I’m Really Playing Basketball

The night the Warriors won the championship in Cleveland, Chen Xiao left Cleveland with the Warriors players.

Cleveland is Chen Xiao's old club. It is impossible for Chen Xiao to celebrate in Cleveland after the team wins the championship.

Chen Xiao, Kerr, Jerry West, Ba Ge, Wang Ge and other Warriors players, coaches, consultants, and executives who returned to California received the warmest welcome from Warriors fans.

After all, the last time the Warriors won a championship was 40 years ago. After being a loser for so many years, they have now become the NBA champion again. This is really surprising and miraculous.

You know, the NBA double bug back then, and the New York Knicks now, aren't they still a bug?

In short, in one word, the entire Golden State and the entire Warriors are very happy now.

Especially the 15 players of the Warriors, even if they have not made the playoff roster, the Warriors' two fringe players, Charles Jenkins and Kent Bazemore, who have never played in the playoffs this season, are very important at this time. of excitement.

Jenkins was the second-round pick of the Warriors in 2011, and Bazemore was the undrafted pick that year. They are very grateful to have been able to stay with the Warriors for the past four years, thanks to the constant quota of the Warriors. Due to dissatisfaction and the fact that their strength is pretty good, they have been continued by the Warriors as the team's water cooler keeper.

They are neither noisy nor fussy in the team, they work conscientiously, and they are proud of the team's achievements.

At the very least, after the Warriors win the championship, they can increase their value.

Their two-year contract with the Warriors expires this season. For the sake of flexibility in the team's lineup, it is obviously impossible for the Warriors to renew their contracts. In this case, they are already ready to leave the Warriors. Other teams look for life preparations.

As a player on a championship team, even if he has never played in the Finals, it is still valuable in the NBA. Many teams are willing to accept a player with championship experience.

And now, they are players who already have championship experience.

In addition to the fringe players of these two teams, except for Chen Xiao, the other 12 players on the playoff roster of the Warriors all played in the playoffs and the finals this year.

Among them, Jokic and Klay are the second and third core of the Warriors in this year's playoffs.

Jokic and Klay are the keys to the Warriors' ability to get past the Spurs.

As for Nongmei and Bill, the two starting cores, although they had great ups and downs in this year's playoffs and encountered many difficulties, they both came out in the end, and Nongmei's defense against Leonard in the Western Conference Finals, Having Leonard disappear on the court with him is also important to the Warriors.

Let’s talk about Bill. Bill was very uncomfortable being covered by Ron Howard in the Western Conference Finals. Although he also encountered Conley’s tenacious defense in the Finals, he found a way to deal with the Warriors in the Cavaliers, desperately attacking Jokic, and playing traditional games with the Warriors. When attacking in singles, the Warriors' player who can stand up in front of Chen Xiao and show stable one-on-one singles from the outside is Bill.

Not to mention whether Bill's hitting rate is not that high, but Bill can indeed be the second one-on-one singles point besides Chen Xiao to share the pressure for Chen Xiao.

It can be said that, except for Chen Xiao, the other four starting players of this year's Warriors have demonstrated their core value.

In addition, there are several important rotation players for the Warriors.

Ibaka, Dragic, Lopez, Livingston, Barnes, Gobert

The six of them are equally valuable to the Warriors.

The Warriors have a rotation advantage in this year's playoffs, whether they face the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals or the Cavaliers in the Finals, because of them.

Among them, the most amazing performance is of course Ibaka. Facing the Spurs' G4, he made 12 of 12. He stood up next to Chen Xiao and won a game that determined the final situation of the Western Conference Finals. If Ibaka hadn't exploded , the Spurs led the Warriors 3-1, and the Warriors were basically dead.

In the finals, during the Cavaliers' crazy counterattack in G5, Ibaka once again stood up.

This inside man who was once considered a jumper who could only block shots can now also provide huge help to the Warriors on the offensive end.

In this year's playoffs, as a substitute player, Ibaka shot 45% from three-point range and 59% from the field. He averaged 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. These statistics are so powerful that they are incredible. sky.

So many people say it's time for the Warriors to straighten Ibaka.

Similarly, no one will now say that the four-year contract given to Ibaka by the Warriors is a garbage contract.

In this year's playoffs, the player who became famous in the NBA was Ibaka.

In addition to Ibaka, Dragic, Nash's pass and control, Livingston's almost 100% mid-range shot, and Barnes' single defense and cold arrow three-pointers.

Gobert and Lopez were waiting for opportunities to attack and defend. Especially in the finals, when Jokic encountered huge defensive troubles early on, the presence of Gobert and Lopez made the Warriors' inside line The two giant combinations of Oden and James of the Cavaliers were suppressed, but they were never defeated. This is very crucial.

Therefore, these six important rotation players of the Warriors are also important participants in the team's championship this time.

