Chapter 362 Stern Intervenes in the Transaction

   At this time, far away in Los Angeles, Lakers owner Jerry Buss was on the phone at his home.

   He called general manager Jerry West and said, "Jerry, I think it's time to get in touch with O'Neal's agent. We will initiate a trade right away, and the entire Lakers team is a bargaining chip."

   "Okay, Jerry."

   West on the opposite side was not surprised, this was something that the two of them had already discussed.

The two have two sets of plans. The first set is the best. After waiting for O'Neal's contract to end and becoming a free agent, the Lakers offer a large contract of 100 million yuan. With the huge attraction of Los Angeles and the Lakers, they can directly bring O'Neal with them. In Los Angeles, with the Magic's usual performance against O'Neal, it will definitely not match the contract.

   And the second set of plans is the current situation. There is obvious infighting in the Magic. In order to prevent other teams from attacking O'Neal, the Lakers have to take the lead.

   Although this plan will cost a lot, if you can get a behemoth that can compete with the old K, then all the cost will be worth it.

  At the same time, Miami, Pat Riley is also making the final consideration, should he keep Alonzo Mourning who just traded in, or use Mourning to trade O'Neal?

   "Do it!"

   In fact, there is no need to think about it. He soon made up his mind. Although Mourning is good, who would want Mourning with O'Neal?

   Instead of giving Mourning a contract of 100 million yuan, it is better to give O'Neal. This choice is not difficult.

  …

   Soon, Pat Williams, the general manager of the Magic, who was still at the Westside Arena, received a call from Jerry West.

   When he saw the number, he knew what the other party's purpose was, and the strange thing was that he was relieved, and he didn't have a final decision yet. At this moment, under the influence of external force, he decided.

   "Hello, Jerry."

   "Hello, dear Pat, good evening."

  The two exchanged a few words on the phone, and Pat Williams said impatiently: "Okay, Jerry, just say what you want."

   "Refreshing!"

   praised, West immediately said: "Give me O'Neal, what do you want, the Lakers have it, just take it."

At this time, the mobile phone of the assistant next to him rang. He went to the side to answer it, and it turned out to be Pat Riley. He immediately said a few words to the other party, then came to Williams' side, and said, "Mr. , Pat Riley is willing to use Mourning as the lead for Shaq."

   Williams was startled, the call came so quickly, Pat Riley also wanted to take advantage of the fire?

However, Mourning has been in conflict with Larry Johnson in the Hornets. He is not a good guy. His temper is much worse than O'Neal. He also asked for a 100 million yuan contract. Now that the Magic want to trade him, they can't open such a big contract. If they can, why should they trade O'Neal?

   So for the first time, he ruled out the possibility of a trade with the Heat, and Pat Riley couldn’t fool him.

   "Reject him, we have no room for Mourning." He commanded briefly.

   Miami's Pat Riley was a little disappointed, but he just gave it a try to see if the Magic management's brain was broken. Now, it's not completely broken.

   Next, Pat Williams and Jerry West began to discuss trading chips.

  The Lakers' lineup is still good. The actor Divac and Ayrden Campbell are good inside. There are Ceballos and Eddie Jones on the outside, and Nick Van Exel at the No. 1 position. These are the main chips.

   But the Magic can't have all of them, because the Lakers can't really give all these people to the Magic, and the Magic's salary space can't accommodate it.

   The two talked at the beginning, and then ended the call. Next, the magic has to be carefully considered, and it is not too late. There is still time before the closing of the trading window, leaving room for remorse.

  …

With 31 wins and 3 losses, the Suns occupy the top spot in the West alone. The second Spurs have won 5 games, and the Jazz have 6 games. Great, fell in fourth.

  Eastern, the Bulls were 32 wins and 3 losses before this, ranking first in the league with one more game than the Suns.

  The second place in the East is the Magic, who lost tonight's game, 6 games behind the Bulls, and the Pacers and Cavaliers behind them are even worse.

   With the deepening of the regular season, the two teams from the east and the west began to show a trend of rivalry.

   It's just that the Suns have a lot of injuries, and their main lineup is weak. The media generally believe that their strength cannot last for a long time. Once the old K's physical reserves are too much, the record will definitely decline, and even affect the playoffs.

   Even, some media believe that the Suns have given up the playoffs, and for the old K's desire to hit the MVP, they will go all out in the regular season.

Although the Bulls also suffered some injuries, Jordan and Pippen were in good condition and rarely missed games. Only Rodman was injured in the main force. The media basically believed that they could continue to remain strong and even have a chance to break 93/ 72 wins in the '94 season.

   The regular season is continuing, and Wang Tiejun is also struggling to persevere, trying his best to maintain his record before his lightning comeback.

   After the Suns won the Magic, they won the Trail Blazers on the road, and then they won the Kings again at home, starting an eight-game road trip.

