Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Not long after the end of the 98-99 season, just as the Timberwolves players and the people of Minnesota were celebrating the team's consecutive championships, an event that shocked the league completely overwhelmed the Timberwolves' championship enthusiasm.

The Bulls management completely broke with championship coach Phil Jackson. At the same time, rumors that the Bulls intended to trade Michael Jordan were everywhere.

Even ordinary American citizens who have never paid attention to basketball have asked questions about this incident in the basketball circle.

This shocking earthquake attracted everyone's attention. Even the Timberwolves' management, while preparing for the championship parade, spent a lot of energy asking people to find out the inside story of this news.

Soon, Coach Philip told the players an unconfirmed rumor while gossiping with them:
"The Bulls management was very unhappy with Michael Jordan's stubborn shooting in the finals."

"Coach Phil Jackson became the scapegoat, and the management put all the blame on the head coach, believing that the head coach did not make the necessary decisions during the game and failed to stop Michael Jordan's behavior."

"And as you know, Phil Jackson and the Bulls manager didn't have a good relationship. Both of them wanted to control the team, but Michael firmly supported Phil, which allowed the Bulls to stabilize temporarily."

"Now, the Bulls, who had just completed their reconstruction, are about to fall apart again. Michael will never allow someone he strongly supports to be kicked out of the team like this. This will damage his prestige."

While gossiping with the players, Coach Philip also helped analyze the complex factions within the Bulls, and then came to his own conclusion:

"Although the news has not been fully confirmed, I am sure that Phil Jackson will not be able to stay."

"Michael still has commercial value to the Bulls, and the madman who conflicts with him should be sent away!"

The development of this matter was just as Coach Philip predicted. Although the result was exactly as he predicted, the process was much more tortuous.

The Bulls management seems to have clearly felt that Michael Jordan is no longer the same as he used to be. Michael's performance this season has declined significantly compared to last season.

The statistic of averaging 15 points per game in the finals obviously did not satisfy the management, and compared with Michael Jordan, the Madman's outstanding performance of 26 points per game in the playoffs attracted the attention of all Bulls fans. In the Chicago public opinion field, there were even reporters who criticized Jordan's performance in the finals and encouraged the Madman.

The intention is to incite the public to put pressure on the Bulls, hoping that the "old" Michael Jordan will take the initiative to step down and give way to the young people.

The turmoil in the public opinion field naturally exacerbated the internal conflicts within the Bulls team. Not only did Michael Jordan fail to keep Phil Jackson, but now even he himself has become the target of media and fans' pressure, which makes Michael very unhappy.

Although the voice of this part of the fans is not very loud, there are still many fans standing on his side and supporting him, but the impact of these public opinions has already happened. Although the Bulls' management is also courageous, driving away the championship coach Phil Jackson is already the best they can do. Letting them break up with the cash cow Jordan? That is simply impossible.

Moreover, under the influence of public opinion, the relationship between Michael Jordan and the Madman could no longer be repaired. In order to appease Michael Jordan and let him continue to play for the Bulls, the Bulls management traded the Madman who had just performed well with tears.

Fortunately, the madman played well enough. Although this player has a dark history of "throat-locking gate", as a player, his scoring ability is unquestionable. The Bulls may be able to use him as a bargaining chip to exchange for a good enough player.

However, what surprised all the fans was that after the Bulls traded the madman, Michael Jordan held a personal media conference and announced that he would choose to retire after the next season, officially bidding farewell to his professional career.

When the news came out, the Bulls management was also greatly shocked. Fans and media reporters even knew the news earlier than the Bulls management. This sudden news caught everyone off guard.

It was the news that Michael Jordan decided to retire that overshadowed the Timberwolves' success in winning two consecutive championships.

However, these are just gossip news that happened this year and have no impact on the Timberwolves, a team that just won consecutive championships.

What really affects the Timberwolves is Charles Barkley's contract. After Charles Barkley, who has performed well this season, learned that Michael Jordan decided to retire after playing next season, he also decided to continue his career.

Originally, he planned to retire gracefully after the Timberwolves won the championship.

As a result, Michael Jordan's decision also indirectly stimulated Charles Barkley.

Moreover, the Timberwolves have extra salary space. In order to thank Barkley for his contribution to the Timberwolves this season, Kidd's management also increased his salary and handed Barkley a two-year, $800 million contract.

To be honest, the salary amount of this contract alone is not as good as the performance statistics that Barkley has put up this season.

But for Barkley, he no longer cares how much salary the Timberwolves offer him. The fact that the other party can take the initiative to give him a salary increase also shows that they recognize the value of his game, which is enough for Barkley.

What he hopes for is to win another championship with the Timberwolves, to help the young players of the Timberwolves complete the feat of three consecutive championships and to create a new dynasty.

Barkley regarded Michael Jordan as his arch-enemy. It was a great honor for him to defeat the Bulls led by Michael Jordan in the last years of his career. Naturally, he would not miss such an opportunity.

These Timberwolves players have not yet reached their contract year, and with their strong dominance, they naturally have no intention of dismantling the team and rebuilding.

Many teams in the league actually intend to poach players from Forest's team. Marbury, Tom, Garnett, Barkley, Ben Wallace and even Budo are all targets they want to poach.

After the Timberwolves won two consecutive championships, everyone set their sights on winning three consecutive championships.

Before completing the feat of winning three consecutive championships, these players would never be attracted by these temptations. Going to other teams would only mean an extra million dollars in salary, but if they left the Timberwolves and lost the opportunity to win three consecutive championships, the same opportunity might never appear again in their careers.

