The rest is just noise

Louis believed that Johnson, the Tragedian, was two persons.

His true self, Earvin Johnson, had long been at war with Tragedy Johnson.

Just like Ken Yamagata and Grandpa Bi.

Although they look similar, their behaviors are completely different. The tragedy master is two sides of the same coin. For example, Erwin himself has a long-term girlfriend with a stable relationship, and they later got married. However, the "tragedy master" continued to hurt her, and canceled his relationship several times.

The other party's engagement almost caused the other party to be infected with HIV. Erwin publicly admitted that he had an illegitimate child, but the "Tragedian" always pretended that he did not exist. Erwin was a shrewd businessman and had enough determination.

The money he earns off the court is many times his total NBA career salary. "The Tragedian" is like a college student on vacation, immersed in "Midsummer Nights" in Old Bath and the women who deliver goods to the door in away arenas all year round.

After contracting HIV, Erwin became an expert and image ambassador in the field, taking popularizing virus knowledge as his mission. After contracting HIV, the "tragedyman" often boasted and showed off the gun-fired stories of his youth.

night.

Louis knows Erwin off the court and likes the tragic figure on the court, but it is difficult to put them together...

It's like two people.

He is completely different from Bird. Bird is a very simple person and it is not difficult to understand him.

And to understand the Tragedian is a difficult project.

For basketball fans, the night the tragic star announced he was infected with HIV is like the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This generation of fans, no matter where they are, will never forget what happened on November 7th. It was a major event in their lives.

The tragic figure who is still in his prime will leave basketball forever, and it seems that his life is not long.

At the same time, The Tragedian's greatest tragedy itself also has certain educational significance for a new generation of American men.

It has effectively promoted the sales of safety helmets and restrained the second brother of men across the United States. Most people have begun to fear unprotected bed battles.

On the evening of the 7th, the Knicks players returned one after another after checking to make sure everything was fine.

Louis has to prepare for the game against the Magic that night.

As a result, an unexpected person called him.

The caller is Isiah Thomas.

If Thomas hadn't called him, Louis would have almost forgotten that he coached Thomas.

"Isiah, how are you doing in Charlotte?"

After being sent to the Hornets by the Celtics, Thomas did not control a team as he wanted.

The Hornets are not his one-man team.

They have Dale Ellis, who has been the team's scoring leader for several years, the tough white shooter Rex Chapman, the all-around swingman Glen Rice, and the future Rookie of the Year.

Larry Johnson.

Surrounded by a group of arrogant young people, Thomas didn't have much in the way of success except for his championship experience.

Although he was selected to the All-NBA team five times with the Celtics, was selected as an All-Star for ten consecutive years, and won four championships, young people generally believe that he was able to achieve so many achievements because of Bird and Sampson by his side.

This misunderstanding affected his leadership of this young team.

At this time, he called, and Louis thought he wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk.

"Coach Lu, do you know about Erwin?" Thomas asked.

Louis is very aware of the relationship between Thomas and The Tragedy. When he was coaching the Celtics, the two would kiss each other on the cheek before every game.

This behavior, which disgusted Louis, was forcibly stopped in that year's finals.

Louis threatened Thomas with a team ban if he kissed the tragic player before the game again.

He doesn't need a player on the field willing to kiss his opponent.

Later, Thomas decisively resisted the urge to kiss the tragedy master, and also refused the tragedy master's courtesy kiss on the cheek, and then they never did it again.

In the following years, the Celtics would beat the Lakers every time they saw them, probably because they beat the Lakers so badly. The relationship between Thomas and the tragedy maker was not as close as before.

But no matter how estranged their relationship is, they should still be trustworthy friends. Didn't the tragedy master inform him of the incident?

"You know, he didn't call you?" Louis asked.

Thomas was stunned, and when he opened his mouth, Louis was confused: "Is he gay?"

In the 90s, America was still homophobic.

Gu Xi

No one wants to have anything to do with them. Even when the tragedy maker called on people to take protective measures in the press release, the subtext was implying that his sexual orientation was normal.

