the rest, only noise

Chapter 1433 Don't Let Loyalty Kill You
Charles Barkley was probably the most comfortable guy in training camp.

Only he can not care about his status, he doesn't care about the honor that young people value, those troubles have nothing to do with him, he just needs to be a veteran who can do whatever he wants.

This year is also Barkley's contract year.

He is 37 years old, has won three rings and has a strong chance of winning a fourth.

He doesn't know if he wants to renew his contract with the Lakers for another year, try to win the fifth ring, and put together a whole hand.

For a veteran like Terry Porter who has worked hard for more than ten years and has not won anything, as long as he can win the championship, it is a great blessing.

Dejan Bodiloga is eating ice cream again.

He's the only one of the starting five to lose shape in the offseason.

However, although Bodi Loga's figure is out of shape, he is not as excessive as Barkley.

Louie chatted with Hornacek for a while.

After leaving the Lakers, Hornacek has been playing for the Suns.Now, the Suns are in turmoil, Kevin Johnson continues to degenerate, and Yu Tiancan's ceiling makes the team fluctuate, and Hornacek does not intend to waste his last time on an unstable team.

"If I can win the championship this year, maybe I will retire."

Hornacek laughed.

This is the first day the Lakers have a full roster.

When gathering, Louis was pleased to find that, except for Barkley and Bodi Loga, everyone else was in good shape, and there were signs of training at first glance.

This is due to Wilson, who organized the Lakers squad to conduct training alone in October last year, enabling most players to conduct high-quality joint training in a systematic environment.

This not only keeps the players in shape, but also allows them to hone their skills. Some people with poor self-discipline will also follow and carry out systematic training in group activities.

After that, under the guidance of Bird and Carlisle, the players started a match.

Louie sat on the sidelines and watched the battle.

The confrontation match is the most suitable project to observe the current state of the players.

Bodi Loga is uncomfortable because of his fat body. There are many things that he could do easily before, but now they are difficult.

He needs to lose weight.

"Dejan, how much ice cream have you eaten? How did you become so fat?" Barkley sneered unabashedly, "The coach is even thinner than you!"

Bodi Loga snorted coldly: "Shut up, are you qualified to say that people are fat? Look at yourself!"

"Are you sure you want to compare self-discipline with an old man like me? Okay, let's compare. I lost the starting lineup because of lack of self-discipline. Do you also want to give up the starting lineup? Then I really want to thank you for Terry!"

When Barkley accepted the bench and admitted that he was not disciplined, he was invulnerable.

Bodiloga finally realized the seriousness of the problem, and he didn't expect that the momentary indulgence would have the risk of being beaten to the bench.

"Coach, I will spend half a month to lose weight!"

After the match, Bodi Loga, who performed poorly, made a promise to Louis.

Ever since he lost weight, Louis felt disgusted when he saw this kind of bastard who couldn't control his weight. He said uncompromisingly: "If you don't lose weight, give up the starter."

"No problem, I will definitely reduce it!"

Bodi Loga's struggles were predictable.

After all, no one ever messed up his weight management in the offseason and stayed in good shape.

The evolution of Garnett and Kobe is gratifying.

Garnett's main improvement is not technology, but game awareness.

Last season, Garnett was just an all-round support player. Now, he can play his own role in his own sweet spot. When he gets the ball, the variety he shows reminds Louis of Webber.

Garnett, who holds the ball at a 45-degree angle on the left and right wings, is the most dangerous Garnett.

Garnett at the free throw line has the coping ability to dominate an offensive system.

If you want him to play as a deputy, he can roll down after the pick-and-roll, or pull left and right to shoot from any position, and can even bounce out to any point to shoot a three-pointer.

From a coaching point of view, Garnett has no dead ends.

The only thing worthy of criticism may be his offensive stability at critical moments.

In this regard, under Bird's training, his desire to rush inside has been greatly strengthened. Even if it is not as good as Duncan's super giant inside who can attack tough shots, compared with him before, it is still greatly strengthened.

If Garnett's evolution is gratifying, then Kobe's changes can no longer be described by the word "evolution".

Perhaps, "mutation" is more appropriate.

Louie saw Kobe running with aplomb and pointing out his teammates' mistakes like a leader.

One expected him to turn into a wayward high school kid again, but he didn't.

He managed to integrate himself into the game and become part of the team, instead of putting himself in a higher place and above the entire team as before.

For Kobe, this change means that he may have mastered the switch between "reasonable subjects" and "realistic subjects".

Louis wondered if this had anything to do with meditation.

But it should not be a coincidence that Kobe and Garnett made major breakthroughs at the same time this summer.

Louis has more expectations for the new season.

A Garnett who has improved his game awareness, and a Kobe who can become a reasonable Kobe at any time, can he play 100% beautiful basketball with the other three?

If they can't, Louie has to admit that he'll never have a team good enough to fully embody the beauty of basketball.

The Lakers did not seem to be affected by the long-term suspension. After the team assembled, the mental outlook and competitive state of the team made Louis very satisfied.

And that's not a common phenomenon in the league.

What is the general phenomenon?It is because a large number of players have not had systematic training for a long time that their bodies have become out of shape and their skills have become rough. The short 12-day preseason training camp is not enough to restore them to their original state.

In the new season, fans will see many players who do not seem to have NBA strength running slowly on the court.

There will be a lot of fat, a lot of players who are inexplicably declining.

There will be countless stand-up comedians making jokes about the number of fat people in the NBA.

The two players most likely to stand out are Sean Kemp and Danny Manning.

Some players just get fat, like Bodi Loga.

These two people directly made a terrifying transformation from a strong man to a fat man who couldn't bear to look directly at them.

In addition, some teams are actively seeking trades.

For example, the Celtics, their rise in recent years has not brought champions to the city, and now, Sampson has entered the 40-year-old mark.

Mr. One has nothing left of his career, but one goal.

That's surpassing Kareem-Jabbar's scoring record.

For now, if Sampson wants to do this, he needs to stick to 41 years old.

Karl Malone also made it clear before the start of the season that he would test the free market in the summer of 2000.

The media in the Boston area suspected that Malone might follow the example of Dumars, Porter and others and join the Lakers with a contract far below his own worth to seek the championship.

The future of the two big shots is decided, and Pippen will naturally have to make an early move while he is still valuable. He was originally a failed signing.

It just so happened that the Magic were peddling Tim Hardaway, who was no longer at his peak, and when they saw the Celtics selling Pippen, they immediately called.

After several days of discussions, a deal was finally reached.

The Magic traded Tim Hardaway, a 2001 first-round pick, and a 2003 first-round pick to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Scottie Pippen.

Then came the Clippers, who sent Dikembe Mutombo and Larry Hughes to the Indiana Pacers for Mookie Blaylock and Dan Marley.

Of all the trade and signing news, one of the most unusual is Michael Jordan's contract extension.

The outside world almost overwhelmingly believed that Jordan would leave Portland and join a team with more championship prospects, but Jordan slapped the public opinion circle with practical actions.

His decision was not to go and signed a two-year, $2 million contract with the Blazers.

This would allow Jordan to play for the Blazers until the summer of 2001, when he will be 38 years old.

A 38-year-old veteran, no matter how great he was when he was young, will not have much weight at that age.

Hearing the news of Jordan's contract extension, the most emotional person was Barkley.

"I spent a week trying to make Michael understand a truth-don't let loyalty kill you." Barkley said self-deprecatingly, "As you can see, I failed as always."

(End of this chapter)