The rest is just noise

In April, Bird announced that he had signed with famous sports agent Bob Woolf. Acquiring Bird in last year's draft seemed to be just the beginning.

Only by successfully signing Bird can it be considered complete.

In May, when the NBA playoffs were reaching a critical juncture, the Celtics started negotiations with Bird.

On the day of the negotiations, Louis had an argument with John Kirilla in Auerbach's office.

Because of the Bob McAdoo trade, the Celtics don't have a first-round pick this year. Their poor record cheapens the Knicks.

The Knicks have both the third and ninth picks in the first round this year. Among them, the ninth pick comes from the Celtics.

The trouble is, the Celtics' second-round pick in this draft has already been traded away.

However, before the restructuring, there were a total of ten rounds of selections in the draft.

You can draft many players if you want, but starting from the third round, there are not many players worth drafting. The point of dispute between Louis and Kiriglia was about the use of the ninth pick in the third round.

Kiriglia has his sights on Duke senior guard Wayne Kreklow.

Louis suggested choosing Bill Laimbeer, whom he had been following for almost a year.

Even, if necessary, trade a second-round pick.

Regarding the trade proposal, Auerbach's opinion was: "There is no need. Bill is completely unavailable. We can select him at any position."

"Then let him wait until the fourth round." Kyrillia looked very arrogant. "We will select him with the ninth pick of the fourth round. Moreover, this can also further reduce his contract."

His suggestion made Auerbach's eyes light up.

The old guy always likes suggestions that will save him money.

The problem is that it’s not his money. How about saving money?

"I don't know Wayne, but I know Bill, and he carved a spot on a talented team while Wayne struggled at weak Duke, where even Bob Ortegel

) The coach didn’t express anything about his immediate ability, he just said that he is a hard-working person.”

"Reed, this is a dangerous signal." Louis said solemnly, "If this guy had other advantages, his coach would never say that!"

Kiriglia scoffed: "Does Bill have other advantages? You haven't highlighted his mental attributes in the scouting report."

"Okay! Stop it!" Auerbach patted the table, "What do you think this is? If you have anything to say, wait until the briefing begins!"

The expressions of Louis and Kirilia are wonderful.

With just these draft picks this year, is it necessary to hold a briefing session?

A group of big guys gathered together to discuss who to pick with the ninth pick in the third round? Wow, that scene...

At this moment, the Greek College handyman came in and said, "Larry and his agent are here."

"Let them come!" Auerbach said.

"Then I'll go back and do some research." Kirilia hurried away as if she was afraid of meeting Bird.

Louis saw this as an opportunity to get to know the destined core Celtics players in advance.

"Do you want to stay and help?" Auerbach saw that he had no intention of leaving.

Louis said tactfully: "If there is anything I can do to help, please feel free to do so."

"Don't worry, Larry is a country bumpkin and Bob is an arrogant bastard. These two people never know what politeness is." He said this in front of Louis.

When they met later, he was eager to surrender Bird.

Bird and his agent Wolf walked into Auerbach's office at the same time.

At this time, Bird was not as bird-like as he would be many years later. At first glance, he looked very green. Under the pickle-like golden curls, he was a young white man wearing jeans and a shirt. Wolf beside him, the first

I gave Louis a bad feeling when I met him, like a bad villain.

"Do you want anything to drink before the negotiations begin?" Louis asked.

There is a refrigerator in Auerbach's office, which contains all the drinks Louis could use.

"Bring me a bottle of Heineken." Bird opened his mouth to drink.

And it is a relatively expensive wine, but Auerbach only has Cordon Bleu.

"No Heineken." Louis pretended not to know and opened the refrigerator before answering.

Wolff frowned dissatisfied: "Why don't you even have wine?"

"Are you here for a drink or to negotiate a contract?" Auerbach knew Wolf was putting pressure, but putting pressure on a 19-year-old? He must have been confused about the situation.

"Forget it, just give us a glass of water." Wolfe smiled and touched Bird, "Larry, I told you right? You really can't expect too much from them."

Bird nodded slightly, agreeing with what he said.

Louis made preparations, while Auerbach and Wolff began to argue.

Before 1995, the NBA did not have a standard rookie contract.

Therefore, rookies who are destined to become stars often receive maximum salaries from the first contract.

The negotiations were tense from the beginning because Auerbach asked for an unexpected figure like $300,000 in annual salary, which made Bird blurt out, "How much?"

That's nowhere near the numbers Bird and Wolf expected.

