NBA Backer King - Chapter 618
“what?”
At three o’clock in the afternoon, Kupchak received a call from O’Neal’s agent Leonard Amoto in Los Angeles, telling him that O’Neal applied for a trade.
“why?”
“Mr. Kupchak, do you think Shaq can still be on the same team as Kobe?”
“You let me think about it.”
Kupchak hung up the phone and asked his assistant to bring over a cup of coffee. His mind began to spin, how to deal with this emergency.
Today is the 13th, and the zero-hour trading window is officially closed on the 14th. It is now 15 o’clock. If you really want to trade, there are still 9 hours.
He called O’Neal again, but couldn’t get through, which made him basically sure that O’Neal really wanted to leave the Lakers.
But for this day, he has long been mentally prepared. Ever since Kobe said that “Shaq did it too”, O’Neal and Kobe can no longer coexist.
He’s leaning toward Bryant because of O’Neal’s more serious injuries and older age.
Now the Lakers are in some turmoil, mainly due to internal fighting among the Bass family. This matter may trigger another round of fierce struggle.
But fortunately, Mr. Bass is still in charge at the moment, and I hope he can handle this matter well.
He then notified Old Buss of the news. Old Buss didn’t seem surprised when he heard it, and said, “Mitch, try to keep him to finish this season. You tell his agent that there are only a few hours left. It was simply impossible to close the deal.
He still has one more season in his contract. Doesn’t he want to renew his contract early? During the offseason, you can have a good talk with him, agree to renew his contract early, and give him a contract, but he has many injuries and is getting older. Old K is still one year older, so our contract cannot be too big. ”
“Boss, I’m afraid he won’t stay.”
“It doesn’t matter, what should be retained is still to be retained. After all, O’Neal is the most dominant center in active service besides the old K. In addition, if he can’t stay in the end, he will trade decisively. It is best to trade Yao with the Nets. He is very young. , is the most powerful center after Old K and O’Neal.”
“OK.”
After finishing the phone call, Kupchak thought about it, and felt that there was no way to make a deal with the Nets, because Yao had just signed a 100 million yuan contract there.
He did not contact O’Neill’s agent immediately, and was going to wait until the trading window was closed before contacting.
But it didn’t take long for O’Neal’s agent, Leonard Amoto, to call to inquire about the transaction result.
“Mr. Amoto, the time is too short to complete the transaction. You should know the difficulties. I think O’Neal is best to finish this season. I hope you can persuade him. And we still hope to keep him, we will Renew the contract in advance, I hope you and Shaq will think about it carefully.” Kupchak persuaded.
“Then let me persuade Shaq again.”
In fact, Amoto doesn’t want O’Neal to leave Los Angeles either. There are many benefits to staying in a big city. If the Lakers are forced to trade and are sent to a small city, neither O’Neal nor him will benefit.
O’Neal is so eager to leave, but there is actually no conflict with the Lakers management. Now that the team agrees to renew the contract in advance, there is no problem at all, but there is a conflict with Kobe because of some stimulation.
Ended the call, he came to O’Neill’s room and began to persuade.
O’Neill can’t help it either. He was too stimulated and applied for a trade on the spur of the moment. Now he has calmed down over time.
Amoto has figured out what happened just now. There are so many people at the scene, and he can find out after a little inquiry.
But he doesn’t think that Old K has anything to do with Xiangni. After Old K was suspended last time, he left the United States as soon as the Western Conference finals were over.
Moreover, old K has a very good relationship with so many Hollywood actresses. With his wealth and connections, he doesn’t want any women. Even those Bai Fumei are willing, do you like Shanni?
As far as he knows, Old K has never had an affair with any black actress since he entered the league.
However, Shani has a problem, and the probability is very high.
It’s just that he can’t say anything, because O’Neal plays outside a lot.
“Shaq, don’t be stupid. If you leave the Lakers, you won’t have the chance to compete with the old K, and you will lose a lot of economic benefits. You only have one year left on your contract. If you are really traded to a small team , the next contract is not guaranteed at all.”
“Remember, everything is fake, money is real, don’t make trouble with money. Look at old K, even if the league targets him, those all-stars are still around him, why? Isn’t it because he has money ?”
Under his repeated persuasion, O’Neal finally agreed to stay, which made him relieved, and then notified the Lakers, and the Lakers also breathed a sigh of relief.
In the evening, one of the most luxurious private hotels in Los Angeles, a grand star party was staged at the K Times Club.
Now this kind of party, Pharaoh does not need CAA to operate it at all. He can invite more stars to join him with a single word. The number of stars joining the club has already exceeded the scope of CAA.
The current club is no longer the one that provided several VIP services in the past, but a large-scale social platform, with various parties almost every day.
“Arnold, welcome to my party.”
“Old K, it’s great to meet you!”
“Kevin, long time no see.”
“Old K, your comeback is too violent, haha!”
Not only Governor Arnold is here, but Sacramento Deputy Mayor Lightning Johnson is also here.
