The NBA started with helping Iverson win the championship

Chapter 378 The Unkind Li Xun
On November 11, the Knicks played away against the Charlotte Hornets.

There is actually no gimmick in this game, but many people are still looking forward to this game.

The current lineup of the Hornets is actually not bad. The owner Jordan actually wants to achieve some results, so the team's salary is not low.

However, Jordan does have a lot of problems in judging people.

For example, giving Batum a maximum salary contract, this matter is open to discussion in Li Xun's view.

Batum's strength is indeed not bad, but it seems that he has not reached the level of the maximum salary.

Li Xun can sometimes understand the difficulties of these small ball market teams.

If the money given is too little, it will be difficult to attract some decent players to join.

After all, there are few opportunities in small cities. If it is left in a big city like Los Angeles, some substitute players may be able to receive some local commercial endorsement contracts.

But in small cities, sometimes if the head of the team is not very popular, they may not be able to receive local contracts.

Therefore, with the same salary, most players will choose some big city teams.

The three most famous players in the current Hornets lineup are Kemba Walker, Howard and Batum.

Howard is now wandering to the Hornets again.

Before Li Xun arrived in Charlotte, he had already received a call from Jordan.

When Li Xun got off the plane, Jordan even drove to pick up Li Xun himself.

Those who didn't know thought Li Xun was a player of their Hornets.

"Michael, let me guess, do you want to say let me join your Hornets?"

Li Xun asked with a smile.

"Of course, any owner in this league must be dreaming of you joining their team."

"I am no exception."

"But this kind of thing can only be hit and miss, and I know your next stop may be the Pacers."

"After the Pacers, you're likely to pick a Western Conference team, so we Hornets have to wait six years at the earliest."

"How about it, do I know you well enough?"

Jordan laughed.

Li Xun was startled, and nodded repeatedly. It seemed that Jordan really knew him a little bit.

"I'm looking for you this time, I'm thinking if you can be a doctor for us Hornets."

"Look at what's wrong with our Hornets, why the record just can't be played."

"It's been a month since the competition started, and I spent 700 million US dollars, but I only have a record of 6 wins and 9 losses."

Having said that, Jordan is a little impatient.

The Hornets' salary ranking this year ranks tenth in the league.

It doesn't seem to be high, but the Hornets' profitability is not strong. Their salary expenditure is actually very scary.

To know the salary of the Blazers, this year is only 200 million more than the Hornets, and the Blazers are ranked fifth.

After spending a lot of money, the team's record was as bad as death. It's no wonder that Jordan was not in a hurry.

He wanted to ask Li Xun what went wrong with his team.

"Michael, I'm curious, why did you trade Howard with the Hawks this offseason?"

"Earlier, why did you trade with the Bucks for Plumlee, who averaged 4 points and 4 rebounds per game, but had an annual salary of more than 1000 million?"

"Also, is Batum really worth the money?"

Li Xun said helplessly.

The Hornets belonged to a wrong step. They traded Plumlee with the Bucks two years ago, and this was the beginning of the tragedy.

No one can figure out why Jordan wants a center who averages 4 points and 4 rebounds per game.

If it wasn't for Plumlee's rot in his hands, Howard wouldn't be traded now.

"Li, what do you think we should do now?"

Jordan is also out of luck. Judging from this year's posture, it is estimated that it will be difficult for them to enter the playoffs.

"Then what else can we do?"

"I think you spent so much money, you definitely don't want to be bad. You can only change the head coach, change the tactics, and give full play to Howard's role."

"It's better to find an old-school coach and play old-fashioned tactics, similar to the Grizzlies."

"Howard continues to sit at the center, let your team's space-based power forward Kaminsky start."

"There are Kemba Walker, Batum, and Mim on the outside. It's okay, and there should be a chance to make the playoffs."

Li Xun began to make moves.

The current head coach of the Hornets is Steve Clifford.

Li Xun doesn't know if he saved Jordan's family in his previous life, and why a coach with this ability can work as the Hornets coach for so many years.

Since 13 years, this guy has been the coach of the Hornets.

