The Whip of the God of Basketball

When the Celtics' special plane arrived at Indianapolis International Airport, the song "San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie sounded on the radio in the waiting hall, and the melodious but somewhat vague singing echoed in the empty space. In the hall, it was eleven o'clock at night, and the Boston-Indiana flight was delayed because of a series of thunderstorms in the East, causing the Celtics to arrive at their destination three hours later than planned.

"I wish this was San Francisco, and I could pass by the beach at night to see the night view. But this is damn Indiana, I can't do anything, stay in the hotel and sleep and prepare for tomorrow's game... I don't know how long it will take to get to the hotel. .” Paul Pierce couldn’t help complaining in the terminal hall after getting off the plane. He was sitting on a chair in the lobby, his hands resting on his suitcase, his chin resting on the trunk pole. Pierce has always had a little problem with his neck, so he never forgets to stretch his neck.

Like Pierce, the rest of the Celtics felt sluggish. The three-day break made them unaccustomed to continuing to fly around in the sky, not to mention that this is Indiana, and no one likes to come here to play.

Leon was asking the team manager Albert Wiggins about the vehicle. According to the arrangement, the bus to pick up the Celtic players should have been waiting for them at the airport two hours ago, but so far, it has always been There is no news of a car coming to pick them up. In the NBA, because of the frequent away games, every time you go to a city, you need to rent a local bus to pick up the players. For team affairs, every NBA city car company must be familiar with the phone number. Wiggins is an experienced old team affairs officer. He is also familiar with Indiana. He has already arranged it before the game. I got on the bus, but I didn't expect it to be delayed just like the plane.

"Maybe it's because of the thunderstorm. The entire central and eastern region has been experiencing lightning and thunder recently. I tried to make a few more calls." Wiggins could only explain to Leon. Bus delays often occurred in the early days of the NBA, because communications were underdeveloped at that time, and the NBA had little money, and it was common for cars to be delayed or break down on the road. Up to now, such situations have become less and less, but accidents still happen.

Leon is very patient, but he is worried that the players will be impatient. For the players who are about to face a high-intensity game, it is very important to take a hot bath and get a good night's sleep on the night when they arrive at the away game . Seeing Wiggins sweating profusely on the phone, Leon felt that he could not rely solely on team affairs to solve the problem. He needed to think of a way, to make an alternative or something.

At this time, Leon noticed that somewhere in the empty hall, there was a group of passengers who had just got off the plane. They seemed to be people traveling to Indiana, because everyone was wearing blue hats. Which tour group traveled to Indiana in late winter in February. When Leon got closer, he realized that most of the tour group were old people. He asked a guide who looked like a tour guide and found out that they were old farmers from New Hampshire who came to Indiana during the winter slack season. Those who participated in the agricultural product exchange meeting.

Their plane was also delayed, but the bus of the Indiana Agricultural Products Association was already waiting at the airport. Leon found the leader of the group of farmers, had a serious exchange with him, and finally presented Paul Pierce with a signed photo as a gift. The price is to get the opportunity to take the bus of the Agricultural Products Association together-because the grandson of the person in charge is a fan of Paul Pierce.

At this time, the bus rented by the Celtics has not yet arrived, so Leon called the players to get on the bus of the Agricultural Products Association and squeeze with the old people. Their car happened to pass by the hotel where the team stayed, and then Leon Then arrange team affairs and others to wait at the airport for a while, and wait for the team's bus to check in the luggage to the hotel after it arrives.

Although it was a bit reluctant, it was good to be able to leave the airport earlier and go to the hotel. After arriving at the hotel, it proved that Leon's decision was correct, because the team's bus was on the way due to thunderstorms and strong winds, and the windshield was smashed by stones. , and finally arrived at the airport at one o'clock in the middle of the night. When the bus arrived at the hotel, the players had already entered Mengxiang.

Of course Leon didn't go to bed early, he waited until the team's luggage and the rest of the team arrived at the hotel and everyone settled down before going back to his room to sleep. On the way back to the room, assistant coach Dick Hart was with Leon. He said to Leon: "You never cared about the team's transportation and accommodation before, but you did a lot tonight. You look good."

In Leon's coaching staff, everyone except Hess can call him a kid, but Leon doesn't mind, and replied: "It's nothing, maybe I should pay more attention to things other than basketball. A good general doesn't matter. There should always be an eye on the battlefield, and there should be a soldier's life."

Hart smiled and said: "Haha, Scarface has also learned to be the boss who takes care of others... Not bad. However, being a 'player's coach' is not necessarily a good thing, control your sense of proportion. You know, I used to work in Indiana, for Larry Bird, you are a bit like him, on the spot style, trust everyone on the coaching staff, let the players do what they can do. However, Larry Bird on the court The prestige among the players is very, very high, the reason is very simple, because he has played in the NBA and is a superstar, you have to know how many NBA players grew up watching him play, or were ravaged by him on the court .But Fox, you have nothing... Sorry for being blunt, I don’t mean to criticize you, just to remind you, I think it’s not easy for you to realize this, it’s great, but you still have a lot to do.”

In the current Celtics, Hart is the person who taught Leon the most. Although Leon squeezed out O'Brien and Hart was very dissatisfied, he also admired Leon very much. The two are working together as assistant coaches. When Hart felt that Leon had great potential. After Leon became the head coach, he took over Auerbach's role and became Leon's guide.

"Can I listen more? I'm not sleepy at all now." Leon, who had opened the door, closed it again, hoping to know more. After acquiring enough basketball knowledge, Leon found that to become a coach, it is not enough to just know basketball.

"Maybe you have put too much energy on basketball skills and tactics in the past few years, and ignored a lot of corners and corners, so let me remind you. You know Jeff Van Gundy? That Small and bald, he didn't have a great basketball career and never made it to the NBA, but he has great prestige among the players. You should know about the incident between him and Mourning." Hart mentioned the former Knicks owner Coach Jeff Van Gundy, he retired at home in 2001.

"I know that Mourning and Larry Johnson fought, and Van Gundy hugged Mourning's thigh as a mop. Should I be like him, desperate to protect the players?" Leon still heard about Van Gundy's famous deeds of. When the Heat fought the Knicks, the two boxing teams trained by Pat Riley fought almost from beginning to end. Now PJ Brown in the Celtics is the initiator of one of the battles.

"Of course you don't need to do that, thank God you don't knock the other player over with one punch, I was terrified last time with Mason... I know, it seems fake to you, you are so smart and Calm down, but I want to say, what kind of little guy is playing in the NBA? He grew up on the street, surrounded by a group of brothers and brothers, gangsters calling him brothers, the loyalty of the rivers and lakes, and of course the people who finally entered the NBA are far away from those things. But it will inevitably be affected. If you talk to them about Kant, Schopenhauer or Russell, or calculus, mathematical statistics, will they understand? No, but if you support them, cover them, speak for them, and help them everywhere , then they will do the same to you in turn. The world of the NBA is very complicated, and sometimes it is very simple. Jeff Van Gundy is a student who was admitted to Yale, but he knows how to get along with those players. And you? According to I know you were born on the street, but now you're like a Ph.D. No player really buddies with a Ph.D. because they're undergraduates at the top! Let alone high school." Dick Hart When he spoke, he couldn't help lowering his voice, for fear that someone would hear his words that were not suitable for everyone.

Leon nodded when he heard this. Thinking about it now, Fox-Leon's past experience is not necessarily a bad thing.