The Whip of the God of Basketball

After meeting her father Pagliuca at Khomeinis’s house, Leon received a call from Michael Karl early the next morning, asking him to meet at Boston South Station, and asked Leon to bring several things with him. Clothes, it looks like Leon is going on a long trip again.

When he arrived at South Station by taxi, Carl was already waiting for Leon in the waiting room. He held a briefcase and a ticket in his hand, handed it to Leon and said, "This is the bus to New York." Ticket, departure at ten o'clock, there are still twenty minutes, I will tell you something important."

Speaking of which, Carl handed the briefcase in his hand to Leon again, without giving Leon time to ask questions, and then said: "Your destination is the Olympia Building in New York, the headquarters of the NBA, and there is a meeting to attend there. I will drive directly to New York later, and I will wait for you there, remember, Olympia Tower."

"Why can't I go there with you by car?" Leon took the briefcase and asked. To be honest, he has never taken a long-distance bus since he came to the United States, and he rarely even took the subway. Either by car or by plane, anyway The team will be reimbursed.

"Don't be spoiled kid, this is Arnold's request. He wants you to experience the feeling of a former NBA player sitting on a bus for four hours and then going to the game at night. Anyway, remember, arrive in New York, find the Olympic Building, Come to me. Well, I won’t say much, I will tell you about the specific problems when I arrive in New York, and the problems you will face in the future will be more difficult than taking a bus, and you are just on the road.” After speaking, Carl patted Leon's arm, turned and left.

But Karl immediately folded back, took out a map from his arms and handed it to Leon, saying: "By the way, I forgot to give you the map. Arnold said that he was afraid that you would get lost when you arrived in New York. Because this bus is to Manhattan. , it's not easy to get a taxi there, you'd better take the subway, or you'll be late. Goodbye, good luck."

This time Karl really left. Leon looked at the map he handed him, crumpled it up and threw it into the trash can.

"Damn old man, give me a map of America..."

…………………

Michael Karl left and got into his own car. He had a special driver. He closed his eyes and began to rest in the back seat. The journey to New York was four hours, and he needed a good rest to face the upcoming important event. Agenda - Go to NBA headquarters and discuss with other teams' development directors about forming a development league.

The NBA originally had a minor league, the CBA, the Continental Basketball Association, which was born earlier than the NBA. This basketball league, which is two months earlier than the NBA, has been lingering in the shadow of the NBA for decades. Stern will allocate a sum of money to the CBA every year to keep the league running, as a hematopoietic machine to digest those undrafted picks and provide teams with bench talents.

However, in 1999, taking advantage of NBA labor negotiations and the suspension of the season, the former NBA superstar Isiah Thomas bought the CBA at a price of 10 million U.S. dollars, and asked Stern to increase his commission in this year's investment negotiations with the NBA. cost.

But Stern is by no means a person who would easily compromise. He rejected Thomas' request and decided to mobilize 29 teams in the league to directly form a new development league and push the CBA out of the circle of the secondary basketball league. In this way, Stern can directly control the development league under the NBA, instead of paying money every year and depending on Thomas' face.

I have to admit that in terms of operations, the gap between Thomas and Stern is still far away. Now it seems that Thomas' CBA is somewhat unsustainable. Without the sponsorship of the league, no audience, no advertisement, no commitment to players, it went bankrupt It's only a matter of time.

As the head of team development, Karl was asked by Auerbach to attend the meeting and try to help Boston get some benefits from the formation, especially if he can find some treasures from those undrafted players. , This is why Auerbach asked Karl to bring Leon.

Of course, this is not the main reason for Leon to go to New York. Karl knows that Auerbach's real purpose for letting Leon go to New York is to accumulate qualifications and experience for his heir. In the past two months of scouting work in Boston, this kid has done a good job, but he is only doing a good job on the technical level, and basketball work is not purely technical work, it is also a career that requires extensive contacts and operational capabilities .

When Auerbach first came to power in 1984, his personal resources, contacts, and influence in the NBA reached their peak. ", and operated as the Eastern Conference champion in 1985 to the second pick of the year, if it hadn't been for the change of NBA draft rules since that year, Auerbach's intention to get Patrick Ewing was shattered, and Len Bias' accident Death, then the Celtics' dominance will definitely continue for another ten years.

