Conquest The Rise of Will Shore

Chapter 12: Jordan is difficult to get along with, Kobe is in control

In late May, with the Lakers defeating the Spurs, who were highly expected by fans before the start of this year's Western Conference Finals, with a score of 4-0, the "OK" combination was in the limelight for a while.

Especially in the last two games of the Western Conference Finals, after returning to Staples Center, the Lakers scored 111 to 72 and 111 to 82 respectively. Both the game scene and the process were despairing.

After the Western Conference Finals, many American media believed that the Lakers' dominance was even more terrifying than that of the Bulls back then.

Now, no one doubts that the Lakers can defend their title this year.

In the eyes of the world, the only remaining suspense in the NBA this season is whether the Lakers can win the championship with a perfect record in the playoffs.

Thanks to the assist from my old friend from the Lakers.

Wang Shuo noticed that as the media has been praising the Lakers more and more frequently recently, Jordan has come to him more and more often to discuss the team building plan for the new season.

Obviously, Dan Zi, who has always been narrow-minded, cares a lot about the media's evaluation that this Lakers team is better than the Bulls back then.

That is to say, social networks had not yet become popular at that time, otherwise, given Jordan's current status, Wang Shuo felt that he had at least 8,000 small accounts.

"Why do you look like you don't care about this year's playoffs at all?" In the Wizards' training hall, looking at Wang Shuo, Jordan asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Turning to look at Jordan, Wang Shuo was also helpless.

Because he couldn't tell Jordan that he had watched this year's playoffs.

"I am never afraid of any opponent, I am only afraid that the opponent is not strong enough... I remember gotta, this is a famous saying someone once said in an interview, right?" Wang Shuo looked at Jordan and smiled.

Hearing this, Jordan's face suddenly turned red.

Whether in life or work, Jordan has absolute confidence in himself, but this does not mean that he cannot recognize reality.

As the last dynasty team in the NBA to achieve three consecutive championships before Wang Shuo traveled through time, this Lakers team is indeed quite explosive.

In this year's Western Conference Finals, the Spurs wanted to replicate the famous scene from the 98/99 season, but in the end they were stung by Kobe, who had grown rapidly in the past two years.

In this round of the Western Conference Finals where the Lakers defeated the Spurs 4-0, Kobe averaged 33.3 points per game for the Lakers with a hit rate of over 50%. Therefore, when the Spurs wanted to double-team O'Neal again, they found that often when they had just filled the hole in the low post, the vacuum area on the periphery was directly exposed to Kobe.

At this moment, the reason why Jordan was depressed was because he saw how strong this Lakers team was.

Fortunately, at the 2001 NBA draft lottery ceremony held in late May, the Wizards drew the No. 1 pick just as Wang Shuo remembered, and this also cheered up team owner Joe a little.

On the 29th, the Wizards, who won the No. 1 pick, held another uniform meeting.

At the meeting, the main topic of discussion was how the Wizards should maximize the use of this No. 1 pick.

"I have already sounded out the Clippers and the Hawks yesterday, if we are willing to trade down the No. 1 pick, they can help us get another pick around 15 to 25 in the first round.

Of course, if we don’t want the draft pick, they can also send some valuable players to trade.” Unseld said to Jordan and Wang Shuo.

Wang Shuo nodded. This was pretty much what he imagined. If the Wizards won the No. 1 pick, they could gain more benefits by trading down.

After all, the Wizards don't need the No. 1 pick if they want to select Gasol.

"What did the Clippers say?" Wang Shuo asked curiously.

"The Clippers want us to use the No. 1 pick to help them draft Kwame Brown, and then they'll use their No. 2 pick to help us draft the player we want.

Of course, if we only swap the No. 1 and No. 2 picks, we will probably only be able to get another pick around the 25th pick in the first round," Unseld replied.

"Where is the Eagle Team?" Wang Shuo asked.

"The Hawks haven't told me their target yet, but they are willing to trade with us in the draft and offer us a higher first-round pick," Unseld said.

"I'm not very good at trading. What do you think, Wes?" Wang Shuo asked after a pause.

During the nearly one month of getting along, Unseld discovered that Wang Shuo's greatest strength was that he was good at listening to others, rather than just expressing his own opinions like many young people.

"Personally, I would prefer to trade with the Clippers because Hawks general manager Bob Cook is a shrewd man and I don't trust him very much," Unseld replied.

Wang Shuo nodded. Unseld’s worries were indeed not unreasonable.

At least the Clippers told you who they wanted directly and honestly after you expressed your willingness to trade the No. 1 pick.

But the Eagle...

Wang Shuo always felt gotta, they might not really want this No. 1 pick, they might just want to be the middleman.

If they still want to rob the Grizzlies as they remember, the Wizards will definitely not trade with the Hawks.

Jordan, on the other hand, was not very satisfied with Unseld's recent work performance and said, "The two kids we tried out recently performed very well. I hope they can be on the team's roster next season."

Shortly after returning from Spain with team owner Joe, the Wizards invited Richard Jefferson and Gerald Wallace to try out.

Jordan was very satisfied with the tryout results of these two players, because only players who have been the boss of a team can understand how important a wing who can do the dirty work is to a team.

