Bishop of the Devil

The players of the Charlotte Pirates must have been gathered together now. Although the lineup looks a bit shabby, this is the best lineup that Richard can produce now.

In addition to the coaching staff, other staff in the team are basically fully recruited at the moment.

Now just waiting for Richard to get the coaching staff together, this Pirates team will begin to set sail.

After Laimbeer was fired by the Bulls, Richard accepted him again.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was hired as the head coach by the New York Knicks. Currently, Richard's coaching staff still lacks a center coach, so Laimbeer can take over.

Miles also followed Richard to the Pirates and was responsible for handling Richard's daily affairs.

Cowens went to the NCAA, and may have been too deeply hurt by the NBA. He has never achieved decent results in the NBA these years.

Old Curry, like Miles, also came to the Buccaneers with Richard.

Laimbeer and Curry are responsible for training new players, and Myers is responsible for helping Richard handle team affairs. The coaching staff is almost enough at the moment, so Richard simply does not continue to recruit new players.

…

In the summer league, Richard asked Miles to take this year's three newcomers to participate. His current status will definitely not be involved in a game of this size in the summer league.

In early September, the Pirates started their training camp for the new season.

Even the three veterans, Mourning, Pippen and Payton, appeared at the training ground.

Speaking of which, Mourning actually seemed to be dreaming right now.

He never expected that Richard would choose him in the expansion draft...

If it were five or six years ago, he would have been quite confident in his own ability. At that time, although the four major centers in the league had not retired, but excluding O'Neal, he felt that there was really no center in the league who dared to say that. Better than yourself.

Even in Mourning's view, he was better than O'Neal in 1999 because he beat O'Neal to be selected for the first team.

But now, because of kidney disease, he knows very well that he is almost useless.

Even if it's not completely useless, it would be nice to have half of the strength left.

Not only does he know this very well, but probably every player and coach in the league knows it too.

Coupled with his current age, he has no potential left to tap.

Although the amount of his contract is not large, only about five million US dollars, with this money, Richard can fully utilize his talent in selecting people and select some potential and capable newcomers.

At the moment, Mourning doesn't know what Richard values ​​about him...

However, he was quite excited to join Richard's team, and he might have the opportunity to taste the taste of a championship.

To this day, Mourning's luck is quite bad. In his career of more than ten years, he has never won a championship.

Richard stood in front of fifteen players, feeling proud and ambitious in his heart.

After a full ten years, he finally became the owner of an NBA team.

"Guys, I won't say too much."

"You just have to remember that if you stay with this Buccaneers team, you will definitely get a taste of a championship."

"We are a new army and everything is new."

"So, I don't want my team to rely on its veterans and bully the newcomers. If he really relies on his seniority to bully the newcomers, I think he will never have a good life in the Pirates!"

Richard is well aware of the importance of a team's atmosphere to the team's overall strength.

The Pirates are now a new team, so Richard attaches great importance to the team's atmosphere. This matter must be taken care of from the beginning. If a bad atmosphere develops, the Pirates' growth rate will definitely be greatly reduced.

Richard is not afraid of those players who were picked up in the expansion draft and will rely on their veterans. They are all players who have been abandoned by various teams. They are really not qualified to rely on their veterans. It would be good if they can survive in the NBA.

As for this year's three newcomers, it is even more impossible for them to be new.

Therefore, Richard meant these words more to Pippen and other three veterans.

Veterans are a double-edged sword. Some veterans can bring harmony to the team's locker room, while some veterans are born with the attribute of being a locker room bomb...

Like Pippen!

Mourning and Payton nodded. Both of them are relatively low-key players off the court. They don't like to talk much. Although they are not very kind to newcomers, they certainly won't be full. Go to the new wife...

There is only one Pippen, and this guy is an unstable factor in Richard's opinion.

If Jordan hadn't strongly requested Pippen, Richard wouldn't have had much interest in Pippen.

…

The corner of Pippen's mouth twitched, and he caught Richard's gaze looking at him.

"Is Richard trying to warn me?" Pippen frowned and thought to himself.

The relationship between him and Richard cannot be said to be very good, and there were even some conflicts before.

