Champions Creed

Chapter 156 Chapter 155: Consequences of the luxury tax rule? Diversity of personality (asking for monthly votes!)

The Timberwolves are ready to renew Garnett's contract early.

Even though the price offered by Eric Fleischer was a staggering 6 years and $1.2 million.

After this news broke, a popular saying spread among the black community: "The highest level of robbery is to become an NBA player."

Kevin Garnett, a low-income black man who started working at the age of 13 and could not get into college due to poor grades, is already talking about a contract worth hundreds of millions when he is less than 20 years old.

This is not just exaggerated in the NBA, it's also quite explosive in the entire professional sports world.

Since the league's salary cap has risen sharply, the NBA may not be the highest salary ceiling in North American professional sports leagues, but it is undoubtedly the highest average salary. As long as there is a little potential for star players, the offer is hundreds of millions.

Although Garnett's contract is still in the quotation stage, it has already become popular.

Some people would say that Roger's contract was 5 million for 1.2 years, and he was very young when he signed it. Compared with Roger, Garnett's contract doesn't seem to be very big.

But when Roger signed a five-year, $5 million contract, he had already won a championship.

Garnett hasn't even played in the playoffs yet.

You know, 6 million for 1.2 years is the price O'Neal wanted most this summer. But even with two championships in hand, he didn't get what he wanted in the end.

Therefore, it is quite exaggerated that Garnett, who is just a sophomore, received such an offer.

Why would the Timberwolves want to agree?
In 1994, the Timberwolves averaged only 13671 home fans. After Garnett was drafted in 95, that number quickly rose to 18171.

This year, as Garnett began to adapt to the rhythm of NBA games and put in excellent performances, the Target Center has already reached its maximum capacity of 20444 people for half of its games, season tickets have sold better, and team sponsorships have increased.

It turns out that Kevin Garnett is someone who can bring real benefits to a small team like the Timberwolves.

And the Timberwolves must maintain these gains.

They don't want a Michael Jordan-like tragedy to happen to them.

The shock caused by Michael Jordan's departure to New York this summer not only affected the fans, but also made the owners of various teams panic.

Michael Jordan's signing made people realize for the first time the importance of big basketball cities.

Yes, Michael Jordan was already dazzling enough before. But after coming to New York, his popularity was even more terrifying than before, and his commercial income also made him a lot of money. The 1500 million endorsement contract with Sheraton Hotel was just one of them. Jordan's commercial endorsement income after going to New York was simply astronomical.

The commercial value of big ball markets makes it increasingly difficult for many small teams to retain their star players even with the existence of the "Bird Clause".

Were the Bulls really stingy? They were willing to offer him $2500 million a year. But even so, Jordan left without looking back.

Because in New York, with the support of the big market, he can get more.

Jordan's example tells you that if a small market like Minneapolis wants to retain its stars, it must offer a price much higher than the market price.

Otherwise, those big-market teams that are not short of money can sign stars from small markets at any time by relying on the advantages of their big markets.

Therefore, the Timberwolves must seriously consider this 6-year, $1.2 million offer. They absolutely cannot take the risk of letting Garnett enter the free agent market.

We must not let "Jordan leaves the Bulls" happen in Minneapolis.

Under such pressure, many owners have begun clamoring to include luxury tax rules in the next version of the labor agreement to limit the unscrupulous poaching behavior of big-market teams.

A star player is like a wife to the team. If you can't even take care of your wife at home and worry every day that she will run away with the rich man next door, how can you do business with peace of mind?
In order to take care of the development of small teams, David Stern is also seriously considering this proposal.

He has been releasing the news during this period of time, hoping to find out what the bosses think of this matter.

Magic owner Rich DeVos has a neutral attitude towards this.

But he also has a worry about the luxury tax: if the luxury tax rules are really passed in the summer of 1998, he would be the first person to be slaughtered!

By the summer of 1998, Roger's annual salary will reach a staggering 2662 million, and his salary increase will far exceed the increase in the salary cap.

Although it is not yet known how much money over the salary cap will be subject to luxury tax, the Magic are very likely to pay the tax given Roger's super contract.

After all, the Magic aren't made up of Roger alone.

