blogombal Chapter 393 The Same Fate of All Dynasty Teams! Participating in Track and Field
Chapter 393 The Same Fate of All Dynasty Teams! Participating in Track and Field
As for Lin Tian, he and his teammates, as usual, stayed up all night for several nights after winning the championship. They celebrated wildly, sweating and bodily fluids in nightclubs in Indiana. They finally got their vacation.
Yes, of course, it's the holiday season for most people.
And a very small number of talented people are just getting started.
For example, Carter and Harrington, these two guys need to consider where they will go next season. They will definitely meet with many teams to think about their future. They need to have a good talk with their new teams about their position, status, shot attempts, annual salary, contract length, and so on.
Another one is Bird. This guy has clearly not given up on keeping these two dynasty heroes. He has been waiting for an opportunity to talk to the team owner and clarify this matter.
The timing he chose was the night after the team's championship parade! Logically, this is when the team owner is happiest and the probability of success is highest.
"Melvin, let's have a good talk, shall we?" Bird walked into the office of team owner Melvin Simon, who was also there with another team owner, Melvin's older brother, Herb Simon.
Although the Simon brothers were not Indiana natives and grew up in New York, they had been working in Indiana since the 50s, dedicating most of their lives to the development and construction of Indiana.
Indiana is developing so rapidly today, with the city expanding at an astounding pace and both its population and economy showing strong growth trends. The Simon brothers have undoubtedly played a significant role in this development.
Of course, the two brothers weren't doing it for any grand cause like charity or urban development; they were mainly doing it to make money for themselves.
But it is undeniable that since the two brothers bought the team in 83, they have indeed pulled the Pacers out of the abyss.
From initially having fewer than 5000 attendees, consistently being a lottery pick and having the worst record, to drafting talented players like Miller, Schrempf, and Schmitz, the Pacers were one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference throughout the 90s.
If the Bulls hadn't been so strong, they might have won the championship without even waiting for Lin Tian to join them.
Bird believed that the two brothers loved basketball and Indiana. It was because of their hard work that the Pacers did not move to Sacramento, thus leaving Indiana with this team.
Bird genuinely hoped that the hype of a four-peat and the greatest dynasty in history would sway the two brothers!
Of course, this is just hope.
After all, with Lin Tian and Webber's salaries increasing further next year, if Carter and Harrington are retained, the Pacers' salary expenditure will reach at least $8000 million, and the luxury tax will exceed $3000 million!
With salaries alone exceeding one hundred million, it's clear that the Simon brothers, with their modest wealth, and Indiana, a city that isn't particularly large, couldn't afford it.
Bird understood this very well; ultimately, the owners of these teams were in it to make money! So Bird's idea was actually to keep one of them!
It would be best to keep Carter, but if that's not possible, keeping Harrington would be a good alternative!
"Larry, you've done a really good job this year!" Melvin said with a smile as soon as Bird came in. "Even better than we expected! It's great to have you on the team! By the way, you have to come and see this, you'll love it."
Melvin pulled out a contract and said, "I was going to give it to you in a couple of days, but since you're here, you can take a look first! This is your pay rise agreement! We plan to give you a 15% raise starting next season! That way, your salary will exceed that bastard Jerry West's."
"Next season, you'll be the highest-paid general manager in the entire league!"
Here comes it!
Bird couldn't help but sigh. Although the two bosses were all smiles, how could someone as experienced and intelligent as Bird not understand what they were thinking?
Using a raise to shut themselves up, preventing them from arguing with them or confronting them forcefully.
Then, he had no choice but to obediently let Carter and Harrington go.
As I said before, if you don't have a single championship, then you should do everything in your power, spend a lot of money, and not care about the cost to win one. No problem!
But the team has already won 4 championships in 5 years and has become a dynasty. Is the team owner still willing to spend so much money?
Obviously, they were unwilling!
Moreover, if the Pacers didn't have Lin Tian, then Carter would mean a lot more; his playing style could bring the Pacers a lot of extra profits.
But when the team already had Lin Tian, the league's most popular player and number one, the commercial value Carter brought was negligible.
It's not that Carter is worthless, it's that Indiana can't swallow him!
Their market isn't big enough to capture all the value created by two popular stars together.
There's nothing we can do about it; it's not the internet age anymore.
Some things simply have an upper limit!
Bird hesitated for a moment. Although he knew his two bosses were trying to shut him up, he finally said, "Bosses, thank you for the raise, but I still want to talk to you about what happened this summer!"
