"Today, the US Congress passed a resolution giving the president the authority to use the military when necessary, a year after the start of the war in Afghanistan......"

"Smack!" Leon turned off the TV, it was October 3rd, and at half past five in the morning, the Fox Morning News was broadcasting old news that had already happened yesterday. Again, it's about the U.S. war on terror. It's been a year since 911, but the series of waves caused by this incident is far from over.

"The power of a country to control the military is in the hands of a guy who has just graduated from high school...... How should I evaluate it? Khomeenez, who was still lying on the bed, said to Leon. George W. Bush's approval rating peaked after 911, but a year later, the guy who created a new grammar in three sentences and a new word in two sentences was once again the object of ridicule by Americans. As a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party, Kroomines is certainly no exception, knowing that Massachusetts, where Boston is located, is a hardcore Democratic party and an important source of Democratic votes.

"All of this happens if you elect him president." Leon was already dressed as he spoke, ready to go downstairs to get himself breakfast. In mid-September, he and Ayatollah Holmenes bought a single-family house in Waterton, a small town near Waltham outside Boston, and the two officially moved in together. By signing a two-year, $1.5 million contract with the team, Leon was finally able to drive his four-hand Chevrolet to work in training every day instead of living in a cramped apartment — his four-hand Chevrolet was sold to a five-hand, and he got himself a new car, a brand new Ford Thunderbird.

Today will be the official opening day of the Celtic training camp, so Leon will get up very early. After the visit to the Indianpolis World Championships, Leon and Ayatollah Khomeenez, who returned to Boston, lived a happy and sweet normal couple life, which was also Leon's last leisure time before the start of the new season, he could sleep until he woke up naturally every day, and then accompany Holmenes to watch the stars in the attic on the roof at night.

Leon went downstairs and made himself two omelettes. After warming a glass of milk, preparing a few slices of bread and some salad for Khomeenez, after a simple meal, Leon sat in the dining room on the first floor and looked at the clock in a daze. It was just six o'clock, and the diligent players were already running, while the lazy guys were still sleeping. Leon wondered if anyone had already arrived at the gym to start training. He was tempted to drive to Waltham immediately to give a small reward to the players who arrived before him. But he held back, sat in front of the clock, and waited silently.

"Arenas should have arrived a long time ago, and so should Pierce...... It's half past six. Joe Johnson and Michael should also arrive, as should Barty, Long, and Durham Porter...... It's seven o'clock! Think Walker is coming, almost, no Dennis, no need to delay so late! When it was seven o'clock, Leon finally jumped up from the bench, got dressed, picked up the car keys and opened the door. Rushing into his new car, he kicked the accelerator and drove towards Waltham.

At this time, Khomeenes had just gotten up from the bed, and when she opened the door, she saw Leon rushing out like a fly. I muttered in my heart, "How did you leave?" Do you have to wait until I get up to leave? ”

……………………

Leon certainly didn't have to wait until Ayatollah Khomeinith got up before leaving, but Auerbach told him that a manager should never train earlier than your players. Although Leon has been the head coach of the Celtics for several months, he was only hired after the end of the season. His job so far hasn't been much different from what he's done in the past, and he hasn't met a Celtic player as a head coach yet.

A summer has passed, and Leon will appear at Boston Sports Club in Waltham in a new capacity. Just yesterday. Auerbach called Leon for an hour in the afternoon, telling him like an old lady how he should be on his first day of training camp as head coach. Auerbach also said alarmistly, 'A coach's prestige and dignity in the team is already decided the moment he steps into the training hall, so you must not arrive at the training hall before the players, otherwise they will think that you are a security guard who is responsible for opening the door.'" ”

Of course, Leon knew that Auerbach's words were not entirely true, and that there were many coaches who arrived early in the morning in the NBA, and Leon himself liked to go to the training gym early to prepare when he was an assistant coach. Arriving early not only allows you to supervise your players' training, but also frees up more time to prepare for the official training session, giving you more time to work in the day.

Instead of hesitating for one night, Leon decided to listen to Auerbach and chose to arrive late on the first day of training camp, and in his impression, Pierce and Arenas were always the first two to arrive at the stadium, followed by Reed, Joe Johnson, and Barty, Long, and Bowler. Chris Anderson's arrival was just as erratic as Dennis Johnson's, depending on where they went to fool around last night.

Before going out, Leon changed into a black T-shirt and wore a pair of gray sweatpants, which coaches usually wear in training, but Leon thinks that black is thicker and more visually striking. His hair was already neatly short, and this time he had deliberately rested to make himself look more energetic. Leon isn't a particularly good-looking person, but he doesn't let go of any detail that helps to improve his image.

The NBA team is a very unique organization, and the head coach is nominally the leader of everyone, directing the team's training, games, and having the right to bring in and trade a certain player. But in reality, a coach's salary is not up to the average of the players, let alone the superstars challenge the coach in terms of status and voice in the team, and in the struggle between the coach and the superstar, the coach is almost always the loser.

