The Whip of the God of Basketball

At around eight o'clock in the evening on June 27, the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington was unusually crowded. Those who came here were not patients, but media from Washington and other places, as well as Celtics stars who came from all directions.

In Ward 1301, the originally spacious room suddenly became crowded. Standing inside were former basketball superstars who were over 2 meters tall - Bill Russell, who came from Louisiana and flew from Boston. Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Tom Hainsohn, who came from New York, Danny Ainge, Dave Cowens, JoJo White, Siegfried, who came from Chicago Robert Parish arrived, and KC Jones and Dennis Johnson were on the way. It can be said that in addition to Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Don Nelson, the three current managers of other teams, In addition to the coach, other famous players in Celtics history are either here or on the way.

Auerbach wanted a dying emperor to gather together the heroes who had accompanied him in his immortal achievements at the last moment of his life and announce his will. But Auerbach didn't say anything. He just chatted with Russell beside the bed, asked Havlicek to pour him a glass of water, asked White to open the window for some air, and finally asked Danny Ainge to explain. Let’s take a look at the team’s trading decisions in the draft.

As soon as this matter was mentioned, the whole ward was like a pot exploding, and these old Celtics with green blood began to chatter about it.

"I think Milicic is a good guy. Although he is still very young, he is very talented, and what can be more great than developing an amazing center yourself? I don't like this deal, not at all. I don’t like it!” Tom Hainsohn said in a loud voice. Although his status as a player among the older generation of Celtics stars is not high. He is just a Hall of Famer and not one of the top 50 players. But he He has a high reputation among the Celtics and is also a close confidant of Auerbach. So I always dared to speak in front of Auerbach.

During the dispute over this trade, Tom Heinsohn was also a staunch draft supporter, believing that the Celtics should seize this opportunity to reinforce with rookies and achieve the results they achieved when they selected Bird, winning the championship. , and also won the future.

"And Garnett's salary this year is said to be 28 million. God, if I knew I could get so much money playing ball, I wouldn't have retired." Havlicek handed the water to Auerbach and joked. , causing everyone in the room to laugh. Havlicek did not engage in basketball-related work after retiring. At the same time, he disappeared from the public eye for a time and lived an ordinary life.

However, although Havlicek has no actual position in the Celtics, he still has a high prestige. At the same time, Heinsohn was his coach when he was with the Celtics. The two worked together for the Celtics in the 1970s. The Celtics have added two championship trophies, so they have a deep mentoring relationship. Havlicek definitely supports Hainsohn in terms of position.

The two big guys bluntly criticized Angie's trade. Angie didn't say anything but felt guilty in his heart. To be fair, Angie agreed with this trade ten thousand times. Take Walker, add some trash, and a rookie who doesn't know the future. An MVP-level super insider is a rare opportunity in today's NBA. Giving up such an opportunity and pursuing the so-called tradition will only result in continuing the Celtics' championship-less experience.

But there are some things Anji can't say in front of the two big guys. Several other people, such as Siegfried and Cowens, also support the trade, but Siegfried is not qualified enough and has not even retired his jersey. Cowens is Havlicek's younger brother, so the boss speaks. He didn't dare to object even though he spoke out. Now only the two top veterans, Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, are left qualified to speak.

However, the two seemed not to want to get involved in the dispute. Although they supported Fox-Leon in their hearts, this did not mean that they also supported the transaction.

Auerbach, the real arbiter, took a sip of water and did not speak. He continued to ask Ange: "Danny, tell me how you completed this transaction. How did the Timberwolves send Garnett? McHale But I always regarded him as a treasure."

This question stunned Anji. In Madison, he could make excuses and evade the details, but here, there was no way to hide everything, so Anji had no choice but to tell the truth honestly. He said: "I just completed the final operations of the transaction. All the previous preparations were completed by Fox-Leon. He started preparations more than a year ago."

As soon as Angie's words came out, Hainsorn sneered at first, seeming to be laughing at Angie that he, the team president, was not the leader of such a big deal. Havlicek seemed very interested. He wanted to know how the Celtics' new coach in the finals managed to recruit one of the league's highest-paid players into the team.

"Where is Leon? Let him come over!" Auerbach said to Angie. Anji also felt strange. He clearly said he was in Washington when he called yesterday, but now he was nowhere to be seen. He called Leon, and Leon said he would arrive within five minutes.

When Leon, wearing a green T-shirt and a pair of jeans, appeared in Ward 1301 of a room full of halls of fame like a physical education teacher, he felt for the first time a huge pressure on his face. This pressure even exceeded That suffocating feeling of oppression a month ago before the finals. For a second, Leon regretted that he had agreed to Auerbach's suggestion.

The reason why Auerbach told Leon not to notify his family after waking up was to wait for today's opportunity to gather all the Celtics stars together, and then let Fox-Leon tell them that he was Auerbach's true heir, no matter who he is, should not have a problem with Leon's decision-making.

This regret only lasted for a second. Leon walked to Auerbach's hospital bed and gave the old man a kiss. Auerbach patted Leon on the shoulder and said to him: "Everyone knows, Kevin Garnett was traded to the Celtics, and everyone is interested in knowing how you pulled off this 'Lakers-style' deal."

Auerbach's words made everyone in the room smile again. The so-called Lakers-style trade is because the Lakers have always been good at robbing super insiders. From Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to O'Neal, this time the Celtics got Garnett. A typical Lakers-style transaction.

Leon looked up at the room full of old men. Each of them had experienced hundreds of battles and had rich basketball life experience. Leon knew that this was an excellent opportunity for him. In Boston, no matter what achievements he led the team to achieve, he was never considered a pure Celtic in his heart.

Although in the past two days or so, Leon almost broke his legs, rubbed his tongue, and used all the connections he could use to coerce and induce everything, pushing everything invisibly.

Leon has already thought clearly that he will not become a so-called pure Celtic, even if he wins the championship. His experience has destined him not to be able to enjoy the glory that started as a player like those famous players. However, here, he wants to tell them that in this era, in the 21st century, in the new NBA world, a pure Celtics can no longer add honor to this team, they need change, they need revolution.

"It all started after the 2000 Minnesota draft..." Leon said calmly, recounting everything.

In fact, it has been three years since this transaction plan was conceived and realized.