If you want to win the championship, you can't put a bunch of cheap rookies next to Roger, right?
The current salary structure has already made Rich DeVos very dissatisfied with the overspending. If he has to pay luxury tax, his profit will be even less.

One difference between a big ball market and a small ball market is that the market caps vary greatly.

For example, if a superstar like Roger goes to the Knicks, he can bring 5000 million in net income to the team.

In Orlando, that number might be only 3000 million.

Why? Because the New York market is bigger, the Knicks can get more sponsorship and sell tickets at a higher price.

This has nothing to do with Roger, it is entirely determined by the market size.

Today, the Orlando Magic's revenue has almost reached its ceiling, and it is difficult to achieve significant growth.

If the luxury tax rules are introduced, it means that the Magic will have to continue to increase their investment costs without being able to make more money.

No businessman would like this kind of thing.

Rich DeVos was troubled, not knowing what the alliance would look like after the 1998 negotiations.

He just wants to win the three consecutive championships as soon as possible.

Now, the team has to listen to Roger, and no one can make Roger unhappy.

Because without him, there would be no possibility of a three-peat.

But after three consecutive championships, DeVos can regain control of his team!
But at this time, apart from the boss, few people care about things like luxury taxes.

What fans want are games, more and more exciting games.

The most exciting one is undoubtedly the Christmas battle.

But they will have to wait a little longer for that.

Roger and the Orlando Magic continued to move forward steadily, and in the seventh game of the season, they came to Minneapolis.

This city began to attract attention because of Kevin Garnett and Stephen Marbury.

It turns out that these two young men are indeed very talented, because in the first six games of the season, their record was 4 wins and 2 losses.

This is the first time the Timberwolves have had such an exciting start since entering the NBA in 89.

At their worst, the Timberwolves only won 15 games in a season. But now, they have easily won 4 games.

That's why Minneapolis fans are starting to get excited about their NBA team, and why the Timberwolves were willing to spend $1.2 million to keep Garnett.

On the eve of the game, Roger had dinner with Garnett as usual.

The two agreed to meet at six o'clock. When Roger met KG at two minutes past six in the afternoon, he had just finished training and rushed to the restaurant.

In fact, the Timberwolves' training ended at 3 pm, but after every afternoon training, Garnett would go to a nearby high school gym to continue practicing.

Few people know that KG is actually a training maniac. After all, his cooperation with Nike was too short. Nike didn't even have time to establish his personality before the cooperation ended.

And because his characteristic of pounding his chest and roaring while doing push-ups on the court is so striking, no one cares about the intensity of his training.

KG can't just hold a loud speaker and shout "I train very hard every day"? What's the difference between that and bragging about how much he studies?
His passion for training is rarely mentioned, but it’s not completely unmentioned.

Many years later, Tyronn Lue, as the coach of the Clippers, was asked a question: "You have come into contact with many players during your playing and coaching career. Is there any player whose training intensity can approach that of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan?"

Tyronn Lue thought for a while and finally said Kevin Garnett's name - during the years when KG was with the Celtics, Tyronn Lue was an assistant coach for the Celtics.

What you do is seen by others, so there is no need to brag about it.

"I'm sorry. Did I keep you waiting? I wanted to finish training early, but I lost track of time. I also thought it was impolite to come here in a sweaty state, so I went back to change my clothes. I'm really sorry."

Roger waved his hand, "It's only two minutes, KG. This isn't a business meeting. It's just a casual meeting between friends."

Garnett's attitude towards Roger off the court always surprised Roger.

As a fan before, Roger didn't have a good impression of Garnett. What impression did he give people? Fierce, cruel, bad, dancing, and fake tough. He beat up the rookies in the training ground. Note that it was a beating, not a beating. After joining the Celtics, he had a lot of small tricks that disgusted most of the players.

It can be said that apart from his passion for playing basketball, Garnett did not leave a good impression on people.

This is the person Roger has known for almost two years, and he is always polite to him every time they meet.

At first, Roger and Garnett met just to deal with it. After all, if someone invites you to dinner and they are represented by the same agent, it would be bad to refuse.

But gradually, Roger felt that this person was really good, at least he knew how to respect others.

This respect may be because Roger is always willing to patiently listen to him complain about his unsatisfactory life.

