On an uneventful morning in late July in Boston, Dick Hart announced his retirement from basketball and no longer serving as a team consultant in a small media meeting room at his Boston headquarters, in front of two or three invited Boston reporters, accompanied by Fox Leon and Danny Ainge.

Hart is 73 years old this year, has experienced more than 30 years of ups and downs on the basketball court, and has spent more than 20 years in the NBA, but there is no championship in the league.

Although with the Celtics, he will have a good chance of winning a championship, the only championship of his coaching career. However, he decided to give up. The old man, who was stubborn and emphasized never giving up in defense, chose to leave at this time.

After the news was released, there was little reaction from fans who were not too familiar with Hart, and Hart's old friends, the league's top brassiers, and coaches of various teams, such as Larry Bird, David Stern, and Popovich, all called to offer condolences.

Most of them asked why Hart was leaving in the face of this great situation, and they all got the same answer - "I just feel like it's time to leave, the championship is my dream, but it's not the only one, I still have my life, and it won't be long, I want to cherish it." ”

Hart's departure was so sudden, like a bear coming out of behind a boulder, that even Leon didn't think about what to do with it. Hart will be an important part of the plan for the new season, as his skills on the defensive end will maximize Garnett's defensive value, while Leon can devote himself to shaping the team's offense and chemistry.

Although Hart told Leon that in terms of defensive attainments, Leon, who has a strong learning ability, is not inferior to Hart in theory, as long as he practices more in the new season, with the current lineup of the Celtics, he can create a super-first-class defensive system. But Leon is not a three-headed six-armed team after all, and the Celtics will have a strong squad next season, but there will be more things to worry about.

Last season, Leon could focus on building the offense and devote part of his energy to public opinion warfare and team building, leaving important defenses to Hart, and if he even had to take care of the defense next season, Leon was optimistic that he would let Ayatollah Hollah Khomeiniz take his ashes to the other side of the Pacific at the end of the season.

However, Hart's mind has been decided, whether it is Angie's painstaking persuasion, Leon's temptation with a championship, or the letter from some senior Boston fans to keep him, the old man's determination is as airtight and indestructible as the defense he has shaped for the team.

In the end, everyone had to give up the idea of convincing Hart and instead wish this stubborn old man a healthy and comfortable life in the days without basketball.

In contrast, Leon's good days, which have lasted just a few days, are at the end of the day, and he has to throw himself into the battle to find a suitable assistant coach for himself. Of course, Danny Ainge has several options at his disposal, such as Carroll, such as Paul Conmil, such as Lester Connor, these are all assistant coaches who have a relationship with Aangie and can be trusted.

But Leon didn't want any of them, he said to Angie bluntly, if you send me an assistant coach at random, then you might as well turn me into an assistant coach. In the face of Leon's insistence, Angie did not object or block, he just said to Leon: "If you have the ability to let him be the team's assistant coach, then it doesn't seem too bad to turn you into an assistant coach." ”

The person in Angie's mouth is none other than former Celtics player and Pistons head coach, Rick Carlisle, who is at home at this time.

As early as more than two months ago, after the Pistons were eliminated by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the conflict between Carlisle and the Pistons owner and senior management completely broke out. At the behest of Pistons owner Davis, Dumas had to decide to fire the coach who just won the best coach last season and led the Pistons to the best record in the East.

On the day of the termination press conference, the scene was funny. Carlisle didn't need to attend the press conference, which might embarrass him, as he was on vacation in South Carolina, but when he heard about it, Carlisle decided he wanted to attend.

Carlisle not only came, but also brought his wife and dressed in smart clothes to attend the show. Carlisle did not give Dumas face at all, although Dumas had a difficult face and said some scenes from time to time to ease the atmosphere, but Carlisle ignored Dumas's words at all, and directly said that he would be very happy in the days to come.

Of course, Carlisle also knew that it was not Dumas's decision to fire himself, and he still said two words for Dumas, saying that Dumas was not the one behind the bad things, but it was difficult to disobey his fate. But in the end, Carlisle didn't forget to add that his house in Birmingham two hours ago was ready for sale, and he wanted to buy it as soon as possible......

The conference was a loss of face for the Pistons management, but when Dumas poached Larry Brown from the Philadelphia 76ers for the Pistons, most people thought the dismissal might make sense. Judging from this year's Eastern Conference Finals, Rick Carlisle has no chance of winning in front of Fox Leon, and Larry Brown has also lost, but when he has the Pistons under him, everything can be different.

Naturally, during the offseason, Carlisle was also invited by the head coaches of several teams, including Larry Bird's Indiana Pacers, who worked as an assistant coach with the Pacers and was good friends with Bird. In '01, Bird wanted Carlisle to coach the Pacers, but in the end, the owner chose the more famous Thomas.

It turns out that in the coaching industry, there is no one else except Larry Bird whose fame and strength are directly proportional to his strength as a player, and the owner still doesn't listen to Bird, as a result, the Pacers have a good reputation in the regular season, and they were counterattacked in the first round of the playoffs, and Thomas was also dismissed.

Now Bird is trying to get Carlisle to accept the Pacers' suggestion to coach, but Carlisle is still hesitating, he must admit that it is a good choice to coach the Pacers, the lineup, the coaching environment, and the fans are all very good.

At that time, in the back of Carlisle's heart, he still had a glimmer of hope that he would return to Boston. The Fox Leon guy was talking about Garnett for two years, and he finally succeeded, and he also wanted Carlisle to be an assistant coach for two years, Carlisle didn't think he would "deign" to become an assistant coach again, but he did have an interest in the current Celtics.

But Dick Hart's sudden retirement diminished his interest, so much so that two days later, when Leon called Carlisle to ask him to come to Boston to take Hart's place, Carlisle refused without hesitation.

"I would have liked to go to Boston and work with Hart, not replace Hart," he said. ”

Now Leon is a little confused, he originally thought that Carlisle would miss the good times with Hart in Indiana, and chose to come to Boston to realize the championship dream with Hart, but he didn't expect that Old Hart insisted on retiring, and Carlisle didn't want to come now.

Leon can be described as scratching his ears and cheeks in Boston, in this matter, his scouting network and media relations are not able to play a role at all, last year his coaching staff was simply Auerbach to help him piece together, this year Auerbach has completely shaken off his hands and will no longer care about his business.

Just when Leon wanted to break his brain and even come up with some strange tricks, Dick Hart, who had already returned to his hometown in Pennsylvania, made a call to Leon. "You must be distressed right now, I've heard, Rick doesn't want to come, kid...... He's always been hard-mouthed. Well, I've got a solution to that problem and help you defensively, and I've sent you a letter of introduction, and you'll know when you get it. Hart said over the phone.

This will be Hart Sr.'s last assist for the Boston Celtics and Leon. (To be continued.) )