God of NBA point guards

Chapter 337 If you lose the series, Phil Jackson, you will leave the Bulls
"What do you want to express, is it my responsibility to lose? Then you can trade me now."

Hearing what Klaus said, Jordan couldn't help snorting. While spouting angrily, he strode up to Klaus and looked down at the fat pig he hated with disdain.

Since that year, Klaus did not choose his alumni as he said, but chose Cobra Grant, and he began to hate this damn fat man. Even if Grant became the Iron Triangle and helped him win three championships, he hated him just as much.

"Michael, I'm not wrong. Our lineup is no worse than Iron Fist. The loss is not my responsibility." Jerry Krause insisted.

This sentence not only made Jordan even more angry, but even Phil Jackson snorted coldly.

If there is no problem with the lineup, and he dare not shift the responsibility for the loss to Jordan, then he, the head coach, can only bear the responsibility for the loss. How is this possible?He doesn't want to take the blame.

Jordan's anger escalated, and he roared immediately: "Damn, what do you mean, are you saying that I can't fight an iron fist?"

Phil Jackson said coldly: "Our rebounding is obviously not as good as the Sonics, and our low-post offense is not as good as the opponent. Obviously, this is the problem of the inside lineup. If you can keep Grant, we will easily beat the Sonics."

Glancing at Phil Jackson, Klaus chuckled with disdain in his eyes.

He brought Phil Jackson to the Bulls back then, and later pushed him from the assistant coach to the head coach position against Jordan's obstruction. Now he has finally tasted the bad results. This guy is coveting the power of the general manager in his hands.

"Michael, Phil, I won't argue with you, but I can tell you that if you lose the series, Phil Jackson, you will leave the Bulls."

As soon as these words came out, the entire locker room fell silent instantly, and everyone looked at Klaus in astonishment.

Phil Jackson is in a daze, how dare Klaus fire him?He is the coach of three championships, a meritorious coach of the Bulls, and Jordan is standing behind him, how dare he?
The anger in Michael Jordan's heart was a little uncontrollable, and he stared at Klaus with sharp eyes like a knife, wanting to stab this damn fat pig to death.

Klaus gave Phil Jackson one last cold look, then squeezed his way between the two, opened the locker room door, and walked out.

"boom!"

With the sound of closing the door, Phil Jackson, Jordan, and Pippen all trembled, and then looked at each other.

"Is he crazy?" Jordan gritted his teeth.

He didn't quite understand why Klaus, who had been allowed to abuse him in the past, dared to treat him like this today?

"Michael, what do we do now?" Phil Jackson has no strength against Jerry Krause, and his yardage is Jordan.

"If he dares to fire you, I will retire." Jordan said decisively.

"what?"

The entire locker room was stunned.

……

"If the Bulls lose the Finals, the team will collapse, because Phil Jackson will be fired by Jerry Krause, he will be the scapegoat, and Jordan will choose to retire because of it."

The next day, on June 6, the Los Angeles Daily News suddenly broke a big story, which shocked the NBA and even the entire United States.

"Michael must never retire. Without him, the development of the entire NBA will stop. If he retires, it will be everyone's loss, the loss of the entire United States."

Magic Johnson immediately took the initiative to find the media and expressed his attitude.

"Hawk, go and investigate."

After Stern learned of the news, he was also taken aback, and immediately asked his special assistant Hawk Houston to investigate the matter.

Not to mention that Jordan's state is still at its peak, even if his state declines, with his influence, as long as he can still play, he can attract a large number of fans. Retiring now is absolutely unacceptable to him.

When Zhou Quan woke up, it was already ten o'clock in the morning. At this time, the news about Jordan's retirement was already flying all over the sky. It was hard for him not to see it.

"Jordan and Zen Master have a deep relationship!" He couldn't help sighing.

"By the way, what happened last night was exposed so quickly. It seems that the Bulls' locker room is already very chaotic. It should be almost uncontrollable. If it doesn't collapse this time, it will collapse in the future."

This must have been revealed by players or staff secretly, or sold to the Los Angeles Daily, otherwise it would not have been exposed so soon.

"Iron Fist, can we win the championship this time?" Reid asked next to him.

"Don't be careless. Jordan's psychological quality is very strong. This matter should not affect his performance, and it may even stimulate him to play a super explosive state." Zhou Quan looked extremely cautious.

"Ex-girlfriend of Iron Fist, British actress Catherine Zeta-Jones returns to Hollywood." He flipped through the newspaper and was startled when he saw the Los Angeles Daily.

