The Whip of the God of Basketball

Rodman has two major hobbies in his life, one is basketball and the other is women. But in addition, Rodman has one thing he can't put it down, and that is gambling.

During the Chicago Bulls period, whenever Rodman got impatient with the game and started not to participate in training, Mayfair Jackson would ask Rodman's assistant to take him to Las Vegas for a game. He gambled to his heart's content, played with women to his heart's content, quarreled non-stop for two days and then went back to Chicago to sleep, and then obediently returned to the team to play well.

Gambling is one of the most exciting things in the world. People who have not experienced a second of heaven and a second of hell cannot experience the beauty and despair of it. The reason why Leon was sure that Rodman would report to the Celtics training hall on time was first of all because of a bet.

After convincing Rodman to return to Boston to play in Sydney in June, Leon didn't really believe that Rodman would play obediently. What a mess.

So after completing the task in Sydney, Leon did not leave directly. He and Rodman went to Star Port City to gamble for two days and three nights. Finally, the boss of Star Port City brought his bodyguards together and politely invited Leon and Rodman left, and Leon was also on the blacklist of Star City. In the future, as long as Leon goes to the casino in Star City, the boss will treat him with delicious food and drink, but he will not let him gamble.

Because he is terrible in the casino, stud, blackjack, blackjack, roulette, Leon is almost all big and small, and Zhuang Xian can kill all. Fortunately, he is merciful and wins five hands and loses one.

Even so, the casino couldn't bear it. In the end, many tourists and gamblers began to bet after Leon. If this continued, the casino would start to post money, not to mention making money.

However, on the night he was kicked out by the casino, Leon became Rodman's idol in gambling. Although Rodman is good at gambling, he is purely gambling indiscriminately. Gambling is just a kind of vent for him And excitement, but gambling has become an art here in Leon.

After that, Rodman tried every means to learn the secrets of gambling from Leon, but Leon kept laughing and kept silent. Finally, Leon told Rodman that he wanted to learn his gambling skills, so he would come to Boston to report in September.

After that, Leon returned to the United States first, and Rodman also went to a friend's house in rural Oklahoma in August. During this period, Leon kept in touch with Rodman. Leon gradually discovered that Rodman was a vulgar but delicate , a grotesque and vulnerable person. They didn't chat much, only two or three sentences and a few text messages each time, but they would say a few words every day, which was not easy for Rodman.

In mid-September, Rodman called Leon and told him that he was training in Detroit now, and he would definitely report to Boston at the end of September.

Therefore, another reason for Leon's determination is his trust in Rodman.

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Rodman never dreamed that he would come to Boston to play for the Celtics. When he just got the news that the Mavericks wanted to sign and trade him and then throw him to Boston, Rodman felt Even if he never touches a woman again in this life, he will not go to Boston, not to mention he doesn't even want to stay with the Mavericks, his hometown team.

Rodman's memories of Boston can even be traced back to the 1980s. In the late period of Larry Bird's domination of the Eastern Conference, he was attacking the Celtics' throne in the Detroit Pistons' bad boy corps. Every trip to Boston is a war.

Now more than ten years have passed, the kid in Detroit who can only grab rebounds has become a colorful worm, but in the end he has to play in the land of the former mortal enemy. For Rodman, who has already joined the Bulls and won three consecutive championships. Say, maybe it's nothing.

But for Boston fans, it was different. From the beginning, many fans resisted Rodman's joining. Until the early morning of September 28, when Rodman's plane arrived at Boston's airport, there was not even a single fan to greet him. No media came to interview. A guy who has appeared in the headlines of the league all the year round, just arrived at his destination alone and deserted.

And the Boston Celtics didn't even hold a signing conference for Rodman,

Rodman is a trustworthy person. Although he is very unreliable most of the time, he really wants to learn Leon's gambling skills. He is even willing to exchange his bed tricks with Leon, but Leon just wants to Rodman was willing to teach him when he came to Boston.

