The rest is just noise

The Lakers breezed through their February schedule.

In the first month of the new season, the Lakers won all 14 games and once again occupied the first place in the league with a clear advantage.

After the Lakers, the second-ranked team is the Knicks, who are playing steadily, followed by the Magic, and then the Spurs, who also held a mini-training camp during the lockout.

In addition, other strong teams have been more or less negatively affected by the suspension.

Like the Warriors, who first injured Penny and then Larry Johnson, their momentum was sluggish. If they couldn't pick themselves up later, they might rush into the lottery.

Another example is the Heat. Petrovic suffered a grade two sprain at the start of the game and is expected to miss 1-2 months.

Reggie Lewis is out indefinitely due to heart problems.

Juwan Howard also missed the game after being accused of being tough after getting fucked in a nightclub.

For a time, the Heat's top player turned out to be third-year player Wang Zhizhi.

Wang Zhizhi, who is strong offensively and weak defensively, is obviously unable to support the situation, and the Heat's record will inevitably fall into the lottery zone.

Fortunately, Wang Zhizhi got better and became the core of the team for the first time, averaging 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game.

Other teams are in a similar situation.

The negative impacts of the shutdown are still unfolding.

Louis is not aware of the negative impact of the lockout because the Lakers have enough foundation to withstand a difficult schedule.

The positive effects of Benj's mini-camp held during the lockout are starting to show.

The Lakers are in a hot state and can let their substitutes play more in back-to-back situations. They are objectively unaffected.

Right now, Louis still has a few things to do.

One thing is to send off his son, Wu Xia is going to Ohio to play in the City Challenge. Louis inquired about this competition. According to the rules, most of the city champions in Ohio must participate, including James’s Notre Dame High School.

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Therefore, it is certain that Wuxia will meet James in the challenge.

Louis didn't reveal much about the little BOSS of the Virgin Mary.

The most wonderful element in life is the unexpected.

Let the little emperor break into a flawless life quietly and become a person he will never forget.

Another thing is the issue of beautiful basketball.

If nothing unexpected happens, this is the last year for this Lakers lineup.

However, Louis still couldn't see the kind of basketball he wanted in the game.

Moreover, it’s not because of poor play.

In fact, they played very well, but when the starting five mastered the "Eye of the Storm" tactics, they were unable to play the "Temple" tactics like a coherent team.

Because everyone has their own unique abilities.

When an individual is strong enough to serve as the core, the desire to sacrifice for his teammates will decrease.

Bodiloga is a perfect commander, and with his launch of the Meteor Tactics and Whale Fall Tactics, they appear to be perfect.

Once the team needs someone to break the deadlock, he can also become the eye of the storm on the court, using his superhuman size to attack the opponent's loopholes.

He truly plays like a magician.

This was the reason why Louis fell in love with him in the first place.

However, Louis missed something.

The young Bodiloga does not have the dedication of the old magician. He is a solemn ball-handler. Once he does not have the ball in his hands, his sense of presence will be reduced a lot.

It is impossible to expect Bodiloga to sacrifice like the magician.

He is in his prime, he dares to fight hard and performs well. The team is currently undefeated. What reason is there to change the current style of play?

Louis originally thought that Kobe was the biggest obstacle for the Lakers to open the Temple, but he was wrong.

At least in this team, Kobe behaves like a small Benj. He is proficient in running without the ball, catching and shooting, and cutting corners, and rarely takes the initiative to ask for the ball in a one-on-one.

In addition to the problem of Bordillo holding the ball too long, the Lakers' second problem is that Garnett's evolution has increased his need for the ball.

Rather than running without the ball and covering with bare hands, Garnett is more inclined to stand on his own whale spot and initiate the eye of the storm tactics.

His 45-degree ball-holding attack has become one of the key tricks for the Lakers to break the deadlock.

Garnett has the confidence to disrupt anyone's defense from two 45-degree angles.

To this day, Louis can confirm that the Lakers' starting five are not the right five.

