The rest is just noise

Before joining Reed Orr's trek to a dinner party, Louie first finalized another big deal.

About private jets.

As Louis spent more time for leisure, the traffic jams in Los Angeles became more and more unbearable. He felt that the time stuck in the traffic was meaningless and a complete waste of his life.

Who is he? Hundreds of thousands per hour, how can he be trapped by such a thing?

Moreover, after driving for so many years, he has concluded a truth.

The joy of driving is to overtake and be overtaken, and in Los Angeles, neither of these joys exist.

Instead of doing this, it is better to let yourself go.

So, after discussing with Lorraine, he secretly spent $11 million without telling his mother to book a Bombardier Global Express (hereinafter referred to as BGE) that will be delivered next month.

BGE is currently the highest-capacity high-speed business aircraft and can carry up to fourteen passengers and four crew members for 14 hours at a speed of Mach 0.80 (850 kilometers) per hour.

In addition to the price of the aircraft itself, its operating costs are also unaffordable for ordinary wealthy people.

The hourly fuel cost is nearly US$9,000. In addition, in order to ensure safety, Louis requires a shortened maintenance cycle, which increases maintenance costs by 30%. Adding various crew member salaries and miscellaneous expenses, the average annual operating cost is about US$3.5 million.

.

This is why Louis didn't dare tell his mother that he bought a plane.

If her old man knew that she spent tens of millions to buy a private jet, and then spent another three and a half million a year to maintain it, she would definitely suffer from cerebral congestion.

Speaking of which, if you have to do the math, most of the money Louis bought for the plane was given by James Dolan, the prodigal son.

Recently, little Dolan made a phone call to Louis.

He asked about two things, one was about whether to renew Ewing's contract next season, and the other was how to make the team competitive again.

Louis wanted to know why Ewing kept fighting.

He really couldn't think of it.

Because the Knicks no longer have the competitiveness that Ewing wants. With his current status and achievements, there is no need to continue playing.

Little Dolan said helplessly: "He wants to become the history's total shot leader."

This can be considered a major timeline changed by Louis.

Ewing has become a true contemporary Bill Russell in this world. In the 15 years of his career, he has had 6 seasons averaging 4 blocks per game, 5 seasons averaging 3 blocks per game, and the rest of his blocks per game have not been less than 2.

Second-rate.

Currently, he is 14 blocks behind Olajuwon, ranking third on the all-time block list.

But neither Ewing nor Olajuwon is as good as Sampson.

This top-level center, who is about to enter the 20th season of his career, has never been as good at blocking shots as Meng, who averaged 4 blocks per game in consecutive seasons, but he has always been very stable, averaging blocks per game in the first ten years of his career.

They were all above 2.8 times. During the years when he played alone for Green Kai, he even had terrifying block numbers of 4.4 and 4.6.

Sampson's highlight is his steady attendance rate, which allows him to currently accumulate 4,030 blocks, a full 110 ahead of Olajuwon.

When he heard this, Louis didn't know what to say to the guy.

Although Ewing admitted that he was slightly inferior to Sampson in terms of physical strength, when the opponent began to sprint towards the historical scoring champion, he also used some careful thoughts.

If Sampson becomes the all-time scoring leader, he will also become the all-time block leader, which is also in line with his contemporary Russell evaluation.

Unconsciously, the comparison between Sampson and Ewing, and the debate about which one is better, has replaced the black and white duo in the previous life and become a pair of rivals that spanned the 1980s and 1990s and were talked about by fans.

Moreover, the comparison between these two people is really very close.

Although Sampson in his heyday beat up Ewing once he met him, in the mid-to-late 1990s, Ewing also regained some face.

Ewing has eight rings in hand, plus the bonus of 2 MVP and 4 FMVP, and the big honors completely suppress Sampson.

Sampson himself is at a disadvantage in terms of narrative. Although he has won six championships, five of them were won with the previous GOAT.

