Legendary star

Chapter 493

"Why should I join the Celtics? Because the Celtics are a team full of talent and vitality. They have a bright future and bright prospects."

"The Pacers did contact me and offered me a three-year 3 million contract, but I rejected them without hesitation. In this league, I will consider invitations from all teams, but only The Pacers alone can't, and not only will I not join the Pacers, I will do my best to help the Celtics beat the Pacers!" August 2000, 2003, Boston TD North Shore Garden Arena, Celtics for Gary -Payton held a grand joining ceremony, 8-time All-Star, 1-time All-NBA Team, 7-time All-Defensive Team Gary Payton, will officially join the Celtics today.With the Lakers crashing into the Finals, the sensational Big Four officially disintegrated. Although Payton’s influence in the free market was not that great compared to O’Neal and Kobe, Payton still received invitations from many teams , especially the Pacers, who had lost their main point guard, launched a frantic pursuit of Payton, but the result was eye-popping. The strong defending champion signed a two-year low-salary contract of $6 million with the Celtics, so many people are puzzled by Payton's choice. Although Payton officially joined the Celtics today Days, but there are still "close-eyed" reporters who asked this question, and Payton's answer was very straightforward.

Gary Payton, who is 35 years old this year, really needs a championship, otherwise he would not go to the Lakers with the notoriety of "holding thighs". The strength and potential of the champion has been exhausted, so Payton, whose contract expired, chose to find another place to continue pursuing his championship dream.Originally, when Payton received the invitation from the Pacers, Payton's agent tried his best to persuade Payton to join the Pacers. The three-year contract of 3 million US dollars, although compared with this summer's 2000 million, or even hundreds of millions of big contracts It's not a big deal, but for Payton now, it's a good offer, and the Pacers are the defending champions. Although the Pacers are now facing aggressive poaching from other teams in the league, as long as Meng Xu is still Now, leaving Jermaine O'Neal, the Pacers are still the most powerful contender for the championship.But Payton said, I can stay with the Lakers, I can go to the Spurs, I can go to the Mavericks, I can go to all the teams in this league, but I can’t go to the Pacers, because we just lost to him, even if I am far from the championship Going farther and farther, I will not go to the Pacers. I really want a championship, I want a championship crazily, but I also have pride and my backbone.

In the end, at Payton's insistence, Payton's agent rejected the Pacers' invitation. Since he can't go to the Pacers, he can only choose among the remaining strong teams, but the Spurs, Mavericks, and Pistons all There is a very good point guard. Even if Payton voluntarily cuts his salary, he can only be a substitute. With Payton's pride, it is naturally impossible to sit on the bench. Therefore, after picking and choosing, Payton finally chose the Celts.Although the current strength of the Celtics is still not up to the level of the league's first-class teams, the Celtics have reached the division semifinals for two consecutive seasons after the Cardinal re-emerged. Strategizing behind the scenes, with the addition of Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce, two outstanding players, the Celtics are not without the slightest chance of winning.

Although Payton rejected the Pacers' invitation, and Andre Miller also rejected the Pacers' offer because he wanted a tens of millions of contracts, but the Pacers are not completely without gains, at least there is no need to worry about the owner's offer. The coach is selected.On the day Payton announced that he would join the Celtics, the Pacers announced on their official website the new season's head coach candidate. The former Pistons head coach, Rick, who worked as an assistant coach for Larry Bird for 3 seasons- Carlisle officially joined the Pacers, and the two sides signed a three-year contract.

As soon as Rick Carlisle became the head coach of the Pacers, he contacted Meng Xu, who had returned to China, by phone. Rick Carlisle made a promise to Meng Xu on the phone for the new season, and also asked about Meng Xu has some team reinforcement issues. After the communication with Meng Xu, Rick Carlisle rushed to Portland non-stop to communicate with Jermaine O'Neal face to face. Although the Pacers still have a lot of work to do Do, but there is no doubt that successfully renewing Jermaine O'Neal's contract is the most important job right now.

