The rest is just noise

In early March, the East stole all the headlines.

In the focus battle between the Heat and the Knicks, the focus should be on the performance of the two teams.

As the dominant players in the Eastern Conference in the past few years, every matchup between them is called a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals.

But this year, the emergence of the super luxury tax has a fatal impact on super teams.

As a result, the Heat lost Joe Dumars, who had a strong voice in the locker room, and the pressing pressure to renew his contract prevented them from meeting Petrovic's maximum salary demand.

This year is Petrovic's contract year. So far this season, he has averaged 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game. He is still the best combo guard in the league.

Even though Petrovic's statistics are only 24+5+5, he is still a regular in the best lineup. Although it is difficult to make it to the first team, he can always be seen in the second and third teams. This means that he has been in

In the past few years, he has been ranked among the top 15 players in the league.

Moreover, he has been in Miami since he entered the NBA. It can be said that he is a player trained by the Heat themselves. For such a player with strength, qualifications and honors, all his needs should be met.

But the Heat just couldn't give Petrovic a satisfactory offer.

The two sides were in a stalemate until the end of the trade deadline with no result. Petrovic felt extremely disappointed and had obvious mental problems.

It was at this time that they met the Knicks.

The New York side has long been devastated by similar incidents.

The internal atmosphere of the Knicks at this time is just like the Suns in the summer of 2022. The head coach pretends that they are in a good situation, but Dunbao's fact that we haven't spoken since the end of last season shows everything.

The Heat just messed up Petrovich's mentality. The Knicks have a master of tricks, and he single-handedly made the mentality of Sam Cassell, Alan Houston, and Scottie Pippen explode.

The more important one is Ewing.

Ewing was the perfect leader in the eyes of fans last season, and he was.

But, because he was a perfect leader last season, does his problem disappear?

At least Ewing's cold jokes are still too cold to make people laugh.

When the team was burdened with a huge luxury tax of 300 million US dollars, "***", who always likes to do a lot of things, did not surprise anyone.

They asked Ewing if they would consider taking a salary cut to ease the team's financial pressure, given the current rule changes.

No. Ewing replied, I don't care about financial issues. I just know that Mr. Dolan is very rich. As long as we can ensure victory, even signing a one-year contract of $100 million is appropriate.

Reporters petrified the scene.

A few seconds later, Ewing's words woke him up: I'm kidding you!

The reporter who was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat then asked: So... would you consider cutting your salary?

Ewing, who has always equated salary with team status and team importance, seriously shook his head: No, I will not cut my salary.

I earn more and spend more, and I deserve every penny in my account.

This time, he wasn't kidding.

In addition to Ewing, who talks without thinking, there are assholes like Kemp and Miller who don't understand the concept of saving money at all.

Also asked if he was willing to cut his salary, Miller said unhappily: My salary is at the bottom of the queue, and you still want me to cut my salary? You know that the family is frugal and their monthly expenses are strictly limited to 100,000.

What is the experience within a dollar?

Everyone really doesn't know.

In fact, 99% of Americans have no idea what it is like to live frugally on $100,000 a month.

Camp is even more outrageous.

With the completion of the new contract extension with the Knicks, his annual salary is no longer second in the team, which gives him a sense of crisis.

I really feel that this has had a great impact on my life. I no longer dare to sign a $50,000 check casually in a bar. I have to work hard for the next contract, which is 5 million.

The annual salary of US dollars is far from enough for me to support my family.

mouth.

The luxury tax of 300 million US dollars was tried in vain. I earned more and spent more. I spent 100,000 US dollars a month to live frugally. 5 million US dollars was not enough to support my family...

With this kind of program effect, no one in the North American sports circle can call him "Big Brother".

In terms of defiance, Heat is naturally far inferior.

In this game, the Knicks, who were at odds internally, still won as a whole.

But Scottie Pippen fell during the game, and then blasted the team doctor who was respected by many teammates at the press conference: They don't respect me at all. Whenever I get injured, they just look at me casually.

In their eyes, he is just a failed substitute who is not as good as Benjamin, but has to replace Benjamin...

After Pippen criticized the team so fiercely, he announced without permission that he would miss the game indefinitely, and left without saying goodbye and went to Minnesota to see a doctor without saying hello.

