San Gabriel Valley, a Chinese community here.

Qiao Hai rented a home of an immigrant from eastern Guangdong, this immigrant from eastern Guangdong is named Qiao Handong, or Qiao Hai's own family, he looks to be in his 60s, lives alone, has a son who works hard in New York, and is said to be a senior executive of Morgan Investment Bank, with a high salary.

It's just that it's on the east coast, and the other is on the west coast, it's too far away, Qiao Hai has lived here for more than half a year, and he hasn't seen Old Joe's son once.

And in the past half a year, Qiao Hai and Lao Qiao have developed into New Year's friends.

Especially after Qiao Hai led the Monterey team to the playoffs of the Drew League, Lao Joe, a veteran basketball fan, was even more excited, always pulling Qiao Hai and telling Qiao Hai how good he was at basketball back then, if he wasn't old, he would definitely be able to occupy a main position in the Monterey team.

Qiao Hai believes this, because Qiao Hai has played basketball with Lao Qiao, who is in his 60s, and there is an open-air basketball court in front of Lao Qiao's apartment.

The first time the two played basketball, Qiao Hai was really shocked by Old Joe.

Qiao Hai still remembers that in that bullfight, Lao Qiao first shot a three-pointer, Qiao Hai did not defend and went in directly.

Then, Qiao Hai was serious, but he was still broken through by Lao Qiao, leaning on his body and hooking his hand to score.

Later, Old Joe also showed his European step, mid-throw and toss one after another.

It's just that he is old, and after playing a few balls, Old Joe can't bear it.

So far, every time Qiao Hai leads the Monterey team to win a game, Old Joe will pull Qiao Hai and say: "Boy, don't look at your coaching, if you really talk about playing basketball, you really can't beat me." ”

This time, Johi won the Drew League championship and returned.

In the living room, Old Joe touched the replica of the championship trophy that Qiao Hai brought back, and then sighed a little: "Little Joe, good job, now you are also a hero of Monterey." ”

Then he talked about the story of him playing professional basketball in China back then: "When I was in China, I didn't win a championship, of course, I still have to blame that group of ×stupid leaders, in the key game, I actually reached an agreement with the opponent and gave the opponent a game, you say, can this still be considered a competitive sport?" This is clearly political sports! ”

Old Joe rubbed the trophy for a while, the Drew League championship trophy is quite beautiful, an irregular copper basketball, with clear colors, and a square base underneath, and the front of the base is engraved with the words "Drew League Champion" in 1998 and the logo of the Drew League.

"Xiao Qiao, you are really good at coaching, just half a year of hard work, you have won a championship, amazing!"

Old Joe gave Qiao Hai a thumbs up.

Qiao Hai smiled, he knew that Old Qiao was going to repeat that sentence again.

Sure enough, Lao Qiao's next sentence was: "But when it comes to playing basketball, you can't compare to me, an old man in his seventies and eighties, you, that is, a theorist." ”

Qiao Hai hurriedly replied: "I'm a good theorist, but old Qiao, you're not old, you are more energetic than twenty or thirty years old." ”

Old Joe already put smugness on his face, and he waved his hand: "No, if you want to change twenty years ago, the Tom of your team is not my opponent." ”

Qiao Hai smiled, and just wanted to continue to laugh at Old Qiao, the phone rang.

"Hello, I'm Qiao Hai, may I ask who you are?"

An unfamiliar number, after Qiao Hai asked, a somewhat calm voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hello, is it Mr. Qiao Hai, the head coach of the Drew League Monterey team?" ”

"Yes."

"Hello Mr. Joe, I'm Donnie Nelson."

Donnie Nelson, the first time Joe Hai thought of the mad scientist Don Nelson, Donny Nelson is Don Nelson's son, in 1998, Don Nelson was the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, and his son Donny Nelson is the current general manager of the Mavericks.

Qiao Hai somewhat guessed the meaning of Donnie Nelson's call.

"Hello, Mr. Donnie, what do you do?"

……

Ten minutes later, Qiao Hai hung up the phone thoughtfully.

Old Joe was still looking at the championship trophy, and he glanced at Qiao Hai: "Go ahead, think about it alone." ”

Qiao Hai nodded, he walked to the staircase and went up the stairs to the balcony.

