The rest is just noise

"...I actually plan to invite a madman to be the coach of the Celtics."

Riley never thought Louis would ask him to coach the Celtics.

Because Louis himself is a better coach than him, there is no need for him to ask his defeated opponent to coach his team.

However, Louis also said that he has retired and endured people like Isiah Thomas for two years. Maybe he really has no intention of coming back?

"Thank you for the invitation, Coach Lu." Riley shook his head, "But I'm afraid I have to refuse you. I have been away from the court for many years, and my current mental state is not suitable to be the head coach of the team. You

It’s better to hire someone else, Gao Ming.”

Louis didn't answer.

He just stared straight at Riley.

Riley didn't say anything else, just waiting for Louis to speak again.

"I was not sure just now, but this time I am sure that you are not crazy." Louis said lightly, "A madman will not have such an accurate understanding of himself."

Riley laughed at himself: "Crazy people will not be allowed to go out to eat alone."

"But... your wife doesn't seem to want us to meet." Louis said that he wanted to visit Riley's house today but was rejected by his wife.

Hearing this, Riley smiled slightly and said, "In her opinion, you are indeed a dangerous person."

Dangerous person?

President Lu has been loyal all his life, and this is the first time he has been labeled like this.

"There is a reason for this." Riley explained, "I have never been able to get over my past failures... Coach Lu, have you seen the Knicks championship documentary?"

Louis Versailles said: "When I was still in New York, this kind of documentary came out every year, and I couldn't watch it all."

"I can't finish it," Riley said with a hint of envy, "so I'll only watch the one with the highest reviews."

"Which one?"

"The 1993 championship documentary."

Louis' face then darkened.

The legendary story of the 1993 Knicks is spread in the mouths of every basketball fan. As a witness to that period of history, Louis has more feelings.

It's just that he didn't like the 1993 Knicks championship documentary produced by Madison Square Garden Entertainment.

That documentary glorified too many people and was completely unable to intuitively reflect the Knicks' situation at the time.

Take the conflict between Ewing and Wilson that lasted for an entire season. The documentary did not let the public know that because Ewing watched "When the Garden Was Eden", he became so angry that he rushed to the Blue Palace without knowing the authenticity.

Wilson slapped him.

All the conflicts between Wilson and Ewing were explained by the documentary's narration: "Benj and Patrick, as the core of the team, both have strong self-esteem, and they are unwilling to succumb to others. The long-term competition between the two in secret finally came to an end here."

"Year Outbreak" summed up.

Does it tell the truth? It does.

But this way of introducing it simply fails to convey the depth of the dispute between Wilson and Ewing.

Failing to recognize this, the feeling about one of the climax scenes of the entire documentary - the "collective confession" during the halftime of Game 6 of the Finals - will be reduced by countless orders of magnitude.

The audience really couldn't feel how important that moment was to the team from the players who showed their true feelings.

Of course, as a championship documentary that reviews the season, it still reflects many internal conflicts of the Knicks, so it is considered the best sports documentary ever.

But Louis didn't like it. He didn't expect Riley to actually like the documentary.

"I don't know how many times I watched it," Riley said. "I always thought we should have won the championship that year. I didn't know where we lost. I wanted to find the answer in the documentary, but no matter what I watched,

How many times, I still haven't found the answer. I don't know what that locker room fight meant to you, I don't know why Benjamin Wilson changed his style of play several times during the series... I watched

A lot of behind-the-scenes stories, a lot of interviews, a lot of historical reviews, but no one told me what happened to the Knicks."

Riley looked at Louis with hot eyes, "Can you tell me, what happened to the Knicks that year?"

Riley asked a question that Louis couldn't answer in one sentence.

What happened to the Knicks that year?

No matter who Riley asked, the other person couldn't give an accurate answer.

Neither can Louis.

Thinking of what happened that year, Louis still had many unfinished thoughts. After a while, he looked at Riley and said, "You won't understand."

Riley was not reconciled to not getting an answer.

He later asked Louis many times about what happened back then, but Louis was always vague.

After the meal, Louis said to Riley: "What happened back then has passed. If you want to know the answer, you shouldn't stay at home. You have to come out and go to the competition site to see. A lot of things have happened in the past few years.

The league structure is very different from when you left, and my invitation to you remains unchanged. If you want to come back to coach, the Celtics' door will always be open for you."

Louis said goodbye to Riley, and the old bodyguard hired with a lot of money drove him back to the hotel.

"Are you Leader Lu?!" the old bodyguard asked in surprise.

Louis hummed: "Did you not recognize me until now?"

"I'm sorry, I'm blind...but you look a lot different than the paint my son made in the yard...you look much thinner."

“Can’t I lose weight?”

"Yes...but New Yorkers are more accustomed to your appearance at that time."

※※※

The next day, Louis got Riley's reply when he returned to Los Angeles.

He agreed to come back, but not as head coach.

He is willing to come back as an assistant coach. This is not belittlement, but the doctor's advice. His psychiatrist believes that Riley's current mental state cannot withstand the work pressure of the head coach, and may even cause stress reactions.

As an assistant coach, he did not recommend that Riley stay full-time. It would be safer to serve as an assistant coach who does not follow the team.

Let Riley be an assistant coach? This is something Louis never thought of.

It sounds too luxurious.

However, if Riley is there to assist, no matter who the head coach appoints, it won't be a problem.

In this year's playoffs, the Celtics unexpectedly fell in the first round.

Isiah Thomas, whose coaching career is coming to an end, gave the fans a little surprise. The Celtics relied on their inside advantage to successfully drag the series to the sixth game.

(PS: It’s now the first round of the best-of-seven series)

If Miller had not activated the "Noah" BUFF in Game 6, maybe the series would have gone to seven games.

Regardless, this result is good enough for Thomas.

On the third day after the series ended, Louis and Thomas held a press conference together.

At the press conference, Thomas said that he was already in a sub-healthy state due to long-term work pressure. Moreover, the fact that the Celtics were eliminated in the first round for two consecutive years also made him understand that it was time for the team to make changes.

"I decided to end this journey." Thomas said, "The Celtics deserve a better coach. Starting today, I will spend more time with my family. At the same time, I will continue to pay attention to the team.

I love Boston and I believe that under the leadership of Legend Lu, the Celtics will rise again!"

The era of Isiah Thomas is over.

The media at the scene breathed a sigh of relief.

What they are most worried about is that the Celtics management ignored Thomas' previous incompetence just because he saw Thomas leading the team to a good first-round performance.

It seems that Louis is still wise.

Now they want to know, who will succeed Thomas, is it Louis?

Regarding the selection of the new coach, Louis said that a meeting was still needed to study, which disappointed the media.

Because this means that Louis has no comeback plan for the time being. If Louis does not come back, no matter who comes, the Celtics will not see obvious changes in the short term.

Louis becomes the antidote, and everyone points to him for help.

This expectation also adds obstacles to Louis' comeback. If Louis himself is not sure that he can solve the Celtics' problem with one shot, he might as well stay behind the scenes and leave some hope for others.

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