Champions Creed

Chapter 287 Chapter 286: "Defending the Title" during the Off-season (Seeking a Monthly Ticket!)

Not long ago, the media was still saying that the 01 Lakers were the most dominant team in playoff history.

But now, the media's evaluation of them has become: "They are strong enough to even bring out the strongest Roger!"

Roger's prediction came true, and almost all media said so the day after the finals.

Maybe these media really want to praise the strength of the Lakers' Big3, just like people always say that Charles Barkley in 1993 brought out the strongest Jordan. This is undoubtedly a recognition of the Jazz rather than a mockery.

But Shark, Kobe and Hill all felt ashamed of this "praise".

The three of them together can only force out the strongest Roger?

What a fart!

Jerry Buss also felt ashamed. He spent the most money, hired three top-paid players, but only won one Western Conference championship.

It's like many fanatical fans were willing to spend thousands of dollars just to buy Paul Pierce's legendary yellow shorts last year, which were not worth that much money at all.

Although he still made a lot of money financially this season, what about next season? How can he convince those fans to still pay the highest ticket price in the league to watch the three losers play?

And next season, the salaries of Kobe, Hill and Shark will increase, which will continue to increase the Lakers' operating costs.

There is a risk that costs will increase and revenues will decrease.

The strong sense of crisis made Jerry Buss feel a little regretful. He could spend impulsively on women and it didn't matter how many he invited to the party in one night. At most, it would be a bit taxing on his waist.

But impulsive spending on star players can really cost people a heavy price.

This is a lesson for him that a multi-giant team is not as good as people imagine.

What Jerry Buss didn't know was that countless team owners would make the same mistake.

After all, humans never learn from their mistakes.

Jerry Buss was hesitant about whether to continue with this lineup.

Give up? It seems a bit of a pity. Objectively speaking, the Lakers' big three did bring out the strongest Roger this year, and they were indeed close to victory.

If you look closely, you will find out how difficult it is for the Hawks to win: Roger must average 42 points per game, and there must be excellent performances from shooters such as Jeff Hornacek and Michael Redd, and Pierce and Pippen cannot be too poor.

Only by doing all of this can the Eagles win the game.

Even so, the outcome of each of the six games was decided at the last moment.

This is completely different from last season's crushing defeat where they were swept 4-0.

If they persist for another year and try again, maybe the Lakers will really have a chance.

But what if we fail again next season?
By then, the big3 will become unattractive and even affect their trading value.

I'm a little reluctant to disband the team, but I'm afraid of reduced profits if I keep it.

Normally, this "two bottles of poison" dilemma is left to the head coach.

But now, Jerry Buss also has to choose between two bottles of poison.

Jerry Buss will probably be troubled by this all summer, but the Atlanta Hawks, as champions, also have the same worries about maximum salary.

After the finals, the Hawks' top priority was to prepare for the championship parade and deal with Ben Wallace's contract extension.

Although the finals have just ended, offseason rumors have already begun to fly.

According to media reports, several teams are willing to offer Ben a maximum salary contract.

These include the Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, etc.

Although Big Ben is not enough to limit the Shark in terms of personal data, his value has been demonstrated by the fact that he has caused the Shark's team to lose in the finals for two consecutive years.

Big Ben is just a pure defensive player, so he is not yet to the point where he is sought after by the entire league.

But for Ben, he only needs to attract certain teams to be successful.

An undrafted player can one day get a top salary, what more can you ask for?

Bruce Bowen's contract also expires. He is not yet able to earn a maximum salary like Ben Wallace, but many teams have offered him very attractive prices.

In the eyes of many teams, Bruce Bowen's talent was wasted by the Hawks. He is already 30 years old, but he still has talent to be tapped.

Bowen is an excellent defensive master and a reliable open three-point response point, but that's not all he is.

In the few opportunities he had to show off his skills, people discovered that Bowen's little moves were so ruthless that they would rank among the best even among the Bad Boys of the 80s.

But for some reason, Bowen did not often attack opponents in the Hawks. Most of the time he was just playing defense.

It's as if Lenny Wilkens or Roger wouldn't allow Bowen to do that out of some ridiculous sense of honor.

