the rest, only noise

Chapter 138 The Obscure Promise

"Coach Lu, as a coach, what do you think is the biggest difficulty?"

In mid-September, the Celtics held a media meeting for the first preseason training camp in NBA history.

Louie was questioned by a reporter from The Weekly Sun, which is more than 100 years old.

"The biggest difficulty is that no matter how difficult I imagined this job before, I will eventually find that the actual difficulty is much greater than I imagined." Louis said helplessly.

Louis received more attention than expected.

His age is a hurdle that cannot be avoided.

Until he proves his ability on the court, this is something that will be questioned countless times.

If he succeeds, age becomes his capital.

Louie met Bob Ryan, whom Auerbach often yelled at.

This person began to work for the "Globe" in the early 70s, because of a sentence that shocked the Quartet: "One New York Knicks championship is more important to the NBA than the Celtics' 11 championships."

Because of this sentence, Auerbach still refers to him as "that bastard".

"Coach Lu, can I ask you a few questions?" Ryan asked formally.

"This is the main task of our presence here today." Louis said casually, "Please."

Ryan's first question: "Is it true that there have been rumors that the Celtics have had multiple internal conflicts in the past two weeks?"

"Bob, how many people are in your working group?" Louis asked back.

"7."

"Did you get along well?"

"We work very well together."

"Are the seven of you close, not contradicting each other, and never having conflict?"

"Coach Lu, I understand what you mean."

"No, you don't understand." Louis laughed. "If all of you civil servants have conflicts, which will lead to conflicts, then is it strange that a group of vigorous young people are engaged in confrontational and fierce sports, which leads to conflicts?"

Ryan obviously didn't want to let Louis go easily.

His second question was more pointed.

"Coach Fitch hinted that you would not be able to work as his assistant coach after taking office in Houston. What do you think?"

This was something Louis didn't understand. No matter what Fitch said, Louis had already prepared his speech.

I thought it wouldn't work, but I didn't expect it to work.

Thanks a lot, Fitch.

"After Coach Fitch won the championship, he expanded the coaching staff on a large scale, you know that?"

"Slightly heard."

"Suddenly, the coaching staff of the Celtics became more professional. After Coach Fitch had a more professional and rigorous team, he seldom asked my opinion. I was also a part-time team scout and needed to go out frequently."

Louis smiled lightly: "I also want to help, but this kind of thing goes both ways. If Coach Fitch vetoes my suggestion, how can I help? I am the one who has the least say in the coaching staff meeting."

"If what you said is true, why is it you who inherited the head coach instead of KC or other assistant coaches?"

Ryan is not a likable questioner and interviewer.

He doesn't play tricks with you, he just wants to know the inside story, and get out of your mouth.

It's no wonder that Auerbach doesn't like him. The existence of such media people is a good thing for fans.Fans can get a lot of inside information through him.

However, it is not necessarily the person who was exposed by him.

"If I could answer you, I would."

"How to say?"

Louie said to the self-proclaimed NBA monitor: "If I can appoint myself as the head coach, why wait until now? You should ask Redd this question. I just accepted the new job he gave me, and I have no reason to refuse."

"Coach Fitch has led the Celtics to the top three records in the league in each of the past four years. Are you sure you can achieve this result?"

Louie saw that Ryan was on Fitch's side.

Fitch is different from all the coaches in the history of the Celtics. He is not alienated from the media, he is close to the media, he likes dealing with the media, and uses his one-liners to make the press conference look like a talk show.

People who have a good relationship with the media can always get more exposure and praise.

Although Louie couldn't ask Ryan to like who he didn't like, he still didn't want to hear someone compare him with Fitch.

"Do you know that Reid prepared a complicated contract for me. Although the amount is considerable, the conditions are harsh. If I want to get the full salary, I must lead the team to the best record in the league and win the championship."

"Unfortunately, I am a person who regards money as his life."