In two years, Leon has witnessed the rise and fall of three coaches at Celtic, and it can be said that he stepped on the corpses of three people to get to the seat of the current Celtics head coach, but if he can't form his own leadership in the team and eventually bring a decent record, then he will be the fourth corpse. Even his death will come sooner than several other coaches, and in yesterday's conversation, Auerbach was concerned that letting Leon as head coach was one of the biggest gambles of his life, and that it would be a gamble that would make the difference between winning and losing. A "usurper" like him, who does not have enough background and foundation, and relies on the prestige of the big guy, cannot make achievements in a short period of time. What awaits him will be a miserable dismissal, and Auerbach's decades of reputation and prestige will be shattered.

Leon's nervousness was understandable with this in mind, and he drove up to 120 km/h and soon arrived at the Boston Sports Club Center in Waltham.

……………………

The training hall is still the same as before, located in the western suburbs of Waltham, and the entrance to the training hall is already full of all kinds of cars, all of which are cars of Celtic players. Leon found a place to park his car, and when he stepped out of the car door and saw the training hall where he often worked, his previous nervousness calmed down. After all, he's been working here for two years. He is not a person who knows nothing about this place, on the contrary, he is familiar with everything here, and the only one who is not familiar is himself.

Leon walked into the training hall, there was a constant sound of shoes rubbing against the floor, obviously many players had already arrived at the stadium to start training, Leon did not go to the locker room, went directly to the training ground, and sure enough, the players who arrived earlier were doing various individual exercises. It's either shooting or equipment, or defensive drills.

Compared to Leon, several of the Celtics' new assistant coaches arrived at the training gym early. Dave Cowens was chatting with Danny Ainge on the sidelines, while Sigfried was on the court discussing shooting skills with Pierce and Reed, and Hess got into the groove in the gym and began coaching Daimport and Wang Zhizhi to practice strength. Ciri, who has just joined from the Timberwolves, is doing simple post-injury recovery training. Everyone is working on their own projects in full swing, as if they have forgotten about the manager.

Leon didn't rush to greet everyone, he quietly walked to the edge of the field. With his hands on his hips, he scanned everything on the field with his head held high. Leon's height of more than six feet can be said to be completely short in the basketball team, but fortunately he is not fat at all, otherwise he would be a short and fat man like Auerbach. But Leon, who was standing on the sidelines at this time, was a shadow of Auerbach standing on the pitch with his waist crossed, and they all held their heads high, scanning the training ground and the players that belonged to him, and watching everything.

Paul Pearce, who was doing shooting practice, was the first to notice Leon, and he stopped the practice to say hello to Leon, who nodded to Pearce. With Pierce's greeting, everyone slowly noticed Leon's arrival, and they all stopped training and looked towards Leon's side. Leon looked at his watch, knowing that the time was up, he strode to the center of the field, clapped his palms vigorously, beckoned to everyone, and shouted, "Everyone I'm here!" ”

As soon as the words fell, everyone, including Dave Cowens and other assistant coaches, gathered in a circle where Leon was standing in the center of the field. After two years of working experience, Leon gained not only skills and experience, but also the awe and respect of the players.

At this time, Leon was surrounded by a group of giants, and felt that the light around him was dimming, he glanced around, and then said: "13 players, 4 assistant coaches, 2 trainers, 2 team doctors. It looks like Antoine and Chris haven't come yet, and when they do, I'll give them a lesson that I'll remember for a lifetime. Of course, I'm going to be your new manager today and I'm glad we haven't changed much in the summer but I'm sure everyone is different from last season. Paul, your offensive skills should be better, I heard that you were training with Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles; Dareham Porter, your arms are thicker, and the sun in Haiti is nice, right? Michael, I heard you're training your defense and C&S, and Sigfried would be a good teacher for you; Barty, did you practice the middle distance with Anderson in the summer? Where is Anderson now? Joe, it looks like you still need to work on your waist and abdomen, although the summer training has paid off; Gilbert, your arms are thicker and your shoulders are wider, do you think about the impact this will have on your shots? Vahad, hopefully the sunshine in Paris hasn't dampened your fighting spirit to keep going in the NBA; Wang Zhizhi, your national team's record is not ideal, you need to get stronger............"

León is like a jack of all trades, standing in the center of the circle and talking to each player. That's when the players realized that all the basketball-related activities they had done throughout the summer had escaped the head coach's eyes, whether through news reports or scouting reports, he was concerned about his players' every move.

"Right now, I'm going to have a training session where you can continue your practice. Here, I would like to remind every player that if your purpose is to play basketball to make money, then I would like to say that your purpose has been achieved, and every player in this room is paid more than me. If you want to make it on the field, remember that phrase on the wall! As he spoke, Leon pointed to the slogan that had been hanging on the wall of the training hall.

It reads: "What-hurts-more, the-pain-of-hard-work, or-the-pain-of-regret?" (Which is more painful, effort or remorse?) (To be continued.) )