The rest is just noise

Before the start of the new season, the Celtics played eight games, six of which were preseason games arranged by the league, and the other two were exhibition games arranged by the team themselves.

Before the new collective bargaining agreement was reached, team revenue was not distributed equally within the league. Therefore, some teams made money and some teams did not.

From this point of view, although Magic and Bird did not save the NBA after entering the league as legend has it, they themselves, as signatures, brought a lot of sponsorship and advertising to the team.

Therefore, it is no problem to say that they saved the financial situation of their respective teams.

If Magic didn't have the ability to attract money, Buss wouldn't have given him that super contract that shocked the sports world. That 25-year, $25 million contract not only attracted unanimous criticism from public opinion, but also ignited conflicts within the Lakers team.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar couldn't accept that Magic made so much money for a while, so he applied for a trade from the team and blasted Bass in the media. Fortunately, although Buss didn't like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he also knew that if the team wanted to remain competitive,

Couldn't do without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's help.

After a private meeting, Buss promised to give Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a raise, and then he was retained.

However, rifts have already occurred, just like the Celtics, who have unique talent in the league, but starting from the preseason, the coaching staff overturned the tactical system defined by Louis.

They no longer play L tactics, give up flexible pocket formations, cancel small pockets, and no longer let Sampson wander around the paint area. They want to play the mainstream penalty area, but they are more sophisticated in defensive positioning.

Louis' pocket formation was well received by four assistant coaches. They believed that this defensive formation would deal a devastating blow to players like Dr. J and Magic who were not good at shooting.

They seemed to have never watched last season's Eastern Conference Finals and didn't know that a pocket formation was not enough.

In addition to tearing down and rebuilding the offensive and defensive system, they also had differences over the team's lineup and allocation of playing time.

Isiah Thomas wanted to start, but Fitch believed that Archibald was more mature, so he ignored the fact that Thomas beat Archibald in training and insisted on letting the veteran start;

There is also the starting choice between Laimbeer, Maxwell and Sampson.

Laimbeer and Maxwell both contributed to helping the team win the championship last season. After some debate, the coaching staff decided to let Sampson continue to play the sixth man.

However, Sampson's positioning on the court caused dissatisfaction with the second-year player.

The Celtics won all eight games, including exhibition games.

Bird hinted implicitly: "We are now restrained and not as unrestrained as in the past."

Louis looked at these situations within the Celtics indifferently and had no other expression.

Maxwell would complain to him, Laimbeer would come to talk to him every now and then, and Bird would ask him from time to time why he never spoke up in discussions.

"There are so many old coaches here, how can I, an amateur, interrupt?"

He responded to Bird with this sentence.

On October 30, 1981, the defending champion Celtics played the Washington Bullets at home in their first game of the new season.

It stands to reason that a team with a high traffic volume like the Celtics would have to arrange a good opponent for the opening game.

But that's the unique phenomenon of the Larry O'Brien era's NBA.

Although the NBA championship was renamed the O'Brien Cup in 1977 to commemorate O'Brien's achievements (new broadcast contract, annexation of ABA, introduction of restricted free agency rules, the ratings of the 1977 Finals were the highest in history for that period)

, but he is not an excellent president.

He always appears to be rigid, cold, and inhumane, and is not at ease with the NBA's publicity. He also believes that activities such as the All-Star Weekend are unnecessary activities that waste money and resources.

He didn't even bother to organize the All-Star Weekend. How could he plan a schedule for the Celtics to compete with strong teams such as the 76ers, Lakers, and Bucks?

As a result, Washington suffered a heavy blow.

The Celtics were so frantic that they knocked out the Bullets with 40 points in a single quarter.

Although the team overturned Louis' offensive and defensive system, the overall strength was so strong that the Bullets could win without a system.

Louis noticed that Rick Mahorn, the Bullets' starter, was also an iconic figure in the Bad Boys and one of the only two outstanding players in the Bullets' starting lineup.

This is an inevitable massacre, and the Bullets will be destroyed.