Garnett did not get complacent because he was more adapted to the NBA this season. After becoming more famous, he was troubled by the media: "I think I shouldn't always yell on the court. The media criticized me, saying that I was still an emotional child and that I was unreliable. I messed up. Now many people must think that Stephen Marbury is more like a boss in the locker room."

"You didn't mess up, you did a great job, really. You need to use your emotions to lead your teammates, that's the key."

"Really? But I heard that Tim Duncan from Wake Forest is always very quiet on the court, and then people still say that he will be an excellent leader and that he is very mature. The taciturn Tim Duncan seems to have never been questioned."

"He is him, and you are you. Why bother about what the media says? Just do your best. As for the leader, who leads the team is determined by the performance on the court. You don't need to worry about Stephen. I said, you are doing a good job."

Garnett listened very carefully, then he suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Roger, as if he remembered a fact: the Chinese man in front of him was only one year older than him.

"Damn, I can't believe you won a championship at my age. And you swept the Bulls 8-0."

Roger didn't know how to respond to him because it was almost inevitable that Garnett would not win the championship with the Timberwolves.

First of all, his 1.2 million contract locked up the team's room for reinforcement.

Of course, Garnett cannot be blamed for this.

Do you want Garnett to tell the boss: "Hey man, I don't want 1.2 million, I just want 4000 million. Why give me so much money? Can't you keep it for yourself? Then you can pick Ginobili and Parker, and then go to the free market to get Bowen and Jackson at the minimum salary, and we can win the championship. By the way, don't do yin-yang contracts, we will be fined the draft pick."

Look, criticizing Garnett's big contract in a clairvoyant way is totally unreasonable.

There is nothing wrong with players getting high salaries, and there are ways to fill the salary cap. The real problem is that KG needs a top-notch one-on-one player who can handle the ball and take over the offense at critical moments.

There are only a few such people in the entire league, and it is even more impossible for them to be traded by the Timberwolves who have few bargaining chips.

To put it bluntly, Garnett is very dependent on his teammates.

Therefore, it is inevitable that he is destined not to be very successful in the Timberwolves.

How should Roger tell him this cruel truth?
"Kevin, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Huh? Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"Just wondering if your taste is as bad as Shaq's."

"Actually, I'm currently dating a college cheerleader."

"It's okay. You may not have been to college, but you must have been a college student. You must have ambitions."

"Fuck, man you're really straightforward."

Well, Roger decided to change the subject. It's better not to know the cruel truth.

In the second day's game, Garnett continued to infect the whole team with his roar and passion. Under his leadership, the Timberwolves almost let the Magic overturn, and finally lost by only 22 points.

Any score below 58 points will be considered a narrow defeat!
Although the Timberwolves lost the game, KG performed very well. He scored 20 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. He is indeed changing the concept of the power forward position. The most important thing is that he listened to Roger's advice to "be yourself" and he is leading this team.

After the game, Garnett, who lost the game, highly praised his opponent today:

"Roger is my good brother. I won't be angry if I lose to him. Friend? No, it's not that simple. He is my guide when I am confused. Really, Roger is the best person I have ever met in the world." Because of Garnett's words, the media began to publicize what a good person Roger is and what a good leader he is.

Wilkins almost laughed out loud, you don’t understand Roger at all, you will know if you become his teammate!
But it was strange. Horace Grant had been Roger's teammate, so why did he also say Roger was a good person? Wilkins didn't understand.

After defeating the Timberwolves, the Magic continued their journey west, this time heading to Los Angeles.

Roger has another date tonight, this time with Kobe.

But Kobe didn't ask Roger to have a meal, he asked Roger to challenge him one-on-one.

"Sorry," Roger, wrapped in a thick down jacket, looked at Kobe, who was only wearing a vest, "I wore too little in Minneapolis yesterday and caught a cold. I don't feel like playing now."

"You clearly promised me that I would find you in the NBA." Kobe's eyes were sharp and he had no intention of letting Roger go.

When a friend came to his place, he didn't ask for a meal or anything, but called him over to play a duel late at night, and he was a little unhappy when he was not agreed. Even after learning that Roger was sick, he didn't even give a fake greeting.

Kobe's emotional intelligence during this period is really hard to describe.

No wonder he offended people on the first day he reported to the Lakers.

On the first day of training camp, Kobe said to a bald coach, "Coach, you don't look like you are 50 years old."

