no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 286 When the NBA is without Xu Yong

"Do you really want to do that?" In a temporarily rented private villa, Jordan looked at Xu Yong seriously and asked.

Because people were looking for him in the manor and the villa in the city center, Xu Yong temporarily stayed here.

"It's impossible for them to agree to my conditions now." Xu Yong said firmly.

Just like Butler wants to prove himself, you can say that he is ambitious, or you can say that he is in a state of high self-awareness, in which objective conditions will be ignored.

For Butler, no matter which team he goes to (it is impossible for him to make a decision to join a strong team due to his personality) or stays with the Bulls, he wants to defeat the Cavaliers, Raptors, Thunder, and Warriors. The possibility of the team winning the championship is extremely small.

For Xiao Hua and the current league executives, they will also subconsciously optimistically estimate the losses caused by Xu Yong's retirement.

"So what's your second condition?" Jordan looked curious. Xu Yong told him what happened before when they chatted.

Xu Yong smiled and did not answer.

Compared with the first condition, the second condition is actually much simpler, but it is not suitable to say at this time, especially when Jordan is still the owner of the Hornets.

His second condition is that Tatum becomes the new NBA president.

If this thing wants to happen, the prerequisite is that Xiao Hua has to step down, which is why the second condition must be met after the first condition is met.

Because if he cannot seek benefits for the bosses, then Xiao Hua will naturally be replaced by the bosses.

"Your retirement will have a greater impact on the NBA than mine did." Seeing Xu Yong's reaction, Jordan made a judgment in advance.

Although he doesn't have a good eye for people, as a team owner, he is very clear about the current situation in the NBA.

There is actually a big difference between him and Xu Yong. To make an analogy, he brought the NBA from a small town to the whole country, while Xu Yong brought the NBA from the country to the world.

During his process, the NBA was prospering and developing, but during Xu Yong's process, the NBA had actually begun to decline.

Encouraging offense is not wrong in itself, and canceling hand-check is a good decision, but the vertical take-off rule, body hair whistle, small ball era... and of course the intervention of spinach, these are making the NBA go downhill, not just for watching. Sexual issues, but also the player's ability.

When you can directly decide the outcome with one-pointers and three-pointers, which player is willing to spend time practicing hard skills?

Rather than skills, players will study how to draw fouls, how to throw three-pointers more accurately, how to conduct military training and roll call.

Because of Xu Yong, fans haven't paid much attention to this before, but now that Xu Yong has retired, especially before he retired, he liberated the fans' minds. He can't imagine what it will be like.

"That's not necessarily the case. You are the god of basketball, and I am just a human being." Xu Yong said with a smile.

After hearing this, Jordan burst into laughter. Xu Yong has become a god and is still so lovable.

"I think eventually, they will understand this." After putting away his smile, Jordan said.

As one of the few bosses who holds objections, Jordan is essentially different from those capitalists who started out in business. Capitalists will respect him and then ignore him, not to mention that the Hornets themselves do not have much status in the NBA.

Shortly after seeing off Jordan, Xu Yong saw a statement from the NBA that the NBA would cancel the "vertical takeoff rule" in the new season.

This result was within Xu Yong's expectation.

This is also the reason why he chose to retire for this reason before.

Of course, he would not take back his decision to retire until Xiao Hua called to tell him that the cooperation with the gambling company was cancelled.

Although that would put him under public pressure, it was a necessary price.

A week later, the draft and free agency for the new season will begin.

There is one big thing in this year's free market, and that is that Westbrook will return to the Thunder.

However, even if Jeff Green's one-year contract expires and the salary cap continues to rise, the Thunder still do not have enough salary space. The two parties will use a sign-and-trade method to reach a deal. It is expected that the Thunder will overdraw multiple future first-rounders. Draft picks to seal the deal.

The four former Oklahoma City Thunder young men reunited in Oklahoma City, which sounded a bit like returning to their youth.

It is worth mentioning that this time Westbrook's return was not only not interfered by the league, but the league even completed the approval immediately.

You know, although Westbrook's Pelicans career has been questioned, after all, he averaged a triple-double in three seasons and also ranked among the top three in the MVP selection.

What? Data can't explain a player's strength? That's not what James says when it comes to James!

If an MVP-level player joins a championship team, just like Paul joining the Lakers, theoretically there should be resistance.

Obviously, the league is already prepared to lose Xu Yong and is creating new topics for the new season.

It did attract some people's attention, but this was far less than the anxiety Xu Yong's delay in speaking out brought to fans.

Because Xu Yongyong spoke out, it means that he has not withdrawn his application for retirement.

Then, while waiting, they received unexpected news: Xu Yong is getting married!

with who?

Daddario, of course.

All in all, Xu Yong and Daddario have been dating for more than two years, making them his longest-lasting girlfriend.

Just like what I felt when I ate at a roadside stall in Shanghai, Daddario's character is one of those rare types who can live a good life.

Of course, this is just the premise. The reason for getting married is...yes, the world's problem that has troubled countless people is the pressure from parents to get married!

Xu Yong is 27 years old this year, which means he is 28 years old. According to the understanding of his parents, he should have gotten married long ago.