"Because money is the foundation of living in modern society, I will make money to create a better life, so I am determined to complete these two targets." Louis reminded, "You can write my words in your article and pass it on to anyone."

Ryan gave Louis an ugly smile back: "I see, Coach Lu."

Fourteen media outlets came that day, thirteen of which were from Boston.

There is also an unpopular but nationally famous media——The New York Times.

Friends with a good memory should remember that Louis and this media have a relationship.

"Hi, Coach Lu, I'm Wil Wheaton, a reporter from The New York Times."

"Unfortunate!"

"Coach Lu?"

Louis twisted like a wronged golden retriever, "Okay, you can ask."

"It must be hard to work in a city with a long history of racism like Boston, right?"

Louis asked with a smile, "Isn't it easier in New York than here?"

"I dare not say anything else, but in terms of moral sanctions against racial discrimination, New York is far better than Boston. We are currently preparing to pass a bill that prohibits people from saying insulting words beginning with the 'N' word in public."

Louie couldn't bear to listen to him preaching all the good things about New York.

"Okay, can you talk to me about business?"

"Okay, Coach Lu, are you sure you can bring the Celtics to the playoffs in your first season?"

"Excuse me?"

"Is my voice too low?" Wheaton actually raised his voice, "Coach Lu, are you sure you can bring the Celtics to the playoffs?"

My dear mother, sure enough, everyone has it.

Louis laughed at himself, what kind of waste would he have to be to bring a team with Bird, Thomas, Sampson, Maxwell, and Lambiel out of the playoffs?Even if he doesn't call a timeout for the entire season, and let the players decide on substitutions, tactics, and pre- and post-match arrangements, he won't be able to make the playoffs, right?

"The Times is indeed the Times. I have nothing wrong with you." Louis said with a smile, "You are really a ridiculous and unprofessional media!"

Seeing that the Times made a fool of himself in front of Louis, none of his colleagues stood up to speak for Wheaton, although Louis's answer was disrespectful.

The way he asked was really amateurish.

Especially when he asked Louie if he could bring the Celtics into the playoffs, he really put his ass in front of him and made people hate him.

It would be a pity for the grievances between Louis and the Times if he didn't blow him away.

Today's media meeting also created a lot of Celtic history.

Louie asked all the players to be interviewed according to the common media meeting in the future, and asked each of them to tell an interesting story in the training camp, not to discredit the team, but to help improve the team's image.

Bird demurred at first: "I didn't have a single interesting thing happen to me."

Seeing Byrd, Thomas had an idea.

He told reporters: "When Coach Lu first introduced us to the game concept, he drew an owl's face on the tactical board and compared it to Larry."

Bird was inspired by this.

He chose to blackmail himself.

"It's true, but what's even more ridiculous is that before that, Coach Lu drew a pig's head. He compared that pig's head to me, and changed it to an owl after my strong protest."

Bird said humorously: "I thought at the time, he should become a painter."

People with low EQ can only say "I wish Louis would get out of here immediately", while Byrd knows high EQ "he should be a painter" in front of the media.

Not a single player was left out in the cold.

The media got a lot of opportunities, and everyone was telling stories, either embellished true stories, or unverifiable fictional stories, and finally everyone gathered to put on the jersey and take pictures.

"Lu is a person who is very good at debating, he can resolve all questions and does not reveal too much inside information to us.

But yesterday, he told me his goals for the new season in a special way.Lu said he was coerced by Redd into signing a complex contract that required him to lead the Celtics to the league's No. [-] record and a championship if he was to get his full salary.

He vowed to me that he would get his full salary.

I see this as a promise he made to me and to all the fans who follow and love the Celtics.

'Next season, we'll be No. [-] in the league and back to the championship. ' I thought, that's what he meant.

Finally we saw such a scene, Lu sat in the middle of the photo, next to Reid, and then Larry, Isiah, Ralph, they were smiling and full of ambition. For a moment, I seemed to see a team standing on top of the world. --Bob Ryan in The Boston Globe, September 1983, 9.

(End of this chapter)