In the eyes of many teams, it is a waste of talent not to let Bowen use his talent.

Think about it, if Bowen "accidentally" caused Grant Hill to injure his ankle in Game 1 of the Finals, would the Finals have to go to Game ?
Therefore, whether it is because of Bowen's defensive ability or Bowen's little moves, he is very popular in the free agent market.

This is professional basketball, champion players are opening champagne while looking forward to making big money. And countless teams eager to try in the free market are also wondering which piece of the championship puzzle they can use.

The champions beat all opponents that season, but in the free market, faced with contracts with countless zeros behind them, champions often find it difficult to "defend" their players.

Roger experienced this when he was with the Magic, and the team also lost Snow and Robinson last summer.

This will not change no matter where you are.

This thing is just like cheating, because both parties have needs, so this kind of thing will never end.

The first hurdle any defending champion needs to face is offseason turnover.

Bruce Bowen is a player who "would be best if he could stay, but there is always room for replacement if he leaves."

In this year's free market, players such as Reuben Patterson and Dan Majerle can replace Bowen's role to a certain extent.

But Ben Wallace is an asset that the Hawks absolutely cannot lose.

He is the DPOY and one of the pillars of the Hawks' defensive system. Without him, the Hawks' short lineup would be blown into slag on the defensive end.

Yes, Ben had not grown up when the Hawks won their first championship in 1998, but the Hawks' defense was still excellent.

But don't forget, Scott Pippen was still a defensive player at that time. Therefore, there was no need for a role like Ben at that time, and the Hawks' defense could reach the top level in the league.

But with Pippen's serious decline, Ben's presence is particularly important.

Looking at the entire NBA, you can't find another defensive player like Ben. He is unique.

Therefore, Roger hopes to use his own power to urge the team to continue to sign Ben, even if he asks for a maximum salary.

Big Ben is indeed worthy of a maximum salary contract.

But it's not that easy, after all, the team's majority shareholder Steve Belkin is still "missing". Many careful fans have noticed that he didn't even appear at the Eagles' awards ceremony last night.

This afternoon, Roger's agent Eric Fleischer brought the news he knew.

"Steve is being stripped of his franchise rights by the league because half of the shareholders appealed against his shareholder status. The cause of the matter is that despite the opposition of half of the shareholders, he still arbitrarily gave Ben a maximum salary contract, which violated the rules.

Until the ruling is made, Steve is not allowed to contact any players or participate in any team affairs.

This matter has been going on for a long time, but the alliance controls public opinion. David doesn't want the outside world to see this chaotic side, so the outside world thinks he is "missing".

The league's top management is currently holding a meeting. This is the first time in many years that the league has deprived an owner of his equity, so the process is much longer than people think. But it will be soon, and there should be a result in a few days. "

Roger was not particularly surprised. When he called Bo Turner to find out the situation and the other party's tone was extremely serious, he knew that something bad might happen.

As for the results, Roger felt not optimistic.

The league has every right to deprive a boss of his management rights. Donald Sterling in the original timeline is an example. After he made racist remarks, the league's board of directors voted to force him to sell the team.

Steve Belkin's case was less serious, but the process was not much different from Sterling's.

The league can literally make you lose your team if you break the rules.

This is bad news, but the worse news is that half of the shareholders are unwilling to give Ben a maximum salary.

Roger didn't know whether his pressure could change the result.

Two days later, Roger took part in the championship parade.

This year's championship parade is special because there are many direct interactions between fans and stars.

Children from the orphanage took the stage to show the drawings they had drawn of the Eagles players.

Some disabled people in Atlanta took the stage to talk about the encouragement they received from the Eagles players.

Andy's parents even came on stage to tell the story between Roger and Andy.

Reebok actually thought that the story between Roger and Andy was a publicity opportunity, but Roger did not want to disturb the deceased, so he never took the initiative to talk about it in front of the media.

This time, the team took the initiative to invite Andy's parents.

There is no doubt that this year's championship parade has greatly deepened the bond between the Hawks players and fans.

Ben even asked himself: "Do I really want to leave this place for money? The fans here love me!"

After the parade, the 01 draft was held as scheduled.

