The rest is just noise

The news that Duncan will travel east to Miami is groundbreaking.

This is a painful moment for Lakers fans.

Although they knew this would be the outcome, before it happened, fans still believed that the Lakers could keep Duncan.

In the end, Duncan still left, and he was almost the first superstar to finalize a new home during the offseason.

"The comfort of the environment is the most important thing to me," Duncan said. "The second is the winning culture. Miami has everything I want."

Now, all Heat fans need to do is hide and chuckle.

They captured the 24-year-old Duncan at a price not worth mentioning.

After Duncan, there is Bodiloga.

Bodilloga's agent suggested that he pursue a career in a big market—New York was certainly a good place.

However, the Knicks have no salary space.

The combined salaries of Ewing, Stockton, Miller, and Hill are enough for them to have no expectations in the free market.

For New York, the only question they face is whether the 38-year-old Ewing wants to play another year?

Bodiloga looked around and was finally impressed by the Dallas Mavericks.

New Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is well aware that this is their only chance to sign a superstar during the bonus period of Nowitzki's contract.

With no big market to go to, Bodiloga could only settle for the next best thing and choose a boss who looked generous.

Cuban offered Bodilloga a seven-year, $110 million contract.

Bodiloga accepted.

Lakers fans relive the pain of losing Duncan.

Losing Bodilloga may be even more painful.

In Los Angeles, Bodilloga's popularity has always been higher than that of Duncan, not only because of his gorgeous playing style, but also because he reminds fans of Magic Johnson.

Last season he averaged a triple-double and was elected MVP and FMVP. His personal ability is at its peak.

Unexpectedly, Bodiloga, who had just entered his prime, left immediately.

He didn't hesitate.

Probably out of the desire to appease the fans, the Lakers immediately announced news: Chief assistant Larry Bird will replace Louis as the Lakers' head coach for the new season.

Fans don't yet have a concrete understanding of Bird's coaching ability, but over the years Bird has been in Los Angeles, fans have long been accustomed to his presence.

With him there, Garnett and Kobe were also guarded.

In addition to Bird taking over as Lakers coach, there are several pieces of news about the Lakers that have been ignored.

Jim Buss officially becomes general manager of the Lakers.

Zhao Yuanzheng, who had previously held multiple positions, will serve as the team's deputy general manager. Moreover, due to the departure of Louis, West and Kupchak, the only real power executive of the Lakers management is Buss Jr.

and Zhao Yuanzheng.

In other words, starting from this year, the Lakers will be called the shots by the two of them.

This also heralds that the Lakers have entered a new chapter. Starting today, what awaits them will be unprecedented challenges.

After the brief good news, another bad news awaits Lakers fans.

Benjamin Wilson officially rejects the Lakers' contract extension and tests the free market.

Wilson, 33, suddenly discovered that the guiding light he had followed for 14 years was no longer on.

From the moment he entered the league, Wilson decided to follow Louis until the day he retired. But this time, Louis told him that he would not seek another job after his national team duties were over.

Louis wants to take some time off.

But as a player, Wilson couldn't stop.

This also means that Wilson and Louis, the most successful coaching duo in NBA history, will part ways after 14 years of working together.

Wilson considered returning to the Lakers, but with Louis gone, there was no point in going back.

Moreover, both Kobe and Garnett have reached the age of taking over. Although he is a selfless person, he is not selfless enough to voluntarily give up his position as the boss when playing.

Therefore, the Lakers can't go back.

The Knicks had wanted to win back Wilson through a sign-and-trade.

Wilson himself was interested in the plan, but Ewing's attitude was decisive.

If Ewing chooses to retire, Wilson should return.

If Ewing decides to play another year, Wilson will have no reason to go back.

That orangutan never disappoints when it comes to being annoying.

When Wilson and the Knicks began in-depth negotiations, Ewing's agent David Falk made a high-profile announcement: "The best center in history will return to his kingdom to continue fighting!"

Ewing's decision blocked Wilson's path to returning to the Knicks.

Now, there are still two and a half super giants on the free market.

They are Wilson, O'Neal and Jordan.

The situation is very delicate.

If the aging Jordan refuses to give up his dignity and join those promising teams, he will have no choice but to renew his contract with the Trail Blazers.

In the eyes of many people, this is the only path Jordan will take.

He is too proud to put down his dignity for the championship.

A few days later, Jordan signed a two-year contract with the Trail Blazers with a player option.

Ironically, another veteran in a similar position to Jordan made the exact opposite choice.

Karl Malone, who is old but still has All-Star caliber, left Boston.

In order to win the championship, he forced the Jazz to send him to the team of Mr. One, and they did reach the finals.

However, that magical Celtics team was destroyed by a "now, not the future" deal.

After four consecutive years of wasted time, Malone let go of his superstar self-esteem.

Boston is no longer worth remembering.

Without Malone, they are just a lottery team.

The team's number one goal is to rebuild, and the second is to help Sampson break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record. Malone cannot waste his last few years on such a team.

Malone, who is eager to win the championship, has gone crazy and doesn't care about anything.

Therefore, he asked his agent to contact Los Angeles to discuss franchise matters.

But the Lakers have the same problem as the Lakers, they cannot provide Malone with a decent contract.

What they never expected was that Ma Long didn't want money.

What he wants is a championship.

How can we talk about money when it comes to competing for the championship?

Is the value of a championship measurable in money? It doesn't matter what you mean.

So the Lakers made a tentative offer: How about 15 million over three years?

Malone: ​​It feels great to be a Laker.

In this way, Karl Malone, a member of the great Dream Team, one of the top 50 superstars in NBA history, a superstar whose peak period spanned the 1980s and 1990s, gave up everything that could be discarded and embarked on the path of Dumas, wave

A very old road.

This is called giving everything you have to win the championship.

Countless people will ridicule Malone's decision, but when Malone made this decision, he just felt that he had woken up too late.

Fate was unfair to him. He was a jerk when he was in school, but after entering the NBA, he focused on strengthening his body. Otherwise, how could he have such a long peak period? People like Barkley just took the Lakers for a ride.

He has won four rings. If it were him, he would definitely be able to make ten times the contribution of Barkley.

Malone's decision changed not only his destiny, but also Barkley's.

Originally, Barkley wanted to renew his contract with the Lakers for another year to see if he could earn another ring.

But Malone's arrival made the Lakers' need for Barkley less big.

The Lakers are not interested in extending Barkley's contract.

If Louis were still here, this would definitely be possible.

Malone and Barkley can coexist.

Just let Malone start and Barkley come on the bench. Anyway, the Fliggy has won the Sixth Man of the Year Award for two years, is there still one year left?

However, the newly appointed coach Bird disliked Barkley's professional attitude. Now that Malone was available to replace him, he was naturally opposed to keeping Barkley.

This completely pissed off Buckley.

His big mouth began to attack the management and Bird: "I finally understand! Los Angeles is still the same Los Angeles, it is only different because Legend Lu was there before! They don't respect my sacrifice and dedication at all.

They kicked me out for a bastard who had built up dead muscles, and they thought I would just give up? Bah! Even if they beg me to stay now, I won’t stay!”

Completely irritated, Barkley made an unprecedented weight loss plan.

Then, he called Wilson's home and asked him what his future plans were.

It's obvious that Barkley wants to follow Wilson.

Although Wilson is no longer in his prime, he is still the most influential superstar in the league. His addition can instantly turn any team into a championship favorite.

What Barkley didn't expect was that Wilson had no time to talk to him at this time because he was having a lively chat with another pig.