The Pope of Basketball Community

At the end of August, the members of the Lakers coaching staff were also confirmed.

Yang Rui invited "Death Gun" Jeff Hornacek from Washington to Los Angeles. This time Hornacek happily agreed, and he will follow Yang Rui to become a gold medal player. If the Lakers win the championship, he will definitely become the head coach of a team in the future.

However, Hornacek is not the team's first assistant coach. He has insufficient experience and is currently good at teaching players to shoot.

Yang Rui asked Kupchak to recruit experienced Grizzlies assistant Lionel Hollins. He was the assistant to coach Hubie Brown last season and his contract expired.

Hollins agreed to the Lakers' invitation. He knew that even if the old coach Brown retired, his chances of taking over as the Grizzlies coach would be slim. Because he is the Grizzlies' defensive coach, and the Grizzlies boss hopes that the team will strengthen its offense to attract fans.

As a player, he helped the Trail Blazers win the 1977 championship, and was also selected to the All-Defensive Team and All-Star. After retiring, he became an assistant coach and served as the Grizzlies transition coach in the 1999-00 season, coaching 60 games with a winning rate of 30%.

Hollins' specialty is building a defensive system. In Yang Rui's previous life, he stayed up until the 2008-09 season to coach the rebuilt Grizzlies. He quickly led the Grizzlies back to the playoffs and coached many excellent defenders. players.

Now he is doing well, Battier and Posey are outstanding defensively, but because they are young and less popular, they were not selected for the All-Defensive Team. Under his training, Davis' defensive ability has also been affirmed.

Yang Rui also appointed a retired point guard as an assistant coach.

Scott Brooks is 180cm tall and weighs only 75kg. He looks like an ordinary person. After retiring in 2001, he has no experience as an assistant coach.

The reason Yang Rui found Brooks was that he had a high IQ as a player and had the potential to be a coach. This reason is far-fetched. Brooks entered the NBA in the 1988 non-draft due to poor physical fitness. He has only started 7 games in his entire NBA career, averaging 4.9 points, 1 rebound and 2.4 assists per game. He averaged only 13.6 minutes per game, took 4 shots, made 1.8 field goals, and shot 45% from the field. 37.2% of the three-pointers were the only bright spot. His shooting rate exceeded 40% in many seasons.

Brooks' biggest shining point was winning a championship ring with the Rockets in the 1993-94 season. Such a person looks ordinary no matter how you look at him.

Kupchak didn't care so much. If Yang Rui said he wanted this person, he would find him.

The unlucky person was former Lakers player Brian Shaw. Kupchak recommended him to Yang Rui as an assistant coach, but he was rejected.

Yang Rui knows that Brian Shaw has no ability at all. He has been with the Lakers for many years, and his only specialty is kneeling and kissing Kobe. As a backup coach for ten thousand years, he finally got the opportunity to coach the Nuggets in 2013, with 56 wins and 85 losses. Dismissed out of class sadly, with a winning rate of 39.7%.

On September 1, the Lakers got another piece of good news. The court officially acquitted Kobe, and the Eagle County case ended.

The result was nonsensical, because during a DNA test on the underwear worn by the girl Caitlin Faber was found to have the DNA of three men, including Kobe Bryant's. There was no explanation for this at all, and the jury was unwilling to believe the girl. In the end, they had no choice but to withdraw the lawsuit, and Kobe settled out of court for $1 million.

The case has been going on for more than a year, and the efficiency of the Eagle County courts is the worst in history. Some media analyzed that the reason why the lawsuit lasted so long was related to local customs.

The locals in Eagle County live in harmony and have one of the lowest crime rates in the United States. In 2003, there was only one criminal case. The local judicial authorities firmly grasped this only opportunity, proving that they are not taking public advantage of others. Food...

On the morning of September 4, Yang Rui called Kobe.

