At five o'clock in the morning on June 12, Auerbach woke up from his sleep early, and he had very little sleep, not to mention that he was heading to Boston today.

He went to the bathroom alone and washed his face with cold water, which he had insisted on for decades, and often in the past, including in winter. It was only when he got older that he gave up this stimulating behavior, although he was not tall, had a big belly and was a little bald, but he always insisted on living like a real tough guy.

So, he decided that he was going to fly to Boston on his own, so he was going to drive his silver Mercedes to the airport. Before leaving, he used the old-fashioned fax machine in his study to send a fax to his younger brother, telling his family where he had gone, and if he accidentally drove on the road, someone would finally go to the police.

Along the way, Auerbach turned on the radio, he only listened to basketball-related programs, today is the last game of the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers have a 3-0 lead over the Nets, and it is only a matter of time before they win the championship.

"Tonight in New Jersey, the Lakers will have a very, very good chance to win their third championship of the new century, and their third in a row......" The commentator's preview of the game came over the radio, and Auerbach simply turned the radio off and spat out, "It's all." ”

Despite being in his eighties, Auerbach still has a lot of energy, and he sat on the sidelines for a minute to watch all three games of the Eastern Conference Finals at North Shore Gardens, including losing the last game and losing the chance to qualify for the Finals.

After arriving at the Washington airport, with the help of the staff, Auerbach finally bought a ticket to Boston, but it was a little late and Auerbach had to wait. No way, it was too difficult for Auerbach to book his plane by phone or online, and he couldn't get an earlier ticket.

Sulking, Auerbach had to wait in the lobby of the airport. He couldn't help but pull out a cigar and wanted to order one, but was stopped by the staff, but soon someone at the airport recognized Auerbach and invited him to the VIP room, where a private room was prepared for him to smoke.

He looked at the clock on the wall, there were still nearly three hours before the plane took off, and he knew that he had gotten up early in the morning and had a late meeting, so he could only wait slowly.

……………………

After receiving a call from Vojnavsky. Leon returned to Boston with Ayatollah Khomeinith, and on June 11, he received a notification from Danny Ainge that the team would complete the takeover on June 13, and the day before, on June 12, he would be announced as the new head coach of the Celtics.

That's right, the Celtics are about to complete another reshuffle, and this time it's a real reshuffle. The transition period from the fall of Pitino in 2001 to the emergence of Celtic was the result of repeated adjustments, replacements and negotiations. It's finally coming to an end.

First, the Boston Basketball Partners Consortium, which was founded with the participation of Khomeenez's father, Pagliuca, Boston investor Cross Peck, and his father, after more than a year of preparation. The acquisition of the Celtics will be completed after the official start of this offseason, and the Gaston family's bloodline in the Green Army will come to an end, and a new ownership structure will be formed. A more ambitious and visionary team will take control of Celtic's capital.

Danny Ainge has worked hard for two years to completely solidify his position with the Celtics, and O'Brien has left class early. Chris Wallace stepped aside until he stepped down as general manager this year, Carroll obediently handed over the coaching whip, and the Celtics veterans in all parts of the team were happy with his arrangement.

Now all he has to do is take the final step and put Fox Leon in the Celtics head coach's seat. Of course, Angie knows that Fox Leon will definitely not be someone like O'Brien who can be easily persuaded to quit, or someone as honest and self-aware as John Carroll.

Angie has always considered himself a lot like Auerbach, which is one of the reasons why he is willing to come to Celtic to take over the presidency. But in Fox Leon he saw more, saw more of the bishop's shadow, and sometimes he had to admit that deep down he was a little jealous of Fox Leon.

Leon can be big or small in front of Auerbach, say whatever he wants, sometimes make Auerbach angry, but in the end nothing happens. For the sake of Leon, Auerbach could also go to great lengths and means to deign to plead with his disciple Bill Sharman for help, or for the sake of Leon, he would not hesitate to sweep away the opposition of the old traditional forces within the Celts.

Maybe in Auerbach's heart, Angie is still not as good as Leon after all, if he is not as good as Bird, his heart will be more balanced.

……………………

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Leon wore his best suit and wore a tie carefully selected by Ayatollah Khomeiniz and continued to drive his third-hand Chevrolet to the press conference hall of the North Shore Garden Arena, where he will officially become the head coach of the Celtics today.

By the time we arrived at the press conference hall, Danny Angie, ML Carr, Kusey, Jojo White and others had already arrived, and many reporters were waiting in their seats, guns and cannons ready for the next wave of chaos.

But everyone is still waiting for one person, and that is Reed Auerbach, and if Auerbach doesn't come, this press conference can hardly be considered complete. Auerbach is not only the honorary president of the team, but also the symbol and soul of this team. Not to mention, Leon was single-handedly raised by Auerbach and is his chosen successor, and he should be there no matter what.

"Didn't you send someone to pick up the old man? Or book him a plane ticket. Leon asked Angie with a frown, standing behind the curtain. Leon had been in Rhode Island before, and he came back in a hurry, and he didn't take care of these trivial matters, and he thought that Angie would solve them well. Every time Auerbach came to Boston, the Celtics would help him book a plane ticket or send someone to pick him up.