"In the recently concluded Finals, Vince averaged 24.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He was the team's second-leading scorer, and his dunking, fast breaks, and ball-handling abilities are among the best in the entire league! He undoubtedly deserves a max contract!"
"According to the rules, we can offer him a maximum of a 5-year, $6500 million contract this summer. I know that may be a bit much, but I think given my relationship with Vince, I can persuade him to take a slight pay cut."
"For example, 56 million or 58 million over 5 years?"
"Keep Vince? Sure." To Bird's surprise, his brother Herbert, who hadn't said much and didn't manage the team much, said, "We can trade Chris! We can only accept two max-contract players on the team."
"Lin and Chris, wasn't this something we agreed on back then? Larry, I don't understand why you're bringing this up again."
Herbert's next words disappointed Bird, but were also exactly what he expected: "I know we had an agreement before, otherwise I would have made an agreement with Vince long ago."
"What I want to say is that we weren't a dynasty team before; we just won championships. But this year is different; we're three-time champions! We've just built a dynasty team!"
"We still have a chance next year! We might even win four or five consecutive championships! We can become the greatest team in history! As long as we maintain our roster and remain competitive, we have a chance! It's a chance to become the greatest team in history! And I..."
"Larry, Larry," Melvin shook his head and said, "I thought you were so smart. I really didn't want to say these things; they'll affect our relationship. I thought we should just keep it to ourselves."
"You're absolutely right. We have a chance to win four consecutive championships, a chance to become the first team since the Celtics to win more than three consecutive titles. We can be incredibly great! I know all that."
"But Larry, have you done the math? Do you know our team's situation? We only made less than $3000 million in profit last year! We were indeed one of the most profitable teams in the entire league! But this year is different."
"With the luxury tax this year, our salary expenses alone reached $8700 million! Do you know what that means? It means that we won the championship this year, but our annual report is actually terrible."
"This season, we most likely won't even earn $1000 million!"
"And now you want us to re-sign Vince and Ellen. I admit, they are both great players, very good players, the kind the whole league would be scrambling to get. But have you calculated how much more money we'll have to invest next season if we keep them?"
"From salaries to luxury tax, we'll spend almost $4000 million more next season! $4000 million! That means we'll have a net loss of almost $3000 million or even more next season! For us, that means throwing away $3000 million to compete for the so-called greatest team in history."
"Larry, tell me, is this a good deal?"
"Do you want us brothers to keep arguing with you about this? We don't have to make a profit from buying the team. We can treat it as an investment. We're even willing to lose a little money to satisfy our and this city's pursuit of championships and achievements."
"But what if we're supposed to lose $3000 million a year, and that's likely to continue for several years, just for the so-called title of the greatest team in history? Maybe New Yorkers and Los Angeles fans would be willing to do that, but we can't!"
"Neither of us is that noble or pure."
"But at least you're honest." Bird sighed deeply; he knew the two bosses were right.
Asking someone to spend one or two hundred million US dollars a year and then incur a net loss of twenty or thirty million is indeed asking too much.
"I just don't want to give up this opportunity," Bird muttered. "It might only come once in a lifetime."
"Don't think about that, Larry. At least we're still working together happily, aren't we? This contract with the raise won't change. You're still the best general manager in our hearts. And even if Vince and Ell leave, we still have Lin, don't we?"
"Next season, we might still have a chance to become the champion! And we are still willing to pay the luxury tax! You can continue to use the mid-level exception or the biennial exception to make signings, and you can even use sign-and-trade to gain some benefits for the team."
"We are still willing to support you. We've done a rough calculation, and we're still willing to pay the luxury tax up to 2000 million! We also hope the team will improve, but the situations of Vince and El are truly too extreme, aren't they?"
"Yes, you're right." Bird, usually so eloquent and ruthless, was truly speechless this time.
Because he knew that the Simon brothers were right; they had made the most rational and appropriate choice. They loved basketball and the city, but first and foremost, they were businessmen.
It's possible to not make money, or even lose less, but what if you lose 3000 million a year?
They are definitely not the kind of suckers Paul Allen would be.
Their total assets are limited; they can't afford to squander them like this!
In particular, even after losing Carter and Harrington, they still have the combination of Webber and Lin Tian, and the team is still quite competitive, remaining one of the most popular teams in the East.
And more importantly, if the team lets these two players go, it will most likely be able to continue to make a profit in the new season!
