Meizong Wealth Life

Chapter 56 Jordan is old, can he still make a living?

The next day, on a Gulfstream G300 flying from New York to Chicago, Jamie put down the newspaper in his hand.

The date on the masthead clearly shows June 6.

There are many newspapers with similar dates in Jamie's hands.

They all have one thing in common - extensive coverage of the NBA draft at the end of June this year.

Through these newspapers, Jamie finally knew what Papa John was secretly doing before finally announcing his acquisition of the Bulls.

First of all, the Wizards still used the No. [-] pick in their hands to select parallel No. [-] pick Kwame Brown without Jordan's hand.

The Clippers, with the second pick, successfully picked up the slack and decisively acquired the iron gate center Tyson Chandler, who was generally favored by the outside world.

The Hawks drafted Pau Gasol.

The struggling Bulls worked hard to finish last in the Eastern Conference last season, but only received the fourth overall pick.

At that time, John had already negotiated the terms with Jerry Reinsdorf and only needed to sign, so he intervened decisively.

The Bulls did not choose big center Eddie Curry like they did in previous lives, but unexpectedly chose little-known point guard Tony Parker.

In the second round, John struck again.

The Bulls selected Gilbert Arenas with the first pick.

In the latter, even Jamie, who only occasionally paid attention to the NBA in his previous life and was not even a senior fan, has heard of his name.

In the previous life, it was because of this guy that the NBA had to introduce the famous "Arenas Clause."

The last NBA clause to be directly named after a star came from the legendary star "Big Bird" Larry Bird, which is also commonly known as Bird Rights.

That is, teams can use contracts that exceed the salary cap to retain free agents who have served the team for more than a certain number of years.

The Bird clause, which was originally used to retain stars, failed to help the Warriors, who selected Arenas with the second overall pick in the second round of the draft in the previous life. It was like retaining this player who only played two seasons with the team. A super rookie who rises like a rocket.

Arenas became a restricted free agent with early Bird rights in 03.

However, due to salary cap restrictions at the time, the Warriors could only offer Arenas a contract with a starting salary of 490 million, while the Wizards offered Arenas a contract with a starting salary of 850 million. contract.

So Arenas simply switched to the Wizards.

In order to protect the rights and interests of the parent team, the NBA added the Arenas Clause to the 05 labor agreement to prevent something like this from happening again.

As if to prove that he was worthy of the league's attention, Arenas played the highlight of his NBA career in 06.

He beat Kobe Bryant head-on at the Lakers' home court, scored [-] points, and became famous in one battle.

The two biggest leftovers in the 01 draft were both packaged together by John.

After the draft, the Bulls traded Elton Brand, the No. 99 pick in the [-] draft, with the Clippers in exchange for Tyson Chandler.

A month later, the Bulls made another big deal.

They used a seven-year, $7 million super contract to snatch power forward Chris Webber from the Kings.

At this point, the Bulls' lineup has been clearly displayed in front of Jamie.

power forward webber

Small forward Arenas.

Center Tyson Chandler.

Point guard Tony Parker.Only one outstanding shooting guard is needed to form a gorgeous All-Star lineup for future generations.

This position is undoubtedly reserved for Jordan.

Arenas was originally a point guard and shooting guard, but since there are better candidates for these two positions, the most suitable position for him is naturally the small forward position.

It is no exaggeration to say that this lineup has completely surpassed the configuration of teammates around Jordan in the Bulls dynasty.

From this point of view, John is indeed a die-hard Jordan fan.

They took great pains to form such a Bulls team to welcome the return of the "God of Basketball".

Jamie had several copies of this morning's newspapers at hand at the moment, and the discussion on Jordan's comeback invariably occupied the main page.

Although the return of the Jumpman is exciting, mainstream media views are generally not optimistic about Jordan's comeback, believing that the symbolic significance is far greater than the actual results.

Especially after comparing it with Jordan's last comeback, this conclusion has become more convincing.

At the end of the 94-95 season, Jordan finally uttered the famous "I'm Back" amid much anticipation, and made a strong return to the NBA after a year and a half.

Jordan was 31 years old at the time and at his peak both physically and technically.

Now Jordan is 38 years old and has been away from the NBA for three full years.

Although after the comeback ceremony yesterday, Jordan said in an interview with media reporters that he has been training and preparing secretly for the past two years, and he is convinced that he has regained the peak condition and competitive level of his career.

In order to prove that he was not lying, Jordan also showed several videos of his special training in the gym and on the court.

At the same time, the Bulls also stated that they will open Jordan's training routine to the media after returning to the team, so that everyone can understand Jordan's training progress and status adjustments at the first time.

However, these failed to dispel the media's doubts.

Because Jordan has to overcome not only his own physical condition, but also face more intense external challenges.

In the season when Jordan came back for the first time, although he successfully led the Bulls to the playoffs, he failed at the hands of the Magic team with Shaquille O'Neal.

Now that Jordan is back for the second time, the number one enemy he faces is still O'Neal's Lakers.

At this time, the Lakers have won two consecutive championships and are preparing to launch an impact on the dynasty of three consecutive championships this season.

The team not only has a rising star like O'Neal, but also a rising star Kobe Bryant, and championship coach "Zen Master" Phil Jackson.

No one has any doubt that the Lakers will reach the Finals again this year.

Because at this time, the NBA league needs to build a dynasty team similar to the Bulls back then to expand the league's influence in the entire sports market.

And all of this is actually the "bitter fruit" caused by Jordan himself.

The brilliant achievements of the Bulls dynasty's six championships in eight years not only elevated Jordan to the altar, but also brought the NBA's influence across the United States and the world to an unprecedented level.

It was precisely because of this sweet taste that NBA President David Stern decided to build a three-peat team like the Bulls after Jordan retired.

Against this background, the Lakers already have the right time, the right people, and the advantage of being in the big ball market of Los Angeles.

The team is full of champions from top to bottom.

In the eyes of most media, the "aging" Jordan is nothing more than a stepping stone on the road to the Lakers' triple crown.

If he hadn't known Papa John's true trump card, Jamie would have almost believed it.

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(End of this chapter)