Bishop of the Devil

G5 of the 2028 Finals, the home court of the Clippers.

Although this round of the finals reached G5, no one thought that the Clippers' opponent, Green Kai, would be Richard's opponent.

This series will end tonight. Richard will also win the fifteenth championship trophy of his coaching career, and the Clippers will also usher in the sixth championship trophy in team history.

In the first three games of this series, the Clippers easily defeated their opponents by an average of 35 points per game. This was when the Libit brothers were not too crazy. If the two brothers broke out at full strength, Green Kai would probably be labeled as an amateur. team.

As for the fourth game the Clippers lost, it was because the Clippers used a pure substitute lineup, allowing Green Kai to win a game.

The reason for doing this is very simple, that is because the Clippers want to win the championship at their home court.

As for why they are so eager to win the championship at home, something big must be happening.

Tonight is Richard's retirement ceremony.

Yes, Richard is 100% confident that he will win the championship tonight. After winning his fifteenth championship, he will directly use this occasion to announce his retirement.

There is no occasion more suitable to announce retirement than the championship award ceremony, at least in Richard's opinion.

After a lifetime of glory, Richard could not be vague about this final retirement ceremony.

As early as mid-April, when the regular season ended, the Clippers officially released the news, announcing that Richard would undergo a retirement ceremony after the fifth game of the Finals.

At that time, some fans were still wondering, why would Richard choose such a long time for his retirement ceremony?

Now they understand that before the playoffs have started, Richard has already planned to win the fifth game of the finals...

This also shows the terror of the Libit brothers. They can actually control when to win...

On this night, the audience at the scene can definitely be said to be star-studded.

The first two rows of the auditorium were filled with Richard's family, NBA legends, and top current NBA stars.

These celebrities and players all have the same label, that is, they are West Lafayette players.

Iverson, Big Ben, Miller, Kobe, O'Brien, Rasheed, and countless famous players who have retired long ago are all wearing solemn black suits and sitting around the court.

Many current West Lafayette players were also in the audience at the finals.

Generally speaking, active stars rarely come to watch the finals, but on this special day tonight, they don't care so much.

It is packed with hundreds of stars. Even if it is an official NBA event, it will never be able to gather so many stars.

Many stars have commercial activities, but they resolutely put down these activities. Nothing is more important than Richard's retirement ceremony.

Xiao Hua and other high-level officials from the league also wore suits. Tonight, they were just ordinary spectators after awarding awards.

Tiana sat in the front row with 23-year-old Li Lamb and 19-year-old Mary Li.

Time has not left many traces on Tiana's face. Even though Tiana is now nearly fifty years old, she is still extremely beautiful.

Li Lamb is also 23 years old this year. He has already graduated from college. He took a sum of money from Richard and started his own travel company. He even passed the tour guide license...

Whenever there is a single beauty that he likes in the tour group, he, the "tour guide", will immediately go out and lead the group himself...

This actually fulfilled his previous dream.

Li Mary is only 19 years old and has not graduated from college yet, but she has a terrifying identity.

The leader of the Portland Trail Blazers, Jody Allen, has already given full control of the Blazers to Mary Lee for the first two years.

In other words, Mary Li, who is only 17 years old, has become the head of the Trail Blazers!

Not to mention, in the drafts of the past two years, Mary Li has always been able to find very strong players in the second round...

This is of course the effect of the coaching prop that Richard obtained before. Now Richard has bound this prop to Mary Li.

In the past two years in charge of the Trail Blazers, Mary Li has done many big things with high-pressure methods. For example, in the first year of taking office, she directly sold half of the team's players.

For example, Josh Jackson, the leading player on the team who had a conflict with the head coach, was directly hidden.

I'll give you the money, but I won't let you play, and I won't trade you, so it will cost you a few years!

These high-pressure operations directly made Bloody Mary's name loud and clear in the alliance, making the brothers Richard and Libitt very angry. When they found the source of the nickname, they would directly fight...

