the rest, only noise

Chapter 1417 The first release was originally for grabbing
Louis did not return to the team until halfway through the preseason training camp of the 1998-99 season.

At that time, the Lakers were undergoing a new round of reshuffle.

The main problem is Kobe's desire to start.

Two years of bench experience made Kobe very clear about what kind of starting second position the team needs.

Moreover, last year's failure to take the top position has proved that it is not because he is stronger than Liu Yuqing that he can play the starting second position, but that only if he is more suitable than Liu Yuqing can he successfully take the top position.

To achieve this, Kobe has comprehensively strengthened his shooting ability during the offseason, especially his open three-point shooting percentage, which has reached the league's top level.

According to the team's internal statistics, Kobe's three-point shooting percentage in team matches reached 40%, and his pure catch three-point shooting percentage reached 42%.

Of course, relying on this result is not enough to compete with Liu Yuqing, who has hit 39% and 40% three-pointers for two consecutive seasons. He needs more actual combat tests.

At this time, Liu Yuqing and Wang Mukong are participating in various celebration banquets in China, and are expected to miss the entire preseason training camp.

Based on Bryant's performance in training camp, Louie decided to temporarily put him in the starting roster and test the waters through the preseason.

It is worth mentioning that the Lakers' roster has basically remained unchanged.

Buck Williams retired, Dennis Rodman left and Joe Dumars decided to play for another year.

The positions of Barker Sr. and Rodman will be filled by Rashard Lewis and Brad Miller.

Even if their immediate combat power is not enough, the Lakers have time to wait for them to grow.

The most indispensable thing on their books is immediate combat power.

There are too many young people, and everyone wants to express themselves.

In addition, the biggest change for the Lakers is the coaching staff.

Buck Williams directly transferred to the inside coach to join the coaching staff.

The previous chief assistant, Don Nelson, whose contract expired this summer, did not stay with the team, but accepted a five-year contract with the Dallas Mavericks.

After Nelson left the team, the chief assistant position of the Lakers coaching staff became vacant.

Louis directly gave this position to Larry Bird, who was already very skilled in coaching.

After several years of study, Byrd is an S-level teaching assistant in all aspects, and it is more than enough to be the chief teaching assistant.

Bird has no other opinions on this, but there is one-it is okay to be the chief assistant, but you have to pay more.

The Lakers have a great record, and Bass is not stingy. They decided to re-sign Bird with a five-year long contract at a top-level price.

It also made Bird's future clear.

He is willing to sign this five-year long-term contract. In addition to being satisfied in terms of money, the key point is that the Lakers promise that if the head coach changes in the future, he will be the number one heir to that position.

Louis has the style of a traveler like a prodigal son, and it seems that nowhere can trap him.

His contract with the Lakers will end in the summer of 2000. At that time, he is likely to choose to leave again. After all, in his opinion, most of the work of the Lakers has been completed. For him, the importance of the work here may not be as important as half of the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team.

Before that day comes, the Lakers need to make proper preparations.

Looking at the coaching staff, apart from Nelson, there is no other assistant coach as prestigious as Bird.

He is definitely the best choice to replace Louie.

The Lakers' changes basically have little impact on them.

Inside the alliance, however, a storm is brewing.

Since last year, the introduction of the luxury tax rules has indeed effectively limited the rapid expansion of super teams.

Gone are the days when players built rosters recklessly because they were rich and attractive.

But because of the emergence of the luxury tax, there are fewer and fewer top players who will surrender to others in order to win the championship.

The stars have become more self-interested.

In the past, they could give up millions of dollars to win the championship, but now, they refuse.

The BUG of the unlimited maximum salary rule pushes the stars back to pursue higher salaries.

This leads to an extremely dire consequence for the bosses.

Although it was originally agreed that each team needs to spend 55% of their total income each year, since the maximum salary can ignore the salary cap and is not limited, these star players have repeatedly broken through the limit that others can imagine, and continue to climb the amount of the maximum salary, resulting in more and more expenses for each team.

In recent years, the money invested by each team has exceeded the originally agreed 55% quota, and reached a terrifying 61%.

Except for big markets like Los Angeles and New York that can achieve profitability, other teams are all losing money.