Dayao participated in this kind of party for the first time. Seeing the room full of fragrant female stars, he felt a little short of breath, so he had to sit awkwardly in the corner, looking at Old Wang from time to time.
The other all-stars rushed up to strike up a conversation with the actress, planning to have a fling or something, or leave a contact information to create conditions for flirting in the future.
But these are not the little stars and models at Lao Wang’s pool party. Those who can participate in this party are at least second-tier. How can it be so easy to get started? Moreover, 90% of the actresses here are white, and they have no interest in these black guys at all.
“Old K, you won’t be so stingy, will you not notify me of a celebrity party?”
Lao Wang, who was chatting with Lightning Arnold and the others, suddenly received a call from Jordan.
“The media reports every day that you and your wife are going to divorce. Why should I inform you? Are you speeding up the process of your divorce?”
Old Wang thinks about what happened to O’Neill at noon, and he gets dizzy. He would rather demolish a temple than destroy a marriage. He doesn’t want to destroy other people’s marriages.
“What does this have to do with you? I’m already here.” Jordan hung up the phone after finishing speaking.
“Here comes another bastard.” Pharaoh muttered softly.
“Old K, I won’t talk to you anymore, I’m going to play.”
Lightning, who was already on the verge of moving, left a word and went to find the target.
“A hero is sad for a beauty. Kevin is good at everything, but he just can’t control his crotch. If he has problems in the future, it must be related to female sex.” Old Wang shook his head.
Arnold shrugged and said with a smile: “Old K, you are right, this is indeed his only weakness.”
Soon, Jordan appeared at the party. If he is rich, he is handsome. As a rich and influential black guy, he is quite popular with actresses, and he immediately became one of the focal points.
Not long after, Pippen arrived.
“Hey, Scotty.”
When Jordan saw Pippen, he greeted him in the past.
“Hey, Michael, why are you here? By the way, I have some business introductions recently. I have some spare money and need to find a big project.”
The current Pippen is no longer the second child of Pippen who was about to go bankrupt in the past. He followed Lao Wang to do business, and now his net worth is very rich. When he saw Jordan, he also spoke with his chin held high. It means rich.
Jordan was really envious. He estimated that Pippen should have made a lot of money by holding Old K’s thigh for so many years.
And he himself is in some trouble now, the lawsuit in China is still going on, the first lawsuit has already been lost, and now he is going to fight the second one, and I am afraid it will take many years.
In terms of investment, he is really envious of Pippen being able to hug Old K’s thigh. Apart from the sneaker brand, he has no decent business.
Within a few minutes, Buckley arrived, with his wife.
“Charles, you should come alone. Didn’t you always come to this kind of party by yourself?” Old Wang joked.
Buckley quickly made a frightened expression and said: “Old K, don’t hurt me, when will I go to this kind of party alone?”
Maureen Brunhart made an angry expression very cooperatively, and feigned anger: “Charles, you actually did this behind my back?”
Barkley immediately denied: “Impossible, honey, I can’t be like Kobe O’Neal, I’m a gentleman.”
“Puff!”
People around who heard this sentence burst into laughter.
At noon, the topic about O’Neill and Shani and the topic of “going alone to have **** alone” has spread long ago. Old K is also involved in it, and many people know about it.
It happened that Kobe and Vanessa came in. When they heard this sentence, their expressions suddenly became very bad.
After Lao Wang saw it, he quickly shouted: “Come here, Kobe, Vanessa.”
When Buckley heard this, he hurriedly dragged his wife away, and Lao Wang couldn’t help but scream behind him.
“Tongue-chewing fat man!”
Kobe stared hard at Barkley’s back.
“Okay, you are all shareholders of the trading company, don’t argue, it’s just a joke.” Lao Wang persuaded, completely forgetting that he caused the topic just now.
“Old K, you broke O’Neill when you went back to change your clothes, didn’t you do it on purpose?” Kobe said with some dissatisfaction.
“Shut up! What does his **** have to do with me?”
Lao Wang glared at Kobe, and then said: “Do you think you have hope this year? You Big Three, no, plus David Robinson is the Big Four, F4 super lineup, huh! Injury? No one can put all their energy into the game. I think the Lakers are still planning to rebuild, and use O’Neal to trade LeBron James, maybe it will work.”
“That won’t work, it’s better to trade Yao.” Kobe said quickly.
He knows that James, a rookie, is a master who needs a lot of ball possessions. Isn’t it uncomfortable for him to bring him here?
Yao is the most suitable for him. He is very honest, does not need the ball, and does not fight for the boss. Old K has not returned to the Lakers.
“You’ve got it, the alliance will allow Dayao to leave the East?” Lao Wang shook his head.
Speaking of this, he shook his hand and said: “Okay, let’s not talk about this tonight. Vanessa, let me introduce you to some good friends.”
“Okay, old K.” Vanessa nodded quickly.
Lao Wang took Vanessa around the party, and Kobe followed.
On the night of the 14th, Staples Center, Skills Contest, Three Point Contest, Rookie Challenge.
“Papa…”
When Lao Wang appeared on the court, countless Los Angeles fans applauded, and he also waved.
