The rest is just noise

Chapter 1431 The last night of the twentieth century

The shutdown war caused by labor and management continues.

At present, both sides are still in the stage of talking to each other.

Nearly half a year has passed and they have made no progress.

The owners have put forward a series of demands that are unacceptable to the players union, such as the implementation of a hard salary cap, the cancellation of Bird Rights, the adjustment of the standard rookie contract from the current three years to five years, and the salary of any player cannot exceed 30% of the salary cap.

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On the player side, there have been a lot of public relations nightmares.

For example, the popular super center Shaquille O'Neal publicly bought two Ferraris, then split one of them in half - physically in half - and then asked someone to install the two halves in that car.

The intact front and rear of the Ferrari.

What was his goal? He got a stretched version of the Ferrari. Although the car couldn't be driven, his goal was achieved.

When ordinary people see O'Neal's extravagance and waste, no one will find it funny.

Everyone has pinkeye.

Then there's Shawn Kemp, who continues to complain that he may never live the life of a rich man casually handing over $500 tips again.

In order to cry out for poverty, Kenny Anderson told the media that he was considering selling one of the eight cars in his wife's name because his wife did not need eight cars.

Then, someone revealed that the Andersons spent hundreds of thousands of dollars every year on car insurance and maintenance.

It became a public relations disaster for the players' union.

Then, the source of the public relations nightmare emerged again.

Union president Patrick Ewing said almost foolishly: "Tom Cruise can make $35 million for a movie and no one thinks there's a problem with it because he's white. When we black people are making $35 million for playing basketball,

When we have one million or ten million, people think we are spoiled? This is really ridiculous!”

The player's image is increasingly tarnished, but the real crisis comes from within.

Those mid- and low-level players who lost their protection began to think about why they were involved in this meaningless conflict.

Because the cause of the matter is that the top players took too much money, while the middle and low-level players always acted in accordance with the regulations and contracts.

The loophole in the "maximum salary without upper limit" rule has nothing to do with them.

For the benefit of star players, they had to lose their jobs and become unemployed.

In mid-December, in order to win the support of fans, Ewing and Mourning held an exhibition game in New York. The official announcement was that there were 9,000 spectators present, but the actual attendance was less than 5,000. This exhibition game proved one thing, the fans' attitude towards the suspension of football

The attitude becomes indifferent and they no longer care.

Then, the differentiation within the players became more and more obvious.

Middle and lower level players are tired of not having a job.

And young stars also don't want to get into too much trouble with the league and owners.

To put it harshly, an old man like Ewing has not been able to play basketball for a few years. Of course, he can hit the bosses hard. But some people are still young and have to stay in professional basketball for more than ten years. If they want to

To have a better career, they can't be at odds with the league and their owners.

The leaders were O'Neal and Webber, followed by Penny and Garnett.

Stern finally announced that labor and management would conduct final negotiations on January 6, 2000.

If no agreement is reached in this negotiation, the entire 1999-2000 season will be cancelled.

Union Chairman Ewing is still a die-hard member, but the situation is developing out of control.

Hundreds of players have asked to participate in negotiations and make decisions together.

This has infinitely weakened the power of Ewing and other union backbones.

By then, if the plan proposed by the bosses is not so unacceptable, maybe both parties can reach a consensus.

At this time, many people in the Lakers squad who were training in Los Angeles also got the news.

People like Wilson, Garnett, Kobe and others will all go to the negotiation site when the time comes.

Duncan was the only one who chose not to attend the negotiations.

Louis asked him why he didn't go.

He replied: "I like my life now."

Today's life means that he can do things that interest him while participating in high-quality training. He doesn't have to go everywhere with the team to participate in games, let alone be like a superstar and be watched by dozens of cameras wherever he goes.

Face slap.

As for Louis himself, his weight loss plan is proceeding in an orderly manner.

In the more than a month since he came to the training camp, with the help of Kobe, Louis has lost nearly 20 pounds.

Counting the 8 pounds he lost at home, Louis currently weighs 96kg, and you can see obvious changes on his body.

First of all, my face has become smaller, and my youthful appearance is clearly visible.

My belly has also shrunk several times.

Clothes that were unfitable in the past can now be worn again.

But the weight loss is not over yet, Louis plans to reduce to 85KG.

Under Kobe's supervision, Louis' life was very difficult.

Kobe himself was a masochistic maniac, and he trained to death, and now he had to supervise Louis' weight loss. In order to speed up the process, he secretly changed the training plan and trained Louis to exhaustion every day.

Then, time flashed to December 31, 1999.

At the dawn of the new millennium, the training of the Lakers squad was suspended for one day.

They spent the day watching movies, playing golf, and having a barbecue party at Louie's house.

In the dead of night, Wilson also lit a bonfire, and Louis sat with them, talking about all non-basketball topics.

Wayne Gretzky retired, Jay-Z stabbed someone in a nightclub, Chainzong's zipper and the ensuing eternal question of whether he was wearing a Benj's jersey, and the list goes on.

When there are many people, you will never lack topics.

Suddenly, someone asked: "Coach, will you renew your contract with the team?"

The person who asked this question is Dale Ellis.

Louis replied sincerely: "Honestly, I don't have an answer right now."

He stayed in New York for eight years, then in Los Angeles for another five years, and is now entering his sixth year.

This question will continue to be asked until he comes up with an answer.

Louis couldn't find any reason to stay, because he had already built the most powerful team in Los Angeles history. The only thing that supported him in persisting was that beautiful basketball had not yet been fully played.

This is his only remaining job with the Lakers.

Louis sometimes wonders, if he completes beautiful basketball with the Lakers, what will be the next step? He has achieved supreme achievements in the basketball world, and only Reed Auerbach can compare with him throughout the ages.

But Auerbach never had the same success coaching different players and teams.

He didn't even manage to coach Bill Russell until the end and hid behind the scenes.

As a coach, Louis has reached the highest level. When he looks to the future, he doesn't know that he still needs to prove it.

Maybe it's time for him to step aside?

Louis was thinking a lot, and the players stopped asking questions. Everyone continued to chat and spent the last night of the twentieth century together around the bonfire.

(End of chapter)