While Leon continues to work hard for the Celtics, Kevin Garnett is enjoying heroic treatment in Boston, even though he hasn't even played a game for the Celtics. From June 29 to Boston, Garnett's large poster appeared on the exterior wall of the North Shore Garden Arena. However, the jersey Garnett on the poster does not have a number, because the No. 21 jersey of Garnett in the Timberwolves has long been retired from the Celtics, and this number belongs to Bill Sharman. Therefore, the number of jerseys Garnett wears still needs to be determined by negotiation between the two sides.

On the day of the deal's debut, the Celtics hosted a grand fan meeting for Garnett in the square of the North Shore Garden Arena, where nearly 30,000 fans gathered in the square under the not-so-scorching Boston sun to catch a glimpse of the 28 million superstar welcomed by the Boston Celtics. Garnett said at the meeting that he will bring their 17th championship trophy to the Celtics.

This commitment brought the atmosphere to a climax, and in the days that followed, reports about Garnett flooded the Boston media with hope, hope, praise, and praise.

It's been too long since the once-glorious city has come so close to a championship, and although they reached the Finals last season, they really didn't stand much of a chance against the Spurs. They went from 0:2 to 1:2 and then 1:3, and after barely getting a game back in Game 5, in San Antonio, they didn't have any chances just because there was a guy on the opposite side named Tim Duncan.

The arrival of Kevin Garnett has let all Boston fans know that they finally have a guy who can stand up to those interior monsters in the West, this super power forward full of talent, passion and blood, and really give the Celtics championship hopes.

But since June 30, there has been a subtle change in public opinion, because Kevin Garnett insisted on wanting the No. 21 jersey and was unwilling to choose other numbers in the choice of jersey numbers. This can make it difficult for Celtics' management, especially Danny Ainge, and there is indeed a precedent in the history of Celtics for jersey inheritance.

The No. 18 jersey originally belonged to Jim Roskotov, who won seven championships with the team, and the Celtics were ready to retire his jersey, but Roskotov rejected the offer, hoping that the number would continue to be passed on. The No. 18 then passed to Bailly Howell, and eventually the No. 18 jersey belonged to Dave Cowens, and with Cowens' retirement after the 1980 season, the No. 18 jersey completed the legacy among the three great Celtics and hung high above the Boston Arena.

Because of this, Kevin Garnett had the idea of continuing to wear the No. 21 jersey, but the original owner of No. 21, Bill Sharman, was far away in California at this time, and half of Sharman had the green blood of the Celtics in his veins, and the other half of the blood of the Lakers was golden. So, Danny Angie didn't know how to open his mouth to get back No. 21 from Sharman.

This kind of news began to make some old Boston fans unhappy. There are a large number of old fan clubs in Boston who lived through the Celtics' most glorious years, when the Green Army dominated half of the NBA, and the mantra of these old fans was "We've gone through the best of basketball days, and we don't need to watch the NBA anymore." ”

It's such a group, although there is no sound on weekdays, far less than the huge momentum of today's emerging fans, who frantically support the stars on the Internet and in reality, but when their voices converge, it is also quite terrifying. So, Garnett's perfect day in Boston lasted only three days, and some criticism began to emerge.

Now the worry is of course Danny Angie, when he was a player, he was sandwiched between Larry Bird and Kevin McHale as a sounding board, and now as the president of the team, he has to balance the relationship between foreign superstars and the traditional forces of the team. This is the first time in the history of the Celtics, because in the past the Celtics have never been a superstar in their playing year to be traded or defected, the entire team and environment of the Celtics are relatively closed and self-contained.

Angie knew that if he couldn't handle this incident well, it would have a very bad impact on the team atmosphere and public opinion environment of the Celtics next season, so in the past few days, he tried to contact Bill Sharman and try to communicate whether there was a possibility of bringing back the retired jersey and passing on the number.

On the other hand, of course, it is necessary to communicate more with Garnett's team, and Angie knows that insisting on the choice of No. 21 is by no means made by Garnett alone, and must be a decision made by the entire Garnett team, especially his agent, the difficult Andy Miller.

The only thing that makes Angie feel more fortunate now is that the other core of the team, pure Celtics Paul Pierce and Garnett, get along quite well. The two met in high school, and in 1994 they competed together at the AUU Championship in Las Vegas. They were teammates at the time, and Garnett was a guest at Pierce's house for a week, and the two had a very good relationship privately.

Since there is no problem with the two biggest names on the team, what Angie has to do is either to get Bill Sharman or Garnett or mainly Andy Miller.

At this time, Angie began to miss Leon again, and lately he has always missed Fox Leon, but this guy is always not around. The summer training camp could be held directly in Boston, but he had to drag a group of people to Orlando in advance, saying that he could practice there more peacefully.

If Leon is here, whether it's Sharman or Miller, he can do a big favor. Needless to say, Sharman is Leon's second godfather and personally took him to California for an internship, and Angie doesn't know why Leon always likes those old guys. As for Miller, Angie knew that Miller's agent company had a stake in Khamenez, and there were all sorts of indications - such as Miller snatching to become Milicic's agent, and Leon and Miller must have had a "shady" private relationship.

These things were piled up, and the worried Angie pulled his hair, and he called Leon several times, Leon either said that he was busy training, or that he was looking for players, and he was not available, in short, he just didn't want to help.

The end result was that before the start of the summer league, Kevin Garnett's number selection problem began to ferment, and the public opinion of this incident began to become more and more influential, and many newspapers opened a readers' voting column for them to choose which number Kevin Garnett should use.

Extending from this question, a series of topics about the inside story of the draft, Garnett's weaknesses, his claims of loyalty to Minnesota, and so on, began to bombard the superstar, who had just been on the job for a few days. At this time, Kevin Garnett realized what a peaceful and peaceful small town Minnesota is. He also began to see that the fans of the ancient city of Boston are the best fans in the world, but they are also the most discerning fans.

However, just when Garnett was overwhelmed by public opinion, a man stepped forward to block a shot for him - on July 2, the Eagle County incident broke out, and Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant was arraigned by the police; On July 4, police signed an arrest warrant for Bryant.

A scandal has completely diverted people's attention. (To be continued.) )