Bishop of the Devil

Richard has no ill feelings toward Sloan. On the contrary, he admires this head coach who has devoted his entire coaching career to a team.

But there is no way. The two sides have different positions and it is destined to be impossible to coexist harmoniously.

Especially now that Sloan has jumped out and blatantly accused Nowitzki of becoming an All-Star, Richard will definitely not be able to sit idly by.

He is the leader of the Portland gang. It is really unjustifiable to turn a blind eye to this kind of thing.

Besides, Richard didn't think there was anything ridiculous...

In this year's Western Conference backcourt, it's not just Nowitzki who has entered. Even Michael Finley, who ranked tenth in the Western Conference backcourt voting, was selected as an All-Star backcourt substitute.

This is the second season of Nowitzki's career. Nowitzki's statistics in his rookie season are indeed not very good, but this season, because Richard put him in the starting lineup most of the time and gave him A lot of playing time, so in terms of data, the driver is fully qualified to be selected.

He averaged 45.7% field goal percentage, 37.9% three-pointers, and averaged 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. Although his defensive performance was indeed not very good, there was no fault in being selected for the All-Stars with this data.

"absurd!"

At the Trail Blazers' post-game press conference, Richard slapped the table and shouted "ridiculous" as soon as he came up!

The reporters in the audience laughed one after another. Richard was going to cause trouble!

"I recently noticed that some jealous guys said some pretty ridiculous things because they were jealous of four of our Blazers players being selected for the All-Stars. This made me quite dissatisfied!"

"Well, the jealous guys I'm talking about here are the Jazz guys!"

"Don't they take a look at what level they are at now? They can't do anything well, they can't eat anything, and their current record is on par with a team like the Timberwolves, and they still have the nerve to come out and embarrass themselves!"

The reporters in the audience were unable to complain. The Timberwolves were shot while lying down...

"If I were them, I would definitely behave with my tail between my legs now. If I don't have the strength, don't come out and embarrass yourself!"

"Now tell me that Nowitzki is not qualified to be selected as an All-Star. Come on, tell me where we are not qualified?!"

"We are still the strongest team in the Western Conference. Who dares to deny?! Even the Lakers, do they dare to deny that we are the strongest team in the Western Conference?!"

"No, we are the strongest team in this league!"

"Nowitzki is on the strongest team in the league, averaging 20+5+4 per game, and his shooting percentage is quite high. Who can tell me where he is not qualified to be selected as an All-Star?!"

"Anyway, I'm more qualified than your Jazz. When your Jazz can beat our Blazers, it won't be too late to show off!"

Richard slapped the table and roared loudly.

The reporters nodded. Richard was actually right. Jazz really didn't pay attention to him at all this time. He might have been annoyed...

It's strange that a long-established team like them can calm down even though not a single All-Star has been selected!

"Coach Richard, I heard from the gossip that before the coaches' voting started, you called the head coaches of many teams and asked them to vote for the Trail Blazers players. Is this the case?" A reporter stood up.

This reporter is quite well informed...

But you definitely can’t hide this kind of thing, and Richard didn’t plan to hide it at the beginning!

You must know that in addition to the head coach's vote, there is also a group of assistant coaches. Richard called the head coaches of ten teams in total, and there were almost forty assistant coaches under these head coaches!

With so many people, it is inevitable that the news will be revealed in a careless manner.

Now that this reporter asked such a question, Richard was even more angry...

"who!"

"Who said that?! I, Richard, don't admit it..."

"This is completely a smear campaign by Chi Guoguo. Only rats in the sewers would wantonly spread this kind of news that has no basis in fact!"

"Nowitzki is selected as an All-Star. That is what people want and it has nothing to do with me!"

"Besides, even if this news is true, so what? I have the ability to canvass votes for my players. If the Jazz are dissatisfied, they can also canvass votes, and no one will stop them!"

The reporters didn't know what to say at all, and Richard started going rogue again.

This scoundrel acted so confidently that he could find no fault at all...

…

On February 15th, All-Star Weekend officially begins!

Richard bought his own tickets to enter this time, mainly because he wanted to see the rookie game...

This year's Rookie Challenge has begun to change its format and has become a format for the rookie team to challenge the sophomore team, so a large number of West Lafayette players were selected.

What surprised Richard was that under normal circumstances, the Rookie Challenge was actually played with eight people per side at the beginning, but later it was changed to nine people...

But this year, there are nine people on one side!

There are 9 people on the rookie team and 9 people on the sophomore team, for a total of 18 participants!

