the rest, only noise

Chapter 1208 Receiver Louis

After the Phila Summer League ended, the Chinese team trained on the spot to prepare for the Atlanta Olympics, and the NBA Summer League teams disbanded on the spot.

These would-be NBA players have a full summer to prepare for the new season before preseason training camp arrives.

Louis returned to Los Angeles. As the team's president and head coach, he also found ways to reinforce the Lakers.

Especially after losing David Robinson, there is an urgent psychology within the Lakers, they want to catch the big fish in the free market.

In addition to Robinson, who is already famous and famous, there are several eye-catching center players in the free market.

Among them, the most concerned than the 24-year-old super center Shaquille O'Neal and Ralph Sampson.

O'Neal is the biggest fish in free agency.

Although he has not yet won the championship, he is only 24 years old this year. When Sampson, Ewing, and Olajuwon retire, O'Neal will still be a dominant force in the league.

If you get him, you get the future, there is no doubt about it.

Although the Magic did some stupid things during the season to hurt the relationship with O'Neal's camp, when they recover, they will naturally realize how important it is to the team to keep O'Neal.

West also didn't think about recruiting O'Neal, because with the Lakers' existing salary space, they obviously couldn't include this shark in the formation.

After Penny signed a 6 million-dollar contract extension, a "mediocre" 1-year [-] million-dollar contract extension can no longer satisfy O'Neal.

He wants the biggest contract in the league.

At this time, the New York Knicks had an idea and secretly applied for a special case from the league, hoping to satisfy the player's super contract in the form of part of the salary space + commercial endorsement⑴.

In this life, Stern is troubled by super teams. How could he give the Knicks a chance to sign O'Neal?
Stern clearly rejected this opportunistic approach.

As a result, the window for O'Neal to join a super team has actually closed.

Where O'Neal will go is up in the air, and another super center in the free market, Ralph Sampson, has made his own decision.

Louie initially wanted to invite Sampson to Los Angeles, but he wasn't interested in the idea of ​​playing for the Lakers.

Mainly, he didn't want to join forces with Benjamin Wilson.

Because Wilson was a key figure in the Knicks team that destroyed the 88 Green Kais.

Joining forces with him is tantamount to betraying Boston.

His thoughts made Louis very speechless, because... Larry Bird, the banner figure of the 88 Green Kais, was an assistant coach for the Lakers.

Did Bird betray Boston?
Sampson has his own reasons. He believes that Bird did not betray Boston because Bird has retired.

Coaching and playing are two different things.

Well, since Sampson was so loyal to Boston, Louie guessed where he was going.

The only gentleman who left Boston for two years, finally decided to end his career in Boston.

Sampson turned down offers from other teams and instead signed a four-year contract with the Celtics with a player option.

It is understood that this contract is about 4 years and 6000 million US dollars, and the third year is a player option.

Bostonians were thrilled.

They never blamed Sampson for leaving that year.

In their view, if Sampson does not leave, it will be difficult for the Celtics to start rebuilding. Now, they have successively obtained young talents such as Grant Hill, Rasheed Wallace and Laettner, and they are lacking a highly respected old superstar to teach young people by example.

Sampson's comeback came at the right time.

It can be said that this is the most moving story that happened in the professional basketball world in 1996.

Mr. One and Only returned to the place where the dream began.

Heat team president Lewis Shafier said: "We fully understand and support Ralph's decision. No matter where he is, he will always be a member of the Heat."

Sampson has confirmed his next home, and Danny Manning also started contract renewal negotiations with the Heat as a big winner in the palace fight.

As a result, the two sides were once again in trouble.

The Lions of the Manning camp opened their mouths and asked the Heat for a super contract of 6 million U.S. dollars in six years.

For this reason, Shafier yelled at Manning when he contacted Louis on the phone.

"He's a shameless guy! Ralph is a hundred times better than him!" Shafier roared, "He can say the price! Why doesn't he want 6 million in 2 years?"

Louis jokingly said, "Why don't you pack him back home and not renew the contract?"

Shafier said with a bitter face, "We have lost Ralph. If we can't keep that bastard, Mr. Alisson will kill me."

Louis smiled lightly: "It seems that you have no way out?"

"Yeah, there's no way out." Shafier smiled wryly.

"I think you can stabilize him first and see the effect. Once he signs the contract, the future initiative is actually in your hands, and you can deal with him whatever you want." Louis' words opened up Shafier's thinking.

Shafier no longer hesitated.

"That's right, Coach Lu, no matter what, I still have to keep that guy first, I won't do anything about it!"

