Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

Early in the morning, Limas and his people were still blocking the office door and did not leave. Apart from Limas, Crotty was the one who paid the most attention to this matter.

He has always been the number one fan of Li Shengli with the image of a madman. It is no exaggeration to say... without Li Shengli, the Jazz would not have Crotty, because head coach Jerry Sloan, and even Malone, Big bosses like Stockton wouldn't even look at him.

A friend dies!

Crotty was willing to make a knife for Li Shengli. If Li Shengli ran away from Salt Lake City, the position of his knife would be awkward. The best outcome would be for Li Shengli to sheath the knife and carry him with him all the way.

…

"Lee, the coach is here!"

Crotty's sharp eyes were the first to see Jerry Sloan walking in the distance. Jerry Sloan frowned, obviously dissatisfied with his players gathering to cause trouble, because this was something the Jazz had never seen before. Unexpected conditions.

"What are you guys doing here, you bunch of bastards? Don't you have to train today?" Jerry Sloan tried his best to suppress his emotions, but when he opened his mouth, it turned into a roar, "Get out of here, you don't know anything. Follow the booing, I haven’t settled the score with you for losing two games a few days ago, if we lose to the Lakers tomorrow, you don’t have to train anymore, just get out!”

"Coach..." Malone was about to speak.

"It's not time for you to speak!" Jerry Sloan interrupted Malone, "Except for Lee, Carl, and John, everyone else should go back. I don't want to repeat it a second time!"

The head coach of the team was incompetent when he couldn't control the situation. Obviously Jerry Sloan was not. After two roars, no one dared to talk back and they all left obediently. When only four people, old and young, were left on the scene, Sloan The originally strong waist was a little loose, showing a trace of old age that shouldn't be there.

"We're the only ones left, let's go in and talk!" Regardless of Limas's reaction, Jerry Sloan pushed the door in, and Limas followed closely, closed the door of the office, and opened the Jazz Giant of the first meeting.

…

"John, how are you recovering from your shoulder injury?" Jerry Sloan's scalp was like a knife, and migraines were an old problem. At this juncture, every time he had a headache, his body would twitch involuntarily.

"I'm fine, I can play in the playoffs." Stockton replied pretending to be relaxed.

"I'm not asking for your opinion, I'm asking for the specific recovery progress and time given by the team doctor!"

"No need to ask them, I know my own situation."

"You know what the heck, I won't allow you to play in the game unless the team doctor gives you a clear certificate of recovery. Our Jazz can't stand the torment anymore." Jerry Sloan rarely got angry at Stockton, while Li Shengli and Malone patted Stockton on the shoulder.

"Coach, what's going on?" Li Shengli, as the person involved, was naturally the first to ask.

"Nothing's going on. Things are similar to what you saw. Although the transaction has not been decided yet, the general direction is. Li, unfortunately... you may be traded to other teams next season." Sloan punched the desk in front of him. It was obvious that this was not regret but anger and unwillingness.

"I don't believe it. Who made the decision?" Ma Long stood up excitedly.

"Larry Miller!"

"How is this possible? Aren't the team's trading operations always a matter for the management? Why would he get involved? We won the championship, 29 consecutive wins this season, and countless honors. This was all before the Jazz No, why should we trade Li? I don’t agree.”

"Sit down!" Jerry Sloan's voice became hoarse. "Although he has never interfered with the team's operations, there is something different this time because it is David Stern who puts pressure on him."

"Stern? Damn, it's this old guy again, what does he mean?" Li Shengli was also unhappy, because he always remembered that Stern owed him a Rookie of the Year award, and now he was putting pressure on Larry Miller, so It makes no sense either emotionally or rationally.

"Don't get excited, Lee." Sloan muttered: "He is indeed a bastard, but I should be the most excited and angry. Believe me, I am the last person who wants to see you traded away."

"What's the reason for this?"

"Reason? To be honest, I don't know. This happened too suddenly, but the direction of capital operation seems to be to push you to a larger market. You should know...which balls are the first to come to you. Teams, the Lakers and Celtics must be the most fierce, and the internationalization process of the league has just started, and there is a blue ocean behind your nationality."

