"Thank you all for coming to my press conference, thank you! Thank you! ”

"Today is the most important day of my life, and maybe it's a very difficult decision for everyone who loves basketball."

"Although I have experienced an amazing 18 years, there is always an end to good things, and there is no feast in the world that will never be dissolved!"

"I might look like a retiring politician today, but I don't want to do that either, I don't want you to feel like you're listening to a governor's speech. All I can say now is gratitude, first of all I want to thank my mother, who brought me into this world, and secondly, my wife and children, thank you for always being there for me and always supporting me. ”

"I would also like to thank Larry, Frank and David for bringing me from Louisiana to Salt Lake City and giving me a stage where I could do my best, and if it weren't for them, I would never have known that Carl Malone could have been so good!"

"I also want to thank you, Mr. Sloane, for turning me from a boy into a real man."

"Of course, there are also the teammates who played alongside me, especially Mark Eaton, who was constantly encouraging and comforting me when I first entered the league and played for the first time."

"And all the Jazz fans, thank you for your support and patience over the years, it is your encouragement that has allowed me to keep improving, and finally I have become the current Karl Malone!"

"'17, I was in Salt Lake City for 17 years, and even though I left last season, I'll always be a Jazz. If I'm lucky enough to be in the Hall of Fame, I'll be an old guy who is proud of being a Jazz, and I'll be wearing the No. 32 shirt I wore when I first played, and although he was very worn, it would never lose its luster in my eyes. ”

On June 28, 2003, the day after the end of the draft, in the press conference room of the Triangle Center Arena in Salt Lake City, Carl Malone, who wore a cowboy hat, held the last press conference of his career in the company of Sloan and others. Therefore, these reporters at the scene are also speculating that maybe Stockton was too ruthless to Malone last season, causing the pair to fight against each other for 17 seasons, so that Malone is now reluctant to mention Johnson Stottonke.

"Now, on behalf of Karl Malone, I'm officially announcing that I'm going to retire from basketball, I don't know if I'm going to leave basketball, but I can promise that I'm not going back to the court, thank you for coming to this press conference, it's going to be the last time, yes, there will never be a next time." Ma Long, who could barely squeeze out a smile just now, after officially announcing his retirement decision, the tough guy Ma Long finally couldn't help it, and tears fell down the corners of his eyes.

"I'm sorry, John, I was wrong!" Just when the reporters at the scene looked at Ma Long with tears on his face and sighed, Ma Long, who was sitting on the stage, suddenly stood up, took off the cowboy hat on his head at the same time, bowed to the audience, choked up and said what he hoped Stockton would forgive him.

"From the time I entered this league, I, John, Jerry, many, many more people who played for the Jazz, we all had a common dream, which was to bring a championship to Salt Lake City, but in the end we all failed. So I left here, I left you, to pursue that ethereal honor, but now I realize that I was wrong, that I couldn't lift it with you without you, that even if it was a championship, it didn't mean anything. ”

"I'm sorry, John! Sorry, Jerry! Sorry, Larry! Sorry Frank! Sorry, David! I hope you will forgive me. After a few consecutive excuses, Malone bowed again to the audience and to Jerry Sloan beside him.

"Karl 。。。。。。。" Looking at Carl Malone in tears, Jerry Sloan could no longer control his emotions, and the dissatisfaction with Malone in his heart disappeared at this moment.

"For the sake of your sincerity, I will reluctantly forgive you!" At this moment, at the door of the press conference hall of the Triangle Center Arena in Salt Lake City, through the glass at the door, it was obvious that there was a familiar figure standing outside the door, looking at Ma Long, who was crying, and the guy who was peeking at the door also wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

。。。。。。

On July 20, 2003, just after the NBA league lifted the free agent signing restrictions, the teams announced one blockbuster signing after another, first of all, the Spurs, on the day the restrictions were lifted, the official website of the Spurs announced the news of the renewal of the contract of the star Tim Duncan, 7 years 122 million, the Spurs used the largest contract in team history, leaving Duncan. Then Kidd and the Nets also reached a contract extension, 7 years and 103.5 million, although it is a little worse than Duncan's contract, but compared to the Suns, who refused to give even 10 million contracts, the Nets' contract is definitely a conscience.

The two consecutive contracts of 100 million yuan immediately detonated the entire league, although Duncan and Kidd deserve this contract, but on the first day after the free agent signing restriction was lifted, there were two contracts worth hundreds of millions, which is absolutely unprecedented.

"The defending champion is about to collapse!" Just a week after the NBA lifted the free agent signing restriction, the New York Times made such a headline in its basketball section! Because more than half of the players in the Pacers team became free agents after the end of this season, the Pacers, as the defending champions, have also become the target of many teams in the league, due to the inability to match the offers made by the Knicks and the Bulls, the Pacers' main point guard Jamal Tinsley, joined the Knicks for 6 years and $48 million, Bobby Simmons joined the Bulls for 3 years and $15 million, and then Lorenzen White joined the Nets for 6 years and $50 million. If the departure of the above three is not enough to hurt the Pacers' bones, then when Richard Hamilton joined the Pistons for 6 years and $80 million, and Jermaine O'Neal's contract extension has never been completed, the Pacers, who have just completed the defense of the title, are really facing a collapse.

