When pride still matters

Chapter 253 Those who disturb the situation will have retribution

Chapter 253: Those who disturb the situation will have retribution

Latrell Sprewell is idle at home. He does not need to participate in training or attend away games. It can be said that he has entered retirement life early.

But he still has a few big problems.

The Pistons fan who choked him filed a minor assault charge against him, and he still has many assets in his name that cost a lot of money every month to preserve. Although he still has money now, if this continues, he will go bankrupt sooner or later.

Looking back now, he regretted why he stood up for Ray Allen that day.

That weakling didn't deserve what he did.

This ruined his career and his hopes of renewing his contract.

When the suspension time is over, it is impossible for him to return to the NBA.

Who will sign him?

Are you going to play overseas in the future? overseas? Putting aside the damage to his reputation, how much money can he make by playing overseas?

He will not die.

Then he started to blame everyone again. He had paid so much and sacrificed countless things for the Bucks' two consecutive championships. What did he get in exchange for it in the end?

Da Fei will definitely not care about him anymore.

Then, Sprewell heard that Ray Allen had requested a trade, and not long after, the trade happened.

Ray Allen only returned Cuttino Mobley and Greg Ostertag.

Sprewell believes that these two are not as good as one leg of Ray Allen.

But what can be done? Ray Allen has to go, the coward abandoned the team at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

But what if Ray Allen is gone? Has his own problem been solved?

What Sprewell didn't expect was that the problem was really solved.

Before the All-Star Weekend, the Bucks officially made an offer to Latrell Sprewell. They provided him with a three-year, $3 million contract extension, with the third year as a team option.

The news shocked not only Milwaukee, but the entire league.

After this happened, it stands to reason that Sprewell would definitely leave the NBA. Unexpectedly, the Bucks are born in the year of the goldfish and only have seven seconds of memory.

This made the league office furious.

What David Stern wants is for Sprewell to be kicked out of the NBA forever.

The cost of the Brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills has long exceeded the game itself.

Both sponsors and television partners are pessimistic about whether the league can improve its image in the next five years.

The Eagle County incident, the defeat in Athens, the brawls in Auburn Hills, and the major events that broke out of the circle did not make people feel the charm of professional basketball.

When the decision to impose heavy penalties on Sprewell and others was made, someone asked Stern whether the punishment was too harsh and whether there was a democratic vote within the league on this - people wanted to know if this was the decision of everyone within the league. Decide.

Stern replied: "It was voted on, 1-0."

In addition, Stern also sent a memorandum on stadium violence to all teams, requiring teams to clearly and unambiguously communicate penalties and various regulations regarding stadium violence to players.

Now, the Bucks have renewed Sprewell with a jaw-dropping contract.

The thug who was supposed to be expelled from the league would return a year later.

Who will he choke next time?

After that, Sprewell returned to the team. Although he could not play on the court, he still participated in team training and competitions.

New aid Mobley has brought vitality to the Bucks. Although his strength is far inferior to that of Ray Allen, his shooting is also very accurate. Although he is a short shooting guard, his defense is not bad, but his playing style is relatively unique. , when entering singles mode, there is basically no need to count on him passing the ball.

Coming to the Bucks, one of the big habits Mobley needs to change is the frequency of singles.

Although Yu Fei needs the deputy attacker to play a certain role in holding the ball, the most important thing is that the deputy attacker needs to have a stable outside threat to ensure that when the team's tactics and Yu Fei cannot open up the situation, they can carry out 1- 2 pick-and-roll to force a break.

When it comes to outside shooting, the Cat's accuracy is as good as anyone's. The lowest shooting percentage in his career so far is 35%. This season is the peak period for his outside shooting. Previously, he shot an astonishing 49% from three-point range with the Magic. After being traded to the Kings, it dropped slightly, but it was still 42% accurate.

After coming to the Bucks, Mobley quickly learned how to cooperate with Yu Fei and specialize in outside shooting. After a few games, his current three-point shooting rate has reached a terrifying 50%.

This accuracy cannot be maintained, but even if the hit rate drops later, it should still be able to maintain the level of a 40% marksman.

The harmonious atmosphere brought by Mobley allowed the Bucks to gradually shake off the haze of the Auburn Hills brawl and usher in the All-Star weekend with a winning streak.

This year's All-Star Game is in Denver.

Before Yu Fei left for Denver, the Bucks officially announced the resumption of contract renewal negotiations with Yu Fei.

This time, the Bucks are confident about renewing the contract because they have already renewed Sprewell's contract in accordance with Yu Fei's request.

Before the contract renewal negotiations started, Arne Traim came to Milwaukee one day in advance to communicate with Yu Fei.

Originally, Yu Fei didn't care about renewing his contract, because his second contract was destined to be spent in Milwaukee, and the NBA has strict standards for contract renewals, so it basically didn't matter.

