The longest river

Chapter 193 Hansen, do you want Pippen or not?

When news of Jordan's decision not to renew his contract with the Bulls reached Portland, Yang Shuai became the biggest spectator of the day.

He had previously hoped that Jordan would lead the Bulls to meet him at the top, but now he is more eager for Jordan to come to the West.

After three seasons of fierce competition, Jordan has now surpassed Kobe, Shaq, Malone and other top players to become the number one player on the list.

This news became the biggest topic of conversation among the players during their leisure time.

Do you think Michael will come to Portland?

After the Trail Blazers' practice that day, Tyronn Lue talked to Yang Shuai about this topic.

Lu is a very interesting person. Although he is a rookie, he gets along well with everyone after arriving at the training camp.

In his three-plus seasons in the NBA, Yang Shuai has never seen a player as shrewd and versatile as Lue.

He felt that if a cat wandered into the training hall, Lu could persuade it to leave with just his words.

"What, you want to be Michael's teammate?"

Yang Shuai remembered that Lue did indeed play with Jordan, but he forgot which team it was on.

"What a joke! I'm on the team of the guy who beat Michael, why would I want to be on the team of Michael?"

Lu's words amused Yang Shuai.

You seem to know a lot about football!

"I just think that you and Michael have had a lot of scenes together, and it would be very interesting if you could be teammates."

Yang Shuai laughed. Turning enemies into friends? Do you think Jordan is Kevin Durant?
"I think Michael will go to New York."

At that moment, Billups patted Lou on the shoulder and joined the conversation.

They had faced off in Nebraska before, which strengthened their bond.

“New York was defeated by Michael again last season. They have been pursuing Michael for a long time, and now is a great opportunity for both sides to cooperate.”

Billups' analysis was very logical, but Yang Shuai shook his head.

"Michael will probably go to a team that doesn't get much attention."

If Jordan went to New York, it would mean teaming up with Ewing. Jordan definitely didn't want to do that. If he wanted to team up, he would have done so back when the Pistons hit three consecutive playoff losses.

Moreover, the Knicks are a strong team, so what would it prove if he went there and won the championship?

Does this prove he's better at forming teams than Barkley?
In contrast, Yang Shuai believes that Jordan is more likely to bring that whole bunch of guys, Phil Jackson, Pippen, Rodman, and others, to a less competitive team.

Just like changing jobs, taking your team to a different platform and achieving success is the best way to demonstrate the team's value.

"Charlotte?"

Billups considered one possibility.

Although Jordan was born in New York, he grew up in North Carolina and played college basketball there.

For a wanderer to return to his hometown at the end of his career makes Jordan even more legendary.

Moreover, the Hornets not only don't receive much attention, but their strength is not weak either.

When Billups said that, Yang Shuai remembered that before he traveled through time, Jordan was the owner of the Hornets.

You know what, that possibility is actually quite significant.

Yang Shuai and his group were discussing it here, and the media were also buzzing about it.

Even betting companies have started offering odds.

The Knicks and Hornets are both ranked high.

The Trail Blazers are ranked last on this list.

What's funny is that the Wizards (formerly known as the Atomic Bombs, which changed their name to the Wizards last season) are ranked first.

Keep in mind that Jordan had just angrily berated Pollin at the negotiating table.

With the shortened season, everything is compressed, and the free agency process is accelerated.

Just a week later, Jordan's situation was almost resolved.

Although it has not been officially announced yet, it is expected that Jordan will go to the Wizards!
Indeed, in the United States, you can always trust gambling companies.

Immediately after the news broke, various speculations from the media emerged.

The Washington Post reported that Jordan valued Washington's media power, which, as the capital, is even greater than that of Los Angeles and New York.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Pollin was a masochist who, after being verbally abused by Jordan, was deeply impressed by him and eagerly wanted to work with him.

The New York Times revealed that Jordan and the Wizards' owner had reached some kind of agreement in private, in which Jordan would receive a 5% stake in the team if he ended his career with the Wizards.

There are all sorts of rumors, but one thing is certain: Jordan is indeed going to the Wizards.

Because the media has already photographed Jordan and Pollin playing golf in Washington.

Yang Shuai also remembered that Jordan played for the Wizards during the last part of his career after seeing the news.

Although he didn't know the specific reason, there must have been something similar that attracted Jordan.

It's a bit of a shame that Jordan didn't come to the West, so his opportunities to earn points didn't increase.