In addition to these people, the owners of at least half of the league's teams also came to the scene in person.

The league bosses headed by Jordan were in a very strange mood. Some of them had a very close relationship with Richard and did not want Richard to leave the circle just like that.

But they also know very well that with Richard in this league, their chances of winning the championship are very slim, and they should send Richard off.

…

The game on the field has begun, but not many people are paying attention to the game. Even Green Kai head coach Stevens can't stop sighing.

The atmosphere at the scene was still a bit sad. After all, Richard, whom they had known for more than 20 years, was about to retire. It would be strange for them not to be sad.

Richard entered the league in 1996, and now Richard has been rooted in this league for 32 years!

How many 32 years can a person have in this life?

…

Libit and Li Jin played less than three quarters before being replaced. Stevens had already surrendered, and there was no need to continue the game.

After the two brothers finished the game with dull expressions, they both returned to the locker room.

"Dududu!" The referee blew the whistle to end the game. In the last game of Richard's coaching career, he defeated his opponent with a score of 128:91.

Everyone at the scene stood up and congratulated Richard with applause for winning the last game of his career.

The staff on site were quickly setting up the podium.

Richard sat on the Clippers bench, his face full of sighs.

Is it finally time to leave?

He felt extremely reluctant to part with her, but he had wronged Tiana a lot in his life, so he would spend the next few years taking good care of Tiana.

My coaching career is already perfect, and nothing will change if I continue coaching.

The award podium was already set up, and Xiao Hua walked briskly out of the audience.

"First of all, congratulations to the Clippers for winning this round of finals, and congratulations to them for winning the NBA championship in the 2027-2028 season."

"Congratulations to the Clippers soldiers, and congratulations to brothers Libit and Lijin, they have created a miracle again."

"Of course, the biggest congratulations go to Richard. Congratulations to Richard, the greatest head coach in NBA history, for winning the 15th championship trophy in his coaching career. I believe this record will always be at the top of the list."

"I believe many people here know that tonight is a big day, not just the night when the Clippers win the championship."

"Today, this night that is destined to be remembered by history, is the night of Coach Richard's retirement. On behalf of the NBA Management Committee, I would like to thank Coach Richard for his contribution to the NBA over the past thirty years!" Xiao Hua Said quite sincerely.

Over the past thirty years, Richard has caused a lot of trouble for the NBA, but more importantly, he has created unimaginable benefits for the NBA.

Nowadays, the influence of the NBA league in North America has the momentum to become the first of the four major leagues, of which Richard plays the most important role.

"Okay, I won't harp on such an important night. Next, I will give my time to Michael Jordan, the number one player in NBA history in the eyes of fans. He had a lot to say on Richard's retirement night. Talk to Richard."

Next, Xiao Hua came off the court and handed the microphone to Jordan.

Jordan took a deep breath and walked onto the podium.

"Thank you, President Xiao Hua, for promoting me like this and calling me the number one player."

"I have never recognized this title, but tonight I shamelessly admitted it. Anyway, it won't be long before Li Bit and Li Jin become the real firsts in history..." Jordan came up and started talking. He made a joke and relaxed the dull atmosphere of the scene a lot.

"As Richard's former opponent and former partner, the most fortunate thing in my life is that I was able to get a championship ring from Richard. Secondly, I should be fortunate to have formed a sports team with Richard together. Charlotte Buccaneers.”

"Richard is a good man. Whether you admit it or not, he is a good man in my eyes. Now that we are all old, I wish him a colorful retirement life."

"History will never forget this greatest head coach." After saying this, Jordan's eyes turned red.

After Jordan finished speaking, he gave the microphone to Stevens.

Tonight Steven is the representative of the league coaches and will speak at Richard's retirement ceremony.

Over the years, although Stevens has never won a championship, his coaching ability is obvious to all, but he has encountered bad times...

"Richard has many identities for me, including mentor, best friend, rival, etc. I will never forget that he called me that afternoon to inform me that I had become an assistant coach under him. "

"Even though 32 years have passed, I still can't forget every minute and every second of that afternoon."