So, when Rodman appeared at the Boston Athletic Club in Waltham at ten o'clock in the morning on September 29, everyone stopped training and watched the guy with dyed green hair swaggeringly greet everyone, For a while, everyone didn't know how to respond.

Only Leon stepped forward and gave Rodman a hug. After that, everything returned to normal, and the training continued as usual. Rodman went to the locker room to change clothes and set foot on the training ground.

He started normal training like other players. This summer he was not completely deserted. Although he is almost 40 years old, he is in good physical condition. You must know that in the short dozen games of the Mavericks, he can still Got an average of 14 rebounds per game.

But no one seems to want to talk to Rodman. After all, he is famous outside, like a monster, and now he is a bit out of place in a team that claims to be the most orthodox and traditional in the league. Pitino, who traded Rodman over, didn't talk much to Rodman.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the first day's training was over. Leon felt that he didn't gain much from the one-day observation. They were all ordinary training. Although it was very professional, Leon had already experienced it.

When he knew that Rodman was still living in the hotel in Boston, Rodman refused. He said that he was very comfortable living in the hotel and had a lot of fun every night. Then he left without even mentioning learning to gamble.

Leon knew that Rodman was not happy, that he was not respected in training.

…………………

After training and returning to downtown Boston, Leon went back to the office building. Unexpectedly, Reed Auerbach visited here in the afternoon. He rushed to Boston from Washington, and he stayed in Michael Karl's office. When he saw Leon coming, he said to Leon: "Boy, accompany me to have a meal, I have something to tell you."

When Auerbach wanted to have dinner with someone, his wishes could not be violated, so Leon had to call Khomeinis and tell her that he was not going to her house for dinner tonight.

Auerbach chose a restaurant he frequented in Boston, the "Legal Seafood" restaurant in Quincy, which was a non-smoking restaurant, but only Auerbach could smoke cigars there.

At the dinner table, Leon and Auerbach talked about Rodman, how he persuaded Rodman to come to Boston, how he used gambling to contain Rodman, and how he trusted this guy. Of course, he also said that in today's training, Rodman didn't seem very happy.

Auerbach snorted and said to Leon: "Of course he is not happy, because you didn't give him enough respect. Many people said how I would dislike Dennis. To be honest, I didn't like him in the past. Three bad guys. But if he comes to our team and becomes a member of us, then you have to respect him and love him anyway, otherwise what do you get him here? Even a decent press conference is not enough No. That's what Pitino is like. It's still the same way in college. He thinks that all players are his students and obey discipline. He better be like a strict father, and everyone will naturally listen to him. Actually I knew it was going to be like this, you look at the trades he made in the past, signed some players, traded them away after a while and didn't feel any improvement, then changed the wave, traded them again before two days of practice Drop. The NBA is a big market, and transactions are a matter of course, but the NBA also has people. Many people think that Pitino planted a mine for me, but he actually planted a bomb for himself! I have already told Carl that tomorrow A press conference, inviting all media reporters in Boston, to hold a ceremony for signing Rodman. Leon, you must attend, remember to go early and set the table, you set the table and bench with one hand."

It seems that Auerbach came here for Rodman's affairs. He seemed to calculate that Rodman would be snubbed in Boston, even including Pitino who signed him. This is Pitino, Often make some very good trades and drafts, but extremely impatient. It has been three months since he traded for Rodman, and maybe he regretted it again.

Leon nodded and said that he would do a good job of supporting the press conference. After all, he and Rodman are the only ones on the Celtics who can still talk.

Auerbach wiped his mouth, and then said: "This is just the first thing, there is one more thing, the preseason will start after a while, O'Brien will be the head coach of the Celtics preseason , you and Vogel should be assistant coaches together. Anyway, the work of scouting is free now, and you will have a lot of opportunities to exercise. Let me tell you, being a coach is much more interesting than being a scout.” Is the manager more interesting?" Leon almost choked Auerbach again, and the bishop angrily knocked on the table with a fork and shouted at Leon: "If you have the ability, you'd better be the boss!" Leon He suddenly thought of Khomeinis, and thinking about it, it seemed that it was not impossible at all.