Everything is moving faster in this shortened season. Besides Jordan going to the Wizards, there are also frequent player changes and trades.

The Hornets failed to acquire Jordan and instead signed Coleman from the 76ers;
Antonio McDyess returned to the Nuggets after playing for the Suns for one year and signed a six-year, $67.5 million max contract.

The Pacers and Schmitz reached a two-year, $14 million contract extension, keeping the original roster and continuing their pursuit of a second championship;
The Timberwolves signed 1995 number one draft pick Joe Smith to a cheap one-year, $175 million contract, after Smith rejected an $80 million extension offer from the Warriors just a year earlier.

The Trail Blazers were also busy, with Paul Allen launching another round of spending sprees.

He gave Sabonis and Wallace each a maximum contract, the former for 3 years and $2900 million, and the latter for 6 years and $6750 million.

They also renewed Trent's contract with a two-year, $4.4 million deal.

From this perspective, the league's new collective bargaining agreement has saved Allen a lot of money.

As for the luxury tax, it doesn't make much difference to Allen whether it exists or not.

These two signings have given the Trail Blazers players a shot in the arm.

It's not just because playing well for the Trail Blazers guarantees a high-salary contract extension; more importantly, the Trail Blazers haven't seen significant personnel changes this year compared to the past two years.

In other words, with Yang Shuai's core position secured, the Trail Blazers began to stabilize.

With one day left before the end of the free agency period, Yang Shuai was training with the team when Whitchter suddenly came to the training facility and called Yang Shuai to his office alone.

That mysterious expression made Yang Shuai curious.

Whitsit closed the door and her first question stunned Yang Shuai.

"Hansen, do you want Pippen or not?"

"Scottie?" Yang Shuai was somewhat surprised.

He was even more bewildered when he saw Whitshire nod.

Shouldn't Pippen have gone to the Wizards with Jordan?

Fortunately, Whitsit then told Yang Shuai what had happened in Washington.

Just as Yang Shuai had predicted, Jordan wanted to bring Phil Jackson, Pippen, Rodman, and even Kerr to the Wizards.

That's feasible, since the Wizards have two big contracts: Webber and Juwan Howard.

Jordan was even willing to sign only a one-year, ten million dollar transitional contract in order to achieve this goal.

However, the Bulls, having completely broken off relations, were unwilling to cooperate with Jordan.

Because if Jordan leads Pippen and the others to win a championship with the Wizards, it would prove that the Bulls' past success was all due to Jordan, and had little to do with the management.

Jordan then tried to persuade Pippen to join the Wizards on a low salary first, and then sign a big contract extension after the Bird exception was granted, but Pippen refused.

Pippen has endured so many years of low wages, and now he just wants to get a big contract right away.

Anyway, the thing is that Pippen ultimately didn't go with Jordan to the Wizards, and the Trail Blazers had the opportunity to bring him to Portland through a sign-and-trade deal.

Although the Trail Blazers have re-signed Wallace and Sabonis, they have not been able to sign any strong perimeter players in free agency because Yang Shuai's big contract has already taken effect.

If they could acquire Pippen, it would not only relieve Yang Shuai of the playmaking pressure, but more importantly, it would free up Yang Shuai on the defensive end.

However, Yang Shuai had some conflicts with Pippen on the court when he played for the Pacers, and Whitsett needs to consider Yang Shuai's personal opinion.

"I have no opinion."

Unlike Malone and O'Neal, Yang Shuai's conflict with Pippen was all about on-court competition and points.

"Is it okay to include Billups in the trade?"

As Whitsit was about to leave after finishing their conversation with Yang Shuai, he asked one more question.

Billups' arrival at the Trail Blazers last season was of little help, and he almost caused the team to lose in the first round, which basically confirmed his status as a "bust".

The wisest choice is to give him away as a bargaining chip while he's still in his rookie season and his lottery ticket only yielded the word "thank you."

Moreover, with Pippen on the team, the team doesn't need as many playmakers; functional guards like Dee Brown and Tyronn Lue are sufficient.

However, he suddenly remembered that Yang Shuai and Billups had a good relationship in private.

"No, Changxi stays."

Yang Shuai's attitude was firm. Billups had been training with him for more than half a year, and his progress was obvious to the naked eye. Trading him at this time would be a huge loss.

Whitsit paused for a moment, then finally nodded.

When Yang Shuai came out of the general manager's office, he suddenly felt something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

A day later, the Trail Blazers announced a trade with the Bulls, sending Brian Grant, Dee Brown, Stacy Ogmon, and a future first-round draft pick to the Bulls in exchange for Scottie Pippen and Keith Booth (the 28th pick in the 1997 draft).

