Bishop of the Devil

Paying attention to the joint trial training of the rookies, Richard's purpose is naturally not to pick out any good prospects...

This is the job of the scouts, and Richard is no stranger to the 1996 draft!

In fact, any fan is familiar with the 1996 draft. This was the draft that produced the largest number of stars in NBA history. Even Jordan's Diamond Generation and the 2003 Platinum Generation, the number of stars they produced was incomparable. The golden generation of 1996.

Pull a random fan over and ask him to talk about the stars of the 1996 generation, and I'm afraid he can easily name at least five...

Kobe, Iverson, Nash, Ray Allen, Marbury, Camby, Big Ben...

Richard is no exception. He is well aware of the powerful rookies. The reason why he pays attention to the joint trial training is actually to see how his four favorite disciples who participated in the draft are doing...

Iverson, Ben, Miller and Raheem!

After the joint trial training, each team's individual trial training will begin. This trial training will continue until the start of the draft!

As a team that is preparing to tear down and rebuild, the Trail Blazers must not remain indifferent before the draft begins...

Because the day before the draft starts, the door to the trading market opens, and Richard must start clearing out unused players in the team, using this as a bargaining chip in exchange for draft picks, or strong newcomers!

It can be said that Richard will definitely be very busy in the coming period...

The coaching staff, trials, trades, drafts, none of it can be completed in a day or two!

It wasn't until this moment that Richard finally realized the difference between the NBA and the NCAA...

Before the start of each new season, NCAA head coaches actually don’t have to do much. Most of the work revolves around recruiting new players...

This is not the case for NBA coaches, who need to deal with more things!

The key salary is not necessarily higher than that of NCAA coaches. No wonder those top coaches are unwilling to come to the NBA...

Only a fool would be willing to do this kind of work with less money and more work!

…

At nine-thirty the next day, Richard set out from the hotel the team rented for him, taking Stevens with him to prepare for the 10 a.m. press conference.

When local reporters in Portland met Richard, the "legendary" coach, they all exclaimed...

He really looks too young. Compared with those old coaches who seem to be on their deathbed, Richard is undoubtedly a young player.

Coupled with Richard's handsome but slightly melancholy face, some female reporters in the audience whispered to each other, covering their mouths and laughing from time to time.

At ten o'clock, the press conference officially began.

"Journalist friends, I believe you have all guessed that today is the day that Coach Richard takes office as the head coach of our Trail Blazers!" Team CMO Huggins said to the reporters in the audience with a smile at the beginning.

Reporters were not surprised by this news. In fact, when Richard arrived in Portland yesterday, news had already spread that Richard would sign with the Trail Blazers.

"The following is question time, please raise your hands to ask..."

…

"Mr. Richard, as far as I know, many teams in the league have invited you. What is your purpose in choosing the Trail Blazers?" A reporter stood up and asked a question that all reporters were curious about.

When the NCAA Black March ended, management from at least ten teams visited Richard, which was breaking news at the time...

But until yesterday, there had been no further news.

Just when reporters thought Richard would continue to work in the NCAA, in the blink of an eye, Richard completed a contract with the Trail Blazers...

"Be sincere, the pioneers' sincerity impressed me!"

"Mr. Richard, based on what we know about you, does your joining the Trail Blazers mean that the Trail Blazers are ready to start rebuilding?" Another reporter stood up and asked.

Richard just nodded slightly to this question without giving a specific answer.

Next, the reporters asked some questions about what changes Richard would make to the Blazers, but he was put off by Richard...

"Mr. Richard, is it because of Larry Brown that you entered the NBA? As you once said, entering the NBA will prevent Larry Brown from winning a championship throughout his coaching career?" A reporter Asked extremely pointed questions.

Huggins originally wanted to stand up and block the reporter from asking further questions.

However, he was stopped by Richard. In his opinion, this kind of question was easier to answer...

At least it's easier to answer than those questions about team building plans!

Can I tell others my team building plan? Definitely not...

If you tell the media all your plans, you are not a fool...

"First of all, I want to clarify that I did not enter the NBA because of Larry Brown. In fact, if you don't mention this name, I will almost forget that this person exists..."

"Ah, by the way, I remembered. It seems that in the first round of the playoffs that just ended, the Pacers he led lost to the Eagles, who were sixth in the Eastern Conference, right?"

"It's really exciting. Being eliminated in the first round in third place by sixth is simply amazing. To be honest, if I were him, I would resign as head coach immediately..."

"Also, what I said at the time is still valid. Although I did not enter the NBA because of Larry Brown, I will not let him win the championship!"

"However, judging from the current situation, my words are a bit redundant, because he has no chance of winning the championship..."

Richard said jokingly that he has no respect for a coach like Larry Brown!

The feud with Larry Brown has long been settled and has reached the point of irreconcilability. Under such circumstances, even if Richard shows slight favor to Larry Brown, it will definitely be interpreted by the outside world as giving in. !

The head coach is the spiritual leader of a team. A coach who gives up? ! Not to mention whether others look down on you, even the players under you probably look down on you...

Therefore, Richard will definitely continue to be tough, even if he provokes a bunch of enemies, even if he becomes a public enemy of the alliance!

…

The reporters in the audience looked at Richard in surprise. They originally thought that Richard would show favor to Larry Brown. After all, they were in the same league and could not see each other without looking up...

But Richard's toughness obviously exceeded the reporters' expectations!

Richard's attitude has shown that he will definitely fight with Larry Brown to the end, so the reporters stopped lingering on this issue and turned to ask other questions.

"Mr. Richard, the high school volume of "Violent Black" has been completed for nearly a year. Is it time for the college volume to be released?"

Richard was startled. He didn't expect someone to ask this question at his inaugural press conference...

What’s even more unexpected is that Portland actually has its own readers? !

Obviously Richard underestimated the influence of "Violent Black". Now this novel has the momentum to sweep the United States. In the past year, it has been ranked in the top 50 bestsellers every month!

Seeing the strange look on Richard's face, the reporter who asked the question couldn't help but asked: "Mr. Richard, don't tell me, it's been almost a year and you haven't finished writing your college papers yet..."

"No, of course it's finished. I just didn't expect that I would still have readers in Portland..." Richard said with a smile.

The reporters in the audience looked at Richard in surprise...

Doesn't this guy know how hot his "Violent Black" is? ! Not to mention Portland, wherever there is basketball in the United States, people are reading this book!

"Mr. Richard, this joke is not funny. Don't you know how good the sales of this book are? Even if you don't know, wouldn't the US dollars in your account tell you?" The reporter said with a smile...

Richard was even more confused. The US dollars in the account? !

Because there are no bank cards in this era, and there are no SMS notifications of bank balances, only passbook accounts, so Richard only went to the bank to take a look in the first two months, and then he didn’t pay much attention to it...

He clearly remembered that there was a balance of approximately 3.5 million US dollars in the account at that time.

The money includes Richard's salary of 800,000 for one year at Purdue University, plus the copyright income of hundreds of thousands of high school volumes...

Of course, the total amount must be more than that. These are all after-tax income, taxes paid directly by the publishing house.