When pride still matters

Chapter 125 Master and God
When the news that Jordan wanted to trade Yu Fei reached the Wizards management, an earthquake-like effect immediately occurred at the Verizon Center.

Confused, confused, unbelievable.

If Kwame Brown's lottery ticket has been scratched halfway, and everyone has seen the three words "Thank you Hui", then Yu Fei has already scratched the "special prize".

The No. [-] pick is a sensitive position.

The last All-Star at the position was Vin Baker, who had become unrecognizable due to a drinking problem.

It would be difficult to find an All-Star with the eighth pick any further forward.

But in his rookie season, Yu Fei almost made it to the All-Star Game.

Whether he led the team to the playoffs alone after Jordan and Hamilton were retired for the season, or his performance in his rookie season averaging 19+8+7 per game, everyone can see the future.

He will definitely develop into a consistent, perennial All-Star.

It can be said that Yu Fei's amazing talent concealed Kwame Brown's draft disaster.

Now, Jordan is actually going to trade away his biggest achievement in the draft?

Are Wizards executives surprised?This year, countless things have happened in the team. They are witnesses. They know how tense the relationship between Yu Fei and Jordan is. They know that Yu Fei has shaken Jordan's rule, especially at the player level. When Yu Fei is in power, When the Rison Center publicly stated that it did not want Jordan to return, the other players chose to remain silent.

They expressed their support for Fei in a default way.

For Jordan, Yu Fei is no longer a fierce horse that needs to be tamed, but an enemy that needs to be defeated.

What Yu Fei did cannot be described as "young rebellion". He unmistakably resisted Jordan's rule and showed his will to replace it.

Once he did, it would be impossible for him and Jordan to coexist.

However, what makes Susan O'Mary and others helpless is that they thought this scene would come two years or more later. Unexpectedly, Yu Fei, who had just finished his rookie season, could no longer restrain his ambition.

He led the team to the playoffs, which is a source of confidence for him.

If he proves he can lead a team to the playoffs without Jordan and Hamilton, he won't need their help.

But, he was still too anxious.

"Susan, what do you think we should do about this matter?" Wes Unseld looked at Omari with a troubled face.

"The important thing is not what we are going to do," O'Mary said. "The important thing is what is Mr. Pauline going to do?"

Unseld asked again: "What will Mr. Pauling do?"

In the power struggle between the 39-year-old has-been superstar and the rising young star, which side should we stand on?
The answer is clear, franchise owners will always choose the future.

But Michael Jordan is no ordinary 39-year-old has-been superstar.

Behind him is a symbol of a broad market, which is what allows the Wizards to sell out all season tickets in the next few years. It is their face to attract sponsors, and it is the only reason why the Wizards' peripheral products are selling so hot this season. .

Yu Fei is also a star, but his rise in one year cannot compare with the terrible influence Jordan has accumulated in the past 20 years.

Jordan would allow Pauline to recoup the losses of the past five years in just one year.

What if he plays two years?
Or three years?
When can Yu Fei bring this benefit to his master?
What's more, like Jordan, he never regarded Pauline as his "master" from the beginning.

He refused allegiance to his "master" from the start.

Faced with a massive short-term income at his fingertips and a future check full of X factors, Paulin would choose the former.

Giving up Yu Fei may make Paulin sad, but as long as he thinks of what Jordan can bring to him, and the disrespect, unconsciousness and disloyalty that Yu Fei has clearly shown, this future check will be easy for Paulin. Meaningless.

This was the Pauline that Susan O'Mary knew.

"I don't know," O'Mary said, not sharing her judgment with Unseld because it was purely her own personal inference. "I trust Mr. Pauline to make the best decision for the franchise."

Unseld smiled sincerely: "So, Mr. Pauling will choose Frye? That's great!"

O'Mary also smiled, disapproving of Unseld's judgment based on normal sports logic.

Between the past and the future, choosing the latter is the iron law of professional sports.

But if you understand those who choose the former, you understand the dark laws of professional sports.

From the moment Jordan's demands were passed through Wizards management to owner Abi Poulin, Jordan's contract extension negotiations officially began.

Senior officials from both sides arrived at the scene.

David Falk, as a representative of the Jordan team, put forward three non-negotiable premises: "From now on, Michael has autonomy over the Wizards' trade. The marketing department shall not use Michael's image and image without his consent." Publicity and promotion of the Wizards' name. When Michael retires from the court, Mr. Pauline should sell 15% of the Wizards' shares to Michael based on last year's stock price, and allow Michael to resume his original position and continue to manage the team."

None of these three premises sounds unreasonable and difficult to accept.

After saying this, Falk smiled like a tiger and a wolf: "Only when Mr. Paulin agrees to these three conditions, Michael will talk about renewing the contract with you."

"This is unreasonable!" Omari said excitedly. "If Michael renews his contract with the team, then he will be a member of the Wizards, and the team has the right to use his name and image to promote the market!"

Falk responded tit-for-tat: "This is of course one of Michael's obligations, but don't you think you are going a little too far? You have promised the fans a lot of things that Michael has never said. When Michael has not yet decided to renew his contract, you Is it reasonable to sell season tickets for next season at a high price in his name? If Michael does not come back, will the fans who bought season tickets for him regard Michael as a liar? The reputation this incident will cause to Michael How to make up for the loss?”

This sentence blocked Omari's mouth.

The most powerful woman in professional basketball history felt only aggrieved and outraged.

Publicity is inherently false, and every outstanding publicist will exaggerate, but when it comes to Jordan, he cares about the negative impact this incident has brought to him?He is a player and an asset to the team, and it is natural for the team to make money from his name.

But Omari did not refute Falk, because what she did was based on the unspoken rules of marketing. It had never been put on the table. Everyone acquiesced in its existence. Now the Jordan team has taken out this unspoken rule and said that she is It was wrong and she wanted to correct the matter. She really had nothing to say.

