the rest, only noise

Chapter 1440 The Lakers Renewal Plan Failed
The Lakers' contract renewal turmoil directly led to the end of their winning streak by New York.

In the rematch with the Knicks, the Lakers' morale fluctuated. Although Wilson and Kobe scored high points, Bodi Loga played the worst game of the season. Duncan encountered a foul crisis and Garnett was inexplicably invisible.

119 is better than 114
The Knicks beat the Lakers by 5 points, ending their opponent's 21-game winning streak.

Louis went directly to Bodi Loga. He wanted to know what it meant that this European bumpkin didn't play well today, he didn't negotiate well, and he kept letting the coach take the blame.

And Bodi Loga said that he was a little uncomfortable today and felt dizzy on the court, which was the reason for his poor performance.

As for the turmoil caused by the contract renewal, it was indeed not intentional to let Louis take the blame.

That's what he thought.

If Louie is not there, the Lakers' beautiful basketball will be over.

Moreover, from his game habits, beautiful basketball actually limits his personal ability.If you change teams and give him enough possessions, he can play better.

If he can't play beautiful basketball, he has no reason to stay and compete for the ball with Kobe and Garnett.

Louis didn't expect that although this guy has become one of the hottest players in the NBA, he still doesn't forget his original intention, which is rare.

At this point, Louis can only take the blame.

Patting Bodi Loga on the shoulder, he said: "I won't ask about the contract renewal anymore, but next time if you feel unwell during a game, you should tell me in time, there are so many players in the team who can play." People, you can take a break once in a while, don't do it next time, I don't want you to be the next Maurice Stokes (Maurice Stokes PF/C)⑴."

Bodi Loga opened his eyes wide and thought, Who is Maurice Stokes?

Because of Bodi Loga, public opinion is now forcing Louis to take a stand.

But Louis still can't give a letter.

Because he himself does not know what to do after this season is over, so his answer to the outside world is: "Since 1978, I have worked intensively for 22 years. Now, in addition to the work of the Lakers, I also As the head coach of the Chinese national team. This kind of work intensity is too high for me, so I am not sure about my future in the Lakers. Even now, I can’t draw a conclusion, maybe only the end of the season Only then can I know what I want."

Louis's words did not satisfy everyone.

Because he is only 40 years old this year.

For many professional basketball administrators, this is the age of entry.

And he's already obsessed with the hustle and bustle of working behind the scenes in professional basketball.

Besides, Louie looked energetic.

After losing weight in the summer, he seemed to be much more energetic. He looked less than 40 years old at the age of 30. He didn't look like a person trapped by high-intensity work at all.

However, Louis has said so, and naturally no one will ask him whether he will stay with the Lakers in the future.

Regardless of whether he stays or not, the suspense will be revealed this summer, and we will know by then.

This result is very bad for Lakers fans.

Louis' contract renewal is unclear, which means that Bodi Loga will not renew his contract with the team.

What the Lakers fans never expected was that besides Bodi Loga, there was another person who was uncertain about whether to stay with the Lakers in the future.

Before officially opening Duncan's contract extension plan, the Lakers management held an internal meeting.

The meeting was chaired by Jerry Bass, Louis was on the sidelines, and all the top executives, including Jerry West, were present.

The old Bass raised the issue-whether to keep Duncan?

When the topic was uttered, West thought he was hallucinating.

Do you want to keep Duncan?How could this be a problem?
Then, Bass Sr. pointed out sharply that Duncan was not interested in Los Angeles, and the big city and super high commercial potential had little attraction for him.

Even if they send Duncan a top salary at the highest level, it may be rejected, and the team should make a record.

West is the most staunch Duncan faction, he believes that the team should keep Duncan at all costs.

"Tim Duncan can make sure the Lakers are competitive for the next 15 years, just like Patrick Ewing did in New York!"

As a result, Old Bath gave West full authority to renew Duncan's contract.

West naturally accepted the assignment.

Louie remained silent throughout, which was unusual.

He is the president and should have decision-making power.

But Louie watched Bass Sr. preside over the meeting like a fringe.

This is actually what he meant. The failure to renew the contract of Bodi Loga made the old Bass have to pursue Duncan wholeheartedly, but at the same time, he must also be prepared for Duncan not to renew his contract.

Once Duncan is determined to join the free market as Louis predicted, then they have to take back all their energy and turn to Bodi Loga.

Compared with people like Duncan who have escaped from low-level interests, European country bumpkins are more likely to win.

The result left West devastated.

On behalf of the team, he offered Duncan a seven-year, $7 million long-term contract. His plan was to ensure that Duncan, who was about to enter his peak period, could play for the Lakers for a full seven years.

After a cursory review of the contract, Duncan said: "Jerry, thank you for your trust, but I have decided to test the free market this year."

Dr. Bath really hit the mark?

West almost froze, he gritted his teeth and asked, "Why?"

Duncan is an honest person. He doesn't play those falsehoods, and expresses his thoughts very straightforwardly: "I want to see if there is any place that suits me better than Los Angeles."

"Los Angeles is the most fucking place in the whole world!" West's snarl literally burst out of his mouth.

Duncan's eyes widened, not expecting West to break the defense.

Realizing his gaffe, West quickly said: "Tim, I mean, if you want to play, if you want to play real basketball, Los Angeles is the best choice. There are beautiful basketballs here."

As soon as West's words fell, Duncan gave West another crit: "Coach Lu may leave the team this summer. At that time, the Lakers will not be able to play beautiful basketball."

West assured: "Whether Louie is still in the team or not, we will firmly play beautiful basketball!"

"Oh" Duncan immediately said something that made West's blood pressure soar, "Beautiful basketball is very important to road coaches, to the Lakers, and even to basketball, but to me, it's not that important. In a way, it limits my freedom to express my talents.”

Tim Duncan's extension talks left West frustrated.

For the first time, he realized that he might not be so suitable for working behind the scenes.

Whether as the leader of the management team or as a negotiator for contract extensions, he cannot accurately recognize the needs of players.

What a sober man Duncan was.

He is very accurate about himself.

Beautiful basketball is good, but it will limit his play.

The Lakers are great, but he doesn't like Los Angeles.

These two points alone were enough to make him leave.

In the end, the Lakers were forced to announce at the end of March that because the two sides did not reach a consensus in some aspects, the contract renewal negotiations will be postponed until this summer.

Anyone who understands the rules of how professional basketball works can see that this is the end of the story.

If Duncan wants to stay, he can simply renew his contract. Why wait until the summer to create side effects?
Subsequently, the Lakers management tried to negotiate a contract extension with Wilson.

However, Wilson's agent didn't even bother.

Their reply is also very official: Benj only wants to focus on the four consecutive championships now, and other things can wait until the end of the season.

Wilson provided Bodi Loga with a standard template.

When the Lakers wanted to start Bodi Loga's contract renewal negotiations again, they learned a lot and told the Lakers that they would concentrate on playing. Let's talk about the contract renewal slowly during the offseason.

So far, the Lakers' vigorous contract extension plan has failed.

Wilson, Bodi Loga, and Duncan will all test the free market this summer, and the disintegration of the fantasy lineup will be inevitable.

This incident led "Sports Illustrated" to write a special feature article to review the whole process, and it also included the opinions of many NBA team executives who did not want to be named.

One of the observations is this: "You ask me what do I think? All I can say is, thank the luxury tax, thank God, we finally got this day!"

⑴Maurice Stokes had a head collision with others in a game in 1958. Although he felt unwell later, he did not go to the hospital for examination, but still followed the team to the away game, which eventually resulted in serious brain injury and death. As a result, he was paralyzed and forced to retire.

(End of this chapter)