   In the first game against the Pacers, he lost and got the fourth loss of the season.

  Reggie Miller made a big three-pointer, made 6 of 8 shots, and scored 40 points in the audience. The shooting rate was as high as 75%. With an extremely efficient performance, he defeated the Suns.

   And Wang Tiejun was also tired. He was in poor form in this game, weak on the offensive, and had a bad shooting feel. He made as many as 5 mistakes, and only scored 31 points and 13 rebounds.

   But then came back from a lightning injury, the Suns' main lineup was restored, and they won consecutive wins over the Timberwolves and Bucks, and achieved a record of 35 wins and 4 losses, still the first in the Western Conference.

  January 27th at 4pm, the Suns arrived in Chicago.

   Previously, the Bulls had 37 wins and 3 losses, one more game than the Suns, and the record was the first in the league.

   So this away game is very important to the Suns and Pharaoh. If we can win it, we will lose the same game. With one less game, we are only one game away, and we are very hopeful to catch up.

  At five o'clock at the request of the media, the Suns held a press conference at the hotel.

  Chicago Sports News reporter asked: "Old K, although the Suns' record looks very good at present, when facing strong teams, their performance is average, and they can only play a dozen weak teams.

  For example, the Magic, when O'Neal was on the court, the Suns fell behind, which means that the Suns can only win without O'Neal's Magic.

   Another example is Mosaic. When the Big Three are in good condition, the Suns are defeated by a big score, and you can only defeat the Big Three with diarrhea.

   So how do you view this issue? Do you think the Suns are just a regular season powerhouse, not a playoff powerhouse? "

   "Let's talk with data." Pharaoh said disdainfully.

  The reporter is speechless, aren’t hooligan tactics exclusively for us, how can you use them?

   "Old K, the finals swept the Bulls, so how confident are you to win the current Bulls for tomorrow's game?" The New York Times reporter asked.

   "With one more Rodman, can the Bulls win?"

   Anyway, no matter if you can win or not, you can't lose if you can't make a mouthful, Lao Wang laughed.

  The reporter reminded with a smile: "They really only have one more Rodman, but you are missing two generals, Dan Marley and Drexler."

   "So what? We're still number one in the West."

  Pharaoh's eyes flashed with fighting intent, and said solemnly: "If the bull wants to win us, it depends on whether their bones are hard enough, and their teeth are strong enough."

   "His!"

   As soon as these words came out, a large group of local reporters breathed a sigh of relief, and there was a lot of discussion.

   "Is this old K going crazy again, how many insiders did the Bulls hurt under him in the finals? It's just the regular season now, do you need this?"

   "He wants to fight for MVP, the lineup is not good, how can he get it if he is not crazy?"

   "It's not worth it. If he hurts two of them, we will be in big trouble. The Suns may not have a chance to reach the finals. We don't need to fight with them in the regular season."

   At this time, in the locker room of the Bulls headquarters training base, a group of players had just finished their afternoon training and had just returned to the locker room.

   The TV on the wall was on, and the channel was Chicago TV, which happened to be the news of the Sun's press conference.

   More than a dozen players saw this, but the perimeter players were okay, and the inside players suddenly changed their colors.

   Their faces really changed, because Wang Tiejun's words instantly made them seem to have returned to the finals half a year ago, the finals that were brutally ruled by old K. How many ribs did they shatter? After the four finals, how many of them were in the hospital? How many people can still stand?

  Two, six insiders, four went to the hospital, and the last two were able to stand and walk off the court.

   Now when they hear the name of Old K, their hearts are cold, and they can't bear the will to fight. The name of Old K seems to be a taboo in their hearts.

   But now, they have to face the beast again.

   "Michael, what do you think?" Phil Jackson asked at this time.

   Jordan stared at Wang Tiejun on the TV with sharp eyes, but did not answer immediately.

But Pippen next to him said: "This guy is serious, he hasn't won the MVP yet, and it's hard for the Suns to compete for the championship this season. He's going to fight for the regular season. We really can't afford to fight with him in the regular season. ."

  Jordan immediately turned to look at Pippen, his sharp eyes full of dissatisfaction.

  The second son of Pi immediately closed his mouth, for fear of angering the tyrant.

   "Michael?" Phil Jackson asked again.

  Jordan only said at this time: "The three old guys from Mosaic are afraid that they will not be very good. One by one injury, we have to be ready to meet the old K in the finals."

   As soon as these words were said, everyone in the locker room looked bad.

  Especially a few insiders, the huge pressure was on their hearts instantly, making them breathless and under great pressure.

Jordan originally wanted to say that since it is possible to meet the old K in the finals, he will now try the depth of this Suns team, but at this time he noticed that the atmosphere in the locker room was not right, and the expressions of several inside teammates changed. , Immediately realized that before the old K appeared in front of them, the name alone had already formed a psychological suppression on his teammates.