From any perspective, neither of them is wrong.
Bird didn't remember how he got out of the office, nor did he know what his mindset was when he got home and lay in bed.
All he knew was that he was extremely upset.
It's even more painful than being defeated by the Magician back then!
As for Lin Tian, after enjoying a few carefree days and participating in the team's championship parade, he didn't rest for more than a few days before boarding a plane again and leaving Indiana.
On the plane, Lin Tian closed his eyes to rest while opening the season gift pack that the system had given him.
Lin Tian is becoming increasingly less enthusiastic about opening gift packages.
He even considered raising it for two seasons to see if this gift pack could produce a smaller gift pack, or perhaps combine to become the ancestor of gift packs or something.
Hmm, that's a good idea. Let's try it next season!
While lost in thought, Lin Tian opened the gift pack for this season.
It's worth mentioning that Lin Tian's overall performance this season is only rated S-. He only received an S+ rating for his team status, while his other highlights, team record, and personal statistics were all rated S-.
However, there's nothing that can be done. Although Lin Tian still managed to put up MVP-level numbers of 25+11+3 this season, this system always compares Lin Tian's stats with those of historically great players, so these seemingly impressive numbers are somewhat insignificant.
Furthermore, the Pacers didn't achieve 60 wins in the regular season, nor were they undefeated in the playoffs. Given the nature of the system, they are indeed only at the S- level.
As for his final highlight performance, Lin Tian's performance this year was indeed not as good as his performance in previous years. Whether it was high-scoring games or other highlights, Lin Tian's performance this year was not too explosive.
Let alone an S-, Lin Tian wouldn't even be surprised if this broken system gave him an A+.
In conclusion, Lin Tian felt there was no problem with receiving an S- grade gift pack.
"Host, would you like to open the season gift pack?"
"Open!"
"Host has gained 7000 experience points!"
"The host has obtained a Status Preservation Card: After use, as long as you remain healthy, your status in all matches within a single season will not be lower than 95% at its worst."
Gone!
Just these two things.
But Lin Tian felt that this S-gift pack was really amazing!
That one status-preserving card alone is practically a bug.
It's important to understand that, regardless of whether it's Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, Olajuwon, Ewing, or anyone else, their performance fluctuates for various reasons. They have nights when they're in top form and dominate, and there are also times when they just can't put the ball in the basket and feel incredibly frustrated.
Back-to-back games, consecutive away games, excessive fatigue, illness or cold, overeating, eating too little, drinking too much, diarrhea, or being in a bad mood.
Various circumstances can affect a player's performance that night, causing fluctuations in their form. This is a very normal and reasonable physiological fluctuation in humans.
But this card allows Lin Tian to maintain at least 95% of his peak performance in every game of the season.
To put it simply and intuitively, if Lin Tian's 100% performance this season is 30 points and 10 assists, then it means that no matter what Lin Tian does this season, he will not produce worse numbers than 28.5 points and 9.5 assists.
Of course, this is just an analogy and the most intuitive data representation. In a real match, it certainly wouldn't be this precise, but it can definitely illustrate the point.
After using this card, Lin Tian's performance will be incredibly stable!
He won't have any nights where he's acting strangely or is in a bad state!
At the same time, Lin Tian also noticed that this thing only guaranteed that Lin Tian's lower limit would not be lower than 95%, but it did not set an upper limit for him!
This means that an outbreak can still occur at any time!
He won't become a player who consistently contributes statistics just because of this thing.
The lower limit is fully guaranteed, while the upper limit is still the sky!
With just this one card, Lin Tian did a quick calculation and felt that the season after he used it would definitely be an epic one!
Leaving aside Chamberlain's monstrous 50+ point season, surpassing Jordan's 37 points per game and adding 10 assists would definitely be no problem!
Absolutely fantastic!
Lin Tian even felt that this thing shouldn't have appeared in S-'s gift pack.
You need to open an S+ level treasure chest to get good stuff!
Of course, no one would complain that their reward was too good, and Lin Tian would not ask the system if they had sent the wrong thing.
He's been very busy this year!
After opening the gift pack, Lin Tian immediately closed his eyes and went to sleep!
This summer, his schedule was extremely full and he was incredibly busy!
He has a mission at the Men's Basketball World Championship!
After winning the gold medal at the 00 Sydney Olympics, the Chinese men's basketball team became a hero team in China! If it weren't for the men's football team's unprecedented qualification for the World Cup, the Chinese men's basketball team would undoubtedly have been the number one sports team in China for the past two years!