So I took advantage of the time I had after retiring, and after two years of getting along, I felt that everything was a good fit, so I got married.

Of course, there is another point. Over the years that Xu Yong has been in the NBA, he has counted all his ex-girlfriends, from Megan Fox, to Taylor Swift, to Scarlett Johansson, and then to Theron, whom he met by chance one night. I have been with actresses from all types of professions, and finally met such a superb person. I have no regrets about my relationship.

Their wedding location was chosen in Miami, mainly because Daddario loves the sea, so the wedding will be held by the sea.

Then this moment became the most eye-catching thing this summer.

The wedding is scheduled for September, which is still two months away, but many people have already contacted Shipp, hoping to attend Xu Yong's wedding.

There are many NBA stars, of course there are celebrities from all walks of life, and even many politicians.

Xu Yong seems to have retired from the NBA, but his influence has not diminished at all.

Xu Yong also found several NBA players to be his best men. In addition to Harden, DeRozan, Ayers and Butler, he also invited Durant.

This is not to say that the relationship between Durant and him is as good as that of several other people, but in the previous turmoil, Durant was the only super giant to stand up. This is a friend worth making.

Time flies to September, and Xu Yong still shows no sign of retracting his decision to retire. Those who are paying attention to this matter can only turn their attention to his wedding.

Xu Yong's wedding was held in a grand manner. Even in Miami, which is known as the "gathering place for overseas wealthy people", this wedding was the most eye-catching event of the day.

However, because everyone attending the wedding was asked to put away their mobile phones temporarily when entering the venue, no relevant footage was released. However, according to those who attended, the atmosphere inside was very exciting and Xu Yong was having a lot of fun.

Over the past two months, Xu Yong's mentality has also changed.

Because at first he was not sure whether he really wanted to retire. After all, if Xiao Hua agreed to all his conditions, he would still have to prepare for the new season.

But the current situation has shown that the situation is a foregone conclusion, and he has completely entered [retirement mode].

To use the most appropriate phrase, after playing basketball all your life, why can’t you enjoy it anymore?

There was also an episode. Yao Ming came to attend Xu Yong's wedding. After knowing that Xu Yong was really going to retire, he also asked Xu Yong if he wanted to return to China to play in the CBA so that he could maintain his competitive status.

Xu Yong declined, but he said he would return to China to do some promotion for the CBA if he had the opportunity.

Because there is no such thing as maintaining a competitive state in low-level leagues, it is just like adults playing ball with primary school students and it will not have any effect.

However, after this wedding, each team has started training camps for the new season one after another. Xu Yong still has not announced that he will revoke his decision to retire. This makes fans begin to realize that they may really have to usher in a new season without Xu Yong. season.

The Bulls' situation at this time is very similar to the last time Jordan retired. They did not make much adjustments to the lineup.

When the time came to October, Xu Yong, who was still on his honeymoon overseas, received a call from Raunsdorf.

The general meaning is that even if Xu Yong retires, they will pay Xu Yong's salary for the remaining one year of his contract.

This wave is a normal operation, because he did the same thing when Jordan retired last time. He may be the only boss with relevant experience in dealing with this issue.

And this motivation is easy to understand. Xu Yong is only 27 years old after all. Doesn’t he definitely not be able to come back after retiring?

As his old club, the Bulls are naturally the most ideal place for Xu Yong to come back in the future.

Regarding Raunsdorf's request, Xu Yong's answer was: Thanks for the kindness, but I am already a free agent.

Yes, unlike Jordan back then, Xu Yong is in the last year of his contract and has a player option. He also jumped out of that option when the free market opened and became a free agent.

The purpose of this is to give more freedom in the future. What Jordan experienced back then gave many people experience, but it also gave him more lessons to learn from.

Of course, this does not rule out the possibility of him returning to the Bulls in the future, but at least the initiative is in his own hands.

Finally, in late October, with the start of the preseason, the 10~2017 season finally started.

The outside world is paying attention to the impact of Xu Yong's retirement on the NBA, but players have already begun to be eager to try.

In the past few years, especially the past two years, Xu Yong has cut off too many people's championship dreams, and now they all finally have their own opportunities.

The season opener, the Warriors' second game against the Thunder.

In this game, the Thunder beat the Warriors directly.

On the Thunder team's side, the three reunited brothers showed a high desire to compete.

One thing you have to admit is that although there are many problems in his playing style, Westbrook is the kind of person who can bring excitement to the team, which Harden and Durant do not have.

Of course, in addition to this, what is more important is the impact of the [vertical takeoff rules] on the game.

The Warriors' interior strength is still not good, but the Thunder's entire interior defensive strength has suddenly increased.

Curry's impact is not very great, after all, he relies on three-pointers to make a living, but James suddenly became less good at playing when faced with the inside combination of Capela + Ibaka.

And there is an overlooked detail, that is, although the Thunder overdrafted future draft picks, the changes in the lineup are actually not big.

Because after letting Howard go, they were a dual-core team. Needless to say, they demolished the entire bench to make room for Westbrook.

The game ended up attracting a lot of attention, and the game's ratings didn't drop much compared to last season.