Louis said angrily: "You bastard, are you laughing at me? (About the Lakers letting go of David Robinson for nothing)"

"Haha... Coach Lu, that...it's getting late, let's talk next time."

Shafier acted resolutely, and with a firm idea, he decisively gave Manning a 6-year contract of 1.3 million US dollars, and then gave Drexler, who had no intention of leaving Miami, a 3-year contract extension of 2400 million US dollars.

Subsequently, Shafier renewed his contract with Jaylen Rose in advance for 5 years and 2800 million.

Another two years and 2 million left Knicks veteran John Sely.

After all these operations, the Heat's salary for the new season has seriously exceeded the cap.

But there are still people who need to renew their contracts.

Joe Dumars wanted a three-year, $3 million retirement contract, but Shafier hesitated.

In terms of qualifications, Dumars is the most vocal veteran of the Heat.

In terms of dedication, when Drexler joined the team, it was Dumars who took the initiative to give up the starting lineup, allowing the Heat's most talented players to fill the starting roster.

Now the team wins a championship every two years, Sampson, Manning and other main players have gained both fame and fortune. Dumars is just a bastard in the eyes of fans, a dispensable person. He just wants a decent pension contract.

But Lewis Shafier can't give Dumars the dignity he wants, because in addition to Dumars, he also has Reggie Lewis who needs to renew his contract.

When Shafier cut the price of Dumars' pension contract to $3 million in three years, the gentleman known for his good temper broke the defense on the spot.

Shafier maintained his superficial indifference, and said to Dumas who lost his mind: "Joe, if you can't accept this contract, I can only say goodbye to you."

Shafir's notoriety was thus spread.

It was not until much later that the truth of the matter was revealed.

Shafier wants to make sure his boss is happy with him.

The owner of the Heat, Micky Arison, thought that an old bastard like Dumars was not worthy of a high-salary renewal, so Shafier could only rely on the will of the boss, ignoring Dumars' contribution and sacrifice for the team, and made an insulting offer that the other party would never forgive him.

For a player like Dumars, it's hard to see his value on a superteam.

In the two seasons of Cosmos Heat, Dumars averaged 19 minutes per game, scoring 8 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, which is basically the data of a role player.

No one noticed that Dumars had improved his 37-point percentage to [-] percent, let alone that he was the only two-way guard on the Heat that fit Billy Donovan's philosophy.

For his departure, the Miami media and Heat fans did not feel anything, as if he was really a dispensable bastard.

Then, after Louie greeted Shafier—saying something like I'll take Dumars' offer—he contacted Wilson and asked him to call Dumars.

Wilson then used his charisma to make a private call to Dumars, starting with "Dude, I'm sorry what happened to you," followed by "I've seen Lewis Shafier is an unreliable bastard, that's why I didn't listen to you and joined Miami," and ended with "Come to Los Angeles, let's do something big together."

Dumars' blood was surging, his fingers trembling with anger: "Okay, I will join Los Angeles, and I will prove what a wrong thing that bastard did!"

"But, JD, our cap space...you know."

"money is not a problem!"

"Great, JD, I welcome you on behalf of the Lakers!"

When Wilson called Louis to report the results of the battle, he couldn't hide the excitement and complacency at all.

Louis couldn't help but sighed: "Fortunately, there is you, Benj. Patrick will never be able to do things like this. He is very good at making people suspect him, but he can't do things like recruiting players."

"Coach, don't talk about Patrick like that. Apart from having few friends and being overly domineering... (a dozen words omitted)..., he is still a pretty good person."

⑴First of all, this is a very long footnote, sorry to make you spend money to watch this.I'm going to say another thing specifically for this.I don’t know if you have heard such a saying that the Bulls’ last three consecutive games are hard-fought by the league, because Jordan’s 3000 million contract does not take up salary space.Let me ask a question first, do you believe it?I mean no harm, but I really feel that a lot has been misguided.

I have a definite conclusion on this matter.

The first is a simple explanation of Jordan's $3000 million contract. The Bulls used the bird rights to sign this contract with Jordan.This is the simplest and most direct explanation. Later, I will explain why the Bulls did this in compliance and the source of this outrageous rumor.

Let me first talk about the source of "Jordan's 3000 million salary does not take up space".It can't be said where it came from. This is basically a rumor that has been spread one after another, and of course, it may be that some people did it on purpose.

