The rest is just noise

"Just write down how much you want here, and we'll get it done right away, okay?"

The New York Knicks are owned by the Madison Square Garden Company, which is a subsidiary of Gulf and Western Industries Inc.

As the president of MSG, Jack Krueger is considered a regional leader.

It was up to him to negotiate a contract extension with Louis, which was considered the highest-level negotiation.

As a result, Kruger had no intention of "quarreling", and his attitude was unimaginably low, asking Louis to fill in a number he wanted on the blank check.

"Jack, although I know you want to keep me, why don't you talk about something else?" Louis asked, "Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Krueger has been scared these days.

Louis was rumored to have an affair with Paul Allen, and was photographed having dinner with Jerry Buss. Both families were well-connected.

Thinking about Louis's character of loving challenges, could he decide that there are no more challenges in New York and then change jobs?

It's not impossible. Who in their right mind would leave Boston in 1984?

Therefore, Kruger realized that it was useless to talk too much. It was enough to negotiate the contract and Louis signed his name smoothly, ensuring that Louis would be a Knicks person in life and a Knicks ghost in the next few years.

"We have no differences and have a happy cooperation." Kruger said cheerfully, "This is actually a matter of numbers. You still have everything you had before, but we will give you more money."

If you think about it carefully, that's really what happened.

Louis already has all the power, it's really just a matter of numbers.

However, his agent Marcel Thielen had other ideas: "Mr. Kruger, of course Louis wants to stay in New York, but the conditions you proposed are no better than those in Portland and Los Angeles."

Krueger snorted: "I don't care how much Portland and Los Angeles offer, I'll give you 150 percent of the highest offer."

"This is not a matter of money." Thielen is very professional. He knows that staying in New York is beneficial to both parties, but he wants to help Louis get more. "Of course we want to establish long-term ties with New York, and Louis also hopes that he

To be the Reed Auerbach of New York."

Kruger decisively sent a rainbow fart: "He already is!"

"But he's not the team president yet."

"It's not the president of the operations department. In fact, the president of the Knicks basketball operations department has always been vacant. I think that compared to the general manager, the two titles of president and chairman are what Louis wants."

Marcel Thielen's proposal surprised Kruger and Louis.

Louis' face did not change, but his heart was a little moved.

Yes, compared with the two positions of president and chairman, the general manager is sometimes more like a doll at the front desk.

Just like the Celtics, Jan Walker has been the team's general manager since 1984, but the president of operations and team chairman are both Auerbach.

In name, Auerbach has stepped behind the scenes, but in fact, he is still the one making decisions.

Krueger is the president of MSG. Even if Louis becomes the president of the operations department and the chairman of the team, he is still considered his subordinate, so there is no change. It is just that Louis has changed from one person with two positions to one person with four positions.

...Head coach, general manager, president, and team chairman all rolled into one, isn't this Auerbach?

Moreover, if Louis wants, he can sign four contracts and receive four salaries.

Kruger did not hesitate. Since Louis could be a good general manager, he could also become a good president of the operations department.

The 28-year-old president of basketball operations... can be said to be unprecedented and will never be repeated.

"Lu, I will let you know how much I want to keep you." Kruger said firmly, "You will be our head coach, general manager, president, team president, whatever you want, you

Everyone will get it.”

"Wait a minute, Jack." Louis smiled, "If I become the president of the basketball operations department, give the position of general manager to someone else."

Kruger smiled and said: "You are the president, you decide."

Two days later, the Knicks announced news that shocked the league.

First they announced: "'Leader Lu' will be leaving the position of general manager."

This makes people think that Louis will once again leave a championship team to seek challenges elsewhere.

However, within a few minutes, the Knicks announced: "'Leader Lu' will become the second president of basketball operations in the history of the Knicks."

Then, the Knicks announced like machine gun after another.

“‘Leader Lu’ successfully reached a multi-year contract extension with the Knicks.”

"'Leader Lu' will become team president of the Knicks."

"Elgin Baylor will take over as general manager."

It looks like something has changed, but actually nothing has changed.

Baylor moved from deputy to full-time position, but still worked under Louis. He would become Louis' Jane Walker.

And Louis, at the age of 28, became the head coach, president and team chairman of a team for an unprecedented time.

Dave Anderson of the New York Times revealed that Louis signed the largest coaching and management contract in history with the Knicks.

No one knows the size of his presidential contract.

The coaching contract is an unprecedented six years and US$12 million.

Even compared with players, this is a maximum salary.

Compared with other coaches, in the era when the top coaches in the current generation earned 500,000 a year, he earned 2 million a year.