"I called the old man the day before yesterday, but he seems to want to come over on his own, and you know sometimes he can be very stubborn. And the whole team has been busy lately, and the team will change owners tomorrow, and everything is very chaotic. It should be negligent, completely negligent. Angie explained, frowning and looking anxious.

It's about 1 and a half hours to fly from Washington to Boston. The problem was that it took a lot of time to get from the airport to the North Shore Garden Plaza, and Auerbach never used his mobile phone, so he couldn't be reached at all.

"I just called Zane and he said he had received a fax from Arnold in the morning that he had gone to the airport to catch a plane to Boston. I just don't know what time I got my ticket. Zane is said to have read the news and said that there will be a lot of planes delayed today, and I don't know if Arnold will be stuck at the airport. Bob Cousy came over and said, helpless on his face.

Leon stared at Angie for a moment, wanting to see something on his face, and Angie spread his hands and said, "No matter." Can't wait any longer, just get started, your own press conference. ”

At half past two in the afternoon, the Celtics held a press conference in the press room of the North Shore Garden Arena to officially announce that Fox Leon will succeed John Carroll as the team's new head coach, and Carroll will take on the role of team advisor.

……………………

When Auerbach's plane arrived in Boston, it was already nine o'clock in the evening, and Auerbach looked out the window at the brightly lit Boston. He didn't expect to be delayed for so long. He knew that he must have missed Leon's inauguration ceremony, and this little guy who he had cultivated by himself was finally helped by his seedlings. Become a real coach.

As soon as he got off the plane, the first thing Auerbach did was find the nearest public phone booth and call Leon.

"Fawkes! Come pick me up at the airport! Damn Continental Airlines, I'm going to sue them for bankruptcy! I set off before dawn. By the time we got to Boston, it was getting dark! Hurry up! When the call went through, Auerbach vented all his anger at the airline into the receiver.

Leon had just returned home when he received the call. After a boring press conference, he attended a small party with the whole team, where Leon met Cross Peck, who was about to become the new owner of the Celtics, his half-cheap old man Pagliuca, and the team's famous man. However, only Auerbach was not present, which made Leon unhappy in any way.

When he saw a strange call at home, his intuition told him that it was Auerbach, and sure enough, as soon as he answered the phone, Auerbach's signature roar came from the microphone. Naturally, Leon immediately drove to the airport to meet Auerbach, who was sitting on a chair in the square smoking a cigar when he arrived.

"Go to the North Shore Garden Arena!" As soon as he got into the car, Auerbach spoke to Leon, saying that he also turned on the radio.

"The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Jersey Nets 114-107 at the Continental Air Arena in New Jersey to win the NBA championship for the third year in a row! Triple Crown! Lakers Dynasty ...... Hearing the news that the Lakers had won the championship, Auerbach turned off the radio again.

When I arrived at the North Shore Garden Arena, it was almost ten o'clock, and the inside naturally closed early, but there were managers on duty. Auerbach knocked on the guardhouse door with his stick, and when the man on duty saw that it was Auerbach, his hat almost fell off.

"Leon and I want to sit in it for a while, just ten minutes, do a favor boy......" Under Auerbach's coercion and temptation, the duty officer still opened the door, and then turned on the two headlights in the stadium.

"The floor is going to be removed tomorrow, and now it looks like it's the home of the Celts." The officer on duty told Auerbach that tomorrow there will be a hockey game here, and the championship flag will be removed from the floor and ceiling of the Celtics, and they will be able to accompany Leon and Auerbach tonight.

"Thank you." Auerbach said, and then led Leon from the players' tunnel to the court, under the light of two lights, the Celtics' emblem was particularly conspicuous, Auerbach stepped forward to stand on it, handed Leon the crutches, and then crossed his hands on his waist and looked around. Just like he did on the pitch more than thirty years ago, look around and look at everyone.

"Come here, Fawkes, stand here, stand under the lights, stand on the team sign." Auerbach pulled Leon over, pulled him to his side, and said, "Look around, what's there?" Your players, your opponents, and 20,000 live viewers, tens of millions of TV viewers. You're in the middle of the pitch, you have to keep an eye on it, look around you, behind your back, and remember that the manager's position is always more dangerous than the stars. ”

"Lift your head again and look up there!" Auerbach pointed upwards again, and in the darkness the lights could faintly see the countless flags hanging from the ceiling, including the sixteen Celtic championship flags and the rows of retired numbers. They hang like totems over the North Shore Gardens, watching the team go through the glory and the twists and turns.

"Boy, go to the radio station, play me a piece of music, I want to listen to music, I want 'Blue Danube'." Auerbach said to the guards who were still standing at the entrance of the players' tunnel. After a while, the melody of Johann Strauss's blue Danube began to flow slowly from the large sound of the arena, echoing through the empty, huge arena, but making the place even quieter.

At this time, Auerbach took a cigar from his pocket and handed it to Leon, saying, "Hold it." Then he took out a box of long sticks of matches, lightly lit them, and brought the flame to the head of the cigar in Leon's mouth.

Leon took a few hard puffs, and the cigar was lit, and a faint green smoke wafted out of the cigar head and his mouth, and he gently took a puff of the smoke ring, looking triumphant.

"From now on, you will inherit everything from me." (To be continued.) )