They are also the owners of this championship.

They also deserve Chen Xiao's gratitude to them after the finals.

In addition, Chen Xiao also thanked the team's two substitutes, Novak and Ding Yanyuhang.

Although the two of them are not that important to the team, most of their appearances in the playoffs and finals are garbage time, and they cannot be counted on at important moments.

But the value of the two of them is not only on the court, but also of great value off the court.

For example, during the Western Conference Finals, Ding Yanyuhang simulated the role of Maizi during training.

Just like the history of Bugs playing the role of simulated O'Neal in the Spurs.

Ding Yanyuhang's sudden-stop jump shot with the ball is very unique, which can make Clay and other Warriors players more adaptable to the defense of Maizi.

There is also Novak. Novak also simulates Maizi's role in the training ground, simulating Maizi's dry pull.

Even if the Warriors play the Bucks in the finals, the Warriors are prepared to let Novak, Chen Xiao's junior, imitate Chen Xiao's other junior, Durant.

With the strength of Ding Yanyuhang and Novak, they can actually play an important rotation in many other teams in the NBA, but now they only have playing time as substitutes during the Warriors' garbage time, and they are in the training field. They have seriously contributed to the Warriors, and they also deserve Chen Xiao's gratitude.

Naturally, Chen Xiao's championship also has their share of the credit.

After Chen Xiao won this championship, he won the seventh championship in his career, which was also the championship that surpassed Jordan. This championship means so much to Chen Xiao.

Before G5 of the Finals, the entire NBA was hyping up Chen Xiao's ability to surpass Jordan. David Stern even invited Jordan to watch the game live. All of this was for the sake of Chen Xiao's coronation in the NBA.

After Chen Xiao was successfully crowned, the public opinion of the entire NBA and the United States became clear.

Now Chen Xiao's seventh championship in his career has come, and he still has a big belly to fight back all the way.

Chen Xiao's seven career championships, except for the first Nets, the other six were not for traditional strong teams or wealthy clubs.

Even the three teams, the Cavaliers, Bobcats and Warriors, all completed their counterattacks with little success.

The gold content of such a championship can be imagined, without any black spots.

Even if it was Chen Xiao's first championship, as a rookie, he played the strongest individual performance in history in the finals and defeated the invincible OK team. The gold content of this championship has always been evaluated by Barkley as the best in history. .

With seven such championships, no one said anything when Chen Xiao was crowned, whether it was fans, players, celebrities or opponents.

Therefore, after returning to the Warriors, the two owners of the Warriors, Bage and Wang, as well as the team's consultant Jerry West, said that they would hold the grandest championship celebration for Chen Xiao.

On June 23, during the Warriors' championship parade, more than five million spectators and fans crowded every corner of Oakland. Wherever the float passed, everyone cheered "God!"

After Chen Xiao surpassed Jordan in the number of championships, Chen Xiao's fans seemed particularly confident when they shouted "God!"

After all, before Chen Xiao, the God of basketball was Jordan.

And now, finally, someone has changed.

In his speech at the championship celebration, Chen Xiao was very modest: "My career has never existed to surpass anyone. For me, I hope that my career can leave something for basketball. Bring something, lead something, just like Michael once, his existence guided a group of young people such as Kobe, Tracy McGrady, Iverson, Carter, etc. to pursue Michael's footsteps. I hope that those behind me can also do it. Leave a path for those who come after you to pursue and move forward.”

Chen Xiao said this very modestly, but at the same time, his height was very high.

Let's put it this way, in the entire history of the NBA, there are only a handful of people who are qualified to say that what I pursue in my career is not material pursuits such as championships.

Chen Xiao has such qualifications, but except Chen Xiao, most people do not have such qualifications.

Therefore, what Chen Xiao said was actually very pretentious, but he pretended not to be annoying.

Because Chen Xiao has been such a person in his career.

What he did in his career was consistent with what he said.

If his career was just for the championship, he could have not left the Cavaliers or Bobcats. Even if he came to the Warriors, he could have formed a team, but he didn't.

Historically, James spent one season focusing on scoring, but later he did not dare to score anymore because of too much pressure from public opinion. In the end, he said that what he pursued was the team's victory, not the scoring title.

This is very unconvincing.

The NBA championship is very sweet. After winning the championship, Chen Xiao fell into a honeypot.

Whether it is the NBA or FIBA, the United States, China or the world, everyone is calling him God. There is no doubt that everyone is praising him.

Chen Xiao can enjoy the next sweet days until the start of the new season.

For Warriors consultant Jerry West, after winning the championship, he needs to face more challenges.

The biggest challenge is of course the contract issue of the Warriors players.

The contracts of the seven important players of the Warriors, Chen Xiao, Big Eyebrow, Beal, Lopez, Ibaka, Dragic, and Livingston, will all expire in the 15-16 season, and they are the only ones left. One year contract.

