the rest, only noise

Chapter 926 The Thorn in the Dark
At the end of the year, the Knicks fought the Pacers twice.

丹尼·曼宁在今年正式迈入超级巨星的讨论之列，赛季至今场均36分钟内得到28分11篮板5助攻2抢断2盖帽。

As the trumpet Ralph Sampson, he is improving every year, and his current growth proves that the Pacers' plan to learn from Louis to train Ewing and Sampson is successful.

Now Manning is a type of player Louie has never seen before.

Say he looks like Sampson, but he doesn't.

He plays the four on defense and the three on offense, which looks a bit like Bird, but the problem is, he's not a full-time small forward like Bird.

He is a full-time power forward, but his offensive style is completely small forward's routine.

This again sets it apart from Sampson.

Sampson's characteristic is that he is [-] meters tall and can attack with the ball. This is a characteristic, not his main method.Manning's height is more than ten centimeters shorter than Sampson, and his speed, agility and athletic ability are stronger, so when he attacks with the ball like a small forward, few power forwards in the league can stop him.

The two power forwards best suited to guard him are in the Knicks.

Rodman and Kemp.

Now that Rodman is suspended, Kemp will face Manning in the next two games.

In the first game at the Pacers' home court, Manning scored 45 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists, leading the team to another defeat for the Knicks.

Kemp was overwhelmed by him, and the whole game was mediocre.

"Is Sean Kemp worth five million?"

After such news spread, Kemp's agent, Tony Dutt, made emergency public relations.

His excuse for Kemp was that he wasn't feeling well that night, so he didn't play well.

This kind of excuse can only last for a while, and it can only be fulfilled if Kemp hits back on the court.

April 12

On the last day of 1992, Camp stood up.

Limiting Manning to 24 points, he scored 28 points and 14 rebounds himself.

But the key players in this game are not Kemp and Manning, but Wilson and Miller.

Wilson had 0 offenses with the ball, and all of his points were catch-and-shoot.

With this trick alone, the Pacers can't do anything.

Then came Louie's favorite NTR episode.

Miller wore a Knicks jersey and hit 6 three-pointers in a single game to put the Pacers on the ground.

The Knicks entered 21 with a 5-1993 record.

At the beginning of the new year, there was another defeat.

What made them lose was the Clippers, ranked second in the West.

It stands to reason that the stronger the opponent, the more focused the Knicks should be.

But in fact, only Kemp and Wilson can focus on the game, and the state of the others is a bit strange.

Rodman continued to be suspended, and the Knicks seemed to lack an emotional person on the court.

Ewing cleared his IQ when he saw Olajuwon, always trying to crush the opponent.

Olajuwon was crushed by him at the beginning because the team was too weak. Now Mutombo is escorted inside, Sprewell is outside to help, Drexler is feeding the ball on the flank, and Harper and Horry are still sitting on the court. I am not afraid of the Knicks.

Kemp continued to work hard, and his contract renewal negotiations also started more than a dozen rounds.

Kemp's agent, Tony Dutt, believes that with Kemp's current performance, it is a matter of course to get a contract extension of 500 million per year.

However, the Knicks have a bottom line.

That is, Kemp cannot be paid more than Wilson.

Not being able to surpass Wilson means that at least next season, when Kemp’s new contract takes effect, the annual salary shall not exceed $450 million.

Either declare the negotiations bankrupt, and Kemp entered the market as a restricted free agent this summer to ask for a price.

Either give in and accept the Knicks' lower price -- for them, an annual salary of less than $500 million is a lower price.

On the night of the loss to the Clippers, Louie locked the players in the locker room and lectured.

"I found that I was too indulgent to you bastards. There is no curfew, no restrictions, and no compulsory measures to force you to play hard. Since some of you don't want to play well, then I have to make a rule."

"From today onwards, we will implement a curfew policy for all away games lost!" Louis stared at Ewing coldly, "Go and say goodbye to the gang of cousins ​​who are waiting to ride on you to make a fuss!"

"I have no objection to imposing a curfew for losing, but you must respect my woman."

Ewing looked like he was going to be a confidant in a rage.

"Respect your woman? Which one are you referring to?" Louie sneered. "The Detroit Roses, or the Chicago Thorns, or the cousin of every Golden Club in America? I respect the ****!"

"If you still look like this shit in the next game, I'll put your head under the skirts of those bastards!"

Louis scolded Ewing so badly that his face turned green and then white.

Every time Louis lashed out at him, he worried that he would really be beaten.