"Thank you, Mr. Richard, for giving that young boy thirty-two years ago a chance."

"32 years of coaching career, 15 championship trophies, 9 Coach of the Year awards, 1,888 career wins, an average of 59 wins per year, a regular season winning rate of 72%, 333 playoff wins, and a postseason win rate of 72%. The game winning rate is 75%, and the playoffs have been 28 times..."

Stevens on the stage read out statistics one after another. Each statistic was an insurmountable mountain created by Richard during his coaching career.

With 32 years of coaching career, he is tied with Hawks legend Wilkens for first place in NBA history.

If you really want to talk about it, Wilkens' coaching years are actually not that pure. When he was with the Sonics in the early days of his coaching career, he was actually a part-time head coach as a player, not a pure head coach.

Richard ranks first in NBA history for the most coaching seasons!

The number of championships is as high as 15, and Auerbach, who ranks second, only has nine, and there is an extremely huge gap between him and Richard.

As for the third-ranked Zen Master Jackson, he only has 7, and the gap between him and Richard is even greater, not even half of Richard's total number of championships.

Just think about how terrible 15 championships are. Now the Lakers only have 13 championship trophies in total, which is not as many as Richard alone...

You must know that the Lakers were founded in 1947 and have a history of 80 years!

Richard has been awarded the best head coach nine times. If there is a slim chance for future coaches to break those two previous records, then this record will probably never be broken.

Because Richard, who ranks first, has nine times, and Nelson, Pat Riley, and Popovich, who rank second, third, and fourth, only have nine times combined!

Just because Richard doesn't value this honor doesn't mean that it's not important.

The Coach of the Year COY actually represents the regular season MVP among player honors.

It is self-evident how important the regular season MVP is.

The number of wins in the regular season is as high as 1,888, with an average of 59 wins per season, and a regular season winning rate of 72%. This is also a record that people don't even have the courage to look up to.

The coach closest to Richard's record is probably Popovich, who can also be called a great coach.

Popovich and Richard started their head coaching careers at the same time, both in 1996. As a result, Popovich retired in 2022. In his 26-year coaching career, he won a full 1,400 games, averaging per season. You can probably get 54 wins, and the winning rate is about 68%.

If Popovich could coach until now, I’m afraid the gap between his number of wins and Richard’s would not be so big...

Entering the playoffs 28 times, also the first in history!

Popovich ranked second with 25 times, and George Karl ranked third with 22 times.

…

On the big screen above the arena, all the statistics of Richard's coaching career have begun to be listed.

Every data, any data, as long as it is related to the coaching group, Richard ranks first with a considerable advantage!

This is why Xiao Hua just dared to say that Richard is the greatest head coach in NBA history. If he said this, even the most critical fans would never be able to find any fault.

"With so many firsts in history, no matter how grand the words I use to describe Richard, it is not too much."

"Now there are 12 head coaches in the league who have served as Richard's assistants. They are all here tonight. On behalf of them, I would like to thank Mr. Richard here. Thank you!"

Nowadays, there are twelve teams in the league whose head coaches come from Richard. Richard can now truly be said to have a lot of talents all over the world.

…

After Jordan and Stevens finished speaking, it was time for Kobe to take the stage.

Originally, Iverson or Ben was supposed to be the West Lafayette player representative, but it turned out that these two people were not good at speaking, and Kobe was finally asked to come.

"Thank you to Coach Richard for giving me a lot of guidance when I first entered the league. After so many years, I have never properly said thank you to him."

"Thank you, coach, for your dedication, not just to me, but to all the West Lafayette players."

"In one week, it's Libit and Natalia's wedding. From now on, Coach Richard and I are family."

Having said this, Kobe had a smile on his face.

Libit and Natalia were childhood sweethearts. After graduating from high school, the two fell in love directly. After all these years, the two finally entered the wedding hall.

