The Whip of the God of Basketball

While Leon was on vacation in Las Vegas, the Boston Celtics were still fighting hard in the regular season. Logically speaking, even if Leon is suspended and unable to conduct on-site operations, he can still stay in Boston to participate in team training. However, for some unknown reason, Danny Ainge forced Leon to take a vacation to play, and Leon actually agreed. .

Therefore, Dave Cowens, the previous assistant coach of the team, replaced Leon as the Celtics' interim head coach, responsible for the on-site command and daily training of these fifteen games.

To say that Cowens is also a bit unlucky. As soon as he took over as Leon's coach, he encountered the Celtics' most difficult schedule this season. First of all, Cowens’ first opponent was his old club, the New Orleans Hornets. Cowens, who has contributed to the team here for many years, received cheers and applause from the fans at the New Orleans Arena, but the Celtics They were not polite. They defeated their opponent 102:96 with a 6-point advantage.

Then they returned home to meet the challenge of the Seattle SuperSonics. After playing the SuperSonics, the league ushered in the 2003 All-Star Game. In Atlanta, Michael Jordan began his All-Star farewell. The buzzer-beating equalizer allowed everyone to see the afterglow of the former basketball god, but in the end Jordan's perfect farewell was destroyed by another extremely stubborn person - Kobe Bryant in overtime.

In short, in the days of early February, the league was filled with a feeling of nostalgia and loss. The news of Leon’s previous fight with the Pacers was no longer the focus of the media. Everyone dedicated their pen and ink to Michael, who was about to say goodbye. -On Jordan.

After the All-Star break, the Celtics led by Cowens ushered in the longest road trip of the season, six consecutive visits in the Western Conference, challenging the SuperSonics, Trail Blazers, Clippers, Suns, Warriors and Kings respectively. It was long and arduous, but fortunately the opponent was not particularly strong. The Celtics finally ended this journey with a qualified record of 4 wins and 2 losses, and relied on this good record to surpass the Detroit Pistons and rise to the third place in the Eastern Conference.

For a time, there was even a voice in the public opinion circle for Cowens to directly replace Fox-Leon as the Celtics head coach, because judging from the Celtics' performance in these games, their average points per game dropped. At the same time, the points conceded also dropped. Cowens allowed the team to slow down the offensive rhythm and put more energy into defense, making the Celtics look more like a traditional strong team with a balanced offense and defense.

This voice reached its peak on February 26, when the Celtics defeated the Pacers again at home with an ultra-low score of 71:66. A small number of fans even began to write letters and call Danny Ainge. It is hoped that Cowens will directly serve as the Celtics head coach, abandon Fox Leon, who was suspended for fighting, and let him return to his familiar role as a scout or assistant coach.

However, in the post-game interview after the Celtics defeated the Raptors at home on February 28, Paul Pierce was asked about the difference between the current coach Dave Cowens and the previous Leon, Pierce said this answered.

"Dave is highly respected by us. He is a legend in Celtic history, an excellent player and coach. In the recent days when he has been an agent, he has injected defense into our team and made us play more actively. And hard work, also has very good results. And Leon, he is our coach, we are all waiting for him to come back. I will call him almost every night, especially the night after the game, he will watch us Game, guide us, tell us the flaws and weaknesses in the game. I think...I think when he comes back, we will be even better."

Except for Pierce, the responses from other Celtic players were almost the same. Dave Cowens was very good, but everyone was waiting for Leon to come back. As for where Leon is now, they didn't know.

But soon, news about Fox Leon appeared in the news media. First, the media in Arizona revealed that Leon was having a feast with his girlfriend and Dennis Rodman in Las Vegas. Then the media in Los Angeles broke the news again. In an NCAA Big Ten League game, Leon appeared at the game to watch the game with the fans. Subsequently, more and more media reported the news that Fox-Leon was traveling around the United States during the suspension period, which gave people a feeling that he was completely not doing his job.

When Leon's suspension lasted for the last two games, he appeared in New York, but this time no one paid attention to his whereabouts. For the current NBA league, this refreshing head coach at the beginning of the season, He has been eliminated from the public eye after the gradual decline in season performance, negative news about his criminal record, and fights. Now he appears more in some negative news and gossip news, and even some basketball game commentators will mention it - using To tease and ridicule.

In a private room at the Crescent Cafe on Fifth Avenue, Leon met one of the two people he came back to New York to meet, Andy Miller.

After Miller met Rob Eads, he stopped searching for new talents and focused his work on legal proceedings. He consulted many famous New York lawyers and the results were all the same - if Aaron -Mintz is almost certain to lose if he sues, especially since Miller's tape recorder contains useless content.

In the end, Miller had to follow Eze's instructions and came to the Crescent Cafe again at 3:30 in the afternoon on March 4 to meet Fox-Leon in the private room where they met before. Before the meeting, Andy Miller didn't know who would come to meet him, and when he saw Fox-Leon wearing a blue peaked cap sitting in front of him, his expression was quite complicated.

Although I have heard about Fox-Leon for a long time and have constantly made trouble for him in the media, this is the first time the two have met. Logically speaking, Miller should be very satisfied with Fox-Leon's current situation. According to many people, he is almost about to lose the Celtics coaching position, so his plan to pry away Garnett will also come to nothing. .

But now, his sore foot is in the opponent's hand. Miller has already thought about it. If Leon's condition is that Garnett must be traded, Miller will decide to fight to the death and fight to keep his company open. Get up, and we won't let Fox-Leon succeed in getting Garnett.

"I have a question and a request. As long as you can answer my question and agree to my request, Tripnir's matter will be wiped out." Leon did not take off his peaked cap. From under the long brim, Miller could see Looking at those bottomless eyes, he was now worried that if he refused Leon's request, this guy would punch him and break his nose. After all, even NBA players are no match for him, let alone a weak agent.

"Okay... okay, you can ask or mention it." Miller nodded and replied without asking any more questions. At the same time, he clenched his fists and was ready to resist.

"What kind of benefits did you give Popper to let him tell you that Joe Johnson was going to be traded?" Leon's problem is related to Popper. Obviously there is such a spy-like element in the Celtics. It will be a destabilizing factor for the team.

Miller was stunned for a moment when he heard this question, and then looked a little embarrassed on his face, but he quickly replied: "I...I didn't give Popper anything, there was no benefit, and he was willing to help me spread the news... Well, to tell you the truth, it was Popper who took the initiative to find me and said that he wanted to help me, and that he wanted to give you some color."

Miller's answer was far beyond Leon's expectation. He had thought that the two would have a financial transaction, so that he could find evidence through accounting transactions or other clues, and finally pull out the traitor Popper, but he did not expect that he would take the initiative to help Miller. Offer a plan.

Leon obviously did not expect this result. He did not continue to ask. From Miller's expression, he could tell that the other party was not lying unless he had been trained by the CIA.

"Okay, the questions are over, I want to make a request, and you have to agree to it." Leon continued, and Miller nodded. He was still hesitating whether to refuse the conditions related to Garnett.

"My request is to mobilize all your media relations and continue to spare no effort to smear me. It would be even better if you can smear the Celtics by the way." Leon stated his request.

This time it was Miller's turn and he never expected it.