The Washington Wizards still took Kwame Brown, and the fact proved that Jordan was not blind in choosing Kwame Brown. Even if Jordan was not in the Wizards, the Wizards would continue to choose him.

After all, Kwame Brown still defeated Tyson Chandler and others in the tryout.

There was no change in the subsequent draft. Although the third pick was no longer the Hawks but the Warriors, they still selected Pau Gasol and immediately traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for the already famous Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

The Hawks originally had two targets, Tony Parker or Gilbert Arenas.

But Pete Babcock made his plans known to the Spurs and Warriors' front offices as he sought to trade up for draft picks.

This is normal. As the defending champion, you will inevitably be watched and targeted by everyone.

So the Spurs traded up their draft pick to get Parker in advance, and the Warriors simply used their first-round pick to take Arenas - they were still hesitant at first, but considering the Hawks' success in the draft year after year, the Warriors decided to take a gamble on this lottery ticket.

Even though Arenas said some immature things during the interview, and even though Arenas suffered a knee injury in college, the fact that the Hawks valued him shows that he does have potential.

As a result, the Hawks could only select Mehmet Okur at the end of the first round, who was unable to enter the NBA immediately.

The second-round draft pick was simply sold for cash.

The 01 draft brought almost nothing to the Hawks, but it didn't matter. For championship teams, the NBA draft has never been the focus.

What's more, the Hawks have been successful in the draft for several consecutive years, with excellent draft picks from Pierce to Marion to Michael Reed.

It's impossible for the Eagles to pick the best players every year.

The thing that Roger cared more about than the draft also had a result.

The day after the NBA draft, the league officially announced that Steve Belkin would lose his management rights and his shares would be acquired by the remaining shareholders.

From now on, he has nothing to do with the Atlanta Hawks.

This is the second time the Eagles have had a shareholder change in a year.

Ted Turner just sold the team last summer, and Steve Belkin sold his shares again this summer.

On the night of the result, Bruce Levinson had dinner with Michael Gillen. After Steve Belkin was eliminated, Michael Gillen became the second largest shareholder of the team, and he and Bruce Levinson became closer and closer.

Levinson knew that Michael Gillen was a fence-sitter. It was because of his sudden change of mind on the contract renewal of Ben Wallace that the vote failed to pass.

Why did he suddenly change sides? Perhaps it was to gain more shares in the team.

The Hawks are now the most profitable team in the league. The more shares you own, the more you earn. Who doesn't want to make money?
This is the business world, just as cruel as the arena.

It would be foolish to assume that Michael Gillen would give Roger his full support just because he was a close friend of Ted Turner.

Bruce Levinson was very proud.

"Now we will let Roger know who is in control of the team! However, we do have to renew Ben Wallace's contract, after all, Roger signed a 2+1 contract last year.

Damn, these bastards know how to manipulate the team. If some of his demands are not met, he will opt out after the end of this year's contract.

But we shouldn't give Ben Wallace too long a contract. It's just enough to stabilize Roger's emotions.

As for Paul Pierce and Shawn Marion, I don't think Roger has the right to ask for anything. After all, we've already satisfied him once, right? "

"Yes, yes." Michael Gillen nodded and replied with a smile. Levinson didn't notice that Michael Gillen's smile was full of greed.

Yes, Michael Gillen is a mercenary man.

He has successfully become the second largest shareholder from the third largest shareholder, so the next step is naturally to become the first from the second largest shareholder!

In fact, this sinister guy had been preparing for this a long time ago.

Roger always feels tired when watching the news.

So, will Ben's contract renewal go smoothly?

He was kind of fed up with this messy shareholder team, really fed up.
-
The Atlanta Hawks are willing to offer Ben Wallace a three-year maximum salary, but the Detroit Pistons have increased the contract to six years. We don't know what Ben Wallace will choose. - Atlanta Police Daily.

Michael Gillen officially became the second largest shareholder of the Eagles. He said that serving Roger is his first principle in running the team. - Sports Illustrated.

Bruce Bowen decided to stay with the Atlanta Hawks, but people still don't know Ben Wallace's decision. The first gap in the championship puzzle may still appear. - "NBA Time and Space".

(End of this chapter)