Kobe was extremely satisfied with Libit, his son-in-law. He would be the number one player in the history of the league, with both strength and character. He had never heard of any scandals involving him.

During the years of dating Natalia, Libit was single-minded and never betrayed Natalia.

Kobe can't find fault with such a son-in-law.

…

After Kobe finished speaking, he looked at Richard with a smile. Obviously, it was Richard who was going to speak next.

Richard, who is exactly 60 years old this year, already has a few gray hairs on his head, but he is in good spirits. He strode up to the podium and took the microphone from Kobe's hand.

"First of all, I have to apologize to the entire league."

"Because of my selfishness, this season has been quite boring..." Richard held the microphone and said with a smile.

The audience laughed. Is it just this year?

Wasn't this the case when you were coaching the Pirates? That is to say, now that I am coaching the Clippers, I have restrained myself a lot.

"Why do you look like you are used to it?" Richard asked with a smile.

There was another round of laughter.

"Well, now that you're used to it, it seems there's no need for me to apologize."

"Tonight is my retirement, and I don't have much to say. I have no regrets in my coaching career. Originally, 14 championships was an unlucky number, but my two sons helped me make up for the regrets."

"1888 wins, I really like this number. Don't ask me why it's such a coincidence, I won't tell you."

"Now that I have left no regrets in my coaching career, it is naturally time to say goodbye to you."

"Thank you to the most beautiful woman in the world in my eyes, my wife Tiana Allen. Thank you for your support and companionship for thirty years."

"Thank you to my three sons. You are all good people. It would be better if one of them could do less evil things."

"Thank you to my little princess Mary. No matter what others say, you will always be the cutest little princess in my father's heart. You are definitely not a scary Bloody Mary. Here I warn those people, if I dare to catch someone screaming again, I will never be lenient."

"Thank you to the guys in West Lafayette. You are the best players in the universe. It is the honor of my life, Richard, to coach you!"

"It's time to say goodbye to the court soon. Let us West Lafayette guys get together again and stand on the same court at the same time for the last time!" Richard shouted loudly.

In an instant, more than a hundred people stood up in the audience, including Li Bit and Li Jin, who had returned from the locker room and put on solemn black suits.

All the fans were trembling with excitement. The 108 people on stage were symbols of various eras and memories of their youth.

108 West Lafayette players, no more, no less, are all here tonight. As for why there are 108, probably only the devil Richard knows.

Led by big brothers Ben and Iverson, 108 West Lafayette players walked onto the court and surrounded Richard.

Every player looked at Richard on the podium with red eyes.

"Guys, you're all good."

"Our West Lafayette players are all great, and each and every one of you performed in a way that did not disgrace our community."

"I, Richard, am proud of you!" Richard's eyes filled with tears. Looking at the proud disciples around him, his heart was filled with excitement. His life was definitely worth it.

"West Lafayette is victorious!" Richard shouted.

One hundred and eight West Lafayette players responded in unison.

"Victory in West Lafayette!"

"Victory in West Lafayette!"

Fans at the scene were infected and stood up to follow Huhe.

"Victory in West Lafayette!"

"Victory in West Lafayette!"

The sound waves got louder and louder, making this originally sad night become exciting.

…

The whole ceremony ended successfully after Richard's jersey was hung over the arena.

At the same time, 14 teams in the league held Richard's jersey retirement ceremony at the same time.

This is Richard's supreme honor and the best affirmation of his coaching career.

…

"It's broken!" Richard slapped his thigh suddenly on the way back.

"What's wrong?" Tiana asked strangely.

"After all, I am getting old and my memory is not good enough. I actually forgot something very important." Richard said with a troubled look on his face.

"What's the matter? Don't tell me that you still want to win the 16th championship." Tiana said dissatisfied.

Richard waved his hand quickly, "No, I forgot to promote my new book after Devil Bishop."

"New book? Is it the one you are writing now? What is it called?"

""NBA Bishop of All Realms"!" Richard said painfully, patting his forehead.