But in fact, the little bald guy was his teammate Derek Fisher.

Fisher didn't talk to Kobe for a week because of this. It wasn't because he disliked Kobe for calling him old, but because the bastard didn't even recognize his own teammates and looked down on everyone.

During training, Kobe often told coach Del Harris: "Coach, why do you have to arrange such complicated tactics? Give me the ball and let everyone else move away. As long as you give me a chance, I can single out anyone in the league."

Look at what bullshit this is. The only two people on the Lakers who can be said to like Kobe are Logo and Jerry Buss.

In other words, he had no friends in the locker room.

He is taciturn in private and too sharp on the court.

Who wouldn't dislike such a person?

Not to mention his Lakers teammates, Kobe can even irritate the good guy Grant Hill: "That guy always wants others to be the background, and I don't want to help him do that."

People with such low emotional intelligence are indeed rare in the NBA.

Roger didn't bother with the kid: "We can talk about the duel next time. We will meet again this season. Let's go. I haven't eaten yet. I thought you were going to treat me to a meal or something."

Roger's cold was quite severe, with a low-grade fever. According to the team doctor, Roger would probably be dizzy for another day or two.

So Brian Hill does not plan to let Roger play in tomorrow's game.

After all, this is just a game against the Lakers, and it's an away game.

Roger agreed. If it was the playoffs, he would fight even if his fever reached 40 degrees. If it was a key opponent in the regular season, Roger would insist on playing.

But Roger doesn't want to torture himself in the away regular season against a not-so-important opponent.

I don't want to waste my energy in this kind of private duel.

Kobe stared at Roger for a few seconds, then turned around and said, "I haven't finished training yet. If you want to eat, please wait for me."

"I'm already hungry, man."

"Wait until I finish my training."

Roger was completely speechless. If he was Kobe's teammate, he would not like this ignorant kid.

"How long do you have?"

"Two and a half hours at most. I'll be quick. Just bear with me."

"Okay, I'll go eat by myself. Bye, Kobe Bryant, it's fucking nice to meet you."

Roger really admires Kobe. He and Garnett are simply two extremes.

The next day, in the old Great Western Forum, the Orlando Magic were being chased and beaten by the Lakers.

The Lakers are a crazy team this season. Kobe, Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel all seem to be tied to the experience card system that is everywhere in online novels.

From time to time, one or two of them would suddenly go crazy as if they had received a star experience card.

Today is special because today all three of them had seizures at the same time!

In the second quarter, O'Neal once again smashed Elden Campbell's defense in the paint. The 211-cm center entered the game in 90 and reached his peak last season, averaging 13.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. His block count ranked sixth in the league, higher than Ewing and only 0.1 behind Alonso Mourning.

Los Angeles fans are clamoring to vote him into the All-Star game.

In front of the media, he also regards himself as a "quasi-All-Star center."

And tonight, he has a new nickname: Shaq's Barbie.

O'Neal's angry dunk destroyed the Lakers' penalty area.

But the Magic only led by 5 points.

Although O'Neal was ravaging Campbell, the situation for the Magic was not optimistic.

It's hard to imagine the Magic having such a tough time.

The Lakers are undoubtedly a thoroughly bad team. Logo traded away the team's only All-Star during the offseason and did not bring in any other star players. So fans felt that the Magic, who had won the previous seven games with overwhelming success, should have easily defeated the Lakers.

What went wrong?

The camera was focused on Roger, who was sitting on the bench in training clothes. He did not play in the first half today because of a cold.

If there's a problem with the Magic, it must be here - they're missing their star player.

The Shark looked very angry because he couldn't accept the fact that he had such a hard time playing against a lottery team when he was leading the team alone without Roger.

If I continue to fight like this, won't I be sure to be the second in command?
But the problem is not Shaq, the Sharks have done well enough.

The problem is that the Magic can't hold down Kobe, Jones and Van Exel.

Harper failed to defend against Van Exel, not because Harper was not serious, but because no one could defend against the crazy Van when he was in a spurt, and he scored some incredible goals. This kid was skinny and weak, but he could always do some surprising moves.

Not to mention Saroo, who replaced Roger in the starting lineup, was completely played around by Eddie Jones on the defensive end.