Because they are facing player-owners, not players.

Since Jordan is both a player and an owner, isn't it normal to have unreasonable demands?

And this is just the one that seems most acceptable among the three premises proposed by Falke.What really made Paulin, who could still smile at Jordan, turned stiff and his eyes darkened were the other two requests.

Jordan demanded autonomy over team trades.

In other words, as before, Jordan's transaction was rejected by Pauline because it did not meet the "standards" and it would not happen again.

If Paulin agrees to this, then he will really be just the boss in name only, and the team management rights belong entirely to Jordan, and he will have no reason to intervene.

As for Jordan's request after retiring, it is completely unreasonable.Jordan doesn't have that many shares to begin with, and he still wants to be sold at last year's price. The development of the Wizards over the past year or so is all the result of Goute, and everyone else is holding you back, so once you retire, everyone will lose money. The boss still has to sell you the shares at the price a few years ago.

Wes Unseld is indeed Pauline's loyal servant. He was angry at Jordan's unreasonable demands. "I won't say anything else, but I want to ask you, Michael, to give you the autonomy to manage the team." What does right mean?”

"It means literally."

Jordan didn't speak, it was Falke who responded.

Unseld said dissatisfiedly: "Explain explain."

"Let me be more direct," Falk said. "As the leader of the team, Michael should have absolute power. Giving him management autonomy means that from today on, all matters within the Wizards will be decided by him. That’s the last word.”

Unseld was completely anxious: "What about Mr. Pauling?! Where do you put Mr. Pauling? The Wizards are not only Michael's team, but also Mr. Pauling's team!"

Seeing that all the Wizards executives were furious and had to curry favor with himself (Jordan), Falk said proudly: "Mr. Pauling is not a professional in basketball after all. He is the big boss. This will never change. Michael is his." Partner will also be the best partner he has ever encountered. He is the greatest player of all time and the wisest basketball expert of all time. Under his management, the Wizards will move towards greatness. This is destined. And isn’t it great that Mr. Pauline can have the greatest team of all time without having to do anything?”

"The wisest basketball expert in history." O'Mary glanced at Jordan sarcastically, "Will he select Kwame Brown with the first pick?"

Falk, like Unseld, instantly transformed into a loyal dog protecting his master, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, everyone makes mistakes." O'Mary looked at Jordan provocatively. "Even if he is the wisest basketball expert in history, he will use the first pick to select a player who cannot help."

Falk roared: "It was only the second year that Michael took over the management job. He was still a little rusty, but he is the person who knows basketball best in the world. Just give him time."

"As long as you give him time, he will find a way to trade away the Wizards' best rookie in 30 years."

"What did you say?"

"Isn't it? Michael doesn't want to trade Frye?"

"!#￥@#￥%!#@"

"Ahem." Paulin made a sound. He completely ignored Falk and looked directly at Jordan.

The people here today, the real decision-makers are the two of them.

As long as the two of them agree, that's all.

For others, no matter how much they argue, there will be no results.

"Michael, you are the owner of the team, whether you have shares or not, and I am also the owner of the team." Paulin's tone was very calm, but it contained strong determination, "I have owned this team for many years. , I’m used to being with the team, so no one can take the power of managing this team away from me.”

To Jordan, this was Pauline's decision to "move forward."

"In this case, we have nothing to talk about." Jordan also spoke.

"No, Michael, we haven't reached that point yet. Aren't we very happy to cooperate in the past two years?" Pauline finally smiled, but the yellow teeth made it impossible to look at him, "Am I you?" Is it a hindrance to running a team?”

It was okay if Pauline didn't say anything, but when he did, Jordan's anger rose.

If it weren't for Pauline's obstruction, he would have sent Yu Fei to Phoenix as early as the middle of the season, and things would not have evolved to this point.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be sitting here today talking to you about this damn nonsense!" Jordan accused Pauline unreasonably, "Because of your damn standards, we couldn't complete that deal! It's all because of you. Those damn standards!”

Pauline smiled and said: "That does not meet my standards."

"So, I need more power, and I need a power that won't be bound by your damn standards. If you can't delegate power, we're done!"

"Michael, if I remember correctly, that was the only time I stopped you. I ask you to think carefully, have I stopped you from doing anything else? Even if you don't have complete autonomy, you can still do what you want. The reason why I turned down that trade was because it was substandard, but there was also another reason - it was not the best time to trade Frye."

Jordan was not in the mood to listen to Bolin's nonsense here. He was already planning to throw out a few ugly curse words and leave.

But Pauline's next words were: "If you want to trade Frye now, I won't stop you."

"why?"

"Because Frye, who has proven himself on the court, can get the biggest reward."

“What if my deal doesn’t meet your standards again?”

Pauline smiled uglyly and said, "I can make an exception."

It was probably only ten seconds between Jordan being completely disappointed with Pauline and changing his mind about Pauline.

There was such a big commotion, and the top executives of both parties sat here and argued for a long time, just because of this matter.

Trade in Fei!

As long as Paulin relents on this matter, everything else will be easy to talk about.

Let Susan O'Mary continue to suck blood from her body?Tolerable.

Pauline not committing to what happens after he retires?It doesn't matter.Jordan believes that no one can reject his leadership and his basketball IQ. His career history proves that he is a person destined to succeed.He is too confident, too proud, and too aloof.

He believes that the world revolves around him, and if that is not the case, there must be something wrong with the world.

Jordan's negotiations with the Wizards were successfully completed, and he signed a two-year 1+1 contract extension with a player option for the second year.

Also on the day Jordan completed his contract extension, rumors suddenly spread in the NBA trading market that the Wizards were actively selling Frye Yu.

(End of this chapter)