In the conference room, he first glanced at Unseld, then turned his head to the "arrogant" Jordan. Wang Shuo felt that in his memory, it was a miracle that Unseld could tolerate Jordan for a year.

"Don't be impatient, Michael. I've inquired about the two young men you mentioned. We can wait until after the draft to trade for them." Unseld said to Jordan patiently.

“If we can…can we find a way to get another first-round pick a little bit earlier?

I have a friend who works for the Nets. He let it slip to me while we were drinking privately that the Nets had reached an agreement with a Western Conference team this year.

They will trade down their draft pick this year and ask this Western Conference team to help them select Richard Jefferson." Wang Shuo, who made up a story out of nothing, suddenly said.

Hearing this, looking at Jordan's increasingly unfriendly eyes, Unseld, who was even more nervous than when he played in the finals, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "This information is too important. Can I ask first, is what your friend said reliable?"

Wang Shuo nodded and said, "He is a scout for the Nets and has been following up with Richard Jefferson for several months."

Unseld immediately said, "When the meeting is over, I will go and feel out other teams. However, if we trade future draft picks..."

On the side, when he woke up this morning and saw the headline "Michael Jordan is a thing of the past", the owner of the Jordan team said angrily: "How many times have I told you on the phone, Wes? Can you please stop talking about the damn future, the future!

Now that I'm ready to make a comeback, can we prioritize the present?

In the new season, I lead the team back to the playoffs and then boost the team's market. Isn't that more important than the damn future?"

At the critical moment, Wang Shuo, who had already smelled a hint of gunpowder, quickly held Jordan down, then turned to Unseld and said, "You go on, Wes."

If he were 10 or 20 years younger, Unseld would have invited Team Owner Joe to the boxing ring at this moment, but he finally chose to endure it all and said to Wang Shuo: "What I mean is, if we trade all future draft picks, then in the summer, we will not have the right chips to trade other players."

In fact, Unseld did not disagree with Jordan's idea of taking a big gamble this summer.

But who asked you, team owner Joe, to take away all the Wizards' financial resources, which were not rich to begin with, as soon as you came to the Wizards?

Now, whenever Unseld thinks about the Wizards sending Juwan Howard in exchange for Christian Laettner, he wants to slap himself in the face.

At this time in 2001, Juwan Howard was a star power forward in his prime.

Logically speaking, if Jordan hadn't specifically asked for Laettner, his former national team teammate who most likely served him well at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Unseld would not have agreed to the deal even if the Mavericks, who hadn't changed their name to the Mavericks yet, put a g*n to Unseld's head.

In the conference room, seeing that Unseld's words did not mean to stop him from gambling, Jordan's tone instantly softened. However, he immediately said something shocking: "Don't we still have Richard (Hamilton) to trade with?"

Almost at the same time, Wang Shuo and Unseld said in unison: "Richard is not for sale!"

Oh my god!

Brother, if you trade Hamilton, where are you going to find this top pitcher next season?

Moreover, unlike those newcomers who still need time to adapt, Hamilton, who has already completed the leveling, is the Wizards' gotta scoring leader in the 00/01 season, contributing 18.1 points per game to the team.

In addition, Hamilton has abundant physical fitness, diligent attitude, and strong tactical execution ability. For Wang Shuo, who will have to play a lot of off-ball tactics next season, he is an indispensable general.

As the saying goes, it is easy to find thousands of soldiers but difficult to find a good general.

At least among players of equal value, Wang Shuo does not think that the Wizards will be able to get another wing shooter of comparable level and good attitude after trading Hamilton.

As a result, perhaps because Wang Shuo, who was regarded as his own man, and Unseld, who had never gotten along with him, were stunned by this "combination punch", at this moment, even Jordan, who had an amazing aura, unconsciously lowered the decibel when speaking: "I just said that casually."

However, after this incident, Wang Shuo realized that Jordan really didn't like, or disliked Hamilton.

Because even in his own memory, in the 01/02 season, Hamilton C-ed team owner Joe on the court many times, and team owner Joe would finally say those ruthless words to Hamilton who took the initiative to apply to endorse AJ, and gave Hamilton to the Pistons in friendship the following year.

"There is still some time before the draft, so we can continue to test the waters of other teams, as Wes said.

Oh, by the way, Wes, can you please help me contact Richard's agent? I hope to communicate with Richard in advance about some tactical ideas for the new season. "Avoiding Joe's team owner's eyes that seemed to be questioning him, 'Were you questioning me just now?', Wang Shuo turned his head to Unseld and said.

"No problem. I'll contact you right after the meeting." Looking at Wang Shuo, with whom he had such a tacit understanding for some reason, Unseld said very kindly.

The meeting ended. Wang Shuo saw from the system that the favorability between him and Team Owner Joe, which had risen to 85, suddenly dropped to 80. Knowing that he would probably be scolded by Team Owner Joe because he had just supported Hamilton, Wang Shuo disappeared from the "crime scene" in a flash.

No wonder many people in future interviews said that Michael Jordan was a very difficult person to get along with.

Introduction...

"After this training of coaching the Wizards, if I get the chance to coach the Lakers in the future, won't I be able to grab little Kobe in my hands?" After returning to the hotel, Wang Shuo noticed that his favorability with Jordan had inexplicably dropped by 5 points and sighed.