Bishop of the Devil

After chatting with Woodson on the court for a while, Richard suddenly had a good impression of Woodson.

I have to say that anyone who can get the position of head coach in the NBA must have two skills.

Some rely on their strong coaching abilities, such as Richard and Carlisle.

Some rely on their own network skills...

Of course, there are also Woodson who relies on his far superior vision and every word he says makes Richard feel quite comfortable. Although such a person may not have great coaching ability, he can definitely make a living.

…

After winning the first game, Jordan, who was sitting on the sidelines, breathed a sigh of relief. At least the first game got off to a good start and the attendance rate would not plummet in the future.

In fact, Jordan is already prepared to lose money this season. After all, the new team created by himself and Richard will not be able to get dividends from the league in the first two seasons.

If you just count on selling some jersey peripherals, you won't make much money at all.

Now it all depends on the attendance. If the attendance is good, then the Pirates will probably make some money. If the attendance is not good, then they will definitely lose money.

Of course, if you lose, you won't lose much. After all, the two have reduced costs, and the operating costs this season are less than 60 million.

You must know that the annual operating costs of teams like the New York Knicks or Los Angeles Lakers can sometimes reach more than 200 million US dollars!

In terms of cost alone, the Pirates will spend much less than them...

…

In this game, Milicic's performance was pretty good. After training in the previous six preseason games, his shots have become much more decisive. Coupled with the good helper of Fathead Walker, he played tonight He scored 29 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block.

Such a statistic is certainly nothing to O'Neal or Yao Ming. Their average points per game are almost the same.

But for Milicic, today was a quite memorable night.

He finally produced All-Star level data, and he finally lived up to Richard's expectations.

At noon the next day, Richard called Milicic into his office.

"Dakko, you've been doing well recently. Keep working hard. I think you may have a chance to become an All-Star this season."

"This is our first All-Star in the history of the Buccaneers, and I hope you can seize this opportunity!"

Richard smiled all over his face and tried his best to look gentle and not put pressure on Milicic.

Milicic's whole body tensed up when he heard the word All-Star.

Once upon a time, he was still playing basketball in Moscow. Although he never told anyone, he deeply believed that he would soon become an All-Star player after entering the NBA.

But this idea was immediately forgotten after joining the Pistons.

At that time, he felt that not to mention being an All-Star, it had become a luxury to have a stable starting opportunity.

Now Richard's words have aroused his desire again.

"Coach, I will work hard."

"I will not live up to your expectations!"

Milicic said to Richard with a solemn expression.

Richard felt happy, it was really rare, Milicic actually said two words today, it was so rare and valuable.

You know, the most Milicic could answer before was "ok" or "I understand"...

Looking at Milicic's condition, Richard feels that it won't take long for his efforts to reap rewards.

"By the way, Darko, if you encounter provocation from an opponent's player on the court, don't worry so much, just do it and be done with it."

"You can think about whether any of the insiders I have coached has ever been bullied on the court."

"In the last few games, you should have noticed that there are a lot of stupid young people who want to prove themselves against you. If you encounter this kind of thing in the future, don't be soft-hearted, just fight when it's time to fight. If anything happens, I will be there for you." I'll carry it for you." Richard looked quite serious when he said this.

These words are definitely not without purpose, but in recent games, many opponent players have indeed provoked Milicic.

Like those star-level players, they have no need to provoke Milicic. The reason is simple.

One is the fear of retaliation from Richard or the West Lafayette gang, which can be either minor or serious.

If it's serious, Richard will lead others to destroy him, and he will find someone to reason with.

If he were to take it seriously, Richard would definitely catch him and scold him, which would definitely make him lose face...

The key is that when Richard scolds you, you can't talk back. If you do, Richard may find some vicious way to punish you.

The second reason is price reduction. If these stars provoke a parallel importer, wouldn't it be an act of devaluation if word spreads about it?

So those stars did not provoke Milicic...

On the contrary, those stinky tomatoes and rotten bird eggs like to have a sense of existence.

In their current state, it will be difficult for them to stay in the NBA for a long time. You must know that the average NBA player can survive in the league for only 4.8 years...

Considering that rookie contracts are three or four years old, you can see how high the elimination rate in the NBA is.

They are not very afraid of Richard's revenge. Who knows if there will be another season to play, or even whether they can play in the next game.

Therefore, some smart Rotten Tomatoes players try their best to create disputes and gain as much presence as possible every time they appear. This has the opportunity to extend their careers...

Whether the team likes to stab the head or not depends on the situation.

If he becomes a thorn in his own team, the team will definitely not like it and will make him pack up and get out early.

But if you can be a thorn in the side of other teams, then the teams will like it...

If this thorn can match up with the opponent's core team, then the team will probably like it more.

Many well-known blue-collar players actually rose up along this route.

For example, Bowen, in the eyes of these Rotten Tomatoes-level players, is completely idol-like.

He almost relied on this method to become the core of the Spurs' perimeter defense. With a good contract, it is definitely more than enough to support his family anyway.

For example, Zaza in later generations generally followed the same path. Many fans know him from the time he stepped in for Leonard, but in fact, he was a quite dirty player before he went to the Warriors...

With these successful cases, some players find another way. I can't defeat you in a head-to-head confrontation, but I can disgust you...

Milicic can be said to be their obvious target.

Kwame Brown also encountered this situation before. Countless trash players provoked him to increase his presence...

Do you really want to say that these players are better than Kwame Brown? That's certainly not the case. No matter how good he is, he is still a starting-level player.

It’s just that for the level of a top scholar, it’s a bit watery…

Provoking such a well-attended player may make these players in the news and gain the attention of the team and fans.

Anyway, it is a matter of great benefit and no harm.

Milicic is now in the same situation as Kwame Brown. In the eyes of those rubbish players, you are a parallel importer, how can you be a starter and how can you get so much playing time...

Mentally unbalanced and wanting to gain a sense of presence, they provoked Milicic from time to time.

And Milicic is a boring gourd type player. Faced with this kind of provocation, he can only get sulky...

Richard feels that if this continues, it is not impossible for Milicic to have a psychological distortion.

Now Milicic needs to vent...

This is the reason why Richard said these words.

"coach……"

"sorry, I……"

Milicic wants to say that he is not a person who likes to cause disputes and does not like to have conflicts with opponents on the court.

It is quite normal to have this idea. Thinking about his childhood, he must have had a shadow of war and violence, and it is normal to have resistance to this.

Richard knew what Milicic meant and didn't say much, just smiled.

This kind of thing happens in the NBA. It doesn't mean that you can avoid causing trouble if you don't want to cause trouble. Some troubles will take the initiative to find you.