This was a sign-and-trade deal. Pippen first reached a maximum contract agreement with the Bulls, starting at $1400 million and lasting 5 years for $8775 million.

The Trail Blazers' biggest rival is the Rockets.

Drexler chose to retire after last season. Barkley was willing to take a pay cut of $100 million in order to sign Pippen, but even so, the Rockets could only offer Pippen a contract with a starting salary of $1100 million and a total of $7736 million over 5 years.

The Rockets failed to acquire Pippen, and instead offered Barkley a one-year, $9 million contract. This marked the first time Barkley's career salary exceeded $5 million, which also meant that last season became the Rockets' swan song.

Shortly after the Trail Blazers and Bulls completed the trade, news also began to emerge from the Wizards.

Jordan had a lot to say about Chris Webber, believing that the latter had never honed his defensive skills in all the years he had been in the league, and that as the Wizards' core player for many years, he had only made the playoffs once, finishing eighth in the Eastern Conference.

He also has high hopes for his fellow North Carolina student, Jerry Stackhouse.

However, the Pistons, who just acquired Stackhouse from the 76ers last season, are not willing to do so unless the Wizards are willing to trade Webber for Stackhouse.

Although this is the result Jordan wanted most, the Wizards' management is not so foolish as to trade an All-Star player for a rookie who has not yet proven himself.

At that moment, the Kings launched a fierce pursuit of Webber.

They are willing to use their star player Richmond as the main asset in a trade to acquire Webber.

Mitchell was also a star guard whom Jordan had once admired, and the two sides hit it off immediately.

The Wizards traded Webber to the Kings in exchange for Richmond and Otis Thorpe.

Thorpe was the 9th overall pick in the same draft class as Jordan and was the starting power forward for the Rockets during their two consecutive championship runs.

However, the Wizards did not intend to keep him. They packaged Thorpe and Calbert Chaney, along with a future first-round pick, and reached a sign-and-trade agreement with the Bulls.

The Bulls chose to cooperate this time. After all, they needed draft picks during their rebuilding process, and Pippen wasn't with the Wizards. They didn't think the Wizards could achieve great things, and ultimately, helping Jordan would improve the management's poor reputation among Bulls fans.

Shortly after Jordan signed with the Wizards, Rodman followed Jordan and joined the Wizards with a $100 million contract.

Surprisingly, Phil Jackson did not choose to coach in Washington, but instead chose to retire.

Even Kerr, whose contract expired, did not go to the Wizards, but instead chose to sign a 5-year, $1100 million contract with the Spurs.

Kerr's motivation might be understood as a pursuit of a larger contract, as the Wizards could only offer him a minimum salary contract similar to Rodman's.

But no one knows the reason for Jackson's death, because the reason he told reporters was that he needed to rest.

The Wizards ultimately chose Doug Collins, who was fired by the Pistons at the end of last season and had previously played with Jordan on the Bulls.

"Changxi, do you think the Zen Master is really tired?"

Before practice began that afternoon, Lue and Billups talked about Phil Jackson not going to the Bulls.

Sitting to the side, Yang Shuai noticed that Lu was not only good at dealing with people, but also exceptionally well-informed.

“I think he probably doesn’t think much of the talent team,” Billups said.

Yang Shuai thinks Billups has a high EQ and IQ, provided he doesn't get involved with women.

Yang Shuai doesn't know much about Phil Jackson, but from a time traveler's perspective, Phil Jackson coached for 20 years and won 11 championships, so he must be a very shrewd person.

However, it remains to be seen whether the Wizards will be able to break through the Eastern Conference this year.

Since Jordan couldn't come to the West, Yang Shuai can only hope for a chance to meet Jordan at the top of the Finals.

Of course, this is all predicated on the Trail Blazers being able to make it out of the Western Conference.

Since last season, the league's landscape has changed. It's not that the East has become stronger than the West, but at least it's now evenly matched.

"I heard the team will hold a press conference this year to announce Scottie's signing. Do you want to go and check it out?" Lu continued to demonstrate his well-informed nature.

Billups nodded. Although Pippen wasn't a top-tier superstar, his fame and influence as Jordan's former sidekick were considerable.

Billups gestured to Yang Shuai, who then indicated that they could go ahead.