Because the Pacers' preferred contract extension object has always been Jermaine O'Neal, there is also a little cold on the Hamilton side, and the Pacers' offer for Jermaine O'Neal and Hamilton is not the same, the Pacers fired Jermaine O'Neal for 7 years and 106 million, a contract extension larger than Jason Kidd, while the contract given to Hamilton is 5 years and 55 million. As the Pacers' No. 2 scorer in the Finals, Hamilton was obviously dissatisfied with the Pacers' contract extension and this contract, so after the Pistons offered Hamilton a six-year $80 million contract, Hamilton's agent gave an ultimatum to the Pacers, if the Pacers don't come up with a better contract, then Hamilton will give up the contract extension negotiations with the Pacers, and finally when the Pacers raised the contract extension to $70 million for six years, They got the news that Hamilton had joined the Pistons.

As the Lakers who have met the Pacers in the Finals for two consecutive seasons, the current situation is very similar to the Pacers, Malone retired, Payton announced that he would not renew his contract with the Lakers, and O'Neal jumped out of the contract, Kobe Bryant also sent a trade request to the club, therefore, as the two most beautiful teams in the past two seasons, the Lakers and Pacers are definitely the two most miserable teams this summer.

With the dust settles on the contracts of Duncan and Kidd, O'Neal has undoubtedly become the most concerned object in the free market, so now all the teams interested in O'Neal have gathered in Los Angeles, but the Lakers are still in dispute about keeping O'Neal to rebuild the team or keep Kobe Bryant to rebuild the team, so the soap opera about O'Neal will continue, but it is certain that whether O'Neal eventually leaves or stays, his contract extension becomes the third 100 million yuan contract this summer, It's undoubtedly a sure thing.

。。。。。。

"Meng, what advice do you have regarding the selection of the team's head coach, the renewal of the contract this summer, and the reinforcement work?" The general manager's office of the Indianapolis Pacers, Kevin Pritchard, who acts as general manager, as well as Lester Connell, acting head coach, and Rick Fuson, who temporarily exercises the role of president of basketball affairs, are discussing with Meng Xu how to solve the current predicament that the team is facing. And Meng Xu is going to return to China tomorrow, so the management of the Pacers also took advantage of the time before Meng Xu returned to China to seek Meng Xu's opinion, after all, how the Pacers are changing, they also have to formulate tactics around Meng Xu, so Meng Xu's suggestion is undoubtedly very important.

"The manager? I don't have a lot of requirements for the manager, you can just think it's right for our team. Meng Xu said as he glanced at Lester Connell, now the Pacers know that Lester Conor is just an over-the-top candidate, not to mention that others don't believe him, even he doesn't have the confidence to take charge of the Pacers now.

"Larry recommended Rick to us, what do you think?" After hearing Meng Xu's words, Rick Fuson threw out a head coach candidate, that is, Rick Carlisle, who had just been fired by the Pistons, as Larry Bird's little brother, Rick Carlisle gave Larry Bird three years as an assistant coach, originally when Larry Bird resigned last time, he recommended Rick Carlisle to replace him, but the Pacers finally chose Isaiah Thomas. And just when Isaiah Thomas brought the Pacers into the abyss, Rick Carlisle, who ran to take charge of the Pistons, quietly won the head coach of the year, and also brought the Pistons, who were constantly struggling on the edge of the playoffs, to the division semifinals for three consecutive seasons, to say that Rick Carlisle's results are good enough for the Pistons who have missed the playoffs for many years, but the management of the Pistons is still not satisfied with the current record, after Larry Brown left the 76ers, the management of the Pistons quietly contacted Larry Brown, After reaching a verbal agreement with Larry Brown, he directly fired Rick Carlisle, and it can be said that the management of the Pistons is also a group of owners who don't admit it when they lift their pants.

"You didn't choose Rick to retribution, did you?" After hearing about Rick Fuson's candidate, Meng Xu's first thought was, are these guys reporting the repechage, you poached Hamilton, we will sign your previous head coach, and Popovich is now crazy about pursuing Jermaine O'Neal, you disgusted me, I will definitely be disgusted back.

"Meng, of course not, the selection of the head coach is related to the future of our team, there is no room for any jokes, and you will know in the future that Rick is a very capable head coach." After hearing Meng Xu's words, Rick Fussen immediately vetoed it with righteous words, we are a group of very professional managers.

"Well, well, as for the team's contract renewal, Jermaine must stay, and secondly, in the position of playmaker, we have to bring in a player to replace Jamal, as for the candidate? I think Payton and Andre Miller are good, but I don't know if they're going to come or not. "For those players who left, Meng Xu didn't have much hatred, after all, this is a business league, everyone has to consider their own interests, for the sake of the so-called friendship, it is obviously unrealistic to easily give up a salary of millions a year.

"It seems that we are on the same page." After hearing Meng Xu's answer, Rick Fusson and Kevin Prithard nodded reassuringly, although these two are now the acting general manager and acting president, but the two of them do not have the same prestige as Larry Bird in the Pacers, if there is really a situation where they and Meng Xu have a left-sided opinion, it must be them who compromise, so after making sure that Meng Xu's opinion is consistent with his own thoughts, the Pacers' next operation will be easier. Before that, Rick Fuson and Kevin Prithard, they were afraid that Meng Xu would let the team kick Jermaine O'Neal in order to avoid the same situation for the Pacers after seeing the Lakers' O'Neal and Kobe Bryant have a lot of trouble, after all, Meng Xu also left the Spurs for the same reason, and Meng Xu's heart must be very sensitive to this kind of thing.