NBA: Magic Johnson opens the season, crowned MOP

"Kid, can I take you out for a walk?"

After the signing ceremony, Popovich suddenly invited Joey, who had been silent the whole time.

Everyone around him felt strange. Bill Duffy, who was standing by, felt something was wrong, but he did not say anything to stop him.

"I'll wait for you outside the arena!"

Joey was silent for a moment, nodded, and watched Bill Duffy pack up his contract and leave.

Under the gaze of Buford and other Spurs staff, Popovich took Joey out of this"temporary reception room".

Walking through the long corridor, the old and the young did not speak first, but walked slowly. They both looked at the photos of people on the largest corridor of the ATT Arena:

Tim Duncan, David Robinson, George Gervin, Tony Parker, Avery Johnson, Sean Elliott, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, James Silas, Johnny Moore... Some of them are superstars who are famous in history, some are just bluestones who silently contribute in the history of the Holy City Spurs (definitely not including Bowen, murderers will never be forgiven!); some are at the���Some have already retired;

……

Their jersey numbers, introductions to their deeds, and portraits are all hung in this corridor for visitors to admire!

To outsiders, they may just be a celebrity they have never met, and they may only know them because of the so-called"celebrity effect"."……

But here, each of them, each jersey, represents a piece of San Antonio Spurs history!

Every future Spurs player will get endless inspiration and experience from them...

This is the"inheritance" of a powerful NBA team with a deep foundation!

The three championships in five years at the beginning of the century not only represent the pinnacle of the Spurs' brilliant history, but in Popovich's view, it is just a beginning, a beginning that inspires later generations to create a new"Spurs Wang Chao"!

"What number do you want to wear next season?"

At the end of the corridor, Popovich suddenly turned around and looked at Joey who was observing Duncan's jersey and the motto below.

"Let me make it clear that your favorite No. 2 jersey is already worn by someone else, but he is just like you, a taciturn person who doesn't like to communicate.……"

Bobo started to tease Joey, trying to minimize the unfamiliarity between them.

Joey was silent for a while, raised his head, and said firmly:

"Number 3!"

"Oh, I forgot, your draft pick was also 3, haha……"

The old man was tickled and laughed heartily.

Joey did not wonder why the old man was laughing, but walked silently to Tim Duncan's"No. 21 jersey" and thought to himself:

3, or 2+1……

"What, kid, do you want to leave your own story in the Spurs' Hall of Fame like them?"

Popovich thought that this taciturn boy was shocked by the Spurs' strong team background.

"Want to be a legend?"

Popovich suddenly lowered his voice and whispered into Joey's ear, like the devil's whisper."：

"Legends are around you, kid, you need to do more than just become a legend……"

Popovich's next words almost span the entire career of the young man in front of him:

"You should go beyond the legend!"

Joey didn't react, but stared at the"No. 21 jersey" with his pupils suddenly shrinking.……

——————

Back in his apartment not far from the Spurs ATT Arena, Joey added the free attribute points awarded by the system to physical strength, breakthrough and three-point shooting.

In the next few days, in addition to insisting on going to the arena for training, Joey was concerned about the trading market in this offseason.

First of all, there are several big fish in the free market:

Deron Williams was retained in the"countryside" of New Jersey by the Nets with a 5-year, 98 million US dollar contract. With the continued contract of Big Los and former Elvis, as well as the addition of strong players such as Joe Johnson, the Nets' competitiveness in the East next season will temporarily be on par with the defending champion Heat.

(Fake, the universe network was blown up in those years)

The Los Angeles Lakers adopted a sign-and-trade method, paying four draft picks and a trade exception (Odom) and three million cash to get the Suns' star player"Son of the Wind" Steve Nash. Nash's new contract is three years and 27 million US dollars.

A month later, the Lakers management used a four-way trade to quietly acquire the current No. 1 center in the league, DeWalt Howard, and formed the"older version of the Big Four" again after the 2002-03 season.

(Except for Shabi Happy Beast, Jiasao, Nash, and Snail are gradually entering the end of their careers.)

The next level is that the Celtics' Big Three completely broke up this summer, and Gentleman Ray left Miami in anger - signing with the Heat for three years and 9.3 million US dollars, only one year more than the two years and 6 million offered by the Celtics. The deputy GOAT can be said to be sitting at home and his legs came from the sky.

But Riley's reinforcement did not stop. While retaining the core lineup of last season's championship, he signed"Mr. 50 Points", Ray Allen's teammate, Rashard Lewis, with a one-year minimum salary contract.

Then, in order to strengthen the inside line, he signed the former"parallel No. 1 pick" Kwame Brown for two years and 5 million, so that Bosh in the inside line can return to his best forward position.

The half-season-long palace drama between Iguodala and the 76ers has finally come to an end. The No. 1 player has landed in Denver. Nuggets general manager Orchard Lee (who helped the Raptors win the championship) has finally brought a true team leader to the Nuggets!

Then he also gave the team's center who stayed——"JaVale McGee, the"first center below the brain", offered a 4-year contract of 44 million US dollars.

The Thunder's"real third player" Ibaka renewed his contract, the Rockets' slowly emerging Lowry joined the Raptors, Linsanity was traded to the Rockets, and other trade news of second- and third-rate stars were flying everywhere!

Even this summer, the Spurs also have several"veterans" such as Duncan, Diaw, Green, and Mills to renew their contracts.

Duncan 3 years 45 million, Mills 3 years 9 million, Green 3 years 11.28 million, Diaw 2 years 12 million.

(I don’t know why they want to suppress the amount of Joey’s rookie contract? It’s because of this? Just kidding. In fact, the contract extensions of these people have been completed, and with the addition of Baynes, Joey and others, the Spurs’ total salary is already close to the luxury tax.)

Although Joey is concerned about these trade rumors, he still focuses on his training.

To be honest, although the Spurs are the most stingy among the 30 teams in the league, they are small but complete.

After hearing the news that Joey insisted on coming to the gym for training and punching in during the offseason, Popovich was overjoyed. He quickly spent 1.5 times his salary to hire the team’s nutritionist and trainer who were on vacation to help strengthen Joey’s athletic ability in all aspects and monitor his Physical condition - after all, the yellow race's resistance to injury is notoriously poor in the circle!

However, Popovich was just flirting with a blind man - it was a waste of effort.

When Joey played in the NCAA game for the first time, the S-level star card (template) awarded by the system was Andre Miller, a famous iron man in the league who was traded to the 76ers this summer.

This star card cannot guarantee that Joey will not be troubled by injuries throughout his career, but some common minor problems of professional athletes, such as joint wear, ankle sprains, knee effusion, etc., will be automatically"cured" by the effect of this card.

This also allows Joey to be fully"prepared" for the next two months of crazy training!