Sports medicine starts with the Sun Miracle Doctor

Chapter 237 Business interests

With the end of the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers' 0102 season officially ended.

The team is on vacation and the players can officially start their vacation, but the management's work is not over yet.

In the villa in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Phil Jackson got on his beloved Harley motorcycle early in the morning. As soon as he drove out of the garage, he was blocked by a crowd of reporters.

"Phil, is Shaq really leaving the Lakers?"

"Have the Lakers and Shaq reached a contract extension? Some media broke the news that you offered Shaq a four-year, 9000 million contract, and then it was rejected by O'Neal's team. Is it true or false?"

"Shaq has made it clear that he wants to go to Phoenix. If Phoenix sends the No. 1 pick, will you consider making a trade with the Suns?"

Jackson was almost overwhelmed by all kinds of questions, camera flashes, and camera lenses.

This is Los Angeles, and every move of the Lakers is under the spotlight of the media, not to mention the movements of superstars like O'Neal.

Jackson hurriedly turned his motorcycle around, squeezed through the crowd, and returned to the garage.

"Shet!"

After the failure of this season, there is a very important problem in summary, that is, the lineup is not good enough. When O'Neal and Kobe are in trouble, almost no one can stand up to help them.

Jenny Buss woke up quickly, gently stroked her lover's chest, calmed Jackson's emotions, and then said with some distress: "Phil, I really don't know, my father just said to let Jim and the others decide, saying it was a ball." It’s about the team, they have to grow up.”

So Jackson was also very irritated and angry. He couldn't figure out why O'Neal said those words in the post-game press conference.

Jackson didn't care to watch this, and woke up Jenny Buss a little irritably.

In the bedroom, Jenny Buss, who had blonde hair, was still awake, and her great figure was clearly visible.

"Jenny, can't you guess and analyze Jerry's attitude from his words?" Jackson asked irritably.

If Buss has a clear attitude and wants to keep O'Neal, then they will try their best to negotiate with O'Neal.

At this moment, he received a call from Kupchak, asking when he would arrive in the office and inviting him to a meeting.

She was also staring at that seat.

In the past, Jackson relied more on O'Neal for the OK group. But with Kobe's rapid growth in the past two years, Jackson knew that if the Lakers wanted to maintain their championship strength, no one in the OK group could leave.

Originally, Jackson was going to the arena.

"You'd better go home again, Jerry's attitude is very important now." Jackson told his girlfriend.

This is no problem.

Speaking of this, Jenny said with some worry: "Phil, do you think your father will really hand over the team to Jim to manage?"

He has already felt the threat from Kobe and wants to use a big contract to confirm his status as the boss of the Lakers.

So strengthen it.

Jackson stood up irritably. He didn't care about who was in charge of the Lakers now, he only cared about O'Neal's movements.

Last night, the Bass family just held a family gathering.

The Lakers still have a first-round pick, and they need to decide which rookie to pick.

O'Neal expressed his desire to trade and to go to the Suns, but in Jackson's view, this was more of a message to the Lakers management, forcing the Lakers management to complete the contract extension as soon as possible and give him a contract that he was satisfied with.

He angrily kicked over the debris in the garage, then returned to the villa and went upstairs.

If you have any questions, you can't talk about it in private.

And going to the Suns, what do you think about this? They just lost to the Suns and lost the dynasty of three consecutive championships, and then turned around and traded to the Suns. Doesn't this mean that you surrender to the enemy and join if you can't beat them?

Ignoring reporters, he drove to the arena.

In the conference room, all the management have arrived.

Jerry West is not here. Last month, he officially left the Lakers and took a job in Memphis.

Jackson sat down, glanced at Jim Bass, and asked what was to be discussed.

Kupchak looked serious and then said: "Not long ago, I received a call from Phoenix. They asked us if we were willing to trade our first-round pick this year."

Jackson was stunned.

He thought that the Suns would contact the Lakers, but he didn't expect that they would come to inquire about the Lakers' first-round pick.

wrong!

Jackson suddenly realized that the Suns were testing the Lakers' attitude.

Before the trade market has opened, more discussions are still on the trade of draft picks. If the Suns want to trade O'Neal, the biggest bargaining chip is the No. 1 pick.

Sure enough, several people present thought about it and all reacted.

"Phil, have you talked to Perry? What's his attitude?" They didn't even talk about why the Suns asked about their first-round pick. Jim Buss looked directly at Jackson and asked.

Perry Rogers is O'Neal's new agent.

Jackson nodded and shook his head: "I have contacted him, but this bastard's attitude is very ambiguous. He is waiting for us to open the chips first."

Kupchak thought for a moment and looked at the crowd: "So, what do you think is an appropriate contract for us to give Shaq?"

The Lakers management originally wanted to postpone the matter of contract renewal until next year.

But in this situation, we can only consider it in advance.

"He will only accept the maximum salary." Jim Bass said quietly.