Then the new rules constructed by Stern, the troubles of other mortal enemies of the alliance, and a series of coincidences that made Auerbach feel desperate, shattered the bishop's nearly perfect plans one after another, and the old man finally became discouraged.

Karl knew that this time would be Auerbach's last fight. He had previously placed his bet on Pitino, Duncan and Nowitzki, and now he wants to entrust everything in the basketball world to That kid who doesn't know where he came from, let him participate in the team's draft, after the experience of forming a development league team, he will pass the test after test to push him to a higher place in the future.

Thinking of this, Carl frowned, and couldn't help but feel a little jealous. You must know that Auerbach's favorite student, Boston hero, and superstar Larry Bird didn't get such treatment. The prodigy retired as a player director with the Celtics, but for five years his main job was playing golf in warm Florida.

Carl knew that he didn't have the talent to become the team coach or even the president. He had been the head coach of the Celtics for several seasons, facing the team's bad lineup and bad boss-Paul Gaston at that time Mainly focused on issuing bonds and a poor draft pick, he can't do anything. The Celtic relationship network that once spread widely in the league has been fragmented under Stern's suppression. There are also some "anti-bones" who are determined to serve other teams wholeheartedly, stabbing the Celtics in the back many times. Thinking of this, Carl would feel that Pitino's failure is also reasonable. A coach who has succeeded in college, the problems faced by the Celtics are not of the same magnitude at all.

Thinking about it this way, the jealousy in Karl's heart disappeared. It is not easy to become Auerbach's successor, and I don't know what special things about that kid deserve Auerbach's attention. Memory should be better, I hope that map of the United States will help him find the Olympia Building...

Thinking about Carl, he fell asleep in the car. In his dream, he also dreamed that he became the owner of a certain NBA team. He always wanted to own an NBA team of his own. With the help of Auerbach, he He has the opportunity to partner with others to step into the circle of NBA capital games, so he will spare no effort to help Leon. Now he can finally enter the game......

………………………

When Carl arrived at the Olympic Building on Fifth Avenue in New York, where the NBA headquarters is located, it was already 2:30 in the afternoon. The bad road traffic in New York and the traffic jam on the highway made him half an hour later than expected, but the meeting It will start at 3:00 p.m. Today is just a two-hour meeting to discuss some basic issues, and the specific details of the negotiations will be fully launched in the following week.

Carl trotted up the elevator and went directly to the meeting room on the fifteenth floor. This was not the first time he had been here. He looked at his watch and thought that it would take Leon fifteen minutes to arrive. The traffic in New York is really bad today. Although Leon has been to many places, he will be received by Celtic outpost staff every time he goes, so he doesn't have to worry about transportation and accommodation.

When the elevator opened and walked into the small conference room on the fifteenth floor, Carl found that Leon was already sitting on the small sofa closest to the door waiting for him, holding a copy of "Time" in his hand, reading With relish.

"Hi Carl, I'm glad to see you again. The map you gave is really useful. I found it right away." Leon greeted Carl with a look of astonishment with a smile.

Carl sat down next to Leon, and asked angrily: "You are so fast, how did you find this place? Did you take a plane instead and take a taxi here?"

Leon shook his finger and replied: "I took the bus to the Manhattan Bridge. Today the road was very congested, so I didn't take a taxi. I rented a bicycle with 15 dollars on my body, and then rode to the nearest subway station. I took the subway to the Olympic Building on 5th Avenue. Actually, I just arrived, and I was just one elevator ahead of you."

"Stinky boy..." Karl also wanted to ask Leon how he knew the specific route, and wanted to talk to Leon about the main content of today's meeting and ask him to make preparations. But at this moment the door of the conference room opened again, and a thin, bald man with glasses came in and interrupted everyone's conversation.

"Hi everyone, I'm Adam Silva. Today, I will host the first meeting on the formation of the Development League. I hope everyone can speak freely." Said, this Adam Silva sat in the innermost position , with a smile on his face.

"Who is this guy? Is he sick?" Leon asked Carl softly, because this Silva looked too thin.

"No, he is David Stern's good assistant, and he is also considered the most likely successor after Stern leaves office in the future." Carl said to Leon.

The successors of the two old rivals met for the first time in the Olympic Building, one at the center and the other at the edge.