Toyota Center on the outskirts of Los Angeles, this arena has the same name as the Rockets' home arena, but this is a completely different arena from Toyota Center.

This is the training center of the Lakers, and the Lakers' training and daily office are also in this arena.

Jeribas made a rare appearance in the gym, first meeting with Mitch Kupchak.

Since buying the Lakers, Jerichbus has rarely intervened in all aspects of the Lakers' affairs, but since the new century, Jerichs seems to have paid more attention to the Lakers.

Firing Jerry West is a big move by him, which has the reasons for the big mistake of letting Qiao Hai go, but also the deepening personal conflict between him and Jerry West.

Then, Mitch Kupchak was hired, and he still took the previous route, that is, the route of reusing the Lakers' famous name.

It seems that Mitch Kupchak is quite competitive, bringing in the little-known Rick Carlisle to win the second crown of the OK group.

After a failed title defense last season, there has been a lot of action this season.

Although he failed to snatch Gary Payton, signing Karl Malone was good enough.

However, at this time, the problems within the Lakers are still quite serious, and the contradiction between Kobe and O'Neal seems to have reached the point of irreconcilability.

At this time, Jerry Buss appeared here precisely to learn the latest news between Kobe Bryant and O'Neal.

Mitch Kupchak has a sad look on his face, and the Lakers' record so far this season is 20-6, just 0.5 wins behind the 21-6 Rockets.

But behind the outstanding record, there are some troublesome contradictions within the Rockets.

Needless to say, the contradiction between Kobe Bryant and O'Neal is not too much.

O'Neal thought that Kobe Bryant was a junior, but at this time he began to seize power and always pointed fingers at him, and he was very dissatisfied.

And Kobe Bryant thinks that O'Neal is always not serious, stop-and-go, and often too frolicking, and he thinks that the big shark is no longer the big shark of the year, and now the boss of the Lakers is already him.

The two are not only in terms of conceptual contradictions, but also in the contradictions caused by the competition for the boss of the team, it can be said that if it were not for the goal of winning the championship, Kobe and O'Neal would have collapsed long ago.

In fact, in addition to the contradictions between Kobe and O'Neal, Karl Malone, who recently joined the Lakers, has a bad relationship with Kobe and O'Neal.

Karl Malone is not an easy person to get along with, this guy is greedy for money and lustful, and is very arrogant, in Jazz, only Jerry Sloan can suppress Karl Malone.

Now that it's the Lakers, O'Neal, who is always full of hippie smiles, obviously can't suppress Karl Malone, and the young Kobe Bryant, as a junior, is also looked down upon by Karl Malone.

Compared to his previous life, Rick Carlisle replaced Phil Jackson.

If it was Phil Jackson, he might be able to rely on his qualifications to crush Karl Malone, but now that he has been replaced by Rick Carlisle, he obviously can't do that.

Therefore, the Lakers are now divided into three factions, the faction that supports O'Neal, the faction that supports Kobe, and the faction that Karl Malone has its own.

Such a team obviously has a lot of problems internally.

Facing Jeribas, Michkupchak could only smile bitterly: "Now the team can only barely move forward, but fortunately, this season, our squad is very good, so even if there is a little conflict within the team, it will not affect our results for the time being." ”

Jerry Buss is also full of sorrow, it stands to reason that the Lakers with the OK combination should cut down a dynasty, but Jerry West's release of Qiao Hai directly broke all this.

Looking at it now, I have to say that Jerry West really made a big mistake and directly affected the history of the Lakers.

Jerebus cursed a few times, and then he mentioned the Christmas war that would start the next day.

"Mickey, do you have any promises from Rick's side for tomorrow's Christmas war?"

After last season's failed title defense, Rick Carlisle was also questioned, so he had to make a lot of promises for the new season, if he couldn't do it, he would be sacked.

And in this extremely important Christmas battle, Rick Carlisle naturally needs to make some guarantees.

"He said that he will ensure that the record against the Rockets this season remains superior, and this Christmas game is a must-win game."

When Jerebus heard this, he nodded, but he was somewhat satisfied.

"Tomorrow's game, because David Stern is coming, I'm going to watch it live, and at the same time, Houston's Leslie Alexander will also be there, so tell Rick that tomorrow's game must not be lost!"

NBA owners are good-looking, so for Jerry Buss, tomorrow's game is naturally very important.

After a few chats about the Christmas War, the topic was pulled back by Jerry Bas.

Jerry Buss has also been hesitating about the irreconcilable contradictions between Kobe and O'Neal, but now, he has made some decisions.

"Mitch, if the contradiction between Kobe and Shaq is really irreconcilable, then, try to ask Shaq externally."

Jerebas's words immediately gave Mitch Kupchek a great shock, and he knew that the boss had figured it out.

It is impossible to solve the contradiction between Kobe and O'Neal, so if the contradiction between the two really affects the team's performance, Jeribas must choose between Kobe and O'Neal.

Now, Jerry Buss has chosen Kobe!

Mitch Kupchak nodded slowly, he knew that one day, one of Kobe Bryant and O'Neal would leave the Lakers!

Then, then, after a big deal, it's time for the alliance to shake.

……

Before the Christmas war, after feeling the pressure from management, Rick Carlisle stayed up all night with a few more gray hairs on top of his head.

He has to admit that as the head coach of the Lakers, he gets more dollars and more attention, but at the same time, he is also under a lot of pressure.

Because all the time, he is in the spotlight of the flash.

In an important game like the Christmas War, he still has to face the impact of Qiao Hai, and if he loses, he may even lose the position of head coach.

So, he suddenly became cautious and prepared very meticulously before the game.

"Against the Rockets, the biggest problem should be how to limit Yao Ming, Shaq definitely can't take it out to defend, Karl Malone can defend, but we still need him to distribute the ball, so, who else can we use to defend Yao? Stanislav (Medvidenko)? ”

"Obviously not, Stanislav's defense is like a piece of paper, perhaps, Hollis (Grant) can only be put in the rotation again......"

Rick Carlisle was a little distressed, and he suddenly found that although Yao Ming's statistics this season are not too gorgeous, this tall center who is a compatriot with Qiao Hai is really too buggy!

It's even more buggy than the big shark in the penalty area!