Everyone present knew what O'Neal wanted. O'Neal would not accept any contract other than the maximum salary.

"The key is the length of time." Jackson said. In 04, Kobe was holding player options and would definitely opt out of the contract. He would also have to renew the contract with the maximum salary by then. The Lakers' salary pressure would be great. If O'Neal is given a too long contract annual salary, the Lakers' salary will be locked up for many years to come.

With that said, Jackson looked at the other person at the conference table: "Erwin, what do you think?"

Magic Johnson is still the minority owner of the Lakers.

Old Buss deliberately did not show up to express his position, and Johnson's attitude is also very important.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Johnson gritted his teeth and said: "Actually, while discussing how to keep Shaq, we should also consider the worst outcome. Of course, I am not saying not to keep Shaq. Keeping Shaq is very difficult. Simple, maximum salary, and then it’s just a matter of contract length.”

At this critical moment, could it be possible to lower the price? O'Neal could immediately go berserk and directly apply for a deal.

So in Johnson's view, there is nothing to discuss about what kind of contract to give O'Neal. The core issue is whether to keep O'Neal.

"We failed this year, maybe we should reflect on it." Johnson said again without thinking.

Jackson frowned, understanding the tone of Johnson's words.

What to reflect on is naturally to reflect on whether the combination of O'Neal and Kobe can continue to bring championships to the Lakers.

Or, is there any other choice?

Especially when the conflict between O'Neal and Kobe becomes more and more serious.

Although O'Neal is very good, if he is not suitable for the Lakers, then no matter how reluctant he is, a decision must be made.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Johnson cursed in his mind. He had to figure out what he was pretending to be, right? He coughed lightly and continued: "What do you think of that big Chinese guy?"

Jackson rubbed his temples painfully.

Are you really considering sending O'Neal away?

He suddenly regretted that he didn't go to personally inspect Yao Ming during the joint trial training in Chicago at the end of April.

But at that time, Jackson never dreamed that O'Neal would want to leave the Lakers after the playoffs.

Kupchak hesitated and said: "That guy has great potential, but he is a little thin."

Being thin means that the confrontation is not strong enough.

Just afraid of becoming the next Bradley.

He said, looking at Jackson.

Whether Yao Ming is suitable for the Lakers or not, Jackson has the most say.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Jackson folded his arms and fell into deep thought.

The Lakers did not go to the Chicago trial training, but with so many media reports, Jackson must have paid attention to and studied Yao Ming's situation.

In Jackson's view, Yao Ming is a player with obvious advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is of course that he is astonishingly tall, and he also has flexibility that his height does not match. At the same time, he is not one of those high school kiddos. He already dominated the CBA before landing in the NBA. His skills are relatively mature, and he also has a good midfielder. When shooting and attacking at the basket, he also dares to fight, and his finishing ability is not bad.

The disadvantage is naturally his body, short arms and light weight. After entering the NBA, I don’t know if he can adapt to the higher intensity of the NBA.

But if you think about it carefully, it actually suits Kobe quite a bit.

Not only technically, but also in other aspects.

For example, he is a rookie and will not be like O'Neal who wants to be the boss wholeheartedly.

In this way, at least Kobe will not cause trouble again.

And as a rookie, Yao Ming is definitely willing to do some dirty work to cooperate with Kobe.

It is simply impossible for O'Neal to cooperate with Kobe.

The most important thing is that they can also receive rookie contract bonuses. The Lakers will immediately have enough salary space to strengthen and maintain sufficient competitiveness for the championship.

Even more, there is a huge Chinese market behind Yao Ming, and there are a large number of Chinese in Los Angeles, so the commercial value is very great.

Thinking of this, Jackson was horrified. Could it be because of this that Old Bass's attitude was so ambiguous?

At first, Jackson thought that Buss had the old habit of favoring guards again, so he was more inclined to Kobe.

But now that I think about it, Bass's ambiguous attitude may be because he is interested in Yao Ming's commercial value.

It is true that Bass loves basketball, but he is still a businessman and a poor man.

Jackson looked up at Johnson again.

It is hard to say that this is not the reason why Johnson said this at this time. After all, he is also the small owner of the Lakers. The increase in the market value of the Lakers also affects his interests.

These bastards!

Jackson cursed secretly and said in a deep voice: "I think that before we think about these issues, we should first find out Shaq's attitude. We can give him an offer first to see what he really thinks."

Just give a contract. If O'Neal is not satisfied, his attitude will be clear and he is determined to leave.

It’s not too late to consider trading at that time.

But after hesitating, Jackson added: "Of course, I think we can also start to collect information about Yao and study it carefully."

Be prepared, don't be caught off guard when the time comes.

Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

Jim Bass also said: "Yes, we need to prepare in advance. After all, we still have to deal with his parent team and the Chinese Basketball Association."

At this point, he grinned and couldn't figure out why Yao Ming had to deal with the Chinese Basketball Association when he landed in the NBA.

(End of this chapter)