Compared to the honor of establishing a dynasty, salary is no longer something that the Timberwolves players value.

During the offseason this year, many strong teams in the league thought of many ways to fight against the Timberwolves. Coach Phil Jackson chose to join the Lakers after leaving the Bulls.

The reason why he joined the Lakers is very simple, that is, the Lakers management promised to give him enough discretion.

Phil Jackson also saw the potential of the Lakers and wanted to bring his triangle offense to the Lakers. For him, after being kicked out by the Bulls, he urgently needed a platform to prove his coaching ability.

The Timberwolves, who have strong dominance, naturally would not give up their own veteran coach Philip and choose him. So if Phil Jackson wants to get a platform to prove himself, he must choose his next home from the strong teams in the league.

The Lakers, with O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, perfectly met his expectations of a championship-winning team.

In the 98-99 season, the Lakers performed poorly in the playoffs and were once swept out by the Spurs with a twin tower lineup.

But this does not mean that Shaquille O'Neal's dominance in the interior is not strong, it is just because the Lakers do not have a player who can fit their team's offensive system.

The Lakers coach was too superstitious about O'Neal's ability to finish at the basket. All offensive tactics were centered around O'Neal, completely ignoring the importance of outside offense.

Indeed, O'Neal's low post is unmatched in today's league. As long as he can receive the ball near the basket, no player can stop him.

However, the weakness of this single offensive system is too obvious. As long as the defense has highly mobile players who constantly defend O'Neal from the front, it is enough to suppress O'Neal's scoring output.

It doesn't need to be much, as long as O'Neal's score can be suppressed below 30 points, it will not be easy for the Lakers to win a game.

And because of the lineup system, the Lakers' outside players often can't play their best basketball in the game. They basically shoot by catching the ball or by strong interference from the inside. The hit rate of this kind of shooting is naturally not high, and players like Eddie Jones are not the kind of off-ball players who can shoot after catching the ball.

The limitations of the lineup also make it difficult for the Lakers to break through their own ceiling.

The first thing Phil Jackson did after being traded to the Lakers was to promote Kobe Bryant to the starting position.

Kobe Bryant has grown rapidly since entering the league in 96. Although he is young now, in Phil Jackson's view, his offensive ability is not necessarily much weaker than that of the Timberwolves' martial arts.

And it was Phil Jackson's decision that directly raised the ceiling of the entire Lakers team.

Kobe is different from Eddie Jones. He possesses a historical level of top shooting talent. Even under high-pressure defense, he can often shoot more than 40% of his mid-range shots in a game. Of course, Kobe's performance is not stable.

But for the Lakers, even Kobe's intermittent and unstable performance is far better than Eddie Jones who has no similar ability.

In the 1999 draft, players such as Francis and Hamilton, who are well-known to some fans, entered the league.

This year's draft was considered a weak year. The Timberwolves held the sixth pick in the first round, and with the interference of martial arts, they intercepted Richard Hamilton, who was supposed to be selected by the Washington Wizards at the seventh pick in the first round.

The Timberwolves selected Hamilton to join the team not only because of Wu Dao's interference, but also because of his 3-point shooting ability in college. Hamilton's offensive ability in college was very good, averaging 25 points per game.

The Timberwolves chose him to enhance the firepower of the rotation lineup. Coach Philip intends to carry out the offense to the end, so whether it is the main lineup or the rotation lineup, he hopes that the team will have strong offensive firepower.

Hamilton is such a player who can give the second team strong firepower.

Hamilton was a little confused when he learned that he was selected by the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves, who had won consecutive championships, were not a good place for him. Their team's main players were already fixed, and as a rookie, he had no chance to start in such a team.

Hamilton had a clear understanding of his own strength, and he didn't think he could seize the initiative from martial arts.

As long as Wu Dao is in the Timberwolves, he will most likely be a substitute player.

However, Hamilton did not directly refuse to play for the team that selected him like Francis did. He just played as a substitute. Minnesota has developed very fast in recent years with the blessing of the championship. Although the climatic conditions are harsh, it is still in the United States, which is better than places like the Vancouver Grizzlies.

Moreover, the championship team has no shortage of exposure, which is also a very good thing for a rookie.

The overall situation of the league has not changed much this year, and the trend of the West being strong and the East being weak has become more stable.

Although Michael Jordan decided to play for another year, the disintegrated Bulls no longer posed any threat to the Timberwolves. For them, the Lakers, with the addition of Zen Master Phil Jackson, became the most terrifying opponent next season.

Although the Houston Rockets are full of giants and even acquired this year's No. 2 pick Francis through a trade, for the Timberwolves, the rapidly declining Olajuwon can no longer support a team like before.

Spurs, Lakers.

These two teams will be the biggest problems for the Timberwolves to deal with in the Western Conference.

During the offseason, the Timberwolves maintained a high level of self-discipline under the leadership of Wu Dao. Players like Garnett and Marbury are not the type to reject training. It is understandable that the laziest Barkley cannot keep up with the team's training due to his age.

For young players, whether they can improve often depends on how they use their time during the offseason.

The Timberwolves' young players have done an excellent job in this regard.

And among all the players, except for Tom and several veterans who had minor injuries, the other players were in excellent physical condition and did not suffer any injuries.

A stronger Timberwolves team, also amid the expectations of Minnesota fans, stepped onto the regular season court of the 99-00 season.

(End of this chapter)