Sometimes Li Xun felt that this guy was not suitable to be a coach, but more suitable to be a policeman, because he had the face of an old, fair-skinned policeman.

Some fans often underestimate the role of a coach.

In Li Xun's team, because the combat power is too strong, there is actually no difference between having a coach and not having a coach in most seasons.

For example, the current Knicks can have the old Hornacek, without him, the world will continue to revolve.

But in some weak teams, the role of the coach will be infinitely magnified.

For a team like the Hornets, maybe changing tactics can have a good effect.

Or the new coach is better at developing players' potential.

After listening to Li Xun's words, Jordan nodded again and again. Looking at it now, changing the coach is almost the only choice.

Originally, he had a similar idea, but now Li Xun has confirmed his idea.

In the evening, the two teams began to warm up.

Howard leaned over again.

"Li, when will we join hands for a few more seasons?"

"After I finish playing this season, I have a player option. I heard that you are going to the Knicks. Why don't I go with you next season?"

"Don't worry, I will never ask for a high salary, how about just signing for 7000 million for four years?"

Howard said kindly to Li Xun.

Li Xun was speechless. It has been so many years, and Howard is still thinking about 7000 million in four years.

Compared with his annual salary of 2300 million this year, 7000 million in those four years is certainly not a high salary.

But you must know that Howard is no longer worth now. In the free market, he can be signed with an annual salary of about 500 million.

The Pacers are not fools, how could they give him 7000 million.

There must be a reason why Howard is so cheap now.

Howard at his peak, especially in the season when he led the team to the finals with a single core, claimed to be able to replace James alone, which is definitely not a joke.

When he first entered the league, Howard's style of play was actually not the same as it is now. At that time, his style of play was more similar to Garnett.

It's just that O'Neal put too much pressure on him, always pinching him and saying he was a softie, so he started to strengthen his low-post singles ability.

Later, he completely abandoned Garnett's style of play and became O'Neal's style of play.

But what is the height and tonnage of O'Neal, and he is also quite strong in technology. How does Howard compare with O'Neal.

If Howard could have a better mentality, ignore O'Neill's taunts, and stick to his own style of play, then he wouldn't be so depressed now.

In this day and age, Garnett's style of play is still very competitive.

Simply put, Howard was limped by O'Neal.

"Dude, let's talk about the future in the future."

"Who knows what will happen tomorrow."

"I don't even know if I'm going to the Pacers or not."

Li Xun was also embarrassed to directly reject Howard.

Howard nodded, "Well, no matter which team you go to, remember to contact me when the time comes, I will wait for your news at any time."

He is still heartless and has no idea what he will face after this contract is over.

The game on the court has begun. How can the Hornets' level of combat power be the opponent of the Knicks.

Li Xun has been observing Howard.

He found that Howard, who used to be the three-time DPOY, had changed from being the defensive overlord of the basket to being obsessed with everyone.

He can't prevent Jokic at all now.

After the game ended, the Hornets defeated at home, and the Knicks won the game 119:101.

Kemba Walker played well tonight. Under Rondo's defense, he also scored a good 27 points.

And Batum almost got it.

He was directly facing Li Xun tonight, allowing Li Xun to score 53 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists, while he only scored 7 points, which was horrible.

The day after the game, the Hornets announced the coaching change.

The new coach probably hasn't found a suitable one yet, so the chief assistant will take over temporarily.

Now Li Xun's influence is so terrifying, the Hornets are not even his team, and his one sentence made the Hornets change their head coach immediately.

After winning the Hornets, the Knicks rushed west without stopping.

The next opponent is Thunder.

Under normal circumstances, this season's Thunder is known as the super favorite to win the championship.

Because in addition to Westbrook, they also brought pickled peppers and melons.

Three super scorers, and a pillar like Adams in the penalty area.

Just looking at the book lineup, it is quite gorgeous.

It's a pity that these three people are destined to be unable to play anything. Melon even directly promoted himself from a star to a middle-class player because of this season.