Honor has never been a boasting point for Mr. Only’s fans.

Sampson's point of boasting is very similar to that of Wilt Chamberlain decades ago, which is to crush his contemporaries inside.

Sampson is different from Chamberlain who can only crush his opponents in the regular season. Even in the playoffs, he always has the upper hand.

Bob Ryan of the "Boston Globe" said: "Without Ralph, there would be no center heyday in the 1980s and 1990s! Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Brad Doherty

, David Robinson, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O'Neal. All of them grew up under Ralph."

Since the two have completely different views, Ewing's supporters and Sampson's supporters have become two forces that are entirely based on emotion rather than rationality.

Then there's the question of how to make the Knicks more competitive.

Although Louis is not responsible for the Knicks' results, he does not want to make Dolan's money in vain.

After all, I have to see the private jet bought with Xiao Dolan's money every day, so I feel bad if I don't help.

"If Patrick must renew his contract, you will have to find ways to reduce his salary, and it will not be a small salary reduction, but a large salary reduction, and then use all means to pursue Chris, who will become a free agent next year.

Weber!"

Little Dolan said innocently: "Coach, Patrick doesn't need to cut his salary. We can also fight for Chris Webber. Can't we still sign and exchange?"

Louis said jokingly: "Oh, that's okay, but I have to remind you that the Knicks now have three tens of millions of contracts for Tracy, Grant and Patrick. If you want to sign and exchange

If you win Chris Webber, you will have to take a fourth multi-million contract, and by then, you may have to pay a huge luxury tax to the league."

Louis' "again" evoked the nightmare deep in little Dolan's mind.

"I know what to do."

Then, in the blink of an eye, time came to Tuesday, December 20, 2000.

It was now mid-winter. Louis took a taxi and drove slowly into Chinatown in Washington. He found the "China Dole" that Auerbach had mentioned among more than a dozen Chinese restaurants.

What Louis was sure of was that this was not a special Chinese restaurant.

The chef inside is not a hidden chef, and the boss is not an anonymous outsider. The reason why Auerbach chose to have dinner here may just be out of his personal habits, or the fried noodles here suit his taste.

.

Louis walked into the store, and the boss opened his mouth slightly when he saw Louis.

Obviously, Legend Lu was recognized.

"Is Reed here?" Louis asked calmly.

Only then did the boss come to his senses and said, "He's already here, coach, please come inside."

When Louis arrived at the scene, he felt a little disappointed.

He originally thought it was a private dinner, but he didn't expect that many people came.

Auerbach sat in the striking main seat, surrounded by seven or eight people.

One of the old men, who was about the same age as Auerbach, stood up to greet Louis, "If you don't come, Reed will lose his temper."

Louis smiled and asked: "He is already in his eighties, does he still have such a big temper?"

"Absolutely," the other party said, "He is still the most angry person among people aged 70-80."

At this time, the other party introduced himself, "Zane Auerbach. I am Reed's younger brother. Just call me Zane."

It’s hard to imagine that an old man could have such a kind-hearted brother. Are they brothers?

Louis approached the crowd.

At this time, Auerbach still pretended not to see Louis and said in a confident tone: "I have long said that replacing Grant Hill with Scottie Pippen is a stupid idea. It's a pity that Isiah acted on his own initiative.

And you don’t have the outstanding vision that a boss should have, yet you actually agreed to his weird idea!”

The person Auerbach used to criticize in public was Paul Gaston, the small owner of the Boston Celtics.

Gaston smiled bitterly, scolding Thomas in his heart, but on the surface he needed to excuse the Celtics legend, as well as the team coach and management director: "There are risks in all transactions."

"What a risk! Anyone with a discerning eye would know there's something wrong with this deal at a glance. Even 18-year-old Louis can't do this!" Auerbach finally "saw" Louis, "right, kid?"

The 40-year-old "kid" echoed as before: "Ah, yes, yes."