One day later, Pippen's agent announced that her employer would cancel her for the season.

Scotty suffered from a rare back condition that required him to rest for a long time...

The weirdest thing about this incident is that Knicks, who was supposed to understand Pippen's situation, had his eyes blackened throughout the whole process and became blind.

They don't know about Pippen's situation, don't contact Pippen's agent, don't seek to repair the relationship, and act like nothing happened.

Sri, what do you think of this thing in New York? Bass seems to be gloating about his misfortune.

It's no wonder that Dolan Jr. and Buss Jr. bet on the prospects of their respective teams at the GM Summit. Now the Knicks have won the championship. If the Lakers can't catch up as soon as possible, the other side will win the bet.

Let’s not talk about the situation of the Lakers. The Knicks obviously exploded on the spot.

Louis took a look at the report submitted by Bass Jr.

The whole story of Pippen's break with the Knicks is clearly written.

It can be said that Pippen's mental problems were caused by little Dolan.

When things got to this point, the Knicks' reaction can be said to be very strange.

They ignored Pippin and allowed him to run wild, as if they had a guilty conscience.

Putting aside the facts, even if the Knicks felt sorry for Pippen, there is no need to feel guilty. When things turned out like this, it was Pippen's side who had the problem.

Leaving the team without permission, unilaterally severing contact, refusing to share the injury situation with the team, announcing that he would be out for the season without confirmation from a doctor... one by one, all of them are reasonable and unreasonable.

According to the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement, Scottie's behavior is obviously a serious violation, and the Knicks have the right to suspend him without pay. Louis said that this part of the salary is not included in the salary cap.

Buss Jr. opened his eyes: In other words, the Knicks are using this incident to reduce their total salary and thereby save part of the luxury tax

Louis smiled lightly and said: It's very possible.

This is too cruel, right?

It's stupid to a certain extent. Louis said softly, but after so many things, New York is already rotten. I don't believe this team can do anything in the short term, so out of

It is understandable to do this for the sake of saving money.

Buss Jr. asked: Will Scottie just let New York garnish his salary?

Of course not, they will definitely have a lawsuit to fight. I think Scottie will eventually be able to get his salary back, but by then, his salary will be a bad debt at the salary cap level. No matter what, New York can

'If we get what we want, we will definitely be able to reduce some of the luxury tax through this matter.

Bass has only one question left - is this really New York's original wish?

If Bass hadn't taken the initiative to collect information and ask questions, Louis would have been too lazy to ask about that stall in New York.

It had nothing to do with him originally. What the Dolan family wanted to do was their own business.

But if we look into this matter carefully, it is really hard to escape Louis’ involvement.

The source of the explosion of super teams is the luxury tax. This idea was proposed by Louis, and then today's one

cut.

What Louis didn't expect at the beginning was that the negative impact of the luxury tax on super teams would come so quickly.

In less than a season, both the Knicks and Heat were in ruins.

Louis believes that competing for the championship is the Lakers' primary goal this year.

With the current state of the Heat and Knicks, can they really make it out of the Eastern Conference?

The Celtics, whose lineup is weaker but whose chemistry and morale are good, are obviously the most promising dark horses in the Eastern Conference.

In the West, the Lakers' biggest opponent is the Portland Trail Blazers.

After the All-Star break, the Trail Blazers were in better and better shape, with the 34-year-old Jordan playing what Dean Smith called the best game of his career.

The Trail Blazers also lost Mourning due to the luxury tax, but the team was stabilized by Riley.

After the All-Star break, Riley called a team meeting.

At this meeting, Riley shared every detail of his career and called this season the last dance.

Regardless of the outcome of our season, my body and mind can no longer bear the pressure of another season. This is our last dance, let us dance it gracefully.

Since then, the Trailblazer has taken on a whole new look.

The Lakers were still young, and the Knicks and Heat, the two major contributors, both blew themselves up. Suddenly, the Trail Blazers opened a once-in-a-lifetime window to win the championship.

Louis circled the Blazers.

This is definitely a big test for the Lakers in the playoffs. If they don't climb this mountain, there will be no championship.

--Go to check