The original version of the story comes from the book of American sports writer David Halberstam (David Halberstam), the book is called "Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made." + The way of advertising endorsements of tens of millions poached Jordan. After a meal, the Bulls could only give Jordan an annual salary of 3000 million US dollars.

Are you feeling a bit confused?With such a clear thing written in the book, why does it involve the league's promotion of the Bulls, and Jordan's 3000 million contract does not take up space?Good question, I don't know, and I don't want to trace the source of the rumor here, I just want you to know the original appearance of this rumor.

Then let's go back to Jordan's contract itself, why can he sign 3000 million?Because the bull has his bird rights.Then someone must say, you are nonsense, it is impossible for Bird Rights to allow players to sign players with an annual salary higher than the salary cap.Hee hee, you're young, the answer is that the bird power back then was different from what it is now.At that time, the salary cap had just been issued for 13 years, and many rules had not yet been perfected. Among them, the labor agreement did not limit the amount of the player's maximum salary.In other words, the player's maximum salary is unlimited.My English is not good, and I am too lazy to look up the labor agreement of the year, but I still have something to prove this:

Jordan isn't operating in a freemarket. Any team other than the Bulls that signs him has to fithis salary—and those of the rest of its players—under the NBA's 1996-97 cap, which will be $24.3 million per team. OnlyChicago is free to pay Jordan as much as it wants, thanks to the so-called Larry Bird Rule, which allows teams to exceed the salary cap by any amount to hold on to their own free agents.
No team other than the Bulls could sign Jordan over the 1996-97 salary cap -- $2430 million per team.Only the Chicago Bulls were free to pay Jordan what he wanted, thanks to the so-called Larry Bird clause, which allowed teams to keep their free agents for any amount over the salary cap.

Excerpts from the June 1996, 6 Sports Illustrated article (The $10 Million Man), in which the author felt Jordan was worth $40 million in annual salary.

If you feel that "Sports Illustrated" is not authoritative enough, then I can also expand on the matter of "unlimited maximum salary".This is equivalent to a bug in the rules. After years of development, the operating costs of NBA teams have far exceeded the originally agreed figure of spending 53% of total revenue each year.This eventually led to the lockout in 1999.

The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia's discussion on the 99 lockout:

The 1998–99 NBA lockout was the third lockout of four in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It lasted from July 1, 1998, to January 20, 1999, and forced the 1998–99 regular season to be shortened to 50 games per team and that season's All-Star Game to be canceled. NBA owners reopened the league's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in March 1998, seeking changes to the league's salary cap system and a ceiling on individual player salaries. The National Basketball Players Ass ociation (NBPA) opposed the owners' plans and wanted raises for players who earned the league's minimum salary. After the two sides failed to reach an agreement, the owners began the lockout.
1998-99赛季的NBA停摆是NBA历史上四次停摆中的第三次。它从1998年7月1日持续到1999年1月20日，迫使1998 - 99赛季常规赛缩短到每支球队50场比赛，并取消了那个赛季的全明星赛。1998年3月，NBA老板重新启动了联盟的集体谈判协议(CBA)，寻求改变联盟的工资帽制度和球员个人的工资上限。全国篮球运动员协会(NBPA)反对球队老板的计划，并希望为那些挣着联盟最低工资的球员加薪。在双方未能达成协议后，老板们开始了停摆。

This is the end.I'm sorry to let you waste time reading such a long section of popular science, but I think that as a fan of Jordan, the novel should be refuted at this stage when the novel is written.

What is the subtext of the rumor that Jordan's 3000 million contract is not included in the salary cap?It means that the Bulls have an extra salary of 3000 million out of thin air, which is unfair to other teams of the same era. It means that the league gave the Bulls an extra maximum salary.The conclusion is that Jordan is deceiving the world and stealing his name, and he is not worthy of being a dog.

Before a great man falls, his achievements are the first to be overthrown. Only in this way can he completely deny his sanctity and lay the foundation for the legitimacy of the latecomers to transcend.

As long as there are reasons and evidence, that's all. Such unfounded rumors, conjuring chips out of thin air to splash dirty water, are absolutely not acceptable.Jordan has too many black spots, so why spread rumors? As someone said, the wizard Jordan can't do anything with his hands spread out. I will never refute it.complete truth.

Jordan in the Wizards period made me believe that he would be surpassed, because this experience made his perfect career no longer perfect, and he himself tarnished his own sanctity, except to prove to fans that Jordan was also dominant in the zone defense era, because at the age of 40, he could also average 20 points per game in the zone defense era.

The footnote is very long, and a chapter will be released tomorrow for free compensation.

(End of this chapter)