Others suspected that the tragedian was crooked, but Louis could still understand.

Isiah Thomas? He hasn’t been hit by the Tragedian yet. How can he not know whether the Tragedian is straight or crooked?

This was simply incomprehensible to Louis.

"Are you okay? Don't you know who Erwin is?"

"I know, but I don't know what he has been doing alone in Los Angeles all these years!"

Otherwise, why would Louis be so guarded against him back then? There is something really wrong with this guy.

As a friend of the tragedy master, he should believe the tragedy master, stand by his side, and at least keep his mouth shut instead of making such a fuss like now.

Louis hung up the phone without saying a few words to him.

In the days that followed, Thomas called around to inquire about the tragedy's sexual orientation, and publicly stated that he had no idea what the tragedy was doing in Los Angeles because he spent most of his career in Boston.

It was a city that was so conservative that it did not recognize black people and did not allow homosexuals to exist. If he had been gay, he would have been unable to stay.

What he did made him completely clean, and at the same time gave the tragedy master the heaviest blow.

Overnight, rumors about the tragedy star's sexual orientation began to spread across the United States. Some people said that the tragedy star had spent the night with men in many hotels, and others said that he had both sexes when playing away games.

Thomas, as the tragedy master's friend, gave him a powerful stab in the back.

In order to clarify himself, the tragedian had to go on television a lot, participate in various talk shows, state over and over again that he was heterosexual, and then tell all kinds of boring jokes to strengthen this impression.

This was thanks to Thomas and the reason why their friendship broke down.

Louis couldn't get involved except secretly scolding Thomas for being stupid.

This is a private matter between Thomas and the tragedy master. How much can he, an outsider who knows no one, say?

On the night of the 7th, the Knicks defeated the Magic.

Ewing and Wilson scored 72 points together, and reporters bombarded them with interviews and questions about the tragedy's HIV infection.

Due to the public relations plan prepared in advance, Ewing is known for his emotional intelligence: "Yes, this is terrible. I feel sorry for Erwin. All of us will pray for him. Healthy and correct sexual behavior is very important. I hope

Everyone stamps their little brother."

Thanks to the tragedy master, it turns out that Ewing's emotional intelligence sometimes pays off.

Wilson used a more vivid way to support the tragedy: "I heard that the HIV virus is not transmitted through sweat, saliva or even blood. I am not a doctor and I am not sure, but if this is true, I don't think he needs to retire.

.Yes, if this is true, I would love to play with him."

No matter how high Ewing's emotional intelligence is, it's just an act. Wilson's emotional intelligence is really high.

In addition, the tragic star's old enemies, such as Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, have expressed regret for his HIV infection and expressed their support and prayers for him on various occasions.

No one else avoided the plague like Isiah Thomas said, "Although we know each other well, we haven't been together for a long time. I don't know his situation. He may be gay, he may not be, don't ask me."

Louis suddenly discovered that if Ewing and Thomas were teammates, their team would definitely be "The Legend of Zhen Huan" every day.

However, the reason why the palace fight happened was because Ewing's emotional intelligence was too low, and when the sensitive Thomas met the other person with low emotional intelligence, he couldn't help but think, "Is this dog orangutan trying to kill me?", which is likely to happen.

Internal strife.

After the tragic star retired, the Lakers' lineup became stronger on paper, but it felt like it was no longer good enough to enter the Finals.

Even Louis thinks so.

Obviously Pippen and David Robinson were among the most stable superstars at the same position in the 1990s.

The teams in the same division as the Lakers are even more expanded.

Like the Phoenix Suns, they sent Rod Strickland to the Bulls so that no one would compete with Kevin Johnson for the ball. In addition, Mark Aguirre was picked up from the Lakers and is an All-Star center.

Brad Doherty and the powerful Dell Curry, who is above his level, even made bold statements about reaching the finals.

November 14

A week after the tragic retirement of the Knicks, the Knicks visited Phoenix, preparing to challenge this powerful Western Conference team aiming for the finals.