Legend of Tomorrow

That night, the Lakers held an all-night celebration party at the famous Los Angeles clubhouse. Players who did not make the playoff roster also participated. Tyronn Lue won the championship with a strong performance. He is indispensable when the ring is ready.

Tyronn Lue played for the Lakers for two seasons and did not even participate in training many times. He spent most of his time at home recuperating from injuries. However, during the key game, he was sitting on the sidelines wearing hip-hop attire and ditch braids, which was particularly eye-catching. He euphemistically calls it cheering for his teammates, but in fact he is gaining exposure in COS Iverson.

Such teammates are certainly not welcome at parties. The stars are indifferent to Tyronn Lue, and even the new general manager Kupchak thinks he is a bit of an eyesore. Spending more than 800,000 yuan in salary is a trivial matter, but wasting a spot is a trouble. Without Tyronn Lue, the Lakers can at least sign a veteran in the free market who wants to compete for the championship, has the strength and is willing to reduce his salary.

Corpse meal is used to describe people like Tai Lung Lu. A more popular saying is occupying the latrine and not shitting.

Kupchak specially asked Phil Jackson to chat in a quiet corner and asked: When are you going to let that Chinese-American newcomer come to try out? As long as he can play at a level that is much better than Tyronn Lue in the NCAA finals.

On the 22nd, I hope he will really refuse all teams' trial training, otherwise many teams will be interested in him. Jackson smiled.

The NBA gives people the impression that everything is professional, including training system, tactical execution, team protection, media literacy, etc. The NBA's scouting work when inspecting players is also relatively professional. Although scouts from each team often make mistakes, if a player is outstanding, it is rare for everyone to make mistakes together.

Scouts have all watched the NCAA finals. If Guo Xu had not refused the Hornets' tryout, he would have been described as a thorn in the side. It would not have been easy for the Lakers to select him. The Hornets helped him out of the way.

Kupchak said: I think he will do this. This kid is very confident and has a lot of personality. He seems to be the kind of person who has his own opinion and dares to take risks.

What Guo Xu said in the exclusive interview won the favor of all Lakers supporters. Kupchak felt that a young man who has the goal of joining the Lakers will definitely be obedient, play hard, and help the team.

Jackson is also optimistic about Guo Xu. Many coaches like small point guards who can enrich the team's tactics at a certain period of time. The Lakers traded for Tyronn Lue in order to find Van Exel's replacement. Unfortunately, Tyronn Lue's offense was far behind, and his defense was not crazy.

Guo Xu won this competition without ever competing with Tyronn Lue on the court. The only obstacle to him joining the Lakers was that the management only wanted to trade a relatively late second-round pick, and the team's current salary was too high.

The NBA's salary cap last season was US$34 million, and the Lakers' total salary reached US$55 million. With the salary increases of O'Neal and Kobe, the team's total salary next season will increase to about 60 million. Kupchak must Calculate signings carefully and prove that you are capable of sitting in the manager's seat.

The Lakers management has no hope for Tyronn Lue. In Guo Xu's previous life, Tyronn Lue's playing career was not worth mentioning. Most of the time he was a substitute and a marginal player. The only highlight was in 2001, when he played for the Lakers in the playoffs. Played in 15 games, averaged 8.7 minutes per game, scored 1.9 points, 0.7 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.8 steals, and shot 34.5% from the field.

Tyronn Lue was so bad, but he stayed in the NBA for 11 seasons and was well known to fans. Later he became the head coach of the Cavaliers and coached the Emperor LeBron James. How did someone who averaged 2.3 points per game in the playoffs get so famous?

The turning point in Tyronn Lue's life was the 2001 Lakers VS 76ers Finals. He became famous for facing off against Iverson.

Some fans have analyzed that it is no exaggeration to say that five games changed Tyronn Lue's life. Chinese fans got to know him and gave him the nickname Lu Yuanwai. It sounds so powerful.

Those who don’t know better think that he is “good at martial arts and has the best sticks in the world.” In fact, he is not qualified to be a role player.

To put it bluntly, facing Iverson in the finals is a shortcut to fame, and now Guo Xu wants to steal Tyronn Lue's opportunity.

It is true that his statistics may be better if he goes to a weak team and is reused, but he will not be able to make it to the big stage of the finals in the early stages of his career, let alone get a championship ring. No matter how good the statistics of the players on the weak team are, their evaluation will not be high. At most, they will be just a brush and a cancer. There are too many examples of this.

On June 21, the Lakers held a championship parade in Los Angeles. After Jordan retired, the Lakers became the most popular team in the league. This can be proven by the scale of the parade. The last time the Lakers won the championship was 12 years ago. Los Angeles fans have been waiting for this day for too long.

O'Neal stood on the roof of the car holding the trophy, and the cheers he received were ten times that of the mayor of Los Angeles during the parade. The streets were crowded with people. Many fans skipped work to celebrate the Lakers' championship. Not only young people, but also elderly people in their 50s and 60s. , children around ten years old, many of them are wearing O'Neal's No. 34 jersey and Kobe's No. 8 jersey!

Because the bus the players were riding in was very high, some fans even climbed up telegraph poles to see the stars. There were also many people waving to the players from the roof, including several fat men weighing more than 200 kilograms, who were not afraid of collapsing the roof.

Guo Xu and Happy arrived in Los Angeles in the evening and did not join in the fun to participate in the parade. They checked into the hotel they had booked and recharged their batteries to prepare for the trial training on the afternoon of the 22nd.

The Lakers management has made some small details very comfortable. They have arranged a hotel in advance. Although it is just an ordinary standard room, it is very close to the training ground, which saves the players the cost and trouble and allows them to perform at their best. Attend training.

At 9 o'clock in the evening, Happy urged Guo Xu to go to bed and rest, and lay down even if he couldn't sleep. At eight o'clock the next morning, Happy set a watch to wake him up on time, and we went to a nearby open-air court to practice shooting.

Success belongs to those who have dreams, and opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared.

Guo Xu practiced shooting for two hours and went back to the hotel to take a shower and rest. He and Happy arrived at the training hall on time at two o'clock in the afternoon, and met the members of the Lakers coaching staff to practice with them.

Guo Xu immediately saw that the Lakers were very interested in him, because Phil Jackson, who is like a KFC grandpa, was here in person today. The Lakers had a party very late yesterday, and the Zen Master was still willing to come and see him.

The two shook hands and Jackson smiled and said: Guo, I watched the NCAA finals and you performed very well. This is just a physical test. Don't be nervous and strive to perform at your best.

Guo Xu smiled and said: Coach, please don't worry. I have been training after the holiday to join the Lakers. I practiced shooting this morning. I often imagine that I am playing in the Lakers system and I can definitely understand every tactic you give me.

This is not bragging. No one in this era has watched the Lakers more than him. It is all the experience of his previous life.

Jackson asked, You didn't go to another team's tryout, did you?

Of course not. Even if I lose, I will apply to represent the Lakers in summer league and preseason games to prove myself.

Then let's see your strength. Jackson had a better impression of Guo Xu, with a pleasant face.

Guo Xu's awareness was too high for Jackson to find fault. He likes players who work hard. When he was in the Bulls, he arranged a lot of training. When he came to the Lakers, he often practiced twice a day. It is precisely because of the coach that Kobe is so like Jordan, and the two were trained in the same way.

Now, Jackson is also optimistic that Guo Xu can quickly integrate into the triangle offensive system, but he doesn't know his upper limit.