It's been more than a month since Chris Wallace left Boston, and he now lives with his family in a small townhouse on the banks of the Mississippi River, a temporary home arranged for him by the Memphis Grizzlies. It's closer to the city centre and more noisy than the upscale residential areas of Collierval, so it's not very popular with the high-end crowd. The only good thing is that you can look out the window on the Mississippi River. The second-floor room where Wallace lived had a view of the Mississippi River Bridge and Arkansas across the river.

The afternoon sun in Memphis was lazy, and after leaving the cold and dark Boston, Wallace felt that he had gained a little weight, and it was filled with the laid-back atmosphere of the South, which may be why the sports industry here has been sluggish all year round.

It's just that this year the Grizzlies have made a different big move, and the team's owner, Michael Hasley, seems to have finally realized that relying on a manager like Billy Knight, a few more top-notch picks in the draft can't solve the problem, so he decisively fired Knight after the 01-02 season. The next person at the helm of the Grizzlies is very clear, it is Jerry West, after the Lakers completed the great feat of three consecutive championships, West decided to leave Los Angeles and return to the southern region of the United States to reclaim the barren basketball virgin land of Memphis.

As West's alumni at West Virginia University, the two met at a basketball charity game at their alma mater (see Chapter 64) and had a great conversation, and Jerry West admired Chris Wallace quite a bit, much to Wallace's flattery. Not only because of West's identity, but also because of the years he spent as Celtics' general manager, Wallace was scolded a lot, both for his own mistakes and for Rick Pitino. However, after Angie and Leon came to power, Wallace was scolded less and less often in the media because he no longer had the right to decide.

After that acquaintance, West contacted Wallace several times. expressed his willingness to ask him to be his assistant, which made Wallace quite moved. After all, although the Celtics have a glorious and long history, this is really a heavy burden for Wallace. An outsider who doesn't have any basketball roots and hasn't played a second on the court is hard to do in Boston. After all, not everyone is Fox Leon, not to mention that Leon also has Auerbach's protection and support.

Before the 2001 draft, Wallace privately revealed his intentions to Leon, and unexpectedly received strong support from Leon, and the two tacitly hid the secret. Throughout the 2001-2002 season, Wallace was largely in charge, with most of the business done by Darryl Morey. Supplemented by Leon's help, he has completed the work of a season steadily. Of course, it is a pity that after Wallace left the Celtics, Morey did not succeed the position of general manager of the team, because Danny Ainge directly removed the position of general manager.

Wallace unexpectedly resigned at the end of the season, and the second week after his resignation, he received a call from Grizzlies owner Hasley asking him to become the Grizzlies' director of player development for the team's draft and free agent recruitment.

Today, three weeks after the Finals, Jerry West will officially join the Grizzlies as the team's general manager. Wallace was at home waiting for West's call. In the afternoon, they will attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the new FedEx Arena for the Grizzlies, which is also the press conference for West to become the general manager of the Grizzlies.

At half past one in the afternoon, Wallace received a text message that West had arrived in Memphis. Wallace immediately got out of his home and drove to the pre-selected address for the new arena, near Robert R. Chapel Park in Memphis, just two kilometers away from Wallace's residence. So Wallace arrived on the scene with a single step on the gas pedal and saw Jerry West, team owner Haysley, and Memphis Mayor Helondon who had already arrived. Frederick Smith of FedEx, as well as the design and construction staff of the engineering company. They all wore yellow hard hats, and on the desolate flat land, they planned and talked about what the FedEx Arena would look like in the future.

As the world's largest express delivery company, Memphis-based FedEx has already won the naming rights of the stadium before it was built. The stadium, named after FedEx, will also be the largest public project in Memphis' history, so Mayor Helondon will of course also attend the groundbreaking ceremony.

Wallace got out of the car, took a hard hat from the staff, and walked over to Jerry West and Haasley, who saw Wallace come up and shake his hand. This is the first time the two have met since Wallace decided to join the Grizzlies, and the two are standing on the construction site of the FedEx Arena as they prepare to break ground, and will face the Memphis Grizzlies, who are also looking forward to rebuilding.

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At around 3 p.m., after the groundbreaking ceremony, Wallace followed West and Haesley to a restaurant in the BBQ Center for afternoon tea. West just flew to Memphis at noon today and went straight to the groundbreaking ceremony, and didn't even have time to sit down for a bite to eat and rest, now they can sit down and have a good chat about basketball.