The lineup of the rookie team almost scared the fans to death...

Brand, Francis, Davis, Odom, Szczerbiak, Hamilton, Artest, Kirilenko and Ginobili!

All six Purdue juniors were selected, as were the two foreign newcomers Richard received this year!

The only player who is not from West Lafayette is Francis...

There were only nine players in the rookie team, and it turned out that eight of them were Richard's direct team!

This horrified the fans to death. It seems that the day when West Lafayette dominates the league is not far away...

Although the roster for the rookie game is also voted by the coaches, it is impossible for the coach to choose some stinky tomatoes and rotten bird eggs newcomers to participate. That is simply an insult to the All-Star Weekend.

The players they selected are all very impressive among the rookies. Even if they are not in the top nine, they are still far away!

In other words, among this year's rookies, among the top players, except for Francis, everyone else is Richard's direct team!

This is simply too scary...

It’s no wonder that the Trail Blazers are now the strongest team in the league. With Richard’s talent selection vision, it’s no wonder they are not strong!

Each team also thought of one thing.

That's Richard's contract with the Trail Blazers...

When Richard signed with the Trail Blazers, this matter attracted considerable attention in the league. Everyone clearly remembers that the contract signed by Richard and the Trail Blazers was for four years!

In other words, after this year is over, if Richard does not renew his contract with the Trail Blazers, then Richard will become a free agent!

Such a head coach is simply an unimaginably huge asset, far more useful than one or two stars!

It would be great if we could recruit Richard...

They may also be like the current Trail Blazers and directly become the league's super power in the short term!

Now various teams have begun to think about how to attract Richard...

…

Richard naturally knows that his contract with the Trail Blazers is about to expire, but he really has no plans to leave the Trail Blazers right now.

We won the championship last season, and we still have a pretty good chance of winning it this season!

As long as he wins the championship next season, Richard will create the Blazers dynasty!

At this juncture, Richard would definitely not want to leave...

Forming a dynasty is a huge attraction for both stars and head coaches!

…

In addition to the terrifying rookie team, the lineup of the second-year team also scares fans from all sides!

Nowitzki was disqualified from the rookie game because he was selected as an All-Star.

Bibby, Jamison, Larry Hughes, Pierce, Harrington, Mobley, Olowokandi, Bai Qiao, LaFrentz.

All four Purdue juniors in the 1998 draft were selected, as were Harrington and Mobley, who were selected by Richard in 1998. That means the remaining three are not direct descendants of Richard.

Lewis was not selected for the Rookie Challenge. In fact, Richard still felt a little guilty.

The main reason is that there is really no chance for Lewis to display his talents at the moment, mainly because this guy's defense is really bad...

If Harrington can be trained, Richard will definitely give priority to training Harrington. After all, Harrington's defense is better than Lewis...

However, after this season ends, Richard may try to sell Harrington, who has only one year left on his rookie contract, and may try to reuse Lewis by then.

…

Among the nine-man roster of the rookie team, there are eight players who are direct descendants of Richard!

Among the nine-man roster of the second-year team, six are direct players of Richard...

There were a total of eighteen newcomers, and it turned out that there were fully fourteen players from West Lafayette!

It's absolutely terrifying!

Tickets for the Rookie Challenge are relatively cheap. Richard spent $3,000 to buy venue tickets.

When the players from both sides started to enter, what stunned everyone in the stadium was that these newcomers, as long as they were West Lafayette players, all ran to Richard and gave Richard a hug. …

As a result, there was nothing else to watch during the entrance ceremony except for seeing more than a dozen newcomers hugging Richard.

…

It would not be an exaggeration to say that this Rookie Challenge is a civil war between West Lafayette players!

Even the second-year team has six players who belong to the West Lafayette system. After coming on the field, these players will definitely pass the ball to their own players. Those players who are not from the West Lafayette system will just go through the motions after coming on the field. Some Post players may not even be able to touch the ball for several minutes...

…

Although it was just a rookie challenge, Richard still watched it with gusto.

Because the standard of this game is actually comparable to some All-Star games with relatively dim stars.

The two sides fought back and forth, but it was obvious that the rookie team had a considerable advantage.

Mainly due to the inside combination of Brand and Kirilenko, the second-year team really couldn't deal with it.

At the end of the game, Brand won the MVP of this Rookie Challenge with 32 points and 17 rebounds.

Now Brand has begun to stand out and has a bright future. Richard is pleased to see this.