Kobe was in a bad mood before, and Yang Ruicai didn't take the initiative to contact him. They were both in Los Angeles, and it was time to meet. In the new season, they must have a good relationship.

Yang Rui will not be like Byron Scott when he was with the Nets. The first thing he does when he sees the core of the team is to show off his power.

He knew very well that he and Kobe were two grasshoppers on the same rope, both prospering and losing.

As long as Kobe Bryant puts up good numbers and the Lakers' record improves, Yang Rui will have a greater chance of winning the best coach for a record-breaking fourth time.

As for trading Kobe, that was just a matter of discussion between him and Buss, in order to better control Kobe. If he really asks for a trade, Yang Rui will only offend Buss. Who can replace Kobe with similar strength and commercial value? Old Bass would definitely not want to.

Therefore, unless Old Bass and Yang Rui are both time-traveling Kemies and were disgusted by those idiot Kemies in their previous lives, they would not do this.

The two exchanged brief greetings, and Yang Ruixiao asked, "Do you have time in the evening? How about having dinner together? You bring your wife, and I'll call my girlfriend too."

"Of course." Kobe paused and said, "My treat."

"No, there's no reason for me to ask you to treat me to dinner?" Yang Rui smiled and said, "You're welcome. When you spend money in the future, I have prepared a small suggestion that requires you to spend money."

"Well……"

"Let's talk about it in detail tonight."

In Yang Rui's previous life, Kobe was demonized by many people because of a lot of negative news off the court and his poor record later in his career. For now, Kobe can still communicate.

The Lakers failed to establish a dynasty with three championships. Kobe was much more low-key and obviously lacked confidence. Even O'Neal, who won the regular season MVP and finals MVP, did not dare to say how strong he was, let alone retire like Yang Rui in his previous life. Claiming "OK is the strongest group in history."

Last season, Kobe would follow the coach's instructions and run tactics, but when he couldn't win, he would easily get too hot-headed, so he would do it himself.

Kobe became a cancer in the later part of his career because he was unwilling to accept the fact that he was getting older and his condition was declining. He insisted on the past style of play and refused to change and give the ball to his younger teammates.

In terms of personality, Kobe is indeed very similar to Jordan, which Yang Rui appreciates.

In the evening, Yang Rui invited Kobe and his wife to eat Kobe beef at KAGAYA, a famous Western restaurant in Los Angeles.

Authentic Kobe beef costs US$25 per ounce, and a normal 16-ounce steak costs US$400. The dipping sauce of the steak is also very particular, and the taste is far better than ordinary steak.

This meal, plus red wine, cost nearly US$5,000, which is full of sincerity. Kobe suddenly felt that his relationship with Yang Rui had become closer. "It turns out you also know this store. I like it very much."

"I have been coming here often since I moved to Los Angeles. I have hosted a food show. When the boss saw me, he was afraid of being exposed and rushed to give me membership cards." Yang Rui said with a smile.

In Japan, approximately 5,500 cattle are sent to the Kobe Beef Certification Department for certification every year, but only about 3,000 cattle can be certified as Kobe Beef, which is a very rare and high-end ingredient in the world.

It was not until the end of 2012 that Kobe beef was legally exported to the United States. Therefore, the owner of this store was a guy who smuggled Kobe beef through special channels. Only celebrities in Los Angeles could eat it.

After chatting for a while, when the food came, Yang Rui smiled and said: "Kobe, I have set some goals for you in the new season without permission. I hope you can achieve them."

"What goal?" Kobe asked seriously, thinking he was going to talk about tactics.

Yang Rui smiled and said: "I hope you can average 35 points per game and win the scoring title and win the regular season MVP. In the playoffs, you can play more selflessly and help your teammates, because then your opponents will definitely prevent you from scoring. You If we pass more passes, there will be unexpected effects.”

"What?" Kobe was stunned for a moment and showed a bright smile that he had never seen before.

Yang Rui's pie was so big that it almost choked him to death.