the rest, only noise

Chapter 1084 This Is Your Only Chance

Jerry Buss was a scientist in his youth, which is why he was nicknamed "Dr. Buss".

In the 60s, Bass, who felt deeply that science could not support his family, resolutely invested in the gold industry at that time—real estate.

Since then, real estate has become the family business of the Bass family.

During that decade, Bass became a millionaire and never had to worry about his family anymore, he just had to take care of himself.

The recession of the late 60s put many lives at a crossroads, and the situation did not improve in the early 70s.

Real estate was in decline at that time, too, but Bass continued to bet on it, believing it would bounce back sooner or later.

Guess what?

In 1979, Buss owned 400 properties, 3.5 employees, and a worth of $[-] million, which allowed him to buy the Lakers from former Lakers owner Jack Cook with ease.

As a self-made rich generation, Bass knows to leave professional things to professional people.

Louie wanted to know more, but limited time prevented him from collecting more valuable information.

Before this year, the Lakers tried to recruit Louie twice.

One was in the summer of 1983, when they wanted Louie to join the Lakers' coaching staff.

One time was in the summer of 1988. At that time, Louis had just led the Knicks to end the Celtics dynasty. The future was limitless. Bass and West came to New York in person and gave him a check for him to sign the number he wanted.

At that time, Louis just wanted to stay in New York to start a bigger career.

But that meeting also gave Louie a favorable impression of Bass.

Louie hopes that today, six years later, Bass can still give him an irresistible reason like he did six years ago.

At 11:20 in the morning, Louis and his wife went to the negotiation site.

"How are you going to talk to them?"

"Aren't the brokers going with us?"

Lorraine was very nervous and kept talking along the way.

"If I decide to join the Lakers, I can ask my agent to talk to them. Isn't it time yet?" Louis and Lorraine got out of the car together, "You just need to say hello to him later, and the rest depends on your pair of eyes that can see through everything in the world to help me stare at him."

Lorraine never knew her eyes were so sharp, and her husband's words made her very proud.

"I will."

Zhou Zhihao, the owner of the Chinese restaurant, welcomed the guests with a bright smile: "Coach Lu, your guests have been here for half an hour."

"They seem to like waiting for people." Louis said with a smile.

Today is the third day of negotiations with the Lakers, and it is also the most critical day.

Louis had an in-depth exchange with West yesterday, but if Bass can't offer him a moving offer, he would rather choose to rest than rush into Los Angeles.

Bass and his son stood up at the same time to say hello to Louis and his wife.

"Coach Lu, you're here. The owner of this store just spent half an hour explaining to me why we can't take you away from here." Bass joked.

Louis just wanted to introduce his wife, but Bass took the lead. He said that their whole family is a fan of Lorraine.

Jim Bass is a fan of "Family" and he hopes that Lorraine in the play will not be with the actor's brother because he is so fucking sissy.

Whether it was intentional or not, the Bass and Sons had won Lorraine's favor.

She is a narcissist who thinks that as long as the other party likes the scenes she makes, she will feel that the other party has a high level of appreciation and is worth making friends with.

They discussed it like this for 5 minutes.

Louis chose not to interrupt, and waited for Bass to introduce the topic.

Finally, Buss turned his gaze to Louis, and said, "Coach Lu, I heard that the negotiations in the past two days went well. You should have a longing for the Lakers, right?"

This is an interesting question. If Louie's answer is yes, Buss will take the initiative. After all, he himself said that he yearns for the Lakers.

If Louis' answer is no, the atmosphere of the negotiation will immediately decrease.

"I can't talk about yearning, because there is no place like New York."

"In that case, why did you choose to leave New York?"

Louis laughed: "If you take off your sunglasses, I'll tell you."

Buzz laughed and slowly took off his sunglasses.

Louis immediately gave Lorraine a "I said I can make him take off his sunglasses" look.

"Jerry can stay in Los Angeles for decades, but I can't. I'm a person who needs freshness." Louis said slowly the reason for leaving New York. "I dedicated the past ten years to New York. The reward is seven championships. This consumes all my enthusiasm. I can no longer find fun here."

"Coach Lu, I really understand this feeling."

Bass talked eloquently: "I made $34 million when I was 100 years old. Then, I took my family to a resort in Palm Springs for a week. Before I left, I swore I would buy that resort. At that time, it was worth $2000 million."

"A few years later, I actually bought it, and I got really drunk at the resort with my good friend Frank, and I cried. I've never had such satisfaction in my life." Bass's face was full of excitement. "But by the time I woke up, the drink subsided, and it took me five minutes, I lost interest in the place. I'm going to buy more resorts and make more money."