Jermaine O'Neal is also very contradictory now. The Pacers have everything they need. Staying in the Pacers can win the championship and get a big contract. It is simply the best of both worlds. But Jermaine O'Neal's agent said I have been persuading Jermaine O'Neal to leave the Pacers and go to a team that can be the boss. According to the agent, no matter how many championships you win in the Pacers, you are still Meng Xu's younger brother. It is impossible to rank among the first-tier stars in the league. According to the stable performance of Jermaine O'Neal in the past two seasons, there are many teams in this league that are willing to give big contracts, especially the New York Knicks, who gave Jermaine O'Neal to the Spurs. After 6 years and 9000 million, the Knicks also joined in and are willing to give Jermaine O'Neal 6 years and 9600 million US dollars, so Jermaine O'Neal has no worries about where to go now.

Although the agent's words are reasonable, Jermaine O'Neal also has his own concerns. He has faced the Lakers in the finals for two consecutive seasons, and after being tortured by O'Neal every year, Jermaine O'Neal is now also dying. What? Punching Duncan and kicking O'Neal, Jermaine O'Neal doesn't even think about it now, although Jermaine O'Neal has now begun to be called the "fifth power forward" by the media, but Jermaine O'Neal is very calm , I know my own strength. The Pacers in front of me have Mutombo on the defensive end to help me defend and defend, and Meng Xu to help me fill in the gaps. On the offensive end, I don’t have to worry about it myself. With Meng Xu at the front, as long as I clock in and go to get off work every game, get a score of about 20, and grab more than 10 rebounds, the task is considered to be completed. Therefore, Jermaine O'Neal is very clear. After the team, especially without teammates like Meng Xu and Mutombo, what kind of situation will I face? My friend McGrady is a very good example. Although McGrady is the boss and core of the Magic, but When chatting with McGrady, McGrady envied himself very much, and envied himself for having such a powerful teammate.And after experiencing the dark years of the Blazers at the beginning of his career, Jermaine O'Neal was also very afraid that after changing a team, he would be like the Blazers.Therefore, Jermaine O'Neal has always been vacillating on the issue of staying or leaving, and even in order to calm himself down, Jermaine O'Neal ran directly from Indianapolis to Portland.

However, after Rick Carlisle went to Portland and found Jermaine O'Neal, after constant persuasion and communication, and after Meng Xu, who had already returned to China, repeatedly called Jermaine O'Neal, finally in 2003 On August 8th, Jermaine O'Neal and the Pacers officially reached a contract extension, 10 years 7 million US dollars, after the completion of the contract extension, starting from next season, Jermaine O'Neal will become the highest salary in the Pacers team player of.

After Jermaine O'Neal completed his contract extension, the soap opera about Shaquille O'Neal finally settled. In a big deal involving the Lakers, Heat and Wizards, a total of 3 players, O'Neal left After seven seasons, the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the Eastern Conference.In this big deal, the Lakers adopted the method of signing first and then changing. They first signed a 7-year $7 million contract with O'Neal, and then sent O'Neal and Devin George to get the "parallel import champion" of the Wizards. "Kwame Brown, and point guard Juan Dixon and a first-round pick next season, and the Heat's Brian Grant, Lamar Odom and a first-round pick next season, and the Wizards are Sent Kwame Brown, Juan Dixon and next season's first-round pick, got the Heat's Caron Butler and the Lakers' Devin George.The Heat sent Brian Grant, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, a first-round pick, and a second-round pick to get Shaquille O'Neal.

In the multiple-choice question of O'Neal or Kobe, the Lakers finally chose the younger Kobe. After O'Neal was traded, the Lakers' head coach Phil Jackson also held a press conference and announced that he would resign as the head coach of the Lakers due to physical reasons. After O'Neal left and Phil Jackson resigned, Kobe had no reason to leave. Finally, under the persuasion of the Lakers management, Kobe withdrew his transfer application and publicly issued a statement saying that he Will stay in Los Angeles forever.