West was tall and had a serious, upright round face, and he had a full head of gray hair, but his face was still healthy and rosy, and he looked energetic. The long journey and more than an hour of public events didn't make him feel tired, and he sat on the soft leather couch in the café room, crossed his legs and talked to Haisley and Wallace about some of his ideas for the Grizzlies next season.

At present, West is the most successful general manager in the entire league, and he single-handedly created the super combination of O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, who currently dominates the league, and helped the Lakers complete the great cause of three consecutive championships in the new century. Whether it was Hesley or Wallace, sitting next to West was like a schoolboy listening to a class.

"Regarding the team's head coach, I've got my eye on Hubby Brown and I'm confident that convincing him to come back to coach the Grizzlies will be a great benefit to us in developing young players and shaping the basketball culture. He's a great, professional basketball coach and with him we're going to have a really good foundation for the new season. Speaking of the team's head coach, West has already taken a toe from the basketball coaching position of veteran coach Hubby Brown, a veteran with a good resume and huge prestige in the basketball community, which is very beneficial for a young team that is starting to build.

Haasley listened to West's words and couldn't say anything other than nodding his head. In my heart, I also want to be a basketball giant, with great powers, completely different from those professional managers who can only peddle ideas, he will only tell you clearly "who I will get in, who we need," As for how to do it, the boss does not have to worry about it at all.

Haesley looked at Wallace sitting next to him, a guy who had been in Memphis for more than a month and had been doing pre-draft work, but so far he didn't seem to have brought any great player intelligence to the team. Few of the rookies in this year's round are willing to come to Memphis for a tryout. Haesley couldn't help but ask, "Chris, what do you think of this year's draft?" Speak up and let Jerry give me some advice. ”

Wallace was stunned by his boss's stiff question, he licked his mouth and said, "I think we should give this year's draft pick to the Detroiters." ”

Hearing what Wallace said, Haysley almost wanted to take off his shoes and smash him on the head, and that was the advice he gave? Facing an angry look at Haasley, Wallace went on to explain: "If you don't give this year's draft pick to Detroit. I'm going to call him Boston. In comparison, I think it's better to save next year's draft for the Bostoners. ”

Hearing this, Hasley reacted to the stupid trade the team made in 1997 and the trade for Kenny Anderson in last year's draft. Having given away both this year's and last year's draft picks, the question now is whether to give this year's to the Pistons, next year's to Boston, or this year's to Boston. Next year's to the pistons.

"So why are we giving this year's to Detroit? The No. 4 pick, which is a good sign, can actually be given to the Celtics. You don't have to shy away from being your old club! Haesley said to Wallace with a smile.

Wallace shook his head and didn't speak, Jerry West took a sip of coffee and said, "The Celtics definitely want to get the 2003 draft pick, let's talk about Chris, what kind of conditions do they have?" ”

Ginger is really old and spicy! West figured it out a little and knew that as an old Celtic man, Wallace would not casually cross the river and tear down the bridge, and even if he did, he would not do such a thing as soon as he came to the new owner, obviously he was fighting for favorable conditions for the Celtics, and of course, in return, the Celtics would definitely provide convenience for the Grizzlies.

"First of all, the Celtics promised to share some scouting information with the Grizzlies, especially some second-round rookies and draft losses; Second, the Celtics can make some loss-making trades to give the Grizzlies the quality players they need, and you know the Celtics have a lot of potential right now; Finally, because the Celtics have a new owner, some business in the Northeast can facilitate Mr. Haesley. At this time, Wallace seemed to be a lobbyist for the Celtics, but this is also reasonable, and any employee who comes out of the old club, as long as he is not torn apart, will be willing to fight for some cooperation for the old club in the new place.

What's more, for a new team in the league like the Grizzlies, it is still quite important to use the network of the league's oldest teams to enhance their ability to operate in the league.

"That's a good proposition!" Haysley was already moved when he heard Wallace's last point, which was to acquire a fortune of more than 100 million by acquiring poorly managed companies, restructuring, reforming, and then selling them at a high price. A big part of his business was the acquisition of bankrupt old industrial manufacturers in the "Rust" Zone, which was the old industrial areas of the Midlands and the Northeast, and Boston, of course, was in this area.

West didn't speak, although deep down he wanted to refuse the offer, because he knew that no matter how tempting the conditions were on the surface, after all, this was the one put forward by the Celts, and it was probably the old fox Auerbach behind it, who would know what medicine he was selling in his gourd.

"Who is the mastermind behind this deal? Angie, or Auerbach? West asked, thinking for a moment.

Wallace hesitated for a moment and replied, "It's Fox Leon, the new head coach of the Celtics. (To be continued.) )