As for Clay, his rookie contract expires this year.

Obviously, based on his performance in this year's playoffs, there is no doubt that Klay will receive a maximum salary. If you don't give it, others will.

145 million US dollars in 5 years, that is definitely not going away.

And Chen Xiao will definitely renew his contract with a maximum salary next year, 5 years and 280 million US dollars. This is also certain. Even if Chen Xiao wants to reduce his salary, David Stern and the Warriors will not let him reduce his salary, just like Jordan's maximum salary of 30 million was the same back then. Chen Xiao was the face, not only of the Warriors, but also of the NBA. This was an inspiration to players around the world who yearned for the NBA.

Then, Nongmei, Nongmei is the second in charge of the team, and he will definitely renew his contract with the maximum salary next year. He may even trigger the Durant clause. By then, instead of 145 million in 5 years, if Nongmei is selected as an All-Star starter next year , triggering the Durant clause, then the contract extension will be at least 180 million US dollars for 5 years.

These three players are definitely what the Warriors must keep, and in order to keep these three top-paid players, the Warriors need to reserve at least US$120 million in salary space.

This year's NBA salary cap is 112 million, and the luxury tax trigger line is 136 million.

In other words, even if the Warriors keep Ibaka, Lopez, Dragic, and Livingston at the original price next year, it will cost more than 50 million U.S. dollars. If Bill’s contract with an average salary of at least 15 million is also included, that is 65 million, plus the contracts of other Warriors players, that’s 90 million. Adding up the three maximum salaries of Chen Xiao and the others, that’s a contract of 210 million.

Historically, the Warriors have to pay 180 million in luxury tax every year in order to keep Green, Curry and Klay. And as the pressure to renew contracts increases, some experts have assessed that if they continue to pay until the 25-26 season, the Warriors will have to pay 180 million yuan in luxury tax every year. A total of 2 billion US dollars in luxury taxes have been paid, which has been accumulated over many years.

Based on the contract of US$210 million, the Warriors will have to pay a luxury tax of US$700 million in the 16-17 season.

This is still a rough estimate. How can it be possible for Ibaka and Dragic to pay their original prices? Their salaries will definitely increase. It is impossible for Livingston to renew his contract with a basic salary. After all, he still needs a mini-middle class. And Beal, 75 million US dollars in 5 years. , it may not be easy to continue. After all, Clay already has a maximum salary of 145 million in 5 years, and Bill has a maximum salary of 100 million in 5 years, which is not too much.

After calculating this, if the Warriors want to keep the entire championship-winning lineup, the total salary may not be 210 million, but may be 30 million, or may be 240 million.

It seems to be 30 million more, but the luxury tax will be close to 600 million US dollars more. The super luxury tax is tiered. The more the tax is exceeded, the more you have to pay.

Just this payment of more than 1 billion per year, even after selling Brother Wang and Brother Ba, is not enough. Even Chen Xiao, a hidden rich man, cannot withstand it for a few years.

After all, the Warriors and Jokic and other players will need to renew their contracts in the future.

So, Lopez, Ibaka, Beal, Dragic, Livingston...

There is a high probability that most of the Warriors' five important players this season will not be retained next season.

Therefore, Jerry West now needs Chen Xiao to make a decision, that is, whether to trade these important players who cannot be retained in the offseason this year for chips, or let them leave freely after their contracts expire every year. The Warriors Nothing is gained.

Of course, if they are all retained, as the defending champion, the Warriors will definitely have the highest probability of winning next season.

However, after winning the championship next season, the Warriors will probably be embarrassed. Most of the important players fell apart. After achieving two championships, the third championship will be stuck there.

If they change their stakes this season, although next season will not be very stable, the victory will be more sustainable and the chance of a dynasty will be greater.

There are two options, one is to have the best chance of winning two consecutive championships, and the other is to have the highest chance of becoming a dynasty.

Faced with a question like Jerry West's, Chen Xiao made a decision without thinking at all.

"Important players on the team must respect their thoughts. If they want to leave, we won't stop them. They don't want to leave. We can't send them away before their fate is over."

Jerry West was not surprised by Chen Xiao's decision. He knew Chen Xiao, and he knew it very well. When Chen Xiao was in the Bobcats, it was like this. Xiaopao and Ade, when they left the Bobcats, None of them are bloody.

Even when Chen Xiao himself left the Bobcats, Boss Qiao didn't do anything bloody for the sake of chips.

Therefore, it is impossible for Chen Xiao to destroy his growth environment and personality for the sake of his dynasty.

Naturally, Chen Xiao's decision created the greatest difficulty for Jerry West's operation.

All the chips will be gone by then, but how can Dynasty be stuck in two consecutive championships?