The whole discussion lasted from three o'clock in the afternoon to five o'clock, two hours, and almost no progress was made. The focus of everyone's discussion even stopped at the boring question of what the league should be called and what logo to use.

On key issues such as funding, the development of the league's relationship with the NBA, the stake of each team, how to distribute it in the event of a new team joining in the future, and the payment of player salaries and contracts, the meeting was only the beginning, without any in-depth discussions.

Leon sat in the corner and watched the representatives from the various teams, some of them were fierce, some were like lukewarm, some were actively conciliating, and some were sitting there in a daze. Only Adam Silva, who sat in the middle, sat firmly on the Diaoyu Tai, not commenting on the chaotic discussions of others, only occasionally nodding and smiling, or talking to the staff next to him without knowing what to say.

"I don't know what medicine he sells in his gourd, what do you think, Leon?" Michael Carr turned his head to Leon and said that he wanted to hear Leon's opinion. The debate was divided into two groups, one agreeing to establish a new development alliance, and the other arguing that the partnership with the CBA could be changed and expanded on the CBA.

Leon looked around for a moment, then asked Karl, "Do you know who the teams are?" Are they all the same as you are the head of development, or are they different? ”

León needs to determine the identity of the people who will be on the field, which is very helpful to understand the current situation. Michael Carr has been in the league for many years, and the NBA circle is big or small, with opponents on the court and friends off the court, and some old faces sitting around him.

Michael Carr leaned close to Leon's ear and said: "You know, today's meeting is relatively tight, it's just a meeting, so like some teams in the west didn't send a director-level person over, and the team representatives present were all team representatives who are resident at headquarters; In the East, like us, as well as Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., have sent director-level representatives over, like the 76ers' player director Tony DeLeo, and the Wizards' player director Darryl Walker...... There were also a couple of teams, mainly the Southeast, the Orlando Magic, the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets, and they all sent senior officials, you see that tall old man with white hair, who is the Magic's head of human resources, Audra Holyfield, and the Heat also had their assistant coach come in, see, the big tall guy sitting at two o'clock, he's Bob McAdoo. ”

Carl introduced this, Leon already had a bottom in his heart, first of all, he knew that there would be no heavyweights in this meeting, and the head coaches and bosses of the teams did not come, which means that there will be nothing decisive in this meeting, at best, a preliminary agreement will be reached to say hello to the teams; Secondly, the western team can be said to have not come, those permanent representatives brought ears and basically did not express opinions, while the eastern part accounted for the majority; Finally, the new teams in the East seem to be taking this meeting more seriously, and all of these teams have the characteristic that they are all newly formed after Stern took office.

Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, these three new teams in the Southeast are all products of Stern's efforts to expand the basketball market in the Southeast Caribbean after taking office, and with the help of Stern Lotto draft reform, the three teams that hoarded a lot of draft picks in the nineties have all gained fresh strength through the new draft rules, Hornets' Mourning and Johnson, Magic's O'Neal, Hardaway, Heat's Beetle and Rice.

If the Celtics sank in the nineties because of the lottery show, then these three new stars relied on the lottery show to turn over, although many of their subsequent operations and training are full of mistakes, but compared with the traditional giants of the old Northeast, they are indeed full of fresh vitality, especially the Miami Heat.

"The league must have had an idea of its own, and I guess they mean to start with a regional minor league that's similar to the CBA, but not directly affiliated with the NBA, but has a partnership with the league. Regardless of whether there is a team against it, as long as there is a team to support it, the three teams in the Southeast Division will be the basic market, and no matter what the teams in the West and the Northeast think, this minor league will rely on the teams that support the league to form it. Then, there will definitely be teams that support the CBA, who think that the CBA is enough to be a development league, and maybe there are people who want the league to invest in the CBA. However, Silva must have had his own ideas, and he seemed confident, and although he had been pretending to be listening carefully, he didn't really want to listen to what the people in the room said. He doesn't speak, he just doesn't want to give others a chance to refute and bargain, just look, he'll come to the end when the time comes. Leon clung to Carl and analyzed his thoughts.

After hearing this, Carl glanced sideways at Leon, and after speaking, Leon loosened his neckline, crossed his legs and found a restrained position to lie on the sofa, like a soothsayer who had finished his prophecy, quietly waiting for his prophecy to come.

It was already five o'clock, five o'clock and ten o'clock, and the originally noisy people were slowly quieting down, everyone knew that they had no right to decide, just to play an outpost and give proper feedback on the team's will. It's all over now, and no one likes to work overtime to have meetings, so the arguments get quieter and quieter until everyone is quiet and everyone is staring at Silva.