Looking out over the San Gabriel Valley, Qiao Hai began to think.

It's been two days since the end of the finals, and if it's really a team interested in Qiao Hai, it should have sent an invitation a long time ago, but so far, only UCLA, Lakers, and Mavericks have called Qiao Hai or invited him in person.

Perhaps these are the only three teams available for him to choose from.

UCLA, the former king of the NCAA, was in the late stages of their 1998 UCLA, having won the NCAA championship in 1995 and reaching the quarterfinals last year and the round of 16 this year.

Head coach Jimmy Halik is in a solid position, and if Joe chooses UCLA, it is certain that he will not have much chance for a few years.

The Dallas Mavericks, if Joe remembers correctly, the Mad Scientist stayed in the Mavericks' head coach position until the 04-05 season, and the 1998 season was also the season when the Mavericks were gradually reaching their peak, and they selected German Dek Nowitzki this season, and got the cornerstone for the next decade or so.

Therefore, Don Nelson's position as coach is very solid, and it is difficult for Qiao Hai to get too many opportunities in the Mavericks.

Assistant coaches in the U.S. generally have to stay in the assistant position for ten years or more before they can go one step further and become head coaches.

Qiao Hai felt that he couldn't wait that long, and he wanted to directly cash in on his coaching talent.

So, the last option, the Los Angeles Lakers.

The team is very strong, with the big sharks O'Neal, Eddie Jones, Glen Rice and Kobe Bryant four All-Stars, as long as the record is good, it is obvious that the position of head coach will be solid.

The current head coach of the Lakers is Del Harris, nicknamed the Silver Fox, and he is also a veteran coach in the NBA.

But Joe Hai thought about Del Harris's resume, and it seems that the veteran coach was fired by the team shortly after the start of the 1998 season due to a record that did not meet expectations.

The successor, Cortlambis, led the team to a good performance, but it also failed to meet the requirements of the Lakers management, so in the 1999 season, the Lakers found Phil Jackson.

Obviously, judging from the change of head coach in the Lakers over the next two seasons, the Lakers are the best choice.

Joe Hay doesn't think he's worse than Cortlambis, he doesn't think he's worse than Del Harris, and even, he doesn't think he's worse than Phil Jackson.

The Lakers are a championship-winning team, and the departure of Del Harris is also an opportunity for Joe, as long as Johi can prove that he is the most suitable firefighting coach for the Lakers, he can at least replace Kotlambis and get the opportunity to coach the Lakers.

After thinking about it carefully, Qiao Hai's furrowed eyebrows loosened.

Perhaps, it's time to make a decision.

He found Mitch Kupchak's business card in his pocket and pulled out his phone......

……

Half an hour later, Qiao Hai returned to the living room with a relaxed face and a smile on his face.

Old Qiao had already put Qiao Hai's trophy back in the box, then looked up at Qiao Hai and pointed to the box: "You should make a good choice, I'll put the things for you, go, go chase your dreams." ”

"Old Joe, don't be pretentious, take out the trophy."

Old Qiao couldn't hold back for an instant, he was surprised: "Didn't you make a choice?" Didn't you choose? Stay in this little community league? ”

Qiao Hai smiled: "No, I chose, I chose the Los Angeles Lakers, so old Joe, I won't leave Los Angeles, I'll keep the upstairs room, I'll come back every weekend." ”

Lao Qiao was very moved, in his heart, he had long regarded Qiao Hai as his junior, his son could not accompany him because of work, and the half year with Qiao Hai was the most lively half year after Lao Qiao came to the United States, and it was also the happiest half a year for him.

After knowing that Qiao Hai stayed in Los Angeles, Lao Qiao was a little emotional, he stood up and patted Qiao Hai on the shoulder: "Boy, work hard, you can live in the upstairs room for free, I won't charge you any money." ”

"No, the money still has to be collected." Qiao Hai resigned.

The two looked at each other and smiled, and then, Qiao Hai took out the trophy again.

Lao Qiao pointed to the study upstairs: "That study also belongs to you, give you trophies, and don't charge you more rent." ”

Qiao Hai smiled again: "Okay." ”

Moving the trophy to the study and putting it in the cupboard, Qiao Hai made the first important decision of his life.

"Ding! System Upgrade! ”

……