The Rest, Only Noise

The inner atmosphere of a team can be seen in daily training.

The Knicks haven't felt that one-on-one in a long time.

Although there are many atmosphere-enhancing players on the training ground, it still feels a little short.

Beating the Blazers on the road is a big deal, but they have two more games to play at Memorial Coliseum.

If the Blazers win, they will return to New York with Match Point.

If the Knicks win either, that's the best outcome. They can play a life-or-death battle in their home court.

Of course, the ideal result would be to beat the Blazers 4-1 in Portland's three straight games.

But even the Knicks' most fanatical believers dare not have such delusions.

Louie was ready from the start to play seven games in the series.

Although the Knicks' internal chemistry has not yet reached the best level, the player's state basically meets the level that needs to be achieved in the finals.

The touch of shooters like Miller and Raouf delights Louis.

But he also felt that the internal atmosphere was too rigid, so he offered to have a shot contest with stakes.

The rules are simple, a total of 10 **** are shot from the basket to the logo position in turn, but there is one point, if you miss a shot during the period, you will stop immediately and the result will be locked.

To participate in this competition, you have to shell out $10,000, and there is no second place, the winner takes all.

"It's interesting, are you ready to send me money?" Miller muttered.

The final entries were Wilson, Miller, Raouf, Ainge, Williams, Stevens, Rodman and Louie.

However, Louis invited Wang Mukong to participate in the game as his representative on the grounds that "I haven't played for several years".

There were no comments from the players and the game then began.

Rodman, the least favored contestant, was tricked at the start.

He came to the simplest shot at the basket and said with contempt, "That's it, I can shoot with my back to the basket."

It's not without reason that Rodman expressed confidence in this. After all, an operation like shooting at the basket can be done with hands. Ordinary people can have a high shooting rate even with their backs to the basket, not to mention NBA players?

As a result, Rodman actually closed his eyes in order to pretend, and then hooked the ball up, trying to hit the board crisply, but he hit the timer on the top edge of the backboard.

Westbrook is an expert!

"Dennis, you are all good people, just not good at all. You are too generous. You don't have to do this if you want to send money to us!" Louis teased.

Rodman was furious, used his banknote ability on the spot, signed a check for $10,000, successfully bought the resurrection coin, and resurrected on the spot—Louis found this to be a bug. There's no chance of a shot, so Louie reminded: "Unless one of you misses the first shot like Dennis, there's no second chance."

Even with the second life, Rodman only managed to get to the fourth ball—that was from beyond the arc, and he deliberately chose the top of the arc, his most confident position.

This time, however, his shot not only missed, but hit the top edge of the backboard, almost hitting the timer.

"Can we find another idiot who's willing to pay $20,000 for five shots?" Reggie Williams quipped happily.

Rodman is a scumbag. Although he is ridiculed for being stupid and rich, he knows exactly where Williams' weakness lies.

"It's okay, Ruth, I'm not the same as you, I can play with my salary!"

This time really stepped on Williams' tail.

Low salary and high energy are the hallmarks of Williams, and he feels endless remorse for it.

When he heard Rodman mention this at this moment, he was very angry: "It's like your salary is very high, how can you be higher than me?"

"That's not the same. No matter how little my salary is, I still have $1.6 million a year. What about you? Besides, you have a lot of off-court endorsements. Can you compare? I don't care about salary at all, oh **** ho..." Luo The more he talked, the more proud he became. He never thought that he was so "capital".

In terms of annual salary, Rodman is $1.6 million a year, due next year.

Williams is $650,000 a year, due in 1995.

They are all players with super value for money.

But Rodman is still a low-level salary level in the league. Williams' words can be intuitively understood with a ruthless evaluation - not as good as a rookie contract.

However, no matter how you calculate it, Rodman jokes about Williams' salary as a hundred steps and fifty steps.

Because under the new collective bargaining agreement, the salaries of both should start at 3 million.

Williams, who was distracted by Rodman, played abnormally.

The first point hits easily.

The second spot was a half basket in the paint, which almost missed.

The third point was the free throw line, and he missed.

"Wuhu~~~ Ruth, your shot is worse than mine." Rodman said disgustingly.

Williams angrily kicked the basketball that rolled in front of him.

Louis pondered, he was here to activate the atmosphere in the team, how did it have the opposite effect?

However, Williams' contract is a real problem.

For an all-around player like him, the annual salary of 650,000 is really a price to pass the beggars, and it is no wonder that he is not happy.

Unlike Rodman, who was influenced by Georgetown University's "Angry Black" mentoring spirit, he was indifferent to the public eye such as the media, just like Ewing.

Therefore, his off-court income is not much.

Like Rodman, the hair color of each game can arouse the curiosity of the media, and through his love with Madonna, he has become an American celebrity. As one of the most famous bad boys of the modern age, his endorsements and advertisements It's normal to be soft on the contract and not look down on the contract salary.

"Russ, come with me."

On the principle of solving a problem if it can be solved, Louie called Williams ten meters away.

"Coach, Dennis is such a bastard!" Williams scolded.

"You know, he's not malicious." Louis laughed.

Williams said: "He is not malicious, because he does this to everyone, because he has the privilege of not training on time and disappearing at any time!"

Louie went straight to Williams: "Are you accusing me of favoring Dennis, Ruth?"

Williams asked, "What if I did what Dennis did?"

Louie laughed: "I'll happily trade you, and then warn Dennis that if he still misses the spotlight in New York, if he still wants to be a world-renowned bastard, just do his job honestly, otherwise, I'll do my job. Trade him to Indiana or Sacramento."

"Honestly, I've been waiting for someone to do this, Ruth, would you 'do' me this favor?"

Williams didn't expect Louie to be so "real", and he didn't mean to fool him with a few jokes.

He had absolutely no doubts about the veracity of what Louis said.

He also knew that Rodman was privileged because his absurdity off the court didn't carry over to the court. As long as he plays, he's a solid player.

Rodman's importance ranks in the top five of the Knicks, which is why Louie indulges him.

Williams knows this, he's just unhappy with the status quo.

"Now, let's talk about your contract."

If the conversation ends here, Louie is digging a hole for himself, which does nothing but separate Williams from himself.

What he can do is to put aside the bleak reality to the other party, make the other party feel ashamed, and then give some sweetness.

Williams didn't know why Louie chose this time to negotiate a contract with him.

Because the window of operation has now passed, he cannot sign a new contract, not to mention, the salary cap of the Knicks does not allow them to sign a new contract with Williams.

So, Williams stayed silent, wanting to hear what Louie had to say.

"I really can't give you a new contract now, and I can't give you a new contract next season, but by the summer of next year, the league will complete a new collective bargaining agreement, and the salary cap will usher in a new round of Explosion. At that time, I promise I will give you a new contract, and, considering the financial losses you have suffered over the years, I will give you a concession on the contract amount.”

Louis draws a pie, what will happen tomorrow? Nobody knows.

Just like Louie himself can't guarantee that he was still in New York at that time, but what people like Williams need is hope.

If he is not given hope, he will become a destabilizing factor in the team.

At the end of the conversation, Williams said moved: "I appreciate it, coach, I apologize to you for my previous actions."

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