As for Richard, Pippen doesn't have a good impression anyway.

Now that he had just joined the team, he realized that Richard was targeting him, so it was strange that he felt so comfortable.

He didn't panic. Anyway, this team was not Richard's alone. Jordan still owned half of the shares. He really didn't believe that Richard could do anything to him.

…

"Coach, don't worry, we old bones have only one goal, and that is the championship." Payton said to Richard in a low voice.

"That's right, coach, we will play the role that veterans should play. Our only goal now is to win the championship, and we will never cause anything that shouldn't happen." Kidney fighter Mourning also said with a smile.

Because of kidney disease, Mourning's temper is much better now than before.

After going through the tribulation, some things have opened up and my mentality has become more easy-going.

After hearing what Mourning and Payton said, Pippen curled his lips in disdain. His only goal is to win the championship? Are you kidding me? I already have six championship rings.

…

"Yes, although we are a new team, we also have lofty ideals, which is to win the championship as quickly as possible."

Richard is quite satisfied with the attitude of Mourning and Payton.

A veteran in a family is like a treasure. These two veterans are both top defensive veterans. If they impart some experience to the newcomers, they will definitely improve their defensive awareness.

Mourning can compete with Ben for DPOY, while Payton is the best defensive player at the first position in the entire NBA history.

The best, bar none...

In Richard's view, these two extremely experienced veterans are definitely a huge asset.

…

There are no training programs planned today, the main thing is for everyone to meet and get acquainted with each other.

As for tomorrow, the Pirates have arranged physical examinations for the players.

Richard thought for a while and felt that today was a good opportunity to use the "Group Therapy Technique". After using it, he would take a physical examination tomorrow to see if it had any effect.

"Group therapy: Before the start of each season, the host coach can use this skill on all players with guaranteed contracts in the team. Random target players will not be affected by old illnesses for the duration of the season."

"The skill effect is guaranteed to be applied to one player, with a 50% chance of two players, a 20% chance of three players, a 10% chance of four players, and the upper limit is four players!"

This is the effect of group therapy skills. The new season has not yet started, and now is the best time to use group therapy.

"Use the coaching skill "Group Therapy"!" Richard muttered silently to the system in his mind.

Next, a halo of light shrouded the feet of the fifteen players in the training ground.

Seeing that there was no abnormality among the players, Richard knew that only he could see the aperture.

About a minute later, Richard received a system prompt in his mind.

"The group healing skill was used successfully, and Scottie Pippen triggered the group healing effect. During the duration of the new season, the competitive status will not be affected by the old illness."

Richard was stunned. He never expected that the effect of this skill would be triggered on Pippen...

If he had known this earlier, Richard would rather not use this skill.

Pippen is not in Richard's team building plan. If Pippen is allowed to return to his former glory, it is likely to affect the playing time of Iguodala and Ariza.

These newcomers need sufficient playing time to hone, coupled with the route set by Richard, only in this way can they enter their peak period faster than under normal circumstances.

But now that Pippen has triggered this effect, it's quite difficult.

If Pippen's condition has declined significantly, then no one can fault Richard for not giving him playing time.

And if Pippen is in good competitive form, something terrible might happen...

For a moment, Richard felt quite miserable.

"Why not Mourning or Payton?!" Richard thought in pain.

In Richard's view, since this skill can prevent players from being affected by old diseases throughout the season, Mourning's kidney disease should also be within the scope of old diseases...

Without the worries and effects of kidney disease, Mourning, who is still young, can definitely play a huge role.

Of course, this effect can only last for one season. If Mourning cannot trigger this effect next season, his kidney disease will definitely "relapse"...

As for Payton, he is in a similar situation to Pippen. Although there are no serious injuries, professional players will inevitably have some old diseases when they play at this age. Once these old diseases are eliminated, it will definitely be difficult for them to return to their strength. It's at its peak, but at least it's much stronger than it is now.

Richard was a little speechless. It seemed that his lucky attributes were not good enough, and the Pirates had a somewhat unfavorable start.

Fortunately, the Pirates have no plans to hit the playoffs this season, so the impact is not particularly big.