The climax of the game was when Sampson and Isiah Thomas came on the stage, and the garden cheered, shouted, and whistled one after another.

Thomas continued to have a mean smile on his face that was both protective and heart-warming. Louis didn't care much about his debut. He just wanted to record the performance of Sampson and Rick Mahon.

In the first duel, Sampson won the card position with his talent.

The second time, Sampson won without a card, but he jumped too high and Ma Hong was careless.

For the third time, Sampson missed a defensive rebound.

The fourth time, he still didn't have enough awareness of the position.

The fifth time, Louis finally saw the blocking technique, but it was not enough.

Like a statistician at the technical desk, Louis recorded every success and failure of Sampson's position.

And for those failed slots, he will remember the reasons for the failure.

The Smiling Assassin's debut was impeccable. He broke through Washington's defense in 25 minutes as a substitute, scoring 24 points and 8 assists, and had many wonderful collaborations with Sampson.

"Boston's lineup is too luxurious. If they can let Ralph and Isiah grow in the second lineup, I can't think of any team that can beat them!"

"They can win 82 games and win the championship!"

The Celtics' first show was so exciting that people believed they would not lose any game.

Then they encountered a tough opponent, the Bucks, who won 60 games last season. You know, the 76ers, who made them shed a layer of skin in the Eastern Conference finals, also played seven games with the Bucks before they could advance.

"I will treat every game as 'Saturday Night Live.'" Bill Fitch joked before the game. "I hope in the future you can call Celtics games "Boston Night Live."

Or Greenbloods."

Fitch's sense of humor is unforgettable, but the direction of this game disappointed all fans.

The Bucks suppressed the Celtics from the beginning.

Sidney Moncrief's defense surprised Louis. There was not a single steal or block in the whole game, but he was everywhere, guarding John Long, assisting in defense and causing Bird to miss several shots.

Offensive foul on Maxwell.

This is a great defender that cannot be reflected in the statistics.

The 76ers were completely defeated. The only bright spot was Sampson's 25 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks that suppressed Lanier.

"We're not the same as we used to be," Bird complained publicly. "We're playing a stiff game."

And this was only their first defeat.

Some people want to know what's different about them, but Bird doesn't say.

"Milwaukee Daily News" gave a very insulting headline: "Last night's game was called 'Buck Eating Man Live'".

Louis saw the Celtics reach the top, the unity in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and the awakening after being angered by Malone's remarks before Game 5 of the Finals. It was indeed a perfect team.

A few months later, in order to maintain his position, Fitch and the players had their own interests. The Celtics, who should have been invincible in the league on paper, played like they did before they won the championship.

Dominant and the favorite to compete for the championship, Sampson and the Smiling Assassin bring surprises no less than Bird did at the time.

The problem is that the Celtics have not found a suitable tactical system to allow them to perform their duties.

On the contrary, the distribution of positions, the allocation of playing time, the strict military training on weekdays, and Fitch's increasingly serious video review addiction are wearing away the Celtics' already poor chemical reaction.

In mid-November, the Celtics lost three games.

Every night, Fitch hears the players complaining.

He once asked Louis for his opinion on how to position players.

This time, Louis will not give him any advice. He will only say like a layman: "Wouldn't it be good to meet their requirements?"

If their demands were so easy to satisfy, Fitch wouldn't be worried.

No matter how Fitch asked, Louis' answer was disappointing.

Fitch gradually understood that he could no longer get Louis' help.

"It seems I have to find another way." Fitch said with a complicated expression.

"Yeah, because I'm too young." Louis' face was calm and his tone was light, "There are so many assistant coaches in the team, they will definitely be able to come up with better ways."

He can understand Fitch's actions, but that doesn't mean he can forgive Fitch's actions.

It comes as soon as you call it, it goes away as soon as you wave it, the credit is all yours, and then you turn your back and deny others? You think I am your cousin, CNMBD...ah, I don't break the defense anymore, recover.

Fitch saw a fleeting sneer on Louis' face.

"I have something to do with Danny, please do it."

After saying that, Louis turned and left.