What's interesting is that when Louis came over with two glasses of water, he carefully gave one to Bird and one to Wolfe.

His approach could be considered prudent.

Auerbach suspected that one of the glasses was poisoned, and he wanted to poison Wolfe.

Louis stood aside, ready to be dispatched.

Bird took a sip of water and found nothing strange.

When Wolfe did the same thing, his expression changed rapidly, as if he had eaten shit, and he roared in disgust: "Why is it hot water?"

Drinking warm water has gradually become a unique habit of East Asians, and in Westernized countries like Japan and South Korea, the younger generation has long been accustomed to drinking cold water. Warm water is very disgusting to these people.

Wolff didn't spit it out, so he had good manners.

"Sorry, I'm Chinese..."

Although Louis is very trouble-making, Auerbach really likes this kid at this moment.

Wolfe glared at Louis unfairly, "Why is Larry ice water?"

"In Chinese culture, there is a saying of respecting the old and loving the young. Larry and I are both young people and can adapt to ice water, but old men like you and Reed are better off drinking more hot water." Louis looked at it.

What a thoughtful person.

But he made Wolfe more and more disgusted.

"Let's continue!" The disgust brought by the warm water made Wolfe have no good tone. "My client requires a salary of no less than one million US dollars per year..."

Then Louis heard Auerbach’s loudest roar since joining the Celtics more than half a year ago: “How much!!!!?”

When one party proposes an annual salary of US$300,000, while the other party demands an annual salary of one million dollars, which is unique in the league, the demands of both parties are no longer just differences, but a generation gap.

It's like a senior movie fan who likes *** asks for resources, but you give him the works of Airi Kijima. He will undoubtedly be extremely disappointed with you, and you are still looking forward to his response of praising Mr. Kijima's beauty.

.

This will of course cause conflict.

Auerbach and Wolff were no longer negotiating, but quarreling.

Bird was unhappy at first, but later he was worried about a fight between Auerbach and his agent.

Although Louis was surprised by their performance, he was not worried at all about the two men fighting.

Auerbach and Wolff are old rivals.

The agent of Havlicek, the legendary Celtics player, is Wolf. In the early 1970s, Wolf used the ABA team to raise the price and forced the Celtics to give Havlicek a contract that met his expectations.

A valuable contract. Auerbach had a heart-to-heart communication with Havlicek on the phone. He met all the latter's requirements and at the same time formed a feud with Wolff.

The negotiation lasted for two hours with no results and the two sides broke up unhappy.

There were many reporters outside the Greek Academy.

"We don't agree," Wolf declared.

At the same time, he said that his client would not rule out returning to the draft so that the Celtics could not even get Mao.

"Hmph, I want 1 million, unless he kills me!" Auerbach was still angry in the office.

The current average total salary of NBA teams is US$1.75 million. Not to mention 1 million, the previously proposed salary of 300,000 is the highest salary in the history of the Celtics.

"What if they go back to participate in the draft?" Louis asked.

"Do you believe this nonsense?" Auerbach vowed, "Even if Larry enters the draft again, either Los Angeles or Chicago will get him. Even Los Angeles is unlikely to meet his requirements. Chicago... I don't

Think they will quote a higher number than us!"

Just as Louis was about to leave, Auerbach reminded him: "If a reporter asks you something later, tell the truth!"

"Including the quote we provided?"

"Don't talk about this..."

It seems that $300,000 is not Auerbach's base price.

Louis smiled and said: "I know."

The purpose of spreading the news is to put pressure on Bird's team. It is unheard of for a rookie to dare to ask for a million-dollar salary, and he will be strongly criticized by public opinion. On the other hand, if they disclose Auerbach's offer,

But it won't have the same effect.

"NBA players are overpaid" is a common belief among Americans. If Auerbach lowers his price like this, not only will he not be scolded, he will also be praised.

When Louis announced that he had witnessed the entire negotiation process, he immediately became the focus of reporters.

However, exclusive information can only be given to one, and the one with the highest price will get it.

Under the premise that the other party would not write down his real name, Louis sold the exclusive information to Will McDonough, a reporter for the Globe.

Louis described the first negotiations as "full of expletives and profanities."

When he revealed that Bird was asking for a million-dollar annual salary, McDonough was shocked.

Seeing the other party's expression, Louis could foresee how exciting tomorrow's headlines would be. However, what was even more exciting was the $1,500 exclusive information fee. He did not expect that this could also make money.

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