Although this summer, Duncan, Kidd, Shaq O'Neal, and Jermaine O'Neal appeared in the league at one time with four billionaires, but in the recent period, all the limelight in the free market has been given to a second-round pick. In the 01-02 season, the Warriors selected Gilbert Arenas with the first pick in the second round. Under the training of Mike Budenholzer, Arenas scored 18.3 points and 4.7 rebounds. , 6.3 assists data, was elected the most improved player last season, and became a quasi-All-Star player.However, because the second-round pick can only sign a two-year contract, Arenas has become a restricted free agent this season. It is said that for a player like Arenas, the Warriors will definitely do everything possible to stay, but the Warriors are now But can only watch Arenas join the Wizards.It turns out that under the existing rules of the league, the Warriors whose salary exceeded the salary cap last season can only offer a contract with a starting salary of 490 million for the second-round pick Arenas. 490 million is definitely not in line with Arenas' current worth, and at this time, the Washington Wizards who broke out halfway directly offered Arenas a 6-year $6500 million contract, and the Warriors are restricted by the salary cap. Compared with the restrictions of the last round of labor negotiations, the Wizards' offer cannot be matched. In the end, the Warriors can only watch the Wizards sign Arenas.

Feeling greatly wronged by the Warriors, they appealed to the league, but the contract between the Wizards and Arenas has come into effect, and the league has nothing to do, but it is said that after a while of research by the league, in order to avoid this situation from happening again in the future , the league is preparing to formulate a new agreement called the "Arenas Clause". In the history of the NBA, there have been many things that changed the rules because of a certain player, but those players, whether it is George McCann, Wilt -Chamberlain, Bob Cousy, or Shaq O'Neal are all one of the best players of the era, but now the league has changed the rules for a second-round rookie, although Arenas performed very well last season, But he is far from the best, obviously far from the best. Therefore, after the news that the league will introduce the "Arenas Clause" spread, it immediately became the object of everyone's discussion on the cusp, and even the limelight of O'Neal joining the Heat was overshadowed. pass.

. . . . . .

"Xiao Meng, this year's Asian Championships is related to the quota for the Olympic Games, so there must be no mistakes!" Just after returning to China, Meng Xu just rushed to the national team to report after finishing this year's Asian tour. Jiang Quan, head coach of the national team, held Meng Xu's hand tightly. The first thing he said after seeing Meng Xu was about the upcoming Changchun Asian Championships. South Korea, coupled with the disastrous defeat at the World Championships, directly caused a major earthquake in the Chinese basketball world. Therefore, the first task given to Jiang Quan by the new leader of the Basketball Association after taking office is to get up from wherever he fell. In this year's Asian Championships, we must avenge our shame and beat South Korea.Now that the leaders have already issued a death order, Jiang Quan naturally did not dare to be careless. In addition, only the champion of the Asian Championships can participate in the Olympic Games next year, so the Changchun Asian Championships cannot be missed.

"With me, Da Zhi, and Yao here, there must be no problem." Meng Xu also watched last year's Asian Games finals. The strength of the South Korean team was indeed good, but the referee was obviously biased. After the basketball team lacked themselves and Wang Zhizhi, the South Korean team won very thrillingly. Therefore, after the return of themselves and Wang Zhizhi, this year's Asian Championships must be sure.

"It's good to have confidence. The Asian Championships will start soon. We don't have much time. You have to hurry up and get familiar with your teammates and tactics."

　Thank you for the monthly ticket of Wolong Zhuge, thank you.

　　Thank you for the monthly pass of the domineering D smile, thank you.

　　Thanks to Xiao Ke and UP for the two monthly tickets, thank you.

　　Thank you for the two monthly tickets of Kangnaike, thank you.

　　Thank you SABERLILI for the monthly pass, thank you.

　　Thank you Xiaolou for listening to the wind and rain ° monthly pass, thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)