“…… Why?!! ”

Team buses.

The Sacramento Kings players sat silently on the bus, and the car was very quiet all the way.

The streets of Sacramento seem to be in line with everyone's mood today, there are not many vehicles, and the silence is a little suffocating.

The car drove silently to the airport, where the players boarded a flight to San Antonio for a game that would determine the fate of the season.

But at this moment, everyone's hearts are not on the upcoming game.

A rumor hit the hearts of all the Kings' players hard.

"Why? I don't understand, why do they want you to go?!! ”

I don't know where I've gone, maybe I feel that if I don't say it again, I won't have a chance to say it again, Cousins couldn't help it, and burst out loud: "Why do you want to go?? What right do they have to ask you to go?? We have now, the Kings have a chance to play the Spurs in a tie-break, and we can go from being a fish belly to a top-four in the Western Conference in three years, and it's all up to you!! ”

"That's it!"

Cousins' throat caused many players in the car to pluck up their courage, and Thorton was also indignant: "Three years ago, this was still basketball hell, and you let us know the joy of the game, the feeling of victory, and the taste of the playoffs." Now unload the mill and kill the donkey, and suddenly you want to go?? I don't accept it! ”

"Not accepted! I don't accept it either!! ”

"Absolutely no !!"

"We're going to sign a joint book! ! The gang of people on the board of directors who don't understand the ball, why did they get the coach away?? It's up to them to go!! ”

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and in the car, the players were all filled with righteous indignation, and even White, who was rarely excited, couldn't help but protest loudly, and the usual poet elegance was gone.

"Imps, you ......"

Westphal wanted to say something, but couldn't say a word.

He didn't even have the courage to look back from the passenger seat, to look at the eyes of his beloved generals, and the fiery gaze.

Walk?

Westphal knows that, for now, this is just a rumor.

At least in the eyes of the public, it's just a rumor.

But sometimes, before the management's decision can be communicated to the team level, rumors arise in the society, and the damage to the team is absolutely unprecedented.

Westphale didn't think about leaving, and there was no need for experts like Bill Simmons to analyze it, Westphale himself knew that his coaching ability to continue to lead this Kings team was obviously a bit of a tyrannical thing.

To put it bluntly, even if the coach is a coach, he has come to an end, and he may be able to improve, but at his age, there is very little room for improvement.

The height he was able to reach was forever fixed on the 20 years ago, on the Suns team that fought against Jordan and the invincible Bulls, on the dead fat man who is now eating pizza in front of the camera, and on the noisy summer.

Since then, Westphal himself has been able to perceive that his ability to reserve knowledge, the ability to advance with the times, has gradually been left behind by the torrent. The new generation of good coaches emerge in an endless stream, but they have been standing still, and even if there is progress, it is a very small improvement, and there is no way to really lead the team to win.

Being able to coach the Kings, Westphal didn't think much about it at first, after all, the Kings at that time were just a super fish belly, and they were no longer as brave as they used to be. The reason why the management invited the coach to come is that the coach has the ability to cultivate young players.

As for what constructs the team culture, allows the players to go further, and makes the team go to glory, the management itself doesn't think that far. Westfaal, of course, didn't think that far.

When a monk rings the bell for a day, it is obviously an overstatement to describe Westfaal's state with the Kings in this way. But Westphall himself knew that in the first two years of coming to the Kings, that was basically what he thought.

Do not seek merit, but seek no fault.

As long as he steadily brings the team over this difficult period of lack of success, the future will not be under his control.

However, no one expected that the team would actually select three players who are enough to become the cornerstone of the future in successive drafts for several consecutive years.

If Evans and Cousins, these two high-ranking showers can grow to the point where they are today, it is an expected surprise.

Then Gu Yu's super-fast growth is the X factor that affects everything.

Originally, even with Evans and Cousins, with the talents of these two, it was promising to impact the All-Star and the playoffs. But to go one step further and become a playoff spoiler and a top-four seeded team in the division, the role the Kings are in today, the two of them alone are not enough.

