Pick Westbrook

Chapter 302 What a joke

new orleans.

Fans rarely come to the airport to pick them up, although compared with those strong teams or teams with a strong urban basketball atmosphere, the scene is still a little humble.

But for the cursed city of New Orleans, it's a rare improvement.

All the fans at the airport were chanting Lob City, the name of New Orleans has been known all over the United States.

The Hornets are about to usher in a two-day break, and the next game will be at home, so Li Lai specially gave the players a day off to let them go home and wash off their fatigue.

Hammond spoke of a great joy.

Because of the performance of the Hornets on this road trip, fans are no longer satisfied with just watching the Hornets game in entertainment venues, and more and more fans have begun to choose to watch the game live.

So New Orleans is already at 85% sales for the next few games, which is a pretty significant improvement.

"It is worth mentioning that for the next home game, our ticket sales reached 100%."

Hammond reminded Li to speak in advance.

Li Lai nodded, naturally knowing the importance of the next match.

This will be the first strong enemy the Hornets have encountered since the start of the game, and it is also a championship-level team.

"The victory or defeat of this game is extremely important to the building of the team's self-confidence. Fortunately, we already have Boris Diaw."

"His arrival will greatly enhance our strength in the rotation stage."

Speaking of Boris Diaw, Hammond immediately thought of something and said: "Boris Diaw has meticulously completed all physical tests and daily training in the team."

"He doesn't seem to want to play for us though."

"He has applied for a buyout from me."

"What?!" Li Lai was extremely surprised when he heard the news.

Jordan has already mentioned to Li Lai the pre-match agreement between the Bobcats and Boris Diaw, because the Bobcats completely announced the rebuilding and training of new players, so Boris Diaw was not given more playing time.

And Boris Diaw himself tends to join a stronger team, because he is 30 years old, which is the most critical stage of his career.

If Boris Diaw cannot win a championship ring in the next two to three years, then he will most likely miss this glory in his career.

"So Boris Diaw wants to apply for a buyout from the Hornets and then join the championship team."

"For us, if Boris Dior can choose to buy out with a substantial salary cut, we can also free up a lot of salary space, and there is still a lot to do before the trade deadline."

Hammond explained.

Li Lai shook his head repeatedly and said, "To be honest, I have no intention of continuing to operate the team before the future trade deadline."

"In my opinion, the team's current squad structure has reached a very good state, and Boris Diaw is also very suitable for us."

"So I'm going to keep him no matter what."

Hammond frowned slightly. Originally, he wanted to say to Lee, how can you leave a player who wants to leave?

However, after thinking that Li Lai could win Iverson, McGrady, Artest, O'Neal and other players back then, Hammond was willing to wait and see if Li Lai could really win the opponent.

"To be honest, there is not much difference between us and the Bobcats. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that we are specially training Leonard, Butler and Beverly."

"Compared with those old strong teams that have successfully built teams, we have a big gap in terms of field experience and overall strength."

Hammond reminded again.

Li Lai shook his head and said in denial, "No, although we are also cultivating rookies, there is still a big difference between us and the Bobcats."

Hammond asked curiously, "What's the difference?"

Li Lai said: "The Hornets have won 4 consecutive victories!"

New Orleans Hornets practice facility.

Accompanied by trainers, Boris Diaw is practicing fixed-point three-pointers and high-post support.

This is the task assigned to him by the coaching staff of the Hornets.

Although Boris Diaw has no idea of ​​playing for the Hornets, as a professional player, he has the most basic professional qualities.

That is when a monk rings the clock for a day.

As long as he is still in the New Orleans Hornets for a day, Boris Diaw will complete every task assigned to him by the team without any slack.

Just as Boris Diaw was about to leave after completing all the training items for the day, he saw a player walking in with a satchel on his back.

The visitor, Boris Dior, was not familiar with him, but subconsciously felt that the other party looked very similar to a well-known basketball player.

The trainer on the side said at the right time: "His name is Jimmy Butler, he is the team's rookie this year, and he is currently a very important defensive force on our bench."

"Jimmy and JR Smith's partner, the two of them have brought a lot of trouble to the opponent with one offense and one defense."

Boris Dior asked curiously: "Why is he not accompanied by a trainer?"

In Boris Dior's view, this is a very difficult picture for him.

A player who has just come to the team and hasn't played a game can have a trainer who will accompany him throughout the process. On the contrary, the rookie selected by the team with expectations has no trainer to guide him.

This is very unreasonable.

The trainer smiled and didn't explain.