To be honest, I was a little surprised that Pippen chose to come to the Trail Blazers. When the two teams faced off in the Eastern Conference Finals, his trash talk was really heartfelt, and Pippen isn't exactly a magnanimous person.

Maybe that guy has really been suppressing his feelings for too long, and now all he can think about is money.

When teams welcome players, the largest scale is usually a fan meet-and-greet like Yang Shuai did before, followed by a press conference, and the least common is sending a tweet to welcome them (in this day and age, not sending a tweet is equivalent to not sending anything).

Pippen may not be on par with Yang Shuai, but his presence at the press conference was definitely on par.

His teammate Booth also benefited.

After displaying their Trail Blazers jerseys, the Q&A session with reporters followed.

"I am very excited to lead this team to compete for the championship."

When asked about his feelings about joining the Trail Blazers, Pippen seemed very excited.

This remark caused a stir in the audience, and Whitsit coughed as well.

Booth, who was standing nearby, reacted quickly and picked up the microphone to add to the story:
"We are here to help the team compete for the championship."

Pippen, however, seemed unaware of what was happening and simply smiled at the reporters.

Billups and Lou, who had snagged a spot in the corner, exchanged bewildered glances upon seeing this. This newcomer seemed to have ill intentions.

After the press conference, Whitshire led Pippen and Booth to the locker room.

The Trail Blazers were just about to head to the training facility.

Pippen used the wardrobe that Grant had used before, which was located near the corner.

After Whitsitt left, Pippen walked towards the door where Yang Shuai was.

However, instead of walking towards Yang Shuai, he greeted Wallace on the other side.

Wallace and Pippen didn't interact much off the court, but he still politely smiled and chatted with Pippen.

It wasn't until Pippen finally suggested swapping wardrobes with him that the conversation ended.

Wallace immediately turned into Nick Young with a question mark on his face.

I've heard of giving up jersey numbers, but I've never heard of giving up a wardrobe!

We're all in the NBA, who doesn't know that your wardrobe reflects your status on the team?

Yang Shuai was amused at this point.

Before Pippen arrived, Lue had already run back to tell him what Pippen had said at the press conference.

First he said he was coming to lead the team, and now he wants to change his wardrobe. Does Pippen feel pretty good about himself after signing such a big contract?
Seeing that Wallace had no intention of making a substitution, Pippen glanced back at Yang Shuai, but ultimately didn't dare to ask the same question.

"Hansen, it's been a long time."

He managed a faint smile at the last moment.

"If you want a wardrobe, you can take mine," Yang Shuai said.

Pippen's face lit up when he heard this, but when he realized that everyone in the locker room was looking at him, he immediately shook his head.

"I think it's pretty good there too."

Pippen turned and went back to his seat.

Dunleavy then came to the locker room and called the players to the training hall.

He smiled and walked up to Pippen after seeing him.

When Dunleavy coached the Lakers, their opponent in the NBA Finals was the Chicago Bulls.

The Lakers took an early lead, but the Bulls won four straight games to secure the victory after Phil Jackson assigned Pippen to defend Magic Johnson.

In the final game in Los Angeles, Pippen displayed his prowess on both ends of the court, scoring a team-high 32 points, along with 13 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals.

Dunleavy still admired Pippen.

Pippen finally found a sense of belonging and chatted and laughed with Dunleavy.

Carlisle's arrangement for Pippen differed from his initial arrangement for Billups. Instead of having Pippen observe from the sidelines, he had Pippen practice with him.

When the daily training ended and the full-court scrimmage began, Carlisle immediately had Pippen lead the reserve team and the bench team.

Pippen led the reserve team to a resounding victory over the bench team.

Pippen's basketball IQ and ability are not in question. Although he may falter in some crucial games, his strengths outweigh his weaknesses.

If we only consider the requirements for a second option, Pippen, who can act as the core of the offense, directly defend the opponent's offensive spearhead, and even act as a ball-handling middle blocker on the weak side when necessary, is the best in the league.

Seeing how smoothly Pippen adapted, Carlisle nodded in satisfaction.

However, just as he was about to give Pippen a try in the starting lineup for the next game, Pippen refused.

He wants to try playing with the substitutes and starters.

Carlisle looked at Yang Shuai with a puzzled expression.

He had only seen Yang Shuai use this tactic before, and Pippen wasn't even there at the time. Could it be that Yang Shuai instructed Pippen to do this, and then he put on a show so that Pippen could quickly establish himself in the team?
Yang Shuai saw Carlisle's gaze and then shook his head.