Compared with Olowokandi, the No. 1 pick in the 1998 draft, Brand is really like a god, completely turning Olowokandi into a scumbag on the court...

…

The rookie game was over, and Richard had no interest in the following Masters game. He went back to the hotel to rest and wait for tomorrow's miscellaneous games.

The honor of dunk king was won by Vince Carter. McGrady performed well in the first round, but ultimately lost to his cousin Carter.

As for the three-point contest, Richard was pleasantly surprised. Ginobili passed the test one after another and won the honor of the final three-point king!

Although Mobley participated in the final skills competition, it was just a formality, and the final result was not very satisfactory.

…

On Sunday night, the much-anticipated All-Star Game finally began.

The main reason is that there are a large number of West Lafayette teams participating this time. Otherwise, Richard might really be reluctant to buy expensive tickets to watch the game.

In the East, the Purdue Twins of the Philadelphia 76ers were all selected to the All-Stars. Among them, Iverson was the starting guard in the East and Da Zhi was the backup forward.

In fact, it's a pity that Da Zhi didn't make the starting lineup. The main reason is that Vince Carter ran as a forward. If Carter ran as a defender, then Da Zhi would have a chance to start.

His votes ranked third among the forwards in the Eastern Conference!

Although the Chinese All-Star voting interface is not currently open, there are still a considerable number of Chinese in the United States, and these Chinese will definitely vote for Dazhi.

When the voting interface is opened in two years, Dazhi will even have a chance to win the honor of the top vote winner!

…

In addition to the two Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference, the Bulls' Rasheed Wallace was selected as a forward substitute.

On the Western side, excluding the four from the Trail Blazers and one Kobe from the Lakers, there are five in total...

There are a total of eight West Lafayette players on both sides!

There are 24 All-Stars in total, and West Lafayette players account for one-third of them!

Fans know very well that although it is only one-third now, in two years' time, West Lafayette players will definitely account for half of the All-Star roster!

Even being monopolized by West Lafayette players like the rookie game is not completely impossible!

Because judging from the selection of West Lafayette players in recent years, there are more and more every year...

Richard had just entered the league's first All-Star Game, and no West Lafayette player was selected to the All-Star Game.

For the second All-Star, the number has increased to three, Iverson in the East, Kobe Bryant and O'Brien in the West!

As for the third year, the All-Star Game was not held, but in the eyes of the fans, if it were held, there should be five or six West Lafayette players selected for this year's All-Star Game!

As for the current season, it has steadily increased to 8 people!

It is foreseeable that the number of West Lafayette players in the All-Stars next season may increase to double digits!

…

Richard was naturally very pleased to see eight of his direct team members selected as All-Stars. He was all smiles while watching the game on the sidelines.

But after watching the first quarter of the game, he couldn't laugh anymore.

Fortunately, it's okay in the Eastern Conference. Jeff Van Gundy is a relatively junior coach. He doesn't dare to offend anyone rashly. Basically, the twelve All-Stars in the Eastern Conference all got more or less playing time in the first quarter of the game!

As for the west side, it was quite painful for Richard.

Jackson Jackson didn't let any Trail Blazers player come on the court in the first quarter!

This almost made Richard angry...

He does know that Jackson Jackson is such a virtuous person. Under normal circumstances, the All-Stars he coaches rarely give playing time to substitute All-Stars.

For example, in the All-Star Game of the 1999-00 season, Jeff Van Gundy in the Eastern Conference allowed the starting players to play for an average of 25-6 minutes, and the bench players for 18-9 minutes...

Everyone plays about the same amount of time. There are slightly more starting players, but not too much. Everyone is in harmony.

But that's not the case with the Zen Master in the Western Conference. He gives a lot of playing time to the starting players. Among them, Garnett's playing time even reached 35 minutes!

But even so, Jackson didn't let the Blazers play in the first quarter, which completely pissed off Richard.

Is this Chi Guoguo's fault? !

In the second quarter of the game, Big Ben and Xiao Ou came on the court. One played for three minutes and then was replaced.

In the second half, Robinson and Nowitzki also got the chance to play, but they only played for three to five minutes!

At the end of the game, Richard suddenly discovered that his four favorite disciples, Ben and O'Neill, played for 11 minutes each. As for Robinson and Nowitzki, they only played for a measly seven minutes!

This made Richard completely fried...

He just ended up fighting against Jazz's Sloan in person, and now it seems that he has to fight against the Zen Master again!

What does this mean? !

Chi Guoguo's target for the Trail Blazers? !