Skills contest, Nash also participated, but in the end Baron Davis won the championship.
The slam dunk contest was won by Fred Jones, and the three-point contest was won by Watson Leonard.
These are the starters tonight, and the rookie challenge is the one that gets the most attention, because the freshman has LeBron James, who comes out every 20 years.
And James did not disappoint the fans. He knew what the fans wanted to see very well. He cooperated with Carmelo Anthony to complete alley-oops and dunk baskets again and again, which attracted cheers from the fans.
In the second grade, there was also a dunk player like Stoudemire, who also dunked constantly.
Combined, the two teams had 48 wonderful dunks in the game, which made the fans hooked. Some players even had the opportunity to dunk but failed to dunk, and they would be booed by the fans immediately.
But in the end, the second grade defeated the first grade, and Stoudemire won the MVP of the All-Star Rookie Challenge.
No. 15, the All-Star Game.
The West is too strong, especially the inside line. After playing for fun in the first half and being serious in the second half, after the third quarter, they led the East by 12 points.
In particular, Kobe and Lao Wang are very familiar with the internal and external cooperation. They assisted each other, dunk after dunk, and dunk after dunk. The two completed 6 alley-oops in total, of which Kobe had four dunks. .
However, Lao Wang didn’t play very hard. After playing for 28 minutes, he stopped playing and gave the chance to perform to the landlord Kobe.
In the end, Kobe won the 2004 All-Star AMVP.
On the 16th, the All-Star weekend ended, and Lao Wang and his team returned to Phoenix.
Arrived at the airport at noon and rushed directly to the headquarters. After lunch, the Suns set off for Minnesota. The first game after the All-Star Game was to challenge the Timberwolves away.
After the old Wang returned, the Suns won seven consecutive victories, and their record has already surpassed the Timberwolves. In addition, there is a little bit of MVP ranking between him and Garnett. This game is still quite interesting.
On the evening of the 17th, at the Target Center, the first half of the game was over. The two sides fought fiercely, and the score was tight. The Suns only led by 1 point.
Garnett didn’t face Lao Wang on the defensive end. He didn’t want to be broken by Lao Wang, but on the offensive end, he couldn’t avoid Lao Wang. The offense was not good. So far, he has only scored 11 points. Points, the hit rate is only 38%.
But the combination of the three-headed monster is really powerful. Even if Garnett’s offense is restricted, the madman and the aliens can still play with the Suns.
Pharaoh exploded in the first seven games. In the next regular season, he can’t always take so many shots, so he didn’t take a lot of shots in this game. He scored 18 points in the halftime. He mainly focused on defending Garnett. .
The second half began, in the fourth minute of the third quarter, Lao Wang pulled out, Stoudemire quickly cut in from the right wing, and played an alley-oop with Nash.
Since Stoudemire’s rookie season, he and Nash have often played like this, which is very popular with fans. He has already fallen in love with this pie-eating offensive method, and the cooperation between the two is very good.
But this time, something went wrong.
When Stoudemire cut in, Garnett, who was defending him, quickly caught up with a big cap from behind. He lost his balance in the air, turned his left knee when he landed, and fell to the floor with a cry of pain.
“Fuck!”
Old Wang cursed secretly, and ran over quickly.
“It’s over, old K, I’m over!” Holding his left knee, Stoudemire kept yelling with a mournful face.
“Don’t worry, maybe it’s just a small problem.” Old Wang comforted.
“This, old K, it’s none of my business, I didn’t meet him.” Garnett panicked in his heart, and took two steps back before shouting.
“Counsel!”
Lao Wang glanced at Garnett and didn’t bother to pay attention, am I an unreasonable person?
Stoudemire was carried down, and then sent to the hospital for examination.
D’Antoni relocated Marion to the fourth position, and Zhu Fangyu was on the third position.
Although Stoudemire was injured, the Suns had already decided to go to the top. In order to ensure the victory, Lao Wang then began to strengthen his offense, scoring 16 points in a single quarter and blasting the Timberwolves inside.
Garnett’s help defense is very good, but the main center of the Timberwolves, Erwin Johnson, was the No. 23 pick in the first round last year. His strength is too rubbish.
In the end, Lao Wang still scored 41 points and 17 rebounds, led the team to defeat the Timberwolves, achieved eight consecutive victories after the comeback, 41 wins and 15 losses, and ranked second in the Western Conference.
Just after the All-Star break, the Trail Blazers lost to the Pacers in an away game, leaving only one game behind the Suns and the Trail Blazers.
“Zhu Fangyu, you played pretty well.” After the game, he praised Zhu Fangyu.
The rookie played 14 minutes in the second half. He gave the rookie several times. He made 2 of 4 three-pointers and 1 of 2 two-pointers. He scored 8 points efficiently and sent a steal.
“Brother, Stoudemire is injured, can I play the main force?” Zhu Fangyu approached him with a smile and asked in a low voice.
“Don’t ask me this kind of question, the coaching staff will arrange it.” Lao Wang said noncommittally.