"Greg, David's injury is fine, the team doctor said that he needs to rest for a week to ten days or so before he can continue to participate in the next games." On the day he returned to San Antonio after the Suns' game, Popovich plunged headlong into the video room.

Although he swept the Suns to advance, Popovich did not have much joy, and as last season's champion, the Spurs' road to defending the title this season is not destined to be smooth. Although moved back to a home court by the Kings, the Lakers still firmly control the rhythm of the game, the Spurs semifinals are likely to face the Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson after entering the Lakers this season, the Lakers played the best record in the league with 67 wins, but this season the Lakers are 1-3 against the Spurs, with Tim Duncan and David Robinson's Spurs, is the only two teams in the league that still have an advantage on the inside against the Lakers, the other team is the Trail Blazers with Jermaine O'Neal and 3 All-Star inside.

This season's Lakers is a team with very obvious advantages and disadvantages, with an interior giant like O'Neal, and also two All-Star players like Glen Rice and Kobe Bryant, as long as they play normally, this trio is 70+ a game is simply easy and enjoyable, but the Lakers' scoring is too concentrated, except for these three, none of the remaining players of the Lakers have an average of 10 points per game, which is also the Lakers' biggest weakness. In a few games with the Lakers this season, the interior combination of David Robinson and Tim Duncan has done a good job of limiting O'Neal's scoring efficiency, and the Spurs' outside defense has also been greatly improved this season, Meng Xu is simply Glen Rice's nemesis, this All-Star outside who averaged 18 points per game this season, has not scored a double-double in 4 games against Meng Xu.

Because of this, in the face of the hopelessness of the league's first place, in order to avoid their nemesis Trail Blazers, the Spurs deliberately released water in the final game of the season, and the ranking slipped all the way to fourth in the West.

But David Robinson's injury has added more uncertainties to this series, and the first two games with the Lakers David Robinson will definitely not be able to play, and it is still unknown whether Tim Duncan can limit O'Neal alone, in this case, once the Lakers win two home games in a row, then it will be very unfavorable to the Spurs.

There is also a very important point that the Spurs' current game state is not very good, in the series with the Suns, the Spurs' outside four iron once again proved their iron strength, except for Meng Xu because of his lack of desire to score, the number of shots is less, the rest of Mario Elie, Sean Etellio, Avery Johnson three games a total of 86 shots 23, the basket is about to be smashed by them, if it weren't for the Spurs' defense is still strong and Tim Duncan David Robinson 20 + 10 per game, it's really hard to say who will die.

Thinking of Meng Xu, Popovich is angry, since the last game of the season, Meng Xu was criticized by Popovich for not having team spirit because of too many 3-point shots, this guy's shots in the playoffs have plummeted, and the Suns series only 14 times in 3 games, 3 games scored 0 points, 4 points, 12 points. In Popovich's heart, Meng Xu's positioning and requirements are not only to complete the defensive tasks on the court, but also to contribute more than 10 points stably in each game.

Just when Popovich was racking his brains for the next round of the game, Meng Xu, who returned home, was also faced with a difficult choice.

"Xiao Xu, this is a new contract offered to you by Nike and Adi Reebok." Just after dinner, He Hui took out a stack of documents from the drawer and put them in front of Meng Xu, who was watching TV while munching on an apple.

"Didn't Sister Hui say that she would drag them for the time being?" Putting the uneaten apples on the coffee table, Meng Xu began to look through the contents of the contract.

"It's a new contract that these three companies have offered you since you got the Defensive Player of the Year, and the revised contract has changed a lot from the previous one." He Hui stroked her hair, and then said, "Reebok's contract amount is the highest, and the contract period is also the longest, 30 million for 6 years. Adi's contract is 15 million for 4 years, and the minimum contract amount for Nike is 10 million for 3 years. ”

"Sister Hui, what do you think?" Hearing He Hui's words, Meng Xu directly put down the Nike contract he was browsing in his hand, with a difference of $20 million in 3 years, which is not a small amount.

"Reebok's contract is the largest and most sincere, but Reebok's strength is also the weakest, and there are not many players in the league who can take Reebok's shots, Reebok's manager in charge of basketball promises that as long as you sign Reebok, then they will make you a brother under Reebok."

"First brother? Do I have that strength and influence? Meng Xu was quite skeptical of Reebok's promise.

"Xiao Xu, although your current strength is not up to the All-Star level. But your potential is very promising to all. As for your influence, Xiao Xu, don't ignore the tens of millions of domestic fans behind you, as the first player to log in to the NBA, now your influence in China is very large, and the president of the league, David Stern, has always wanted to implement his China strategy, and you are a very important part of his China strategy. ”

"So Sister Hui, are you inclined to Reebok?" After all, compared to the influence of any company, 20 million real money is the most realistic.

"Nope." He Hui shook her head, "My personal preference is Mike. ”

"Why not Adi? If you talk about strength, Adi is not much worse than Mike? "In terms of business acumen, Meng Xu is definitely not as good as He Hui, who graduated from Wake Forest Business School.

"Adi's main market is in Europe, and basketball is only a small part of Adi's business allocation. In North America, when it comes to basketball, Mike is the boss. And most importantly, Mike is the main sponsor of the NBA league. The competition between Mike and Adi in the global market has now reached a white-hot state, but Adi has never been able to shake Nike's position in the NBA. If you want to get more honors, I still recommend Nike, after all, the league has to consider the interests of sponsors in the selection of many awards. ”

"Well, according to Sister Hui's meaning. It's just the seniors there. Meng Xu was still a little hesitant, but for He Hui, Meng Xu still trusted him very much. Duncan is Adi's star, Adi's contract was also introduced by Duncan, if Nike is chosen, Meng Xu is also afraid that it will cause Duncan's unhappiness, after all, Duncan is now the boss of the team and Meng Xu's senior, and the relationship between the two is also extraordinary.

"I don't think you're going to blame you, and even if you have to sign a contract, you have to wait until the end of the season. As for the contract amount and additional terms, we can still fight for it. ”

"So when will I be able to get my own signature sneaker?" Meng Xu asked with a smile, in the current Spurs team, Duncan and David Robinson both have their own signature sneakers, and every time he sees the kind of shoes that are exclusive to him, Meng Xu is drooling. Meng Xu's shoe cabinet now also houses signed sneakers by Jordan, Duncan and David Robinson.

"It's going to be soon."