Carlisle thought about it and realized he was right. Yang Shuai had never been a warm-hearted person; he had been overthinking things.

"Scottie's defense brings quality to the game," Dunleavy said at this point.

Carlyle felt that Dunleavy's words made some sense.

The Pippen trade did not change the original starting lineup, which is a good opportunity to test the players' training results over this period of time.

He sensed from training that Yang Shuai, Billups, and Wallace had all made significant progress during the hiatus.

Yang Shuai then turned his gaze to Deng Liwei.

Pippen's actions in the locker room successfully isolated him, and no one else spoke to him.

Apart from Dunleavy.

It seems Dunleavy isn't content to just be an assistant coach.

After a season, he knew that Dunleavy was capable and suitable to be the first assistant coach.

But just as he had initially thought, he didn't want to play for a second Larry Brown.

But this is good too, it completely shattered Dunleavy's hopes.

Moreover, Pippen had such a high opinion of himself after joining the Trail Blazers, so this was a good opportunity to make him face reality.

Players from both sides took to the field one after another.

Starting lineup: Billups, Yang Shuai, Walter Williams, Wallace, Sabonis

Reserves: Tyronn Lue, Trent, Pippen, Keith Booth, Cato

The previous trade involving Pippen didn't affect the starting lineup, but it did cause significant changes to the bench, which gave newcomers opportunities.

Not only Lue, but Cato, the team's 15th overall pick last season, didn't get much playing time because of Grant, and he will obviously get more opportunities this season.

Pippen was now eager to try his hand at the game.

Money was certainly the main reason he didn't choose to go to the Wizards with Jordan. Besides that, he also had some reluctance to continue playing with Jordan.

Jordan's brilliance was so dazzling that the team's success seemed to be solely due to his efforts.

That has nothing to do with Jordan. Even though Jordan has always emphasized his importance, the media has never thought so.

When he plays well, the media thinks that's what he should do, but when he doesn't play well, he becomes the culprit for the Bulls' loss, as if he's someone who can be replaced at any time.

He'd had enough of those accusations coming on day after day.

He wanted to prove to everyone that he could succeed without Jordan.

Actually, he would prefer to go to the Rockets. Barkley and Olajuwon are already old, and he could directly become the team's leader.

However, he experienced what Yang Shuai and Carlisle had experienced before: the Trail Blazers gave him far too much.

That's over ten million, not just a thousand dollars.

Moreover, he didn't think he had no chance of becoming the leader if he joined the Trail Blazers, after all, Yang Shuai was too young.

So when Dunleavy shared an "amazing experience" of Yang Shuai when he first joined the Trail Blazers, he felt he could follow suit.

He even felt that after beating the starting team, he could directly ask Whitsitt for a locker change; he needed that to confirm his place on the team.

The match began, Sabonis passed the ball back to his half, Billups controlled the ball, and the starting team launched the first attack.

"You know what? Back then, it wasn't you who beat Michael, it was the Pacers who beat the Bulls."

Pippen took the initiative to defend Yang Shuai and immediately spoke up after they matched up.

You could tell he still harbored resentment about losing to Yang Shuai back then.

You should know that he was heavily criticized after missing two crucial free throws in Game 7.

"so what?"

Yang Shuai smiled and looked at Pippen.

"So you should know who can really lead this team to the championship."

Pippen felt his logic was impeccable.

To his surprise, Yang Shuai's answer was exactly the same as it had been in the locker room before.

"If you want to be the boss, then be it," Yang Shuai said, reaching out to take the ball.

"As long as you can win."

After saying that, he immediately signaled to step aside and start a one-on-one fight.

Although Pippen was hesitant, he still had spirit. A person without spirit would immediately walk into the player tunnel after losing a game instead of sitting on the bench crying.

To win over such a person, you can only defeat them head-on.

Pippen immediately became excited upon seeing this.

If Yang Shuai were to play a specific game, he might not be able to defend him effectively, just like when the Bulls played the Pacers and he couldn't contain Yang Shuai well.

However, in terms of one-on-one play, the Bulls swept the Trail Blazers last season, and his contribution to limiting Yang Shuai was indispensable (the Trail Blazers played a ball-dominant style of play with Yang Shuai last season).

His 2.06-meter height with shoes on, combined with his 2.21-meter wingspan, agility, and experience, makes him a nightmare for offensive players.

It's fair to say that even if someone other than Jordan isn't completely shut down by him, their offensive efficiency will be significantly reduced.