   This time, his heart also lifted, and he felt bad.

  If the inside players are timid in front of the old K, no matter how strong they are on the outside, they can't do it. What should I do?

At this time, Phil Jackson analyzed: "I can't underestimate the Big Three. The Mosaic team may be playing. The big dream has always been rarely injured. This season is just about halfway through, and eight games have been rested. Barkley's The injury may be real, but it may not be that serious, he rests more. It's Drexler, who rarely sits before, this time it's really hurt, a little bit bad."

   When he said this, Jordan also felt reasonable, nodded and said: "Three old tricks and slippery guys, you really have to be careful."

   But in this way, he feels a lot of pressure, because if the Big Three can stay healthy, that kind of strong lineup is even more difficult than the Suns.

  …

   At five o'clock in the afternoon, ESPN's NBA channel five o'clock news suddenly broke a big news, which shocked the league.

   "Yes, I got inside information that the Magic are making a big deal with the Lakers about Shaq O'Neal..."

   The reporter who broke the news is Rock Hanks, a senior NBA reporter from ESPN, with a wide network of contacts. His news is about magic.

   "Who did it?"

  Magic headquarters, general manager Pat Williams was furious when he saw the news.

   And even more angry, it was the Lakers, the owner Old Buss and the general manager West were furious. The latter immediately called Williams and asked to finalize the transaction immediately to prevent changes.

  …

   At this time, New York, NBA headquarters, David Stern is in his office of the president, thinking about the feasibility of the O'Neal trade and the changes it will bring.

   There is no doubt that he supported O'Neal to leave Orlando. Orlando has a Jordan successor, Hardaway, with high commercial value and no problem in the football market. Since O'Neal cannot stay, then O'Neal can go to another big city.

   What he has to consider is whether O'Neal stays in the East or goes to the West, which is more beneficial to the development of the league? He has to strike a balance in this.

  If it were an ordinary superstar, he wouldn't waste this brain cell, but O'Neal is not. He is the only behemoth that can compete with the old K, so where he goes is particularly important.

   Stay in the East, of course, go to a big city team, so as to help the market grow.

Bulls, Jordan can easily complete a dynasty with Shaquille O'Neal, but it is impossible, there is no space at all, and with a strong lineup, a dynasty can easily be played, and that dynasty is of little value. Only a dynasty built on thorns is the glory that people look up to.

  Knicks, if Ewing and Shaquille O'Neal are swapped, it's okay, Ewing is a bit old, this team needs a super center to take over in order to keep the team going.

Thinking of the Knicks, he has some regrets. This team has spent a lot of his efforts, but it has never been able to rush out of the East, but it has not let him down. great benefit.

   In addition, Philadelphia, which failed to rebuild in previous years, can also be, there is enough space and a ball market to accommodate a behemoth.

   After thinking about it, these teams are suitable.

   As for the West, the Lakers are of course the most suitable. Of course, if you want to go to Los Angeles, whether it is the ball market or the team's salary space, it is the most suitable.

   Staying in the East will hinder Jordan, because Jordan is still in his prime. With the Bulls' current lineup, there is still a chance to play a dynasty, so let O'Neal go to the West?

  Stern thought of this and couldn't help but think of the tyranny of the Suns sweeping the Bulls last season.

The Suns are in the process of rebuilding, but this season, with an ordinary lineup, Old K actually ranked first in the West, and even tied for the first place in the league with the Bulls for a time. The big boss, most of them have asked the league to introduce restrictive rules.

And the Suns have three first-round picks in 1996, the Hornets and the Cavaliers, and the Suns themselves. Once the draft is successful, in the next five to seven years, if the old K can stay healthy, there is no doubt that, The Suns will dominate the league.

  Thinking of this, he felt a little regretful. Old K actually chose to renew his contract with the Suns. Phoenix's ball market is still too small. If he went to the Lakers, he would definitely approve with both hands.

   "Just stay in the east."

   At this time, he made a decision to keep O'Neal in the East.

Jordan should be able to hold on for a few more years, and O'Neal's team can just use this time to complete the lineup construction. After Jordan gets old, O'Neal and old K will compete again. At that time, a pattern of two behemoths, OK and OK will be formed. , just now will not disrupt the balance of the alliance.

Thinking of this, he hopes that the Magic will trade O'Neal now, because the trading window is about to close. If O'Neal does not leave the Magic this season, once the contract is over, he will enter the free market as a free agent, then it will be very difficult for him to interfere. .

   "Didn't Old Nelson say that he wants to trade Ewing for O'Neal?"

   He suddenly thought of this news. After Pat Riley left, Nelson Sr. took over. Of course, his idea also aroused some public opinion, but now that I think about it, it is a very good idea.

  Thinking of this, he reached for the phone.

   (end of this chapter)