"Coach Lu, in essence, we are the same kind of people. I understand your feelings, so I sincerely invite you to join the Lakers."

Jim also took the opportunity to support his father: "Coach Lu, if there is any place that can replace New York, it must be Los Angeles."

"Jim, there's no place like New York."

Louie rebutted Bath's precious son, then said, "Jerry, show me your sincerity."

Lu Yi can't make a decision just by talking about it and being "like-minded".

Bass also knew he needed to show real "sincerity."

So he nodded to Jim.

Jim then took out a contract.

"Coach Lu, I heard that you rejected New York's contract with an annual salary of 600 million. My bid will only be higher than other offers." Bass pushed the contract in front of Louis, "I will give you 1 million US dollars for one year. If you lead the Lakers to win the championship, you can also get an additional 800 million US dollars in bonuses."

Louis has already passed the stage of relying on salary to support his family. The monthly net profit generated by his investment over the years alone is enough for him and several generations to squander.

Salary is more a kind of respect.

So teams like the Rockets who don't know how to respect people, get out as soon as possible.

"It's a good start."

Louie will not be satisfied with the league's highest salary (only counting coaches).

At this stage in the negotiations, Bass must throw out all the conditions.

"I will also provide you with a powerful management position. Of course, this job will also have a salary. I will sign a contract with you according to the highest specifications."

"Okay, what else?"

Jim thinks Daddy's offer is enough, and Louie's "what else" seems to be as endless as a sex addict's desire: "Coach Lou, what more do you want?"

"Jim, what is your main job with the Lakers now?"

"I'm mainly in charge of the sales department of the forum."

Bass said with a smile: "If Coach Lu accepts our invitation, I plan to arrange him by your side. He needs to learn from a real master in order to make progress."

Louie asked, "What if Jim and I disagree?"

There was a rare look of ferocity in Buzz's eyes, and he glanced at his son out of the corner of his eye and said, "He must obey you unconditionally."

"very good."

Louie smiled.

Then, keep asking.

"What if Jerry and I disagree?"

Bass' answer was no longer decisive, and he stammered, "Ah... well... I'll help you do Jerry's job."

"What if you can't do Jerry's job well?"

"I'm his boss."

"So you think your opinion of basketball is above Jerry's?"

"No... Coach Lu, I respect Jerry very much, but... you are a better administrator than him." Bass said with difficulty, "If you and Jerry disagree, if Jerry still can't reach a consensus with you, I will support you."

"Even if everyone is against it?"

"Yes."

"very good."

Bass' attitude was extremely sincere, but Louis somehow felt like he was being tricked.

That's how he tricked Mr. Zhou into XJ back then, right?

Then, Louis stared at Bass with sharp eyes like a beast: "What if you disagree with me, Dr. Bass?"

"How... how?" Buzz smiled uglier than crying, "Coach Lu, you are a master in the field of basketball, how could I disagree with you?"

Louis smiled and took a sip of Coke.

"Back then, Jerry's first choice was Sidney Moncrief. Who chose Irwin against all odds?" Louis asked with a smile, "If we have the same problem later, and you and I disagree, who should we listen to?"

Bass couldn't say to Louie that choosing the Tragedian proved to be the right choice.

That's true, of course, but it also suggests that he might later use his boss's authority for the same reason to get Louie to make decisions he didn't want to make.

They must take Louis!

"I will listen to you unconditionally, Coach Lu."

Louie knew he would answer that way.

This is a textbook-like painting, and Louis will not put himself into it for such a verbal promise that has no effect.

"Of course you can say this to me now, Dr. Buss, if I choose to sign the contract, I will be a member of the Lakers. Just like Jerry, I am your employee. You are my boss. One day in the future, you will disagree with me for some reason, and you will never listen to me unconditionally like now. You will still rely on your own intuition—just like you asked Jerry and the others to choose Irwin—to make the decision you want to make."

At this moment, the one sitting in front of Jerry Buss is not the Louie who looks easy to talk and almost decides to join the Lakers.

It is the Messiah who has ruled the New York Knicks for ten years, who can remove anyone in the management team, trade any Knicks player, and dominate the fate of everyone on the team.

"Jerry, why do I want to leave everything in New York and step into the quagmire of Los Angeles?"

Bass couldn't answer, his lips twitched, and even the beard on his upper lip was trembling, "Coach Lu, tell me what you need."

Louie smiled like a hunter catching prey.

"Give me the position of President of Basketball Operations, this is your only chance."

Jim couldn't help crying out: "Are you crazy? That's my dad's job!"

(End of this chapter)