What about Dominique Wilkins? His defensive attitude has been correct since the regular season began. When he gets serious, his defensive level is above average and he can defend most forwards, but a guard like Kobe is too fast for Wilkins.

If the Lakers could lock down any one of these three guys, their firepower wouldn't be that strong.

But I can't lock any of them.

In the past, people only talked about Roger's offense, but Roger's role on the defensive end was undoubtedly underestimated. Since last season, Roger has been a person who can create an impact on the court through defense.

He was not there today, and the Magic's perimeter defense was simply pathetic.

The one who was beaten the hardest among the Magic's outside players tonight was Wilkins. Kobe's slaughter of the movie's highlights included but was not limited to:

A one-handed slam dunk after a crossover to shake off Wilkins.

Facing Wilkins's turnaround.

And a high-flying alley-oop that ignored Wilkins' defense.

Kobe's full of vitality makes the essence of the movie extremely heartbreaking, because the contrast between the two makes him deeply feel the ugly marks left by time on himself.

On one side is the storm of youth, on the other side is the frail old age.

After scoring, Kobe always reminded Wilkins to provoke him: "Dom, you really should not come back from Europe. I still like you in the video highlights."

On the bench, Michael Cage complained to Roger: "The Lakers guy is just like you. He doesn't respect anyone! Other rookies shook hands with Dom, hugged him, and saluted him. What about Kobe? He just fucked him!"

"There is a difference. The difference is that he only averaged 13 points per game, and I have never known what it feels like to average less than 20 points per game in my career. In other words, if it were me, Dom would be screwed even more."

"Look, you two are the same, just two pieces of stinky shit!" Cage joked.

In the last attack before the end of the halftime, Kobe continued to face Dominique Wilkins, easily broke through his defense, and then faced the Shark and made a soft layup.

The basketball went gently into the net. Although Kobe's movements were not as graceful as Roger's, it was a goal after all.

This goal gave Kobe 13 points in the first half and also allowed the Lakers to narrow the gap to 3 points.

Los Angeles fans cheered and everyone was shouting Kobe's name.

Because Kobe was very popular before the draft and his playing style is good, he is very popular in Los Angeles.

Although Kobe's immediate combat effectiveness is far from comparable to Roger, who also entered the industry as a high school student, his potential is already overflowing from the court, making Los Angeles fans extremely happy.

After this goal, Kobe did not talk trash to Wilkins again.

He walked straight to Roger on the bench: "You are just avoiding me, Roger! You have lost your edge after winning two championships!"

That No. 8 craves competition.

This is what makes him different from Garnett. He doesn't want to be just Roger's little brother, nor does he want to just ask him for advice.

From the beginning to the end, his greatest wish was to compete with Roger!
Seeing Kobe yelling at Roger, the cheers at the scene got louder. Kobe became famous because of Roger, and his draft template was also Roger. Now, he is challenging Roger again, which is as eye-catching as Wen Banyama vs. Antetokounmpo.

Lakers coach Del Harris' face became even darker.

That kid must not spray Roger on the field!

Roger stared at Kobe without saying a word until Kobe was pushed away by the equally excited Van Exel.

The King of the Magic World stood up and looked at his old servant Michael Cage beside him: "Was I such an asshole during my rookie season?"

"It's worse than this." Michael Cage noticed that Roger's expression had completely changed.

Before, Roger was just talking about Kobe for fun.

But now, he had the look of a hunter.

"Really? That's pretty asshole. Hey Brian, I need to play in the second half."

"There's no need for that. If you're sick, just take care of yourself. Why bother competing with a rookie?" Brian Hill answered efficiently.

"I'm going to play in the second half, that's decided." Roger didn't give the coach a chance to reject him.

Saroo on the side smiled and said, "Roger, I thought you were a good brother to him and treated him just like you treated Kevin."

"I am indeed a good brother to him, but I won't treat him like I treat Kevin because he is not as polite as Kevin."

Doesn't Dominic Wilkins know why people praise Roger?

In the second half, Roger showed Wilkins what personality diversity is.

Two days ago, Roger could be a good brother who Garnett praised repeatedly, and he could be a good person.

Tonight, he can also be the bad brother who will make Kobe's smile disappear later.

The very bad kind!

(End of this chapter)