Even so, the status of the Chinese men's basketball team in China has continued to rise, and many players have benefited greatly from it, from GG photoshoots and commercial endorsements to participating in various events and appearing on television programs.
Several players with good looks were even invited to film basketball-themed TV dramas, making basketball more popular!
In the two years from 00 to 02, nearly 10 TV series and movies about basketball were produced in China! At the same time, the number of basketball courts in communities, streets, and primary and secondary schools across the country has also increased dramatically!
Basketball has seen rapid and tremendous development since the Chinese men's basketball team became world champions!
More and more people are falling in love with and participating in this sport! With the title of world champion as a foundation, these men's basketball players have also seen a huge improvement in terms of income, voice, and freedom!
At the very least, neither Dazhi nor Yao Ming were forced to join the national team immediately after the season ended; instead, they were given ample time to rest and relax.
Both of these guys only returned to China in early June and started training with the team.
However, once you gain honor, money, status, and freedom, pressure and expectations will follow.
Two years after winning the world championship, the fans' expectations for you are still still the world championship. If you perform poorly, or even suffer a shocking upset and make a disgraceful performance, then all that you have gained will vanish in an instant, and things may even get worse than before.
Lin Tian did not feel any pressure regarding everyone's expectations for the Chinese men's basketball team's performance.
This time, the fact that he didn't immediately rush back to China to rejoin the team, but instead went to Norway first, shows that he's very relaxed and not overwhelmed by the pressure of performance.
He had other things to do before the training camp started!
He had to come to Norway to see someone.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a girl.
Waiting for Lin Tian in Norway was Yu Weili, whom he hadn't seen for almost two years.
That is, the head coach of the national sprint training team two years ago.
It's worth mentioning that he has now been promoted and is now the head coach of the entire track and field team!
Although this old man hadn't seen Lin Tian for two years, he had never lost contact with him; he always kept Lin Tian in his heart!
He kept asking Lin Tian when he had time and free time so he could go running with him and participate in some competitions!
Two years ago, Li Qingsheng, Wang Guojun, and their friends took Lin Tian to Sydney and won an Olympic gold medal with just a few casual visits. This made Yu Weili extremely jealous!
But what could he do? Two years ago, Lin Tian was fast enough, but he wasn't qualified to compete! By the time they discovered Lin Tian, all the preliminary rounds for the 100-meter races had already ended!
Yu Weili was also helpless!
So in the past two years, he has never broken off contact with Lin Tian, nor dared to, for fear that their relationship was not close enough and Lin Tian would directly reject him and not participate in the international competition. At that time, he would be devastated.
Under these circumstances, this guy called Lin Tian more often than Lin Tian's two grandfathers did, and every time it was an awkward conversation.
From the weather to whether we've eaten, from what time we go to bed to a TV series I recently watched, and then to the lack of talent in the sprint team, I don't know when we'll be able to turn things around.
Well, no matter how awkward or boring the initial topics are, the final topic is always the same: the sprint team lacks talent and they don't know when they can turn things around.
In the end, Lin Tian couldn't bear it any longer. If the fight continued like this, he was afraid that the old man's salary wouldn't be enough to cover the international long-distance calls. He could only tell the old man, "Please stop your magic. I promise that when the time is right, I will definitely help you out and participate in the competition, okay?"
But clearly, verbal promises cannot reassure Yu Weili at all!
There's nothing we can do; China's performance in sprinting is just that bad.
In those most popular and prestigious competitions such as the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m, the Chinese team not only failed to win medals, but none of them were even able to stand on the world's top stage!
Their strength is not even top-tier in Asia, let alone on the world stage!
The Chinese people and sprinting seem to have absolutely nothing to do with each other!
Although Liu Xiang from Shanghai has shown good potential in the past two years, with his performance steadily improving and showing signs of making a name for himself in the world, what sport is he in?
110m hurdles!
The gap between niche events and top-tier events like the 100m and 200m is absolutely enormous!
If it weren't for the emergence of this monster, Lin Tian, Liu Xiang would definitely have become the most sought-after player in the domestic sprint team. But now that there's this monster, even though Lin Tian has never been on the sprint team, many people have heard of his legend.
They were all hoping that a superhero would descend from the sky!
Break the embarrassing situation of the Chinese team having zero honors in sprinting!
