Just after the Ayatollah family met her father, Pagliuca, Leon received a call from Michael Carr early the next morning, asking him to meet at Boston South Station, and asked Leon to bring several pieces of clothing, and it seemed that Leon was going out again.

When the taxi arrived at the South Station, Carl was already waiting for Leon in the waiting hall, he was holding a briefcase in his hand, and he was holding a ticket, handed it to Leon and said: "This is a bus ticket to New York, it will leave at ten o'clock, there are still twenty minutes left, I will tell you important things." ”

As he spoke, Carl handed Leon the briefcase in his hand again, without giving Leon time to ask questions, and continued: "Your destination is the Olympia Building in New York, the headquarters of the NBA, where there is a meeting to attend. I'll drive straight to New York later, and I'll be waiting for you there, remember, the Olympia Tower. ”

"Why can't I come with you in the car?" Leon took the briefcase and asked, to be honest, he has never taken a long-distance bus since he came to the United States, and even rarely takes the subway, either a car or a plane, and the team will reimburse it anyway.

"Don't be spoiled boy, that's Arnold's request, and he wants you to experience what it's like to be a former NBA player who rides the bus for four hours and then plays in the evening. Anyway, remember, when you arrive in New York, find the Olympic Building, come to me. Okay, without further ado, I'll talk to you about the specific problems when you get to New York, and the problems you will face in the future will be much more difficult than taking the bus, and you have just started on the road. With that, Carl patted Leon's arm and turned to leave.

However, Carl immediately turned back, took out a map from his arms, handed it to Leon and said, "By the way, I forgot to give you the map, Arnold said that I am afraid that you will get lost when you arrive in New York." Because this bus is to Manhattan, where it is not easy to get a taxi, you better take the subway or you will be late. Goodbye and good luck. ”

This time Carl was really gone, and Leon looked at the map he handed him, crumpled it up and threw it in the trash.

"Damn old man, give me a map of the United States......"

…………………

Michael Carr left and got into his car, he had a special driver, he sat in the back seat, he closed his eyes and started to rest, the four-hour journey to New York, he needed to take a good rest in the face of the important things that were coming - to the NBA headquarters and other teams' development directors to discuss the formation of a development league.

The NBA originally had a minor league, the CBA, which was born earlier than the NBA - the Continental Basketball Association, and this basketball league, which was two months before the NBA's age, has been living in the shadow of the NBA for decades. Stern allocates a sum of money to the C.B.A. every year to keep the league running as a blood-forming machine to digest undrafted picks and provide bench talent for teams.

But in 1999, taking advantage of the NBA's collective bargaining and season shutdown, former NBA superstar Isiah Thomas bought the CBA for $10 million, and asked Stern to increase the commission fee in investment negotiations with the NBA this year.

But Stern was by no means one to compromise easily, he rejected Thomas's request and decided to mobilize the league's 29 teams to form a new development league and push the CBA out of the secondary basketball league. In this way, Stern can directly control the development league under the NBA, and he does not have to pay for it every year to see Thomas's face.

I have to admit that in terms of operations, the gap between Thomas and Stern is still far away, and now it seems that Thomas's CBA is a little unsustainable, without league sponsorship, no audience, no advertising, no commitment to players, and it will only be a matter of time before it goes out of business.

As the head of the team's development department, Karl was asked by Auerbach to attend the meeting and try to help Boston reap some benefits in the formation, especially if it could get some treasures from the undrafted players, which is why Auerbach asked Carl to bring Leon with him.

Of course, this was not the main reason why Leon went to New York, and Karl knew that Auerbach's real purpose in sending Leon to New York was to accumulate seniority and experience for his heir. The scouting job in Boston for nearly two months is a good job, but he is only doing a beautiful job on the technical level, and basketball work is not a purely technical job, it is also a career that requires extensive contacts and operational skills.

When Stern first took office in 1984, Auerbach's personal resources, connections, and influence in the NBA reached its peak, and he was even able to directly resist Stern's new salary cap policy, forcing the league to change the rules to introduce the "Bird Clause", and in 1985 as the Eastern Conference champion operated to the top of the list that year, if it weren't for the NBA draft rules change from that year, Auerbach's intention to get Patrick Ewing was shattered, and Len Baias's accidental death, Then the Celtics' dominance will definitely last another ten years.