The Kings also need a superstar, a ruthless character who can cover the sky with one hand in some moments, be the lubricant between Evans and Cousins, and at some point, be the savior of the team.

Only in this way can the team truly complete the transformation and reach a higher level.

Westphaal once thought that this proud son of heaven was obtained either through a trade or through a draft in a certain big year, and the top-level candidate.

And before this man arrives, what he needs to do is tinker with the existing framework, get Evans and Cousins ready, build a relatively positive team atmosphere for the team, and wait for that person to appear.

At that time, his mission with the Kings will be completed.

So he thinks that his role in the long history of the Kings should be something like a forest ranger or a grave sweeper. Take care of the growth of the two saplings of Evans and Cousins, sweep away the dust on the monuments of the past from time to time, prepare for the new era that will come sooner or later, and then retire.

It's just that he didn't expect that this era would come so quickly.

It's almost to himself, and he is a little dizzy.

Gu Yu appeared.

"Old man."

“…… Well? ”

Westphall is thinking about a lot of the past, thinking about the bits and pieces of the years with the Kings.

Gu Yu spoke.

"Is there any way to get you to stay?"

Gu Yu frowned, and said with a straight face: "Tell us, let's do it, it's as simple as that." ”

"Stay...... Is it? ”

Westfahl froze.

That's right, it's Gu Yu.

Gu Yu's birth has advanced the road to the revival of the Kings by an unknown number of years, and many of the problems that the original king had to consider - salary, status, shooting rights, run-in time, foreign monks' ball rights, etc. - all of them have been solved.

At least three years.

The appearance of Gu Yu made the king's revival at least three years earlier.

As a result, Westphal was a little confused.

On the one hand, he is pleased with the rapid changes in the team, the players have formed a good winning atmosphere, and the team has the strength to challenge those hegemons at an incredible speed.

On the other hand, he was confused, wondering whether he should continue to insist on the role he had already set. Or go one step further and simply fight for something more for the team, for Sacramento.

Then, it's up to this year's playoffs.

The Kings swept in the first round, the second round and the championship favorite Spurs battled to the seventh game, and-

The success of his two sets of tactics that he racked his brains to come up with.

All of this is stimulating Westfaal's nerves. He couldn't tell whether everything in front of him was a false mirage or a real miracle.

He was vaguely, some complacent, some proud, and some took it for granted, and attributed part of the credit to himself.

It's because of me, because of the tactics I gave, that we won!

But the sixth game is the damn sixth.

When he saw that Gu Yu, Cousins, and Evans were not bound by his cumbersome tactics, and they were running wildly on the field, but they burst out with a light that was many times more dazzling than before.

He understood two things.

First, punch the master to death. To defeat the Spurs, delegating power may be far more important than the complex tactics of Rausch.

Second, their own tactics did not bring much improvement and help to the players.

On the contrary, his own tactics have tied the wings of these geniuses.

Westphal finally understood that he was not qualified to teach these geniuses.

Especially......

"Little ghost."

There was silence for a while, and no one on the bus spoke, all waiting for Westfair to respond to Gu Yu's question.

A wry smile rose from the corner of the old handsome's mouth, and the information he heard from Petri surged out.

Change of coach?

No.

The Sacramento Kings, the new owner of the team who is about to become the owner, may have more ambitions in mind.

They want to exchange blood.

"You say."

Behind him, Gu Yu's stubborn voice was still ringing: "What do you want us to do, just say that my career, the career of all of us, was saved by you alone." This team, this city, is also saved by you. Now we want you to go, we don't agree! ”

"No !!"

The players were indignant and shouted in unison.

"I ......"

Let's not talk about it.

Westphall closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them.

There are some things, for now, let's not talk about it......!

"If you really want me to stay, then ......"

The car stopped near the entrance to the airport's VIP passage, and Westphall looked back, his eyes blazing.

"Give me the seventh game, give me ...... win!"