The Whip of the God of Basketball

Andy Miller wondered if there was something wrong with his ears, and also wondered if the person sitting opposite was Fox Leon, or if he was an enemy of Leon who deliberately wore a peaked cap to pretend to be him. himself, and then continued to frame Leon.

After confirming it twice, Miller finally understood that Leon wanted to continue to use the power of the media to attack him, and even attack the Boston Celtics. Miller was naturally puzzled by this, but Leon had no intention of explaining it to him, and Miller was too embarrassed to ask. After all, the two were still in a hostile relationship.

After asking a question and making a request, Leon decided to leave. From beginning to end, he did not mention Garnett. This made Miller uncomfortable. Miller couldn't help but say goodbye. Asked: "I heard that you want Garnett to go to the Celtics. I think this is a bit difficult."

Leon looked at Miller, raised the brim of his hat a little and said, "If you were not his agent, wouldn't you need to worry about this problem?" After speaking, Leon left the private room, leaving Miller alone. Sitting blankly on the stool, he was angry and frightened, with a hint of fear in his heart. He didn't know what this controversial figure was thinking.

After Leon left the coffee shop, he took a bus to Times Square to meet Woj there and delivered a similar message to him, asking him to cover himself more in news media reports in the future. Of course Woj was also very surprised. There had been enough negative news about Leon recently. This guy was not meeting him to do crisis public relations, but to infiltrate him. Woj simply didn’t know what was going on in Leon’s mind. What.

But Leon still didn't explain. He just chatted with Woj about the recent situation and the status of the alliance. Now the Eastern Conference has completely entered a melee. The Nets, Pacers, Pistons and Celtics are competing for hegemony. Anyone may ascend to the top position in the Eastern Conference. But no matter who ranks first in the Eastern Conference, it still feels like it's not enough to face the powerful Western Conference.

The Los Angeles Lakers, the three-time champions, have experienced weakness and degradation this season. The team has suffered constant injuries and their regular season record has been declining. However, no one dares to underestimate this giant. After all, in 2001, they won 56 games in the regular season. They swept all the way to the finals and were hailed as the strongest playoff team in history.

On the other hand, Tim Duncan and his Spurs have reached another peak after years of squandering. The growth of young players and Duncan reaching their peak have made them invincible in the regular season. Other strong teams such as the Mavericks and Kings are still strong. In terms of overall strength, the West is a whole level higher than the East.

The two chatted from afternoon to evening. From Woj, Leon also learned a lot about the current situation of the Celtics and external evaluations.

"Many people are now suggesting that Dave Cowens directly replace you as the Celtics head coach. To be honest, he has done a good job this month. I feel that the Celtics' offense and defense are more balanced. And you This kid is running around without doing his job. Are you really not afraid that Danny Ainge will let Cowens replace you? You have to know that you have no foundation at all in the NBA, especially in the Celtics. "Woj said to Leon sincerely. As a friend, he still cares about Leon very much.

Leon smiled and didn't seem to care very much. The one-month suspension and vacation made his temperament look much more relaxed and free-spirited, and even the scars on his face were no longer so heavy. He responded: "I was worried about this issue before today. I was very worried even a month ago, but after today, I am not worried at all."

Khomeinis's father had talked to Leon before, and talked about why Cowens came to the Celtics as an assistant coach. It was not because of Auerbach, but because of Danny Ainge. Therefore, Leon was extremely suspicious after that. Angie's condition for recruiting Cowens was to promise him that Cowens would replace him as the head coach after Leon dismissed class. Angie's personnel appointments during the suspension and the decision to ask Leon to take leave seem to confirm this, so Leon's concerns are also very reasonable.

"I don't understand... Well, if you don't worry, don't worry. I'll just worry about you. There's still one more game for your suspension to be lifted, 15 games... It's really a long time, and you are the only one. "I haven't been with the team for a long time. Do you feel unfamiliar? Have you looked at the schedule and know who your next opponent is?" Woj poured out a barrage of questions. These were concerns from both friends and reporters. interview.

"Of course I won't get used to it. The vacation was really comfortable. I learned a lot. I hope I can use it when I go back. As for the schedule, I won't look at it. I haven't watched much of the Celtics recently. Game videos, but I talk to the players on the phone every day, and they seem to be in good condition." Leon accidentally revealed to Woj that he talked to the players on the phone every day, and the keen Woj realized that although Leon was on vacation, But the Celtics' control never relaxed.

This is like Auerbach. He often runs back to Washington when he has nothing to do, including on game days, but as long as he is in Boston, he is the helmsman of the Celtics. At this time, Leon seemed to be leisurely and confident.

Woj originally wanted to invite Leon to have dinner with him, but Leon refused because Khomeinis was still waiting for him in the hotel and the two came to New York together. León came to solve his own problems, and Khomeinis served as his adviser.