If both parties are interested, then sign it.

Four years, five years, whatever.

Typically, agents seek long-term maximum salary guarantees.

According to current standards, Yu Fei can sign a five-year $5 million contract extension with the Bucks.

But Trem suggested that Yu Fei do the opposite: "Da Fei, our basic logic when looking at contracts is that if you need long-term and stable guarantee, we will sign a long-term big contract. However, if you are a person who pursues history, If you are a player of high status, then it is best to control the impact of the contract within the short term.” What Yu Fei admires most about Trem is that he can make the sentence “You sign a short-term contract” so complicated.

"So?" Yu Fei asked.

"After the brawl in Auburn Hills, the Bucks fell apart. There is a high probability that we will not be able to compete for the championship this year, but you will still be playing here in the next few years. If your boss is Jerry Buss, I believe he will open up. The safe has spent all the money to strengthen it, but Senator Cole? I don’t have the confidence." Trem said, "Signing a short-term contract does not mean you want to get out of here as soon as possible. This is a way to put pressure on them. , you have to make them feel like they could lose you before they spend the money to build a strong team for you."

This is a very simple truth. This is what James did after leaving the Heat.

But no one is doing this yet.

If you want to be the first to eat crabs, you must first consider whether your teeth are strong enough.

Doing so will make Yu Fei face a lot of criticism in the short term, but in the long run, it will help him control his future.

Yu Fei asked: "How many years do you want me to sign for?"

"Three years."

"3+1?"

Arne Traim smiled slightly: "2+1."

"Same as Spree?" Yu Fei asked.

Trem said: "Yes, like Spree, now everyone knows that you got a big contract for Spree. Doing this can not only strengthen this impression, but also show to the outside world that you and Spree Lei is completely bound and can avoid some bad public opinion guidance."

"Okay, I'll leave this to you."

Then, Yu Fei suddenly asked: "Have the people from Reebok told you about this?"

Traim said jokingly: "If you are from Reebok, they will suggest that you sign a 1+1 contract. Believe me, they are eager for you to leave Milwaukee now."

The next day, when Treme suggested that Yu Fei wanted a three-year contract with player options, the Bucks management panicked.

Yu Fei went directly to Denver to participate in the All-Star Weekend.

This is the biggest disagreement Yu Fei has had with the team since he moved to the Bucks.

For the Bucks, locking in their top asset for as long as possible with a big contract is something every front office will do.

It's a one-and-done deal.

Once signed, the team can legally control the players. As for the team's operation and construction level, it depends on the management's ability and the owner's willingness to invest.

Jordan, who came back for the first time in 1996, forced the team to maintain a championship lineup by signing a one-year contract with the Bulls. This was the earliest case of determining the direction of the team's operation through a short-term contract.

But now, Yu Fei has not yet achieved the status that Jordan had at that time, but he has inherited the wisdom of his predecessors and chose to use short-term contracts to deprive the team of their sense of security and give them a sense of "if they don't do a good job in team building, they will be The sense of crisis of “possibly losing the top spot”.

This is a first for the players.

Yu Fei's approach impressed LeBron James who was far away in Cleveland.

However, those who want to shake things up will naturally be rejected by conservatives and traditional forces.

The media first attacked Fei, and then a lot of anonymous current NBA practitioners and some retired GMs.

"The scariest thing in the world is when a person takes the external hype as reality. Frye Yu really believed that he was the chosen one. He ignored the basic rules and the way the industry operates, and decided to use an unprecedented method. approach to running his team. He's not just a basketball player, he's the president of the Milwaukee Bucks."

The New York Times fired the first shot, and other major newspapers followed suit.

This was the "criticism" that Yu Fei had expected long ago. He would not take it seriously and would do whatever he had to do.

Seeing what happened to Yu Fei, the players who were on their rookie contracts were all frightened. Even James gave up the idea of ​​"I will also sign 2+1 in the future."

No matter what, 2+1 is still too extreme, at least make it 3+1.

After Yu Fei arrived in Denver, he answered at least 58 questions about the contract in one day.

He kept smiling throughout and responded to the media's questions with the same words: "I don't care about this, it's the agent's job."

"You mean, you didn't know?"

"I know the information, but the negotiation is a matter for the agent. What I know is about the same as you."

Yu Fei was doing Tai Chi back and forth without revealing any useful information, but one thing is certain, his ideas were completely consistent with his agent.

Later, Yu Fei went to the hotel to find James, but found that his little brother's legs and feet were not very agile.

"Bron, what's wrong with you?"

"I suffered a minor injury a few days ago." James said regretfully. "I originally wanted to participate in the dunk contest this year and bring a wonderful performance to the fans like MJ, but it seems that this year is not possible."

"Then will you still play in the All-Star Game?"

"Fight, I can hold on for a while."

"Oh"

(End of this chapter)