This is just like Jordan's annual salary of 30 million US dollars in 1997, while Ewing's annual salary, the second highest salary in the league, was "only" US$18 million. Some people are unique.

What's more, he also serves as the team's president and chairman, and these two positions require separate contracts.

Louie's president's contract and the team president's contract are together.

This contract is not public and has some reward terms.

The full amount of the contract is US$10 million over six years, but if Louis' performance does not meet the standards, the guaranteed amount will only be US$6 million.

However, even if it is 6 million, in this era when the average salary of top management leaders does not exceed 500,000, his salary is still so high that it makes people jealous.

Many people saw it in their eyes and felt sad in their hearts.

Even if I have an opinion, I dare not say it.

Because Louis is not a bubble, he did not blow it up, the president of MSG is not a fool, and his family does not print money.

Louis proved his ability to earn so much.

Louis' unprecedented large contract overshadowed the signing of Tom Chambers.

As the biggest free agent in the first year of free agency, his whereabouts affect the hearts of many people.

There are currently two teams leading the way.

They are the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz respectively.

The Suns had a better geographical environment, but Chambers ultimately chose to sign with the Jazz.

Because the Suns have too many players at the same position, the competition is extremely fierce. On the other hand, the Jazz use the UCLA offense he admires and move like a machine. His athletic ability can help this team take off.

Chambers signed with the Jazz, making Utah officially the big winner of the offseason.

The news of Chambers' signing had just shocked Louis, but the news of K.C Jones' dismissal made him unable to sit still.

What happened to K.C was the reason why Louis left the Celtics at that time.

Even though he led the team to three consecutive championships, no one thought his coaching ability was that strong.

In his position, failure to win three consecutive championships is his "real" ability.

After K.C finished class, Louis contacted him immediately and wanted to provide help, such as asking him to work in New York.

But K.C doesn't want to work under his former subordinate.

Moreover, Louis' choice to break with Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals in order to arouse the team's passion was unacceptable to him.

He still had knots in his heart, but he declined Louis politely, saying he wanted to rest for a while.

On July 4, the Knicks recruited a scouting director.

This position can be directly regarded as the manager of all scouts under the Knicks operations department. This was Louis' idea. The Knicks are also the only team in the league to have a scouting director position.

Among all the applicants, there was one eye-catching name that Louis would never forget.

That man's name is R.C. Buford. Anyone who is familiar with the Spurs should know this man.

Louis interviewed him for one round and felt that he had no problem, so he passed.

Others, such as the Trail Blazers franchise completed changes on the NBA board of directors, Paul Allen officially became the owner of the Trail Blazers, Larry Brown returned to the NBA from the NCAA, and was signed by the Spurs with a five-year, 3.5 million contract.

The news was not taken seriously by Louis.

All he really values ​​is the negotiations between the league and the players union.

The negotiations lasted for more than a year, and the two sides caused a lot of unhappiness. In the past year, the union once again filed an antitrust lawsuit against the alliance.

Their various actions are not to destroy the alliance, but to exert pressure.

Players are eager for cable TV contracts, and the league is unwilling to push the union too hard because a new round of TV broadcast contract negotiations will start next year. If there is a lockout, it will be detrimental to the negotiations.

In such large-scale negotiations, conflicts are inevitable, but in the end concessions and compromises will be made.

On July 10, the league and the union reached a new round of labor agreement.

The owners agreed to share cable television broadcast revenue with the players at a 50-50 ratio. As a condition for reaching this consensus, the union agreed to cap the rising rookie contracts and let the league introduce a standard rookie contract to curb rookies.

They have the bad habit of asking for high prices.

At this point, an era that symbolizes the past, in which teams and their rookies had quarrels, negotiations, threats and conflicts over contract amounts every summer, is over.

A new era has quietly arrived, this era is more professional, more systematic, and more commercial.

Little did Louis know that his suggestion at the annual meeting would allow the standard rookie contract to enter the league seven years early.

Of course, it will be a bit regretful. For example, the big dog who clamored not to sign a contract without a 100 million contract will definitely not be able to sign such a big contract again. It is also a pity for me personally, I can't do that

It's time to play tricks.

Don’t you think there is a striking similarity between Big Dog, who claims not to sign a contract without receiving 100 million U.S. dollars, and Honjo Suzu, who claims not to debut overseas without 10,000 pre-orders for her debut film?

For Louis, this year's collective bargaining agreement is beneficial to them.

Sharing the cable TV contract with the players, which would expand the existing salary cap, is important to them.

In the past few years, they have been squeezed by Ewing's contract, and now they are gradually recovering.