Then Stern's new rules, the chaos of the Alliance's other rivals, and a series of coincidences that made Auerbach feel desperate, shattered the Bishop's near-perfect plans one after another, and the old man finally became disheartened.

Carl knew that this would be Auerbach's last fight, and he had bet on Pitino, Duncan, Nowitzki, and now he was going to give everything he had in the basketball world to that kid who didn't know where he came from, let him participate in the team's draft, and after the experience of forming a development league team, he would push him to a higher place through tests again and again.

Thinking of this, Karl frowned, and couldn't help but feel a little jealous in his heart, knowing that Auerbach's proud protégé, Boston hero, and superstar Larry Bird did not receive such treatment. The Wizards retired as head player at the Celtics, but for five years his main job was golfing in warm Florida.

Carl knew he didn't have the talent to be a coach or even president, having spent a few seasons as head coach with the Celtics, and he was at a loss for a poor roster, a bad owner — Paul Gasstone's main focus at the time was on issuing bonds, and poor draft picks. The Celtic network that once spread the alliance has been shattered by Stern's crackdown. There are also some "anti-bones" who are already determined to serve other teams wholeheartedly, stabbing Celtics in the back many times. Thinking of this, Karl would feel that Pitino's failure is also reasonable, and the problems faced by the Celtics for a coach who has been successful in college are not of an order of magnitude at all.

Thinking about it this way, the jealousy in Karl's heart disappeared, it was not easy to become Auerbach's successor, and I didn't know what special things about that kid deserved Auerbach's attention, it seemed that he had a better memory, and hoped that the map of the United States would help him find the Olympia Building......

Thinking about Karl falling asleep in the car, he also dreamed that he became the owner of a certain NBA team, he always wanted to have an NBA team of his own, and with the help of Auerbach he had the opportunity to partner in the NBA capital game, so he would spare no effort to help Leon. Now he can finally get in............

…………………………

By the time Carl arrived at the Olympic Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York, where the NBA headquarters is located, it was already half past two in the afternoon, and the bad traffic on the roads and highway traffic jams in New York made him half an hour later than expected, but the meeting will start at three o'clock in the afternoon, and today is just a two-hour meeting to discuss some basic issues, and the details of the negotiations will be in full swing in the following week.

Carl trotted up the elevator and went straight to the conference room on the fifteenth floor, this was not the first time he had been here, he looked at his watch, and thought to himself that Leon would probably take fifteen minutes to arrive, and the traffic in New York was really bad today. Although Leon has been to many places, every time he goes, he will be received by Celtic outposts, and he does not have to worry about transportation and accommodation at all.

When the elevator opened and he entered the small conference room on the fifteenth floor, Carl found that Leon was already sitting on the small couch closest to the door waiting for him, with a copy of Time magazine in his hand, reading with relish.

"Hello Carl, it's nice to see you again, the map you gave is really useful, I found it as soon as I looked for it." Leon greeted Carl with a smile as he looked stunned.

Carl sat down beside Leon and asked angrily, "You kid is very fast, how did you find here?" Did you take a plane and a taxi? ”

Leon shook his finger and replied, "I took the bus to the vicinity of the Manhattan Bridge, and the road was very congested today, so I didn't take a taxi, I rented a bicycle with the $15 on me, and rode to the nearest subway station, and took the subway to the Olympic Building on Fifth Street." Actually, I just arrived, and I only got the elevator one version earlier than you. ”

"Stinky boy...... Carl also wanted to ask Leon how he knew the specific route, and wanted to talk to Leon about the main content of today's meeting, and asked him to prepare. But then the door to the conference room opened again, and in came a thin, bald man with eyes, who interrupted everyone's conversation.

"Hello everyone, I'm Adam Silva, and I'm going to be chairing the first meeting on the formation of the Development Alliance today, and I hope you can talk freely." With that, the Adam Silva sat in the innermost seat with a smile on his face.

"Who is this guy? Sick? Leon asked softly against Carl, as this Silva looked too thin.

"No, he's a good assistant to David Stern and is considered the most likely successor to Stern in the future." Carl said to Leon.

The successors of the two old rivals met for the first time in the Olympic Building, one in the center and the other at the edge.