This is why Yu Weili is so concerned about Lin Tian, this monster. He finally caught him, and he really couldn't bear to let Lin Tian escape in one fell swoop.
Especially considering Lin Tian's age, he's almost 30. If he doesn't start running again in the next couple of years, even if he's a genius or a monster, and maintains his condition perfectly, his speed will inevitably decline.
We must seize these last two years and make sure Lin Tian can make a name for himself!
No matter what, even if you don't win the championship or even a medal, Lin Tian, you at least have to go to the Olympic Games, run on the final track, and leave a Chinese name on the track!
So, starting from December last year, Yu Weili began frantically calling Lin Tian to wish him a Happy New Year!
They started offering New Year's greetings in the twelfth lunar month and continued until the first lunar month was over, still offering New Year's greetings to Lin Tian in the late year.
As the prayers drew to a close, Lin Tian suspected that if he didn't ask the old man what he was planning to do, the old man might start praying for him for the early year of 2003 from May.
Finally, after Lin Tian could no longer bear it, he asked the old man what he wanted. The old man chuckled and revealed his request, and the two then arranged to meet in Oslo, Norway.
The annual Golden League will be held here in 3 days!
"Old Yu, let's get this straight! You'd better get me the leave from the men's basketball team. If you act first and ask for permission later, I won't take the blame for you." As soon as he saw Yu Weili, Lin Tian went straight to the point. He didn't trust these old foxes.
What if this guy acts first and tells me later that he's already arranged it with the men's basketball team so I'd run, only to find out when I get back home that the men's basketball team has no idea about it? That would be a real mess!
The track and field team and the basketball team, along with their officials, might just start fighting on the spot!
hiss.
Wait, don't tell! You really shouldn't tell!
It seems more interesting if they start fighting!
So, Lin Tian was starting to feel a bit hopeful! He was hoping that this guy would actually pull a fast one, pretending to be safe and acting first and asking questions later, and that he would trick him out without communicating with the basketball team.
Then I'll go back to China.
Wow, that's exciting!
That's interesting!
The anticipation level has been raised so much!
"Brother Lin, what are you saying? Coach Yu would never do such a thing! He wouldn't dare invite someone like you if he didn't make it clear beforehand! I heard from my master that Coach Yu went through almost all the liquor at home just to get you to come and play a few games!"
"And it wasn't just his own family's wine; he also squandered all the good wine from his father-in-law, grandfather, siblings, brothers-in-law, and other relatives!"
"And I've also heard..."
"What do you mean 'heard'? You heard it all?!" Yu Weili interrupted the acne-faced guy next to him, annoyed, as he continued his betrayal: "That bastard Lao Sun, he tells everyone whatever comes to mind! No wonder you refused to help him run the 110-meter hurdles! That bastard deserves it!"
Yu Weili, whose shortcomings had been exposed, was cursing and swearing. As for the acne-covered teenager next to him who was scratching his head and looking a little embarrassed, it goes without saying that he was Liu Xiang, the hurdling star who had just turned 19!
After all, he's only 19 years old. This guy is very carefree right now, and he just keeps talking non-stop. He doesn't look like a future top sports star in China at all.
"It's about giving young people a chance. How can I possibly do everything myself?" Lin Tian smiled and said, "Besides, I really think highly of Xiao Liu! I believe he can win the Olympic gold medal!"
"Really, Brother Lin! My master said the same thing, but I really don't think I can do it. My grades haven't been improving lately. What should I do if I let my master down?"
Liu Xiang is only 19 years old. He probably doesn't have much to say to Yu Weili usually. But now that he sees Lin Tian, who is the same age, he immediately becomes a chatterbox, wishing he could say everything he hasn't said in the past few days.
"Alright, Liu, take a break! Lin just arrived, let him have some peace and quiet!" Just when Lin Tian was feeling overwhelmed, Yu Weili finally turned around and ordered Liu Xiang to stop nagging.
Unfortunately, before Lin Tian could even catch his breath, Yu Weili began...
"Kobayashi, are you confident this time? The Golden League we're participating in is the highest level competition in the world! If you don't do well, I'll definitely get a scolding when we get back!"
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. They are all top athletes in the world. Just treat it as an opportunity to gain experience and travel. As for results, just be average."
"Oh, by the way! Kobayashi, do you know your opponents this time? The fastest ones are all Americans. Did you see them when you played in the US? How are they doing?"
"Fine," Lin Tian sighed resignedly.
Don't expect any peace and quiet today! (End of Chapter)