Jimmy Butler found a place to sit down, opened his satchel, took out a large bucket of water and towels from it, and then pushed a basketball hoop from the sidelines familiarly.

After stretching and warming up, the training begins.

Turn-back running with the ball, 6 vertical runs, 17 running and jumping training, variable speed running training, dribbling around piles.
During Jimmy Butler's training, Boris Dior could vaguely hear the other party talking to himself.

"Holding the ball and running back and forth 10 times, it takes a total of 100 seconds. It can't reach 6 vertical runs and double the training."

"Two times of running and jumping for 17 times, double the training of variable speed running."

Boris Diaw watched Jimmy Butler train wildly on the pitch with shock on his face.

He doesn't think the opponent can complete all the training he stipulates.

For example, it takes a total of 10 seconds to run back and forth with the ball 100 times, which is equivalent to only 28 seconds for a 10-meter basketball court to hold the ball back and forth.

It is certainly not particularly difficult to run back and forth for a round of 10 seconds. Most NBA-level guards can complete it, but that is 10 consecutive training sessions. Even Tony Parker and TJ Ford, who are famous for their speed, cannot do this. .

"He's totally torturing himself."

Boris Dior came to this conclusion.

At this moment, he also thinks that the rookie named Jimmy Butler is completely crazy.

But what shocked Boris Dior even more was that not long after Jimmy Butler's training started, there was another figure in the training ground.

"It's Kawhi Leonard."

Boris Diaw knows this player because the sports media has featured a lot of highlights of opposing tackle defenses since the start of the regular season.

Leonard was even considered by some commentators to have the defensive potential of Batman Pippen and Beast Artest.

After Leonard came to the court, he found that Jimmy had come to the training ground early again. He frowned slightly and was slightly dissatisfied, and then joined the training.

Jimmy Butler was very emotional and said: "Kawhi, do you dare to have a contest with youth as a bet?"

"100 sit-ups, see who takes the shortest time."

"Then, start now!"

Before Leonard agreed, Jimmy Butler immediately sat on the court, and then began to do sit-ups with his head in his hands.

"groove!"

Leonard, who originally wanted to practice shooting at this time, could only yell at him even if there was an expression of reluctance on his face, and then immediately joined the competition with Jimmy Butler.

Looking at Leonard and Jimmy Butler, who were both sitting on the court doing sit-ups crazily, Boris Diaw was completely petrified.

"The Hornets don't just have one lunatic, they have two!"

Then Jimmy Butler and Leonard competed in push-ups, full-court runs, and three-pointers.

In the end, both of them were exhausted and fell on the court one after another. Boris Dior thought that the two of them could finally calm down at this time, but he didn't expect that the two of them would not give up the competition even during the rest.

"Rock paper scissors! Rock paper scissors!"

"Scissors!"

"Stone!"

Jimmy Butler blushed with anger, and said angrily: "Jimmy and Kawhi's 99th match, 49:50, Kawhi Leonard temporarily leads by 1 point."

"But I won't give up. I will definitely win you next time."

Leonard was still expressionless and looked very cold, but he patted Jimmy Butler's chest with his hands.

The training has reached this point, and Boris Diaw has been watching for a long time. He should have left a long time ago, but at this time he thinks that it is time for the two people on the opposite side to leave the stadium.

Boris Dior glanced at the time on his phone in his backpack.

"After all, it's already 2 o'clock in the morning."

Hey, hey, hey.

The sound of slapping a basketball suddenly sounded on the training ground.

Boris Dior turned his head in great doubt, and another person walked into the training ground.

"It's Vince Carter!"

As a draft pick in 03, Boris Dior has naturally seen Carter at his peak and even played against him face to face.

He knows what kind of legend the opponent is, and he is also the player with the most balanced abilities among the four shooting guards.

Boris Diaw would never doubt that Vince Carter could be selected into the Hall of Fame and become a legendary star after retiring, but now, a veteran player of this level will come to the training ground at this time.

Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard had no surprises about Vince Carter's arrival, and even showed their expected emotions.

At this time, Carter walked up to the two of them, stretched out their hands and pulled them up from the ground at the same time, saying.

"So, can our training begin?"

"What!!" Boris Dior on the side had already heard his head buzzing.

He didn't expect that Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard's training just now was just a warm-up, and the real training of the two didn't officially start until this time.

The trainer had only now answered Boris Dior's question.

"Jimmy and Kawhi didn't have a trainer with them because Vince Carter was their veteran mentor, and all of their training was arranged by Carter."