But as soon as Louis disappeared in front of him, he became angry. He was angry at why he was so weak and didn't dare to argue with reason. He stood there like an idiot and let Louis scold him.

Damn, why are you scolding me like that?Is it my fault for losing?
Of course he would think so, of course.

Ewing never imagined that after spending many years with Louis, he has subtly formed several habits.

Obedient, do not talk back, follow orders, no discount.

Louie is both the person he hates the most and the person he respects the most.

Ewing didn't think about why Louie would fire at him, he'd go back and sulk.

But the players who watched Louie put his foot on Ewing's face and yelled at him knew that this was killing orangutans.If even Ewing is scolded like this, others should be self-aware.

After Louis walked out of the locker room, Kemp wanted to comfort Ewing with a joke.

"Uncle Ewing, although you have been scolded for everyone, Kelly will heal your wounds. The coach said that there is a curfew tonight, but the curfew should not prohibit women from sending them to their door, right?"

Everyone was about to make fun of Ewing's affair, but Ewing said with a dark face: "You guy who hasn't made any appointments in a row, still have time to take care of me?"

Reggie Williams took advantage of the situation and said: "That's right, Sean, don't be too greedy, just settle the matter depending on the situation."

Kemp looked at Williams, who is also from Georgetown, "It's not about greed."

"Indeed, I heard that there is a gap of 100 million US dollars between Sean's psychological expectations and the team's offer. That's 100 million US dollars!" John Sely returned the question to Williams, "Russ (nickname), is your annual salary 100 million US dollars? Haha~~"

Salley's joke touches on another topic in the team that is so sensitive that no one wants to reveal it.

The growing wage gap.

When Reggie Williams joined the Knicks, he was a sought-after player, but because he was too glassy to guarantee attendance, there was no room for improvement. He was very good as a role player, but he was much worse as a core player.

Therefore, everyone's quotations for him were not high, and Williams defected to his senior brother Ewing among all the quotations.

The Knicks weren't the team with the highest bid, but they were the team Williams most wanted to come to.After realizing the championship dream, Williams and the Knicks signed a long-term contract extension that was not considered a basic salary at the time-in 1989, they signed a 6-year 340 million US dollars-but, the rise of the Celtics, Lakers, Knicks, Trail Blazers and other teams, the commercial value of the league has continued to rise, TV broadcast contracts have become larger and larger, and the salary cap has also skyrocketed.

6 million US dollars in 340 years was regarded as the middle class at the time, but now, in a word, it is close to the level of the basic salary.

Selley didn't know how big Williams' contract was, but his joke hurt Williams.

"Do you have an annual salary of 100 million US dollars?" What made Williams angry was that his annual salary did not even have 100 million US dollars.

"You think this is funny?" Williams' face darkened.

Sely didn't intend to embarrass Williams. He sensed his displeasure and said, "That's not what I meant, Ruth."

"I fucking hate you bastards!" Williams raged. "I have a part of your contract money, but some of you are not enough! QTMD, I am fed up!"

That night, Williams informed his agent that he would propose to the team to re-sign the contract.

However, he was told by the agent that under the existing labor agreement system, the team is not allowed to jump out of the existing contract and sign a new contract with the players at will.

Unless the Knicks have enough cap space, they can't do that.

But the Knicks' salary cap has long been full and cannot be fuller, and it is impossible to re-sign Reggie Williams.

You could see this as one of many cracks in the Knicks.

It's unremarkable, but it's there.

Williams wasn't the only casualty of the salary cap explosion.

除了他之外，尼克斯的账面上还有着罗德曼的5年800万（1989年起）、麦克海尔的5年600万（1989年起）、安吉的3年300万（1990年起）、斯蒂文斯的4年500万（1991年起）。

This is a unique phenomenon during the rapid expansion of the league, and it is also the tears of a generation of professional players.

The same problem does not only appear in the Knicks, but also in other teams, but, under certain circumstances, the problems within the Knicks are always more conspicuous than other teams.

Like what happened in the locker room tonight.

Louie's curfew, Sely's quarrel with Williams, Williams' anger, and even Williams' attempt to re-sign the contract but was told by his agent that it was not feasible, all became the next day's news through various channels.

New York has no secrets.

As long as they are willing to dig, fans may be able to understand his situation better than Ewing himself.

Humiliated public opinion is an overwhelming force when the Knicks need positive coverage.

But when media people use traditional art skills to stab the back of the home team, the damage and impact it can produce is also far-reaching.

It's the curse of big city teams.

(End of this chapter)