.
As long as all 17 teams keep up, next season's CBA will reach a terrifying level.
What Li Ke wants is heat...
The Su Shenglong he controls is going to make a big one this time.
"Xiaowai contact Russell Westbrook, Dawai contact Kevin Durant, let them contact first, and I will take care of the rest!"
Although Serena has no All-Star experience and cannot get the CBA sponsorship fund, Li Ke is going to pay for the money by himself.
He just wants to see the combination of Westbrook and Du Shao. If it is done, Li Ke can shout: Ye Qingjie!
If it wasn't for changing the three foreign aids too much to occupy the development space of domestic players, he even has the urge to change the three foreign aids, and then bring Harden back...
"Ye Qingjie" can shout louder!
(End of this chapter)