"At the same time, tomorrow is the team's rest day, so there is a high probability that the three will train until the sun rises."

"You don't need to worry about whether their training intensity will affect their bodies and future regular season games. Carter is very professional in this regard."

"He knows how to control the training time and intensity of the players. Carter's lack of major injuries in his career is the best explanation for his ability."

After listening to the words of the trainer beside him, Dio was silent for a long time.

He believes that Carter, Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard are simply messing around.

This kind of training intensity is already considered very high. Apart from the well-known training ruthless Kobe, Dior can't think of any player's training with such intensity.

Diaw finally mumbled, "The Hornets have three fucking lunatics."

"No, the Hornets have more than three lunatics." Li Lai came out from a certain corner.

He originally wanted to have a good talk with Boris Diaw, but after seeing Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard and Carter coming here one after another, he stood aside without interruption and chose to watch for a long time.

Li Lai knew about the training of the three of them early on, and he fully believed in the training tasks that Carter had arranged for the three of them.

Of course, I heard from Hammond that Carter did not arrange such a high-intensity training for the two of them, but because Butler, who was stubborn, took the initiative to provoke Leonard, so both of them strongly requested to increase the training time.

Boris Diaw met Li Lai, the champion bishop whom he had heard about for a long time, and he was accompanied by assistant coach Du Feng.

Li Lai said straight to the point: "I heard that you submitted a buyout application to the team?"

Boris Dior nodded without concealing it and said: "Yes, I want to join a team that can compete for the championship. I am a French player and I have also won a five-year 5 million contract in my career."

"At this stage of my career, I don't care about money anymore. I just want to have a championship ring and go back to my hometown."

Li Lai asked with interest: "Who is the team you want to join?"

Boris Dior hesitated for a while, but he chose to speak out after looking at Li Lai's sincere eyes.

"San Antonio Spurs."

"My agent has already contacted the management and coaching staff of the Spurs. As long as I complete the buyout, they will sign me immediately."

Li Lai secretly scolded Popovich as an old bastard, the idea of ​​beating players came to him.

Popovich had a good idea. As long as Boris Diaw completed the buyout, he would sign the opponent with a veteran contract.

With Boris Diaw's worth of about 500 million in the free market, the veteran's contract is simply cheap, and the Spurs also took advantage of it.

Li Lai said directly: "Why do you think the Spurs can win the championship?"

Boris Diaw shook his head and said: "When we were in the Suns, Nash led us to fail to win the championship. I know it is not easy to get that glory."

"But the Spurs are indeed a championship-level team, and their chances of winning this honor are at least much higher."

Li Lai nodded in agreement and said, "Then why do you think the Hornets have no chance of winning this honor?"

Boris Diaw subconsciously looked at Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard who were still training on the court.

Li Lai knew what the other party meant, and said: "Because there are rookies in our team who are also cultivating rookies, and it is a team that has just announced the rebuilding, so you think we can't do it?"

Boris Diaw really thought so, but after seeing the training of Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard, even he himself became skeptical about this idea.

The training of Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard is too hard. No matter what kind of players they can grow into in the future, they are destined not to be too bad in terms of hard work during training.

Coupled with the good record of the Hornets after the opening game of the regular season, Boris Diaw really began to doubt how much ability and potential this team has.

Seeing the shaken emotion on Boris Diaw's face, Li Lai said while the iron was hot: "The next game is the game between the Hornets and the Spurs."

"I hope you can participate in this game as a player of the Hornets, and decide to stay after this game."

"The Hornets must be worth your stay."

Boris Dior nodded.

Even without Li Lai's words, Boris Diaw originally decided that he would play well in every game of the Hornets. This is his professional attitude.

Li Lai then participated in the training of Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard, and the three of them were not surprised by the arrival of the coach.

After all the players left after training, Du Feng asked curiously: "Coach, if Boris Diaw still decides to leave by then, will you let him go?"

Li Lai stared at Du Feng with disbelief on his face.

"What are you kidding?"

"I spent so much bargaining chips to trade him to the Hornets, and then go to buy out the cheap Spurs, the rival in the same district?"

"Even if it is tied, I will keep Boris Diaw in the Hornets."

Du Feng opened his eyes wide and glanced at Li Lai, who was duplicity. He wanted to scold Li Lai for being shameless, but he didn't say anything for a long time.

In the end, he could only raise his hand and gave a thumbs up and said, "It is rumored that you are a crotch boy, and it seems to be true."

(End of this chapter)