Even the highlight of the Bulls' game against the Cavaliers the next day attracted a certain amount of fans' attention.

This also makes some outsiders optimistic about the impact of Xu Yong's retirement on the NBA.

"Xu, he's not Michael after all!" Someone even lamented on social media and it was trending.

But just a month later, the person deleted the status himself.

Because the NBA's ratings have plummeted, plummeting by one-third.

This is caused by many reasons.

The most important thing is of course Xu Yong's retirement.

Fans discovered that the league no longer had the Satan who played games that were entertaining to watch and could easily dominate his opponents.

Just like Jordan back then, fans who were originally attracted by Xu Yong to watch the NBA have gradually chosen not to watch.

Secondly, something that many people may not have expected is that many of the current NBA games are too ugly to watch.

Yes, that's right, it's just ugly.

After the cancellation of the [Vertical Jump Rule], the intensity of interior defense has increased significantly. Many players, even stars, seem to have lost their ability to play.

Among them, players such as James and Antetokounmpo are represented.

As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. If you are used to the loose defense in the penalty area, tightening it now will be unbearable.

This requires an adaptation process, but this process does not happen overnight.

In other words, this is labor pain, and this labor pain will also bring about a decline in NBA ratings.

Come December, NBA ratings continue to decline.

NBA New York headquarters.

Xiao Hua's dark circles were much deeper than when he went to see Xu Yong.

He was feeling real pressure now.

Not only because of the decline in popularity caused by Xu Yong's retirement, but also because of the pressure from Spinach.

Nowadays, it is difficult to control the field in this kind of game. The gambling company that was supposed to reach an agreement with the NBA in the summer began to hesitate.

He originally thought of canceling the rules to put pressure on Xu Yong from public opinion, but he never thought that Xu Yong didn't care about this at all, and a series of subsequent events also showed that it had a great impact on Xu Yong.

After all, what Xu Yong said on social media was that "the current alliance is not the alliance he wanted", not because the [vertical take-off rule] was not cancelled.

There seems to be a front-to-back relationship between the two, but they are not the same.

As a result, the rule is now cancelled, but no one watched the game.

Under tremendous pressure, he chose to convene another meeting of the league committee, and it was an on-site meeting. There was only one topic discussed, and that was the restoration of the [Vertical Jump Rules].

This immediately caused a lot of discussion among the bosses. If you change it overnight, the fans will think you are playing house!

But Xiao Hua finally convinced them.

Because they have no way back now, their top priority is to win the contract from the gambling company, otherwise they will lose both their lives and money.

Moreover, the current game is ugly. If the game is made good again, wouldn't the ratings go back up?

So just two months after the cancellation, the NBA officially announced the restoration of the [vertical takeoff rule].

Xu Yong had already ended his honeymoon and returned to Chicago. When he heard the news, he was not surprised at all.

Because of this, he was lucky enough to see it with his own eyes in his previous life.

That was the 2021~2022 season. In order to restore ratings, the league relaxed the standards for game whistleblowing.

Xu Yongde admitted that for the fans, the game really became more enjoyable, and it felt like the fists at the beginning of the century.

But the price is that most of the stars have diarrhea, which is even more exaggerated than the current situation, because most of the stars are watered down.

This was also the reason why the Dream Team had a lot of diarrhea when it came to international competitions at that time. The players in that version just couldn't play high-intensity games.

As a result, although the alliance did not issue a statement later, the scale quickly returned.

So this back and forth was not a surprise to Xu Yong.

This did have a certain effect, and some fans who like to watch small ball came back.

And at this time, the league officially announced that it had officially signed a cooperation contract with the gambling company. Of course, no one knows the specific term and amount.

Then, another month later, the recovering ratings began to decline again, and they fell faster.

Because many fans find that the current game is not ugly, it is really boring!

There are all kinds of three-pointers and one-pointers. The game is monotonous and boring. Except for a few teams that can play some tactics, the other teams are playing defense and offense.

The shooting competition is worthy of its name.

The key is that without Xu Yong, they will only look at Durant (Leonard is still recovering from injury). None of the new generation of stars has the feeling of strong skills.

Even Curry, in their view, relies more on heaven.

They are used to eating fine grains (Xu Yong), how do you ask them to adapt to this unpalatable dross!

It is really easy to get tired of the current game, and there is no desire to pay to watch it.

Moreover, there are a lot of fake matches.

When the time came to February 2018, before the All-Star Game, NBA ratings had plummeted to half of last season.

This is no longer terrifying to describe. You must know that when Jordan retired, NBA ratings ultimately dropped only 39.7%.

This does not include overseas markets. Overseas markets, especially Asian markets, have almost all evaporated.

No, not only the ratings, but also the attendance of each team has begun to show a very obvious decline.

Even the outside world's valuations of NBA teams have begun to plummet.

The NBA finally faced its most severe challenge six months after Xu Yong announced his retirement.

Finally, in a TNT program before the All-Star Game, Barkley recreated the "Magic" John's operation in front of the camera, and knelt down in front of the camera: "Xu, come back! I beg you, come back!" "

(End of this chapter)