Therefore, the bosses decided to seize the negotiation year of the collective bargaining agreement. No matter what, they must set a ceiling on the maximum salary, otherwise this day will be impossible.

The main seats in the players' union are basically controlled by Ewing and his group of vested interests who are making a lot of money. Before their own interests are directly hurt, they cannot give up the bug of unlimited maximum salary.

Therefore, looking to the future, it is foreseeable that the talks between the two sides will collapse, and the suspension of the 1999-2000 season is also possible.

However, these things have little to do with Louis.

He's not going to talk to players on behalf of the league, nor is he going to speak up for those multi-millionaires, who'd better bite each other to death.

After the preseason training camp, Liu Yuqing and Wang Mukong just returned to the team.

After a few days of adjustments, the fully assembled Lakers rushed overseas to play preseason games with European teams.

This is part of the NBA's European expansion plan.

In this summer's draft, more and more European players have been selected by the NBA. This trend will become more and more obvious after the league realizes globalization.

Ultimately, the talent pool in Europe will also be part of the talent pool of NBA reserves.

A team that dominates the NBA, the Lakers come to play in Europe, wherever they come and go, and are welcomed like a band in its heyday.

Bodi Loga gets into an altercation for refusing overpriced ice cream.

Duncan was rumored to have chatted with a European actress for a few words.

Kobe was even caught in a nightclub.

Benj is even more exaggerated.

There are only three things left in his world, basketball, signature pen and camera.

He has to play games and practice, and then, every time he arrives in a new city, he has to attend an autograph session for more than two hours. In the end, no matter where he goes, there will always be a group of reporters who get the news in advance and surround him.

He often can't see the face of the other party clearly, because there will be dozens of cameras from different directions in front of him.

He was popular like the King of Pop.

But this kind of life is not for everyone.

Louie could feel the change within the team because everyone was popular and everyone saw themselves as stars.

As a result, the virtue of humility disappeared in the Lakers.

Everyone pays more attention to their own interests. On the court, the frequency of fighting alone is much higher than before.

In the preseason, facing those low-talented European powerhouses, the Lakers reached the last stop with a score of 45 points per game.

Garnett, who considers himself the Almighty King, said frankly: "I think I am at my peak."

Bodi Loga is much more direct: "I can do it all by myself."

Duncan didn't look so happy.

"There's been a lot less passing between us," Duncan said. "Everyone is focusing more on their own performance. It's not a good sign."

Nash's attitude says it all: "I think I deserve more playing time."

Louis discovered for the first time that Barkley was so cute.

In an atmosphere where everyone wanted to write "I'm super strong" on their faces, Barkley, as an insider substitute, said heartlessly: "I don't want to come to Europe anymore. The donuts here are not at the same level as the United States!"

After a few warm-up games, Kobe, who was at the peak of his form, shot 50% of his three-pointers, while Liu Yuqing, who returned from vacation and did not participate in any preseason training camp training sessions, performed mediocrely.

Kobe surpassed Liu Yuqing at this moment in terms of immediate combat power and outside shooting touch.

That made Louie a decision.

At the beginning of the new season, Kobe will play as the team's starting No. [-].

Liu Yuqing didn't express his opinion. He is a person who is not good at expressing himself.

Being squeezed out of the starting lineup, he didn't complain, and he didn't give up on himself like Barkley, and he would spend more time in training.

The first one to come to the arena for training every day, and the last one to leave.

Louie certainly doesn't want to see him sit on the bench at this age.After making this decision, he talked to Liu Yuqing privately.

If you cannot accept a substitute, you can apply for a trade.

With Liu Yuqing's strength, he can start in most teams, and Louis can send him to any team he wants.

However, Liu Yuqing's thinking made him feel that either this kid was crazy or the world was crazy.

"I won't admit defeat to high school students." Liu Yuqing said coldly, "The starting lineup is meant to be robbed. Let him be prepared to be pushed back to the bench by me."

Louis was convinced, really convinced.

Dare he train like this every day, it turns out that it is not for fighting spirit, but for rolling Kobe back to the bench?

Now, what else can Louis say?

"Then you... Come on, I like you."

(End of this chapter)