Reid stretched his head over to look, and said with a smile: "Oh, your old lover is back. But I can warn you, before you teach me Tai Chi, you can't step on two boats."

"Look at what you said, don't worry, I treat every relationship wholeheartedly." Zhou Quan closed the newspaper and smiled.

"That's over. Sooner or later, you will develop to the point where you see each other and love each other. That's called promiscuity." Rhett teased.

The two teased each other, but they both knew in their hearts that the other party did not belong to them.

Rhett just wanted to forget the broken pair of scissors, but he didn't really fall in love with Zhou Quan.

As for Zhou Quan, Rhett meant almost as much to him as Roberts did to him, not as much as Catherine and Christina. He didn't want to be exposed together with Rhett, lest the media say that he was hunting for Hollywood.

At 12:[-] noon, Zhou Quan and the team boarded a special plane to Chicago.

At this time, Chicago was filled with restlessness because of the news of Jordan's retirement.

"Klaus, get out of the bull!"

"Klaus, Falk Oil!"

When the Bulls' bus drove out of the airport parking lot, it was immediately surrounded by a large number of fans, and general manager Klaus received countless abuses.

Of course, fans will not scold Jordan, this is his fan, and they will not scold Phil Jackson, because Jordan supports Jackson, and will only scold Jerry Krause, who has a very bad relationship with Jordan.

……

"Mr. President, the situation of the Bulls is very complicated. After some unfavorable finals, internal conflicts were aroused. Their main conflicts are the conflicts between Jordan and Phil Jackson and general manager Klaus."

At this time, Hawke Houston was reporting to Stern about the Bulls.

"Go on." Stern said, frowning.

"Then there are also conflicts in the locker room, such as the main center Wilperdo, who was beaten by Jordan. And Pippen, in fact, his personal relationship with Jordan is not good, and his relationship with Phil Jackson is not good."

"Can the management be able to suppress the conflicts in the locker room?"

"It depends on the support of the Bulls' boss for Krause. It stands to reason that this team was built by Krause, and the Bulls' boss should trust him. But he certainly doesn't want to lose Michael."

David Stern nodded silently and waved Houston out.

He began to think about the follow-up impact of this incident. Jordan definitely couldn't let him retire, but he didn't care too much about whether the Bulls collapsed or not.

Just like Iron Fist left the Pistons, went to the Supersonics for two seasons, reached the Finals twice, and now has won the match point in the Finals series. It is possible to beat Jordan’s Bulls again. Changing a team does not mean failure. Wherever the strong go, they are strong.

And the Supersonics' ball market has also been successfully upgraded to the second level. If they win the championship again this time, with Seattle's urban spending power, the Supersonics may even have a chance to overwhelm the other three major league teams in Seattle, and the ball market has a chance to be promoted to the first level.

So even if the Bulls collapse, as long as Jordan doesn't retire, even if he leaves the Bulls, it's not a bad thing, it's just that the ball market has moved from Chicago to other cities.

……

Bulls headquarters, the team president's office, owner Jerry Reinsdorf sits behind his desk, and general manager Jerry Krause sits across from him.

"Jerry, what are you going to do about Michael's threat to retire?" he asked with a headache.

Jerry Krause's complexion was a little pale, and the dark circles under his eyes were obvious, because he was under too much pressure, and both the media and the fans scolded him.

He only regrets one thing now. In the 91 draft, he underestimated Zhou Quan and only regarded him as a thug. If he had an iron fist in his hand now, he would even dare to trade Jordan.

As far as he knows, whether it is in Detroit or Seattle, the relationship between Tekken and the management is handled very well. This is something he is very envious of. Tekken respects the management very much, and Jordan treats him like a dog.

"Jerry, if, I said if, I traded Michael Jordan for Iron Fist..."

"what?"

Before Klaus finished speaking, Reinsdorf was startled. The coffee cup he just picked up swung and spilled coffee on the table.

"No, absolutely not."

He stared at Klaus sternly and said: "I don't deny the strength of Iron Fist, nor his influence and popularity, he is the All-Star ticket king this year.

But Jerry, you have to understand that Michael's influence in Chicago, he is a god here, Iron Fist can't replace him.

Michael Jordan has become a symbol of this city, and no one can replace him in Chicago, not even the Iron Fist. "

"I see."

Klaus nodded helplessly, and stopped talking about this topic.

He sorted out his thoughts, and then answered the boss's question, saying: "Michael is too unscrupulous in the team, and now the finals are a bit unfavorable. He and Phil Jackson want me to take responsibility, which is unacceptable to me."

