One step ahead of Angie, Leon arrived on June 19 in Memphis, Tennessee, the southern part of the United States, which was once the main stronghold of Southern slave owners during the Civil War and the birthplace of rock 'n' roll.

It's two worlds away from Boston, and it's not the same as Austin, Texas, where the wide, tranquil Mississippi River runs through the city, and because it arrives a day early, Leon cruises the city on a river boat with Wallace and Morey.

While the heart of Memphis City is just as monotonous as the high-rises, Old Town and along the Mississippi River are dotted with old-fashioned wooden houses that look ancient against the backdrop of tall beech trees and lush maple trees that make all kinds of musical instruments.

Leon lay on the open deck on the top deck of the steamer, and although it was summer, the thick clouds in the southern sky made the sun less dazzling, and the warmth shone on Leon's face, which was a rare leisure time for him in the offseason, when many players must be vacationing all over the country, and he still had to travel around as an assistant coach and scout.

"Sometimes I think maybe it's nice to stay in the South and play guitar in a tavern, and lie in the boat I bought on the holidays and float in the wind on the Mississippi River, like Harry Baker Finn." Leon closed his eyes and enjoyed the sun and the breeze, and said to Wallace, who was pretending to be asleep beside him.

Wallace was all about negotiating with the Grizzlies tomorrow afternoon, and when he heard what Leon said, he didn't react for a long time, he rubbed his eyes and said, "I can't sing...... Let's talk about the deal, the contract ......" Morey on the side covered his mouth and snickered when he heard it, the three of them had a rare time to relax, only Wallace, the guy who seemed to be nervous all the time.

"Chris, you've been nervous since you started in Boston, and to be honest, this negotiation is a pediatric deal, and you shouldn't be doing it like you're meeting your mother-in-law for the first time. You're in the league in '86, say, what are you worried about? Leon asked, propping himself up from the deck.

Wallace came to his senses from his state of empathy, looked down and smiled and replied, "You know, I didn't come from a basketball background, I was neither a professional player nor a coach, not even a trainer. It's fair to say that I only got into this position because I'm a basketball fan, like Vogel, but Vogel was also a varsity player, and it's just me, and I'm not very good at shooting. Ever since I became the manager of the team, no matter how small the deal is, no matter how small the negotiation, I will be 100% committed and treated, and sometimes it will be tense and as if it is something really big. It's already my habit, and I can't have fun unless the negotiations are over tomorrow nod"

Leon listened and nodded, recalling that Wallace was indeed a very serious and hard-working person, although Auerbach commented that Wallace was "a stupid horse who only knows how to plow the land and can't get off the track", but since Leon first came to the Celtics, Wallace has taken good care of Leon, perhaps this is also related to Leon's background without basketball, including Morey sitting on the side, they are all "halfway home" basketball personnel like Wallace.

"You know Leon, sometimes I think that in fact, you can come to this negotiation alone, maybe add another Anji, and this negotiation can definitely be done. I don't say this out of jealousy or any other intention, I know you're a straightforward guy, so I'll be straightforward too. Everyone knows that one day you will replace O'Brien, replace me, replace everything that Pitino left behind, and let the Celtics regain their bloodline. Of course, I don't mean anything else, except that you know, everybody has to think about themselves......" Wallace spoke his heart anyway, on the quiet Mississippi River.

A little over a month ago, just after the season ended and on vacation, Wallace was invited to attend a basketball charity event at West Virginia University, where he met his fellow, West Virginia University legend Jerry West.

Once a superstar of the Lakers, now also in the Lakers as the general manager, and has achieved great success, starting from the 1996 grab O'Neal and the selection of Kobe, West while blocking Auerbach and his Celtics, who had caused lifelong psychological damage to him when he was a player, avenged the N arrow, while bringing the Lakers to new heights, after winning consecutive championships in the 00 and 01 seasons, they are striding towards three consecutive championships in the new century.

After meeting Wallace, Jerry West and the Celtics general manager had a good conversation, and the two basketball men who spoke with a Virginia accent but played for two feuds developed a delicate relationship, and after returning to Boston, Wallace continued to keep in touch with West, and finally a few weeks ago, West called and asked Wallace to leave the Celtics to be his assistant, but not with the Lakers, but on another team next season.

Jerry West has been in the management of the Lakers for 20 years, and next season will be his 20th year, during which he has formed the Purple and Gold Army to win six championships and reach the Finals ten times.

West's next stop is likely to be Memphis, although it's all in the mouths of a handful of people in the circle.

Chris Wallace revealed some of these situations to Leon and Morey, and he did not mention Jerry West, saying only that he would most likely leave to pursue a position at another team. In his opinion, Leon is the successor of Auerbach, but there is not green blood flowing in his veins, not to mention Morey, who is an assistant he personally recruited, purely his own people.

The NBA is a battlefield, but it is also a business field, nothing has to be lived or died, as Pitino's "legacy" to stay with the Celtics, Wallace doesn't want to leave nothing like Pitino, if he wants to continue to mix in the NBA management circle and do better, he needs friends like Leon, and of course Morey.

It would be a good choice to close the distance when it comes to talking about things on the right occasion, and Wallace didn't speak, he did have some anxiety, he was full of insecurities since Pitino left Celtic, and he didn't feel better until today when he said something for a whole season.

Leon lifted two bottles of beer from the ice cube box on the deck, pulled the caps and handed them to Wallace and Morey, and the three of them took a sip before Leon said, "No matter which team you go to, we'll be friends." But until you left, you were always a Celtic, just like me. ”

……………………

Wallace's little secret didn't affect the next day's meeting between the Celtics and Grizzlies, and after Danny Ainge arrived in Memphis on June 20, the two teams of managers had two hours of consultation and reached some level of agreement on the strategy and trade in the draft, if nothing else, the Grizzlies would rob Tony Parker at No. 27 in the first round, and then the Grizzlies would pull the Celtics and Spurs together in a three-way trade to force the Spurs who wanted Parker to bleed. The Grizzlies will also get their favorite Celtics player.

In this way, under the impetus of Leon, the layout of the Celtics in the draft is basically completed, of course, this is just their A plan, the draft is sometimes unpredictable, I don't know what will happen, once some teams do not play according to the routine, all plans will be disrupted, and those agreements that have been formed will be invalidated. Moreover, the Celtics' draft meeting is very dynamic and the plan is complicated, and the more complex the plan, the more likely it is to be disturbed by unexpected factors.

In order to be fully prepared, after staying in Memphis for a day, Angie decided that he would immediately return to Boston to preside over the overall situation, while Leon and his party went directly to New York to prepare for the public opinion battle a week before the draft, and set up smoke bombs to make feints to prevent malicious disruption of the team.

The 2001 draft is about to begin.