After his teammates separated, Yang Shuai began his attack.

There were no fancy dribbling moves, just a simple crossover followed by a behind-the-back crossover, and Yang Shuai successfully got past Pippen.

Pippen had already identified his opportunity to steal the ball, but he didn't have time to reach out.

"Oh!"

Yang Shuai slammed the ball into the basket with his signature tomahawk dunk.

The Trail Blazers spread out a lot of space on the court, and the rest of the bench players had no time to help defend.

"How can it be?!"

Pippen, who was trying his best to catch up but still couldn't, looked on in disbelief.

How could Yang Shuai possibly have that kind of breakthrough speed? He had only ever seen that kind of speed and explosiveness in Jordan before, and that was Jordan in his younger days!

"Are you playing seriously? Even Kobe couldn't stop that kind of defense."

Yang Shuai turned around and threw a sentence at Pippen.

"Negative energy from Scottie Pippen +521".

Pippen's face instantly darkened; Yang Shuai had actually used Kobe to insult him.

Pippen dribbled past Williams' defense, but Yang Shuai's help defense forced him to pass the ball.

Trent received the ball beyond the three-point line and attempted a drive, but Wallace's help defense disrupted the attack.

Go ahead and throw!

Pippen was getting anxious; Trent hadn't been able to capitalize on such a good pass.

Trent: No, bro, I didn't score three points!
Pippen was speechless; what kind of teammates were these?

Clearly, Dunleavy only told Pippen and Young what they had done, but not how Young did it.

If you don't have the ability to take on five opponents at once, do you really think you can lead a group of fringe players to defeat the starting lineup of an NBA team?

Back on defense, Pippen struck a pose again, slapping his hand hard in front of him.

As long as he can stop Yang Shuai, he will have the opportunity to launch a counter-attack, which is his most proficient offensive method.

Yang Shuai continued to have the ball, but this time Pippen pressed forward defensively, not giving Yang Shuai an easy chance to get the ball.

Yang Shuai held the ball with one hand, back to Pippen to protect it, and then suddenly turned and broke through with the ball.

Pippen demonstrated his defensive focus and ability, using his sliding steps to quickly keep up with Yang Shuai while also using his long arms to block Yang Shuai's driving route.

However, just as he broke through to the free-throw line, Yang Shuai suddenly opted for a mid-range shot after a sudden stop.

Moreover, during the sudden stop, Yang Shuai showed no signs of slowing down; he just abruptly stopped and then jumped up.

Pippen's center of gravity was still following Yang Shuai's breakthrough, and by the time he saw Yang Shuai jump and desperately lunge to interfere, it was too late.

"Shh!"

Yang Shuai's mid-range shot went in smoothly into the basket.

During the past six months of suspension, he has improved not only in his breakthroughs, but also in his mid-range shooting ability, which has reached 85.

If it weren't for the suspension and the lack of official matches, he could have improved even further.

After scoring, Yang Shuai shrugged and spread his hands at Pippen.

Pippen was instantly flooded with a host of painful memories.

To help Pippen improve, Jordan would almost daily torture him with one-on-one challenges.

Pippen ultimately failed to lead the reserve team to victory over the starters, and he was completely outplayed by Yang Shuai on both ends of the court.

The starting team thrashed the reserve team 21-6.

After the game, Pippen stood there, stunned, his head buzzing.

He hadn't expected Yang Shuai to have become so strong.

Moreover, after listening to what Deng Liwei said, he only thought about doing what Yang Shuai had done, but he never thought about what would happen if he couldn't do it.

Just then, Yang Shuai walked straight up to Pippen and, under Pippen's questioning gaze, spoke calmly:
“You can be angry, you can be frustrated, you can even cry like you did back then, but remember, I am the boss here.”

Pippen's face turned red.

He had forgotten how long it had been since anyone had spoken to him like that.

Perhaps the last time was when he first joined the Bulls.

At that time, Jordan was only in his fourth year in the league, but he was already a top-five star in the league.

At the time, everyone thought he was going to assist Jordan, and he initially thought so too, until Jordan mocked him as a "country bumpkin from Arkansas".

At that time, he decided to challenge Jordan, wanting to show this arrogant guy what a country bumpkin could do.

However, ideals are often grand, but reality is harsh. Jordan met his challenge and then destroyed him time and time again, showing him who the real leader of the Bulls was.

Now, a guy even younger than Jordan was back then said the same thing to him.

Moreover, it's done in a more direct way.

(End of this chapter)