The main reason is that all three of them need the ball. Pickled peppers are better, and they can play a little off the ball.

But when he plays off the ball, his efficiency is also very low.

Both Westbrook and Melon are well-known players with the right to eat the ball.

When the three of them get together, one can imagine what will happen.

In the end, they didn't even make it to the Western Conference Finals, and were directly eliminated by the Jazz in the first round.

Melon's performance in this round of the series is simply tearful, averaging 11.8 points per game, shooting 37.5% from the field and 21.4% from the three-point range.

Of course, Westbrook's offensive efficiency is not very high.

Only a 39 percent hit rate.

As for pickled peppers, they are almost criminals, with a 40.8% shooting rate, which is hardly a qualified level.

Poor Neptune Adams, averaged 9.1 rebounds per game during the regular season, including 5.1 offensive rebounds, ranking second in the league, second only to Li Xun.

But now the Thunder's lineup has changed, after all, Pickle is still in the Knicks.

The Thunder still introduced Anthony, forming a combination of Westbrook, Middleton and Anthony.

Judging from the more than one month's schedule, the power of this combination is very average.

After seeing Li Xun again, Anthony sighed in his heart.

Now he has even started to regret why he went to the Mavericks back then to win the championship.

This championship has been mixed up, but his current situation is a bit dangerous.

Just like Howard, Anthony is now wandering.

In the past few years, he has changed teams almost every year, which is definitely not a good sign.

The key is that the data is not as good as the previous year, and the defense itself is not very strong. Because of age, it is a bit miserable now.

When the current contract ends, Anthony knows very well that he may only be able to sign a mid-level contract.

It is definitely impossible to get the top salary.

He regrets it very much now. If he hadn't been greedy for the championship at that time, maybe he was still in a hurry in the Knicks.

Maybe he still has to be scolded by the Knicks fans now, but he will scold him as soon as he scolds, and he has a lot of meat.

How did he know that even if he hadn't gone to the Mavericks to win the championship, under normal circumstances, he would have already started to fall by now.

"Hey buddy, long time no see."

Li Xun greeted Anthony.

Every time he played a game, Anthony seemed to be avoiding Li Xun.

Seeing that Li Xun took the initiative to greet him, Anthony could only bite the bullet and smile.

"Li, long time no see. Congratulations on winning the championship last season."

"Maybe this season you really want to build a dynasty in the Knicks."

"I think Knicks fans should be very happy now."

These few words, every time he said it, Anthony felt sad.

"You are not weak this season, everyone has a chance."

"Russell is the new MVP after all, I think you guys have a chance to win the championship this season."

Not knowing whether it was intentional or unintentional, Li Xun smiled and nodded that Westbrook is the new MVP.

As a result, Westbrook's complexion changed drastically after hearing it. He already had a premonition that tonight's game would definitely not be easy.

Li Xun clearly refused to accept the title of MVP, and he was going to be cruel tonight.

When Anthony was introduced at the beginning of this season, Westbrook was still full of ambitions, and he felt that this season must have a lot to do.

As a result, I have been fighting for more than a month now, and I know whether it is a mule or a horse.

Thunder is not as strong as Westbrook thought. Facing the Knicks who are still extremely powerful, as long as Li Xun thinks, he will definitely be able to beat Thunder.

"Dudududu!"

The referee has blown his whistle.

The Thunder fans at the scene prepared to watch the game with relaxed expressions. In their view, losing to the Knicks is nothing to be ashamed of.

If you lose, you lose.

Where do they know Westbrook's current mood.

The absolute pressure was huge, and he was really worried that Li Xun would put up some outrageous statistics tonight.

The game on the field started, and Westbrook's expression became more and more dignified.

Li Xun is really going to kill him.

In the first three offensive and defensive rounds, Li Xun has scored 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block!

Leading the Knicks directly against the Thunder at the beginning.

There was nothing the Thunder could do. Facing the opponent's iron gate outside defense, they couldn't attack at all.

Pickled Pepper will face Anthony tonight, Li Xun will face Middleton, and Rondo will face Westbrook.

(End of this chapter)