When Leon returned to his room at the Four Seasons Hotel, Khomeinis was sitting cross-legged on the sofa chewing on a McDonald's chicken leg. Although the Four Seasons Hotel had exquisite and delicious dinners, she had eaten all kinds of delicacies across the United States during her vacation. Khomeinis, I just want to eat unhealthy McDonald’s tonight to satisfy my hunger.

"Eat less fried food, it's not good for your health... I've already taken care of Miller and Woj. I hope everything goes well and doesn't end up making me infamous for eternity." Leon said as he took off his shirt and put on his pajamas. , while saying that, he picked up a burger and started to chew it.

"Has Popper's problem been solved? This is very important." Khomeinis asked after finishing the chicken leg and smacking her fingers.

"Oh, it's solved. As you and I thought, although Popper knew Miller and disclosed the trade rumors to Joe because of Miller, he did not accept Miller's benefits. On the contrary, he took the initiative to talk to Miller. Help him,” Leon said with his mouth full of burgers.

"Hmm, what does that mean?"

"That means that it was not Miller who was behind this leak. He was just a cover-up. There is only one real instigator - Reed Auerbach..." Leon looked at Khomeinis , finally gave the final answer in his heart, which was also what Khomeinis had guessed when he asked Leon before.

As early as a month ago, after Leon met Auerbach and returned to Boston, Khomeinis told him when she saw Leon that she specifically asked her father Pagliuca how he knew that Cowens was recruited by Angie. Not Auerbach, Pagliuca said Popper accidentally told him.

This aroused Leon's suspicion as to how Popper could be so talkative in spreading information everywhere. Judging from his previous qualifications, he was not such a talkative person. Later, Leon also used some means to investigate Popper's private account and found that it was quite clean and he had received no benefits at all.

In this way, Popper's motive for leaking the transaction information is quite suspicious. Leon suspects that Angie may have been responsible for it and played a Mission: Impossible trick to get rid of him. Later, Khomeinis used Pagliuca's relationship to investigate Popper's career experience, and found out that Popper had been very close to the Celtics management as early as the 1970s. He was a well-known amateur basketball player in Boston. As a coach, he can be seen in various basketball activities organized by the Celtics in the off-season. The most frequent one is the youth basketball training camp set up by Auerbach in Marshfield. He has served as the coach of the training camp for many years. coach.

When he joined the Celtics as a scout, he was also recommended by Auerbach. It can be seen that from the beginning to the end, Popper was Auerbach's man. The most likely instigator of Popper's doing these things can only be It's Auerbach.

But what Leon doesn't understand the most is, if it was Auerbach, why would he do this? If Auerbach is trying to test himself, then the price of this test is too high and the process of the test is too complicated. Besides, Auerbach has personally handed over the authority to himself, so why would he do such a thing?

Leon, who had just realized this problem, was quite frustrated, so when Angie unexpectedly asked Leon to take leave directly and not come to work, he agreed without hesitation. There was also an element of anger in this.

What really made Leon think about this issue was when he was with Dennis Rodman in Las Vegas. When Rodman played for the Celtics in the past, although the relationship between the two was good, there was more. It was at the gambling table, and there was very little heart-to-heart chat between the two of them in private. This time, Rodman saw Leon being hit, so he talked about a lot of his experiences with the Pistons back then to encourage Leon.

Rodman mentioned many times how Isiah Thomas drew criticism for his inappropriate remarks before and after the game, which even directly caused the entire Pistons to be at the forefront of public opinion, and then how they responded on the court.

This suddenly inspired Leon. After leaving Las Vegas, Leon went to Los Angeles, Detroit, Cleveland and New York respectively. He went to the local municipal library to read sports journals and newspapers from the mid-to-late 1980s and relied on his Amazing memory and reading speed to find news related to Thomas and the Pistons, especially negative news.

From 1983 to 1988, it took the Pistons five years to grow from a fish belly to a championship team. What accompanied the Pistons' growth was not praise, but constant scolding. Leon quickly found something unusual in these scoldings. He found that Thomas was obviously a rational and smart guy, but he always said something unfavorable to the team in some important speeches, thus Incur criticism. The most famous of these is the racially charged remark that "If Bird is not white, he is just an ordinary person", which plunges the Pistons and him into a storm of public opinion.

In the end, he apologized, was humiliated, and was slighted, but the next year they eliminated the Celtics and entered the finals, and the next year they won the championship. Because of Thomas's continuous efforts, he has always used the power of the media to "maintain" and even "encourage" the image of the Pistons' bad boy, so that in the end such public opinion trends only allowed the Pistons to set sail, instead of drowning them in a sea of ​​saliva.

This made Leon vaguely feel that Auerbach set up such a big game not just to test himself, but to use external forces to temper himself and the entire team. Such behavior is naturally an eccentric approach and carries huge risks. If you are not careful or some unexpected circumstances occur, the unity and friendship of the entire team may be destroyed.

But Leon knew that Auerbach couldn't wait any longer, and Father Time wouldn't have much time left for him. He could only give strong medicine to himself, a little guinea pig.