Hornacek, who was not in a good situation, was called by Phil Jackson to talk again, although the "Zen Master" informed Hornacek in advance that the content of this conversation had nothing to do with the team's record and his personal future, but Huo Shuai was still a little uneasy.

It's never a good thing to be interviewed by your boss at such a sensitive moment, and it kills a cunning boss.

The cunning Phil Jackson, who is always elusive, first asked about Hornacek's squad with a smile on his face, as well as his thoughts and suggestions for the team.

In the face of the president's inquiry, the honest Hornacek of course answered truthfully, he told the "Zen Master" that after Roy's injury, the atmosphere of the whole team was a little dignified, a little frustrated, and the morale also plummeted, and now is the most difficult period for the team, which needs the support of the team management.

After listening to Hornacek's report, Phil Jackson roughly counted, and the situation was similar to what he had guessed, just like when he was with the Bulls when he encountered Jordan's retirement and when he was with the Lakers, the departure of key players will always make the rest of the team feel uneasy, and will make their original confident mentality fundamentally change.

Phil Jackson was noncommittal about Hornacek's plea for help, and he turned the conversation around and revealed even worse news to Hornacek, "Jeff (Hornacek), I have to tell you the truth, according to Dr. Carter's advice, Roy may miss the rest of the season, you have to be mentally prepared. ”

Missing all the remaining games? Isn't that the season reimbursement? Hornacek blinked in disbelief as he had to reconfirm what he had just heard with Phil Jackson, but the result was that Roy would likely miss the rest of the season.

No way? Hornacek nearly fainted in the president's office, and by the time he came to his senses, Phil Jackson had already moved on to the next topic.

"Jeff, if Roy is out for the season, do you still have the confidence to lead the Knicks to the playoffs?"

It's a really sensitive subject, and when it comes to results, Hornacek doesn't hesitate.

"I can't say for sure, but the chances should be slim, but I'll do my best." Hornacek is indeed a real person, and he knows that even if Phil Jackson reappears in the current lineup, he will not be able to handle it, let alone himself.

"If you were asked to strengthen the team, what position would you like to strengthen?" Phil Jackson's second question is also very direct, and his voiceover seems to be if Roy really can't play, I'll give you some additional players, can you get the Knicks into the playoffs?

"We need reinforcements in both the number one and the number five, and now Roy is injured and there are problems with the number two......

"By the way, I can only give you one or two players, and it's definitely not going to be an All-Star level." Phil Jackson interrupted Hornacek, and his words took back the words that Hornacek had spat out on.

"Phil (Jackson), the depth of the squad is really thin right now......"

"My question is, what are our top reinforcement positions going forward? I don't have that many chips. ”

"No. 1, if possible, get a better defender."

Hornacek didn't say any more, he knew that the smart "Zen master" must have already had an idea, and his conversation was more like a wake-up call for himself, so all Huo Shuai could do was wait for the "Zen master" to provide him with bullets.

Phil Jackson did have a lot of ideas, and when Thomas Carter told him that Roy might be out for the season, he decided to speed up the team's recruitment efforts.

In fact, there are indeed a lot of resources that can be used on the Knicks team at the moment, such as Lance Thomas and Kyle O'Quinne, who have not been able to play, and their ability is indeed not bad at all. Lance Thomas also played in 59 games last season, starting five of them, averaging 8.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game, and is a good bench player at the small forward position, while Kyle O'Quinn played 65 games last season, starting one, averaging 4.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

In addition to the two of them, Phil Jackson also intends to reduce the swelling of the team's bloated No. 3 (small forward), which now has four players in this position: Jay Crowder, Jaylen Brown, Darrell Arthur, and Lance Thomas, plus Roy and Justin Holiday can also make cameos in this position, trading one or two to strengthen the team's No. 1 and No. 5 positions is definitely a must.

Phil Jackson has a long way to go, and this year he patted his chest with Knicks owner James Dolan to make the playoffs and restore New York's glory. But it was still December, when the Knicks were at their strongest, but I didn't expect that a month later, the Knicks would fall to such a field, and the cruelty of the NBA is beyond imagination......

When Phil Jackson and Jeff Hornacek scratched their heads for the team's lineup, Roy was not idle, and after his and Dr. Carter's hard work, Dr. Carter finally agreed to let Roy go to the training ground for a walk, but Roy was not allowed to participate in any sports and confrontations, all he could do was let go and go around the corners.

Roy appeared on the training ground, his appearance surprised the whole team, Hornacek wiped his eyes, Malone took the lead in applauding, Hernana Gomez wanted to pounce on Roy to give Roy a big bear hug, but his action was immediately stopped by Dr. Carter on the side.

"Don't get too excited, Roy isn't here to train today, he's just coming to see everyone." Dr. Carter's words were a slap in the face to those who were still on the rise.

The atmosphere became solemn again, and the players who were still smiling just now returned to seriousness.

"Roy, how are you feeling?" Seeing that the atmosphere was a little stiff, Hornacek broke the dullness, he was the first to come up and care about Roy, he remembered the conversation with Phil Jackson yesterday, and he also knew exactly what the president's words meant.

"My knee doesn't hurt as much and I can walk, but Thomas [Carter] doesn't want me to risk it." Roy sighed helplessly, and could see his desire to fight.

"Hmm." Hornacek clasped his hands to his chest and bowed his head in acquiescence, "Have you watched the team play lately?" "Hornacek seems to have made a lot of determination to raise the question of poking the wound.

"Of course, I watched all our games and we played...... Well...... It's a little messy, but everyone is still very hard. "Roy has a lot of affection for the team and Hornacek, and if you want to talk about the Knicks' recent performance, it's a little messy, it's simply disorganized.

"Roy, it's a shame you can't play, are you really unable to play? Can't you play the rest of the game? Hornacek wasn't dead yet, he was asking himself this question.

Roy glanced at Hornacek and then at his familiar teammates, and he was even more helpless, "Seriously, I want to play too, I still have a lot of things to do." ”

"Hmm." Hornacek fell into deep thought again, and Stockton, who was on the side, saw the general whispering there, and simply led the team to start training alone.

The sound of the basketball hitting the ground immediately resounded throughout the training field, and Roy, who heard the basketball again, immediately came to his senses, he asked for the basketball in Hernangomez's hand, and kept slapping.

"Well, Jeff (Hornacek), am I okay?" Roy was in a good mood at the touch of the basketball, but he was about to dribble and take two steps before Dr. Carter stopped him.

"Don't make a fuss, Roy, if you don't mess around with my request, you won't have a chance to come to the training ground next time."

Dr. Carter stopped Roy's right leg from taking a step and dispelled his desire to shoot, and Roy shook his head unwillingly.

He turned to Hornacek again, "Jeff (Hornacek), if I can, I'll come to your next home game, be sure to do your best." ”

Come on? Hornacek smiled bitterly, why didn't he want to win, wasn't he the person who wanted to win the most in the audience.

"Roy, you take care of your injuries, you don't have to worry about the team, they're all a good bunch of lads."

"Well, Jeff, I'll be coming to see you often, so I'm going to hold on."

"Even if it's not me standing here one day, Roy, your future is limitless, don't relax your requirements for yourself in the future, you will succeed, you will become a real superstar in the league."

Hornacek smiled bitterly, this sentence sounded more like a farewell to him and Roy......