"Where do I play, will it affect these bastards' development of the Chinese market? This has no connection at all!"

"No, a big football market means more exposure opportunities. The more dazzling you are, the faster the market development process." Sloan continued: "Of course, this is just my conjecture. Maybe it's because we The Jazz are so popular, maybe there are two factors. And no snowflake is innocent in an avalanche. When multiple factors come together, the avalanche is not an accident, but man-made."

"Is this the final explanation?"

"No, no one has ever explained anything to me, so this won't be my final explanation. It's more of a conjecture."

…

Current NBA President Stern's operating philosophy has always been balance. The so-called salary cap and lottery drafts all came into being for the sake of balance.

Out of consideration for the future development of the alliance, even if some people continue to complain, most people can see the benefits of this model.

However, the salary cap and lottery picks are all maintained by formulating rules to maintain balance. Now it is unbelievable to directly attack the Jazz privately without asking the reason.

Other speculations aside.

The Jazz have only won one championship. Even if they hope to win the championship this season, it will only be two consecutive championships.

In the history of the NBA, the Pistons and Bulls both won two consecutive championships. Could it be that the current Jazz scare Stern? Feel your balance is off?

In fact, Jerry Sloan probably understands Stern's purpose of tearing down the Jazz with great fanfare.

The existence of the salary cap is to limit the occurrence of alliances between the league's superstars, but the Jazz are the first team to try it, because Limas are all top players in their respective positions, and the power of the Big Three's alliance was even in the middle of last season It has been highlighted in the later stages, and it can be said to be sweeping the entire league.

In this way, if they want to win the Jazz's crown, all other teams that have ambitions to win the championship can only use the same method and return the favor, and use the same multi-giant team to give it a try.

With more wolves and less meat, when all the capable players in the league have been snagged by the major giants, you can imagine the situation in the east and west...the strong ones are stronger, and the weak ones are weaker.

This situation does not bode well.

To tear down the Jazz is a dangerous signal and a high-voltage line sent by the league officials.

Jerry Sloan can boldly predict that the officials may even make bigger moves in the near future, and it is possible to adopt a hard salary cap. And if this is the case, Stern will not only touch the interests of the Jazz. It is estimated that the hard salary cap is unacceptable to all teams in the league. If the trouble is serious, the official may even close the stadium or suspend it!

However, this reason alone would not cause the league officials to take action too early, but it does not matter what other reasons there are, because the Jazz's ups and downs ultimately fell on Li Shengli.

…

"If things must be done, Li, listen, we still need a championship this season!" Jerry Sloan returned to the topic. It is useless even if he is reluctant to let go of Li Shengli, because in the face of the capital storm, let alone him The head coach of the team, even Larry Miller, as the team owner, can only make a small profit in the eye of the storm.

"Is there really nothing we can do?"

Sloan laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "There is no way. If we simply speculate that the reason for moving you is because the Jazz are too strong, all we can do is to mess up in disguise, but... if we don't move towards the championship, we will gather together." There’s no point in being together anymore, right?”

"Impossible, this is simply impossible!" Ma Long was angry.

"Yes, the meaning of each of us' existence is to win the championship!" Stockton also found it difficult to calm down his complicated mood.

Compared to the other three, Li Shengli was really disgusted.

His first team was the Hornets, and he had a lot of messy things. He eventually left Charlotte and came to Salt Lake City. But now he only stayed in Salt Lake City for a season and a half and was about to be traded out inexplicably. Who cares about this kind of thing? Also upset.

"Li, stand on the last guard duty for Sir!"

"I will fight for the best interests for you before that. If any team wants to negotiate a deal with us, no matter what the chips they offer, as long as you are willing, you can choose from the list of teams listed at that time. Of course... ...The premise is that no one will intervene in the middle to interfere with your choice!"

"Okay, that's all I have to say. Many times, the choices I can give you are very limited, but I hope you can find a good development among the limited choices! Now it's time for you to go and talk to everyone Let’s train together!”

After Jerry Sloan finished speaking, he stopped talking, and the three of them looked at each other, not knowing what else they could do for a while. In the end, the turbulent internal turmoil within the Jazz dissipated in a breathless and powerless way...