Reinsdorf nodded noncommittally, motioning for Klaus to continue.

Krause added: "I don't think I did anything wrong, and Michael has repeatedly humiliated me in public. If I don't fire Phil Jackson this time, I will have no prestige in the Bulls and my work will not be carried out."

Speaking of this, he looked at Reinsdorf and said very seriously: "Boss, I am serious. If I am still in this position, I must fire Phil Jackson."

Reinsdorf had a headache for a while. He originally had the purpose of mediation, but he didn't expect Klaus' attitude to be so tough, which would be difficult to deal with.

He recognizes Krause's ability very much. Without Krause, there would be no Bulls team and no three championships.

It is impossible for the Bulls to create a second-tier ball market in Chicago, and it is impossible for him to make so much money from the Bulls. Now the valuation of the Bulls has doubled by an unknown number of times when he bought it, and Klaus has contributed a lot.

"Jerry, Michael is still at his peak, I can't trade him, you know that." He also said to Klaus very seriously.

"I know."

Klaus nodded, relieved.

Judging from the attitude of the boss, he is still very supportive of himself. As long as he can keep Michael Jordan while firing Phil Jackson, there will be no problem.

In fact, he knows very well that the Bulls already have three championships, just like the Pistons, it is impossible to invest a lot of money to win the championship. The boss only hopes to maintain the ball market.

So the problem to be solved now is how to keep Jordan and fire Phil Jackson.

He believes that Jordan doesn't really want to retire, especially if he loses the finals and the Iron Fist, with Jordan's competitive spirit, he will never retire.

So the key to the question is whether Michael Jordan will propose a trade to leave the team once he fires Phil Jackson.

Jordan still has a one-year contract, and next season will be his contract year. His annual salary is 385 million, which is lower than many stars, such as Iron Fist.

"It's time to talk to him about an early contract extension. Maybe a super contract extension can make him change his mind."

……

June 6, at Chicago's United Center.

At eight o'clock, the two sides announced the starting lineup.

Bulls: Wilperdo, Toni Kukoc, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, BJ Armstrong

Sonics: Almon Gilliam, Rodman, Schrempf, Kendall Gill, Joo Kwon
In the TNT commentary seat, Larry Bird said: "In the first five series, Jordan averaged 38.6 points per game, while Iron Fist scored 35 points. The other four positive statistics, except for rebounds, are all better than Iron Fist.

This is also the most important reason why the Sonics lead the Bulls by [-] to [-]. In the contest between the core players of the two sides, Iron Fist is more versatile and helps the team more. "

Magic Johnson couldn't refute the data, so he had to say: "In the previous five series, the Supersonics won an away game, and the Bulls also won an away game. From this perspective, the two sides are tied."

Larry Bird wrinkled his face with a smile. It seemed that Ervin Johnson was indeed a die-hard fan of Jordan, but he didn't interrupt the magician's words.

Magic Johnson continued: "The Bulls can't lose this game tonight. If they lose the finals, it's over. With Michael's strength, his desire to win, his ability at critical moments, and home court advantage, I'm more optimistic about the Bulls tying the game and then entering the tiebreaker."

"Tie-break?"

Larry Bird nodded and said, "This is indeed very possible. If the Supersonics are dragged into the tiebreaker, it will be very disadvantageous. Morale will drop, and at the same time, it will be very dangerous for the Bulls. So for the Supersonics, tonight's game is actually unbearable."

"Definitely!"

At this time, in the locker room of the visiting team, under the leadership of Zhou Quan, the shouts of everyone in the Supersonics sounded.

From the players to the staff, to the management, and the owner Ballmer, they are all chanting "must win".

Ballmer is very busy. He only watched the game at home in the regular season and never followed the away game. In the playoffs, he only followed the away game of the finals. He has never been to an away game in the first three rounds. He may win the championship today, and he cannot be absent.

"victory!"

In the locker room of the home team, amidst Jordan's roar, the Bulls are also struggling to shout out their goals tonight.

At this time, accompanied by the owner of the Bulls, David Stern appeared at the scene of the United Center Stadium with the championship trophy.

The trophy was placed at the exit of the player channel, attracting the attention of countless Bulls fans.

"Champion! Champion! Champion..."

The cries one after another gradually formed a unified voice in the United Center, and soon reached an earth-shattering momentum.

The shouts were televised and spread throughout Chicago, and the championship's shouts sounded everywhere in the city.

(End of this chapter)