What makes Richard even more speechless is that the old guy Jackson doesn't seem to be very satisfied with the Spurs. Duncan played 25 minutes in this game, the least playing time among all the starting players.

But playing for 25 minutes is still reasonable...

At least it's better than the Trail Blazers!

In this All-Star Game in history, Duncan and O'Neal shared the honor of All-Star MVP!

The result may be that Popovich jumped out to oppose the Lakers' plan to limit the shark-cutting tactics, and the Jackson directly cut part of Duncan's playing time.

Duncan's statistics were naturally not very good, and he ended up with 17 points and 8 rebounds.

In the end, the league directly shared the honor of All-Star MVP with O'Neal and Garnett!

…

Zen Master targeted the Trail Blazers tonight, and it can be said that he targeted them unscrupulously, which is very obvious!

Obviously, he didn't care about Richard's revenge afterwards...

Besides, when Richard coached the Western Conference All-Stars last time, he did this kind of thing even more than the Zen Master did!

At least Jackson was just deducting playing time from the substitute All-Stars. When Richard last coached the Western Conference All-Stars, he was depriving the starting players of playing time...

The Lakers were deducted quite miserably that time!

Now after thirty years of Hedong and thirty years of Hexi, the Lakers have regained their place...

Therefore, when the Zen master did this kind of thing, it can be said that he did it with integrity and was not afraid of Richard finding trouble.

You Richard can do it, but I, Phil Jackson, can't do it? !

You, Richard, only have one championship, and I, Jackson, have six. I am more qualified than you to do this kind of thing...

…

Richard was immediately pissed off!

Originally, the relationship between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers was not very good, but there were no serious conflicts.

Richard originally thought that with Kobe joining the Lakers, the relationship between the two teams would become much better.

But now it seems that Richard misunderstood the Zen master's jealousy.

The Zen master was really unhappy with Richard, or maybe he was jealous.

He couldn't understand why Richard only had one championship at hand, but was the most popular head coach in the league!

I also don’t understand why Kobe hasn’t cared much about himself since he came to the Lakers. Instead, he keeps talking about what Richard would do in this situation...

Zen Master is a very proud coach, it’s strange that he tolerates such nonsense!

Now that he has the opportunity to rectify the Blazers, he will naturally not show mercy!

Anyway, the Lakers and Trail Blazers will definitely be their biggest competitors in the past two years. If they offend them, they will be offended. He doesn't believe that Richard can do anything to him.

Could it be that if he didn't provoke the Trail Blazers, Richard would be merciful to the Lakers?

For example, don’t use the shark-killing tactic?

…

When Kobe saw Richard's angry and ferocious expression on the court, he couldn't help but wailed in his heart.

He was extremely familiar with Richard's expression...

This is a prelude to going on a rampage!

Now Kobe can only pray secretly that Richard can control his violent temper and never attack the Lakers, otherwise, he will be embarrassed.

…

"I hope the coach won't be violent this time..."

"Good guy, if we really get into a fight, what will I do?"

Kobe's face was solemn, and he was very worried...

He knew very well that Richard was definitely not the kind of master who could take advantage of him. Tonight, the Zen Master squatted on Richard's head and defecated. It was strange that he could bear it!

…

Before the game was over, Richard left the game early, then returned to Portland overnight, asking Stevens to help him inform the media that he was going to hold a press conference!

No matter whether the Lakers use some dirty tricks in the next game or not, Richard must take this tone now!

…

Reporters from all walks of life are also well aware of what happened during the All-Star game.

The main reason is that what Zen Master Jackson did was a little obvious, just like when Richard was coaching, it was so obvious that anyone with a discerning eye could immediately see what Zen Master's purpose was.

And Richard's main purpose that time was to let his players play more time, which was an act of benefiting himself at the expense of others.

This time, Zen Master completely harmed others and did not benefit himself. He did not let O'Neal and Kobe play for too long, but instead benefited the All-Star players of other teams.

This is what Chi Guoguo wants to suppress the Trail Blazers!

Reporters, if you think about Richard's temper and his tendency to retaliate, it's strange that he can suffer such a loss!

Countless reporters rushed to Portland...

They knew very well that Richard was going to completely attack Zen Master Jackson!

…

The huge venue of the Rose Garden Arena was filled with hundreds of reporters.

There were even reporters coming from Los Angeles...

"Thank you all for attending this private press conference today!"

"Yes, this press conference is indeed private, and the remarks I make below only represent my own opinions!"

Richard sneered at the hundreds of reporters in the audience.