The only ones who have the mental and playing skills to build a temple are Wilson, Duncan and Kobe.

However, at this point, Louis could only push the other two to change. He could not find a better replacement, and he had no time to find a replacement.

System problems are diseases of affluence.

Because the Lakers' current record is a complete victory, and they have also won three consecutive championships before.

In other words, even if the system is not completed, it is still enough to win.

Louis thought about it afterwards, and this might be the reason why they couldn't touch the last area. When you can defeat your opponent with only seven points of effort, why use ten points?

To put it bluntly, this is Louis' personal pursuit, and it is destined to be his only trouble.

The Lakers currently have a big problem plaguing the entire front office.

That is the issue of contract extensions for Duncan and Bodiloga.

Logically speaking, the Lakers are not short of money.

If there were no damn luxury tax rules, they could just give out two max salaries.

The reality is, they can't do that.

Wilson's annual salary is US$15 million, Garnett and Kobe each receive US$14 million, and Barkley receives US$8 million.

These four contracts alone exceed the salary cap.

With the signing of the new television broadcast contract, the NBA's salary cap has increased to $45 million this season.

As for the Lakers, the contracts of Williams, Canada, Kobe, and Basketball alone totaled US$51 million.

In addition to them, there are 11 more people on the roster, and the total contract value of all contracts reaches US$69 million.

Although Louis has been diligent and frugal in the past few years since joining the Lakers, their salary schedule has exceeded the salary cap every year. They have activated the super luxury tax for several consecutive years, and this year is the year with the largest tax bill.

In addition to spending $69 million to pay player wages, Bass also had to pay nearly $100 million in luxury tax.

If Duncan and Bordillo are given maximum salaries, to what extent will the luxury tax skyrocket next season?

Don't think about this, it will give you nightmares.

But the problem is that Bass doesn't dare to give two more maximum salaries, but he also doesn't dare not to give him a maximum salary.

In the past three years, the Lakers have won consecutive championships. Not only is it a shameful move, it has also established Los Angeles' status as a city team.

Just in terms of commercial orders, I don’t know how many orders I have received, and my profit has ranked first in the league for several years in a row.

No, even the most luxurious stadium of our time has been built.

The average ticket price at the Old Forum is US$55-85, while the average ticket price at Staples Center has skyrocketed to US$130-180, not counting VIP boxes and front row seats.

Every Lakers home game night, the 20,000 seats at the Staples Center are always full, and ticket sales alone can cost $3 million in one night.

In this case, does Old Bass dare to cry for poverty?

Making huge profits every year, building a new arena worth US$370 million without a frown, collecting the highest ticket prices in the league, and having countless off-site business partnerships, few people would believe such a person crying about poverty.

The fact of poverty exists objectively.

No matter how much money the Lakers make, they can't afford the sky-high luxury tax that comes with renewing the contracts of Duncan and Bodilloga.

Because of this incident, old Bass was so worried that he couldn't eat well or sleep for several days and nights. He looked more than ten years older.

After finally ushering in a non-match day, Old Bass took the initiative to come to Sunset Hills to ask Louis about his plans.

"Dr. Bass, do you also have bills you can't pay?"

Louis remembered an interesting incident. When there was a quarrel between labor and management in 1983, the salary cap was resisted by many bosses before it was introduced, because many bosses were dissatisfied with Magic's 20-year, $25 million astronomical contract at that time.

What did Old Bass say at that time? He has money and can afford 100 million a year. He can spend it however he wants.

To Louis at the time, these words were simply crazy and cool. The Celtics would never be so arrogant.

Unexpectedly, old Bass would be called poor one day.

"Dr. Buss, I think you should be very clear that this year will be the last year of this Lakers team when we are unable to pay the sky-high bills." Louis said clearly, "You shouldn't worry about next year's bills.

Because you are unable to pay the money, the most important thing now is that you have to figure out what you want."

"What do I want?"

Old Bass murmured, why did he become even more confused after hearing what Louis said?