Silva saw that the heat was almost over, got up from the sofa, and said with a smile on his face: "Thank you all for the lively discussion, which has provided me with a lot of valuable ideas and opinions, and the league will consider and balance the interests of each team, so that our efforts can be rewarded as much as possible, and at the same time, those young people who love basketball can get more opportunities to show their potential." ”

After a few words, Silva cut to the chase and threw out the league's true idea: "We're going to try to start next season and create a small basketball league that will give undrafted and free agents the opportunity to play, and also serve as a pool of talent for the league." The NBA will fund the formation of the minor league, and teams will be able to contribute on a voluntary basis, with several teams already offering to contribute and help with venue and team building. However, the relationship between the development league and the NBA is not a subordinate relationship but a cooperative relationship, and the team is not related to each other, and if there is a need for a player, you can directly consult with the player's team. This is our initial idea, there are still many details to be finalized, and we will start tomorrow with a two-day meeting to discuss the specific issues in detail. Well, it's not too early today, so let's go to the restaurant and prepare a French dinner for you tonight. ”

As soon as Silva finished speaking, all the participants in the audience stood up and prepared to leave, the venue buzzed all at once, Leon also stood up and tightened his neckline, he looked at Silva with a relaxed look, knowing that his goal had been achieved.

If Silva had thrown out his ideas at the very beginning of the meeting, it would not have been long before dissidents would have stepped up to pick on the thorns, no matter how perfectly planned. By that time, everyone will start fighting around the alliance's plan, and by five o'clock in the afternoon, it is estimated that the original idea of the alliance has long been sprayed beyond recognition.

But Silva didn't say anything first, let everyone fly around like headless flies, and when everyone was tired and tired, and there was nothing more to say, then delay the meeting for a while, starve everyone for a while, and then release the opinion of the alliance at this time, and no one would object or discuss it anymore, all with a "so be it, let's go to dinner" attitude.

"If Arnold was here, he would have been grinding with this kid for a week." Carl also stood up and said to Leon with a smile. Leon's analysis was almost complete, and Karl really saw Auerbach's shadow in this kid, and he also somewhat understood why the Bishop Church had placed its hopes of inheriting its mantle on this unknown fellow.

"I know, the Celtics' 100-day war, but it's for Larry, and I don't know what this development league can bring to the team."

……………………

The next two days of talks, everything was under the control of the league, the teams from the initial resistance, to the back of the slowly compromised, they knew that the league to form a development league on its own has been difficult to stop, and those teams who still want a piece of the CBA seem to be changing their flag.

Michael Karl has remained unwavering during the two days of talks, neither supporting nor opposing it, which is Auerbach's request to wait and see what benefits he can gain from the formation of this small league.

However, in the second day's meeting, Silva mentioned that he wanted to form a scouting group to recruit and evaluate the strength of those who were undrafted and free agents in the minor leagues, and at this time, Michael Karl, who had never moved, finally took the initiative and was the first to raise his hand to propose that Leon join the scouting group.

"He's a young man with a lot of potential, and in just a few months at the Celtics, he's produced some of the most accurate and predictable scouting reports we've ever seen, and he's made decisive comments in this year's draft, which is remarkable. I would like to recommend him to be a member of the Scouting Corps and think he can be involved in more important work. ”

In the eyes of others, Michael Carl is just a nonsense, although Leon is already well-known in the Boston scouting circle, but in the entire American basketball world, he is a small shrimp, and there are some people who have been in the basketball circle for many years, they didn't expect Michael Carl to be so touted by such a kid.

"Who are you talking about, Auerbach in 1949?" Jim Ain, a senior scout for the New York Knicks, joked, but his joke was not very good, Michael Carr glared at him fiercely, and Leon, who was sitting on the couch, squinted at him coldly, and Aine had to smile awkwardly.

For the position of this scouting team, it is not a hot job, on the contrary, it is a chore, to face that group of undrafted and free agents, to pull out the big ones in the, but not to appreciate the comfort of those talented teenagers.

In the end, Leon joined the scouting team without suspense, and over the next year, he added an assignment to his job to examine hundreds of marginalized people in the professional leagues across the United States, which would have an immeasurable impact on his future basketball work.

Michael Carr's job was successfully completed, and before his departure, Auerbach gave him the task of "pushing Leon to join the formation of the development alliance." ”