Bulldozer of the NBA’s Restricted Area

The Lakers generals celebrated for a while, and the awards ceremony after the game was almost done.

Different from last year's away win... the atmosphere at home was obviously much more enthusiastic.

Not long after, Stern appeared on the live broadcast amid crowds of boos, and his radiant appearance was completely different from when he presented the award to the Jazz. After all, the championship banner in a place like Los Angeles can bring all the achievements created by the league. The benefits are much greater.

…

"There is no doubt that this season has been a successful, perfect season for the Lakers."

"I'm very happy to see Los Angeles hanging their thirteenth championship banner. More possibilities are waiting for them in the future, and now... on behalf of the NBA, I congratulate the Lakers and every player who is fighting on the front line. and more behind-the-scenes workers, thank you for making the league more exciting!"

"Of course, an equal thanks goes to the Chicago Bulls for bringing us a Finals performance."

"In the big league family, winning or losing is only the criterion for judging the champion, not the benchmark for the strong. Today's Lakers and today's Bulls, I don't think there are losers among them, which makes me look forward to their next collision... "

…

Stern spoke eloquently for ten minutes. No matter how loud the boos were, it could not be denied that he was a qualified leader of the league. And until the end of the speech... the awards finally began. The Lakers generals really disliked this lengthy I can't wait to pick up the championship trophy and pass it on one by one.

As for the FMVP announced later, there is basically no suspense.

Li Shengli averaged 27.2 points, 14.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 2.2 blocks in six games. Due to tactical changes, Li Shengli averaged 18 points in both games in G2 and G3, so his scoring average is not much, but the comprehensive data is impeccable.

It is worth mentioning that Kobe, who has grown into the absolute core of the Lakers, averaged 22.6 points in 36 minutes per game, in addition to 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He has grown rapidly and has been nominated for the FMVP award, with only one chance left.

"What are you thinking, aren't you happy to be the Finals MVP?" Kobe asked casually when he saw Li Shengli stunned.

"I'm thinking... if we play against a weaker team next year, can this worthless thing be sold? Do any of you want to book a package?" Li Shengli touched the trophy, and the person next to him dropped it. His chin was all over the place.

It is worthless?

Are you still trying to sell it?

You really don’t know how hungry a man is when he’s full!

Although you are already so rich, why do you keep saving and digging around for money? Is this just a collection habit?

Ben and Kobe were furious and helpless because of Li Shengli's "I don't want it" and "This is not worth it" expressions. After the awards ceremony, a flood of reporters poured into the scene and faced the Lakers crowd. The championship interview will be held, and everyone has collectively entered the stage where bragging is not illegal.

"I feel like my performance was too poor and I didn't perform as well as I should." Kobe, who played well in the regular season in the finals, said.

"I feel like I can beat three Rodmans and easily clear all his rebound data." Ben got into the legal loophole of not paying taxes when bragging in the United States.

"I... I'm 50-50 with Jordan!" Fisher also did not miss the Larry Bird Cup Finals Most Bragging* Player Competition. "Obviously, I successfully suppressed him during my time on the bench. He He didn’t do anything, but I was handing out towels, so in this regard, he is inferior to me!”

…

time flies.

Until the fans retreated and the reporters left, the championship night was spent in the laughter of the Lakers.

A few days later... the Lakers once again held a grand championship parade. After the championship parade, it was everyone's holiday. Basically, everyone went back to their homes and looked for their mothers. Of course, Li Shengli was the same.

The Lakers are still great.

The championship bonus promised by West was still in the form of an endorsement contract, and Li Shengli was not asked to speak. The moment Li Shengli got the contract and money, he was happier than on the night of the championship.

As for the offseason schedule...

Li Shengli planned to return to China. After all, he hadn't been back for a long time. Another plan was to go to Shanghai to see how Yao Ming was doing, but he hadn't left yet... There was quite a commotion in the NBA.

Has the league begun labor negotiations?

The news had come out before, and Li Shengli also knew about it.

But the problem is that this kind of thing happens almost every year, because the contradiction between labor and management is inherently irreconcilable, and it has reached such scale that it caused the league to shut down only three times in the past, namely in 1964, 1976, and 1994, and the most recent one 94 years.

The lockout in 1994 did not affect the regular season of the 1994-95 season. However, the lockout after the 1993-94 season was not too big. It was basically a matter of wrangling and giving way to the end.

As for this time...

Negotiations started in March and are still wrangling in mid-June.

The team owners hope to adjust the league's salary cap system and player salary ceilings. To put it bluntly, they want to prevent the super giants from making too much. The players union led by Ewing not only strongly opposes and severely condemns it, but also demands that the benefits of players with minimum salaries be increased. , both sides still have no explanation until now.

…

Now all the super giants in the league are at the forefront, and Li Shengli is no exception.

Just take a look at the player salary rankings this season.

Jordan's annual salary of 33.14 million ranks first and is the center of the storm.

Ewing's annual salary of 20.5 million ranks second, and coupled with his status as the president of the players union, he is naturally opposed to it.

Magic Grant's 14.29 million is in third place, but his 12+8 data makes the output ratio of this contract very low. It seems embarrassing to be ranked at the front. It is basically in the hands of the Magic. It will definitely drop in the future. Grant's influence is not too big. big.

The rest are O'Neal, Li Shengli, and then David Robinson, Alonzo Mourning, Juwan Howard, Olajuwon, and Gary Payton.

A total of 9 people have exceeded 10 million.

To be honest, an annual salary of tens of millions is also a wealth myth in the United States, not to mention the income from endorsements and commercial activities after a super giant... It is not fake that Jordan's annual salary is the same as that of a team, and he has greatly grabbed the boss's wealth.

Although Jordan is receiving salary from the Bulls, this is a bad start for the management represented by the boss. After all, there is no guarantee that other super giants will not want more and make the management less.

What's more serious than before is that... these conflicts broke out with Jordan's salary of 30 million+ for two consecutive years, each year, and the continuous emergence of over 100 million contracts in the league.

Of course there is good news for the players as well.

At least for now, fans still stand on the side of the players and denounce the exploitation of team owners. Although the influence of fans has little effect on the owners, good or bad is also their own strength.

As for the players union...

Starting in March, several rounds of negotiations came to nothing, and until the end of the Finals between the Lakers and the Bulls, labor and management were completely deadlocked. The main channel for the players union to speak out was through scattered media controlled by non-capitalists. The power of public opinion boosts the negotiation process.

The problem is that it is difficult for an individual to speak out to have absolute influence on the employer.

Ewing, who was the head of the players union at the time, thought about it... It's not something you can do alone. This matter requires players across the league to speak out collectively.

Player parade?

This is not necessarily the case, but it is still possible to gather a group of influential stars to speak out as representatives, but now... In the offseason of the entire league, where is the most unofficial place where big-name players gather?

It’s obviously Li Shengli’s base camp!