"Stupid deal, it's a stupid deal, I suspect Kupchak's brain burned out!" Phil Jackson was furious in an interview, "What a stupid idea is he breaking up the championship group just to form the Big Three, is it only a ball market in his eyes?" ”

Anyone who knows a little bit about ball knows what Phil means. The team needs the support of fans, and the Lakers have the highest support and ratings in the world with Kobe Bryant and Dynasty, but if the Lakers bring in Paul and Howard, the two most popular players in their respective positions, then the Lakers will undoubtedly dominate the country and become the NBA.

Even if we don't talk about their respective terrifying strengths, assuming they don't have the ability to win the championship, this combination can still bring the Lakers a very beneficial income, and more importantly, the salary of this roster is not as high as the salary of the entire Lakers team last year, what a perfect combination.

But as the head coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson was very opposed to the deal, and even openly scolded in front of the media.

Compared with Phil's anger, Kobe, who is the boss of the Lakers, seems much calmer.

"First of all, I feel very sad that Wang Meng, Gasol, Bydam and other excellent players have left the team, and I have cooperated with them for so long, after all, there are feelings, but people have to look forward, don't they? We can't just give up on life because of a moment of disappointment, right, so I think I should be actively preparing for next season, rather than dwelling on whether the trade was right or not. ”

Kobe Bryant also called Wang Meng privately, comforted Wang Meng, and explained that Wang Meng could call him at any time if he didn't understand or couldn't figure it out.

Anyway, this seemingly ridiculous deal has been formed, the contract has been established, and the contract cannot be broken casually, Wang Meng can only accept this fact even if he is reluctant, the only thing that makes him feel better is that Gasol, who has a good relationship with him, is also in the Wasps.

Gasol also called Wang Meng after receiving the information that he was traded, his meaning is very clear, since he has been traded to the Hornets, it is useless to complain, Wang Meng has a good relationship with him, the two of them might as well collude early, and when the two of them join forces with the Hornets, they don't have to be bullied by the old Hornets players, a bear king who has long been famous, and a new MVP, and they can mix together in any team.

Let go of all this for the time being, Wang Meng concentrates on preparing for his training, there are really not many opportunities for Johnson to train him, Wang Meng must focus all his energy on this wholeheartedly, in order to learn more.

It stands to reason that the NBA's normal start time is in early October, when the preseason officially starts, but the 11-12 season, that is, Wang Meng's second season, is slightly different.

Wang Meng has been practicing and is not very clear about the situation in this regard, but it seems that the team owner wants to cut the salary of the players, and then the players don't do it, the bosses don't care, and they insist on cutting the salary, and the players are annoyed, okay, don't you want to cut the salary? It's okay if you don't want a salary, you can play by yourself, and then, and then there will be no then, there are no players to play, how can the NBA start?

Shutdown, a word full of horror in the NBA, has reappeared.

In fact, there have been four shutdowns in NBA history, the most recent being from July 1998 to January 1999. Of course, Wang Meng, who had just entered the alliance, did not feel any sense of this situation, and he did not have any sense of crisis.

"It's just that I can't play for the time being, I think this kind of problem will be solved soon, don't worry." Wang Meng said this when he was interviewed when he went out, and he still seemed very relaxed at that time, "Ah? What do I think about the shutdown? Those bosses have made so much money, why do they still deduct the wages of us migrant workers? Yes? What should I do if the shutdown doesn't end for a long time? What can I do? I can't go to the stadium to play alone, can I? ”

For these questions, Wang Meng often answers them easily.

"So what do you think of the retirement of your compatriot Yao Ming?"

"I don't have any opinion on this, Yao Ming is very good in the United States, it can be said that one of the goals I strive for, his retirement is due to injury, I hope he can recover from the injury ideally, and he is also successful on other roads." Wang Meng thought for a while, "It's gone." ”

This year is really a turbulent year, everything is rushing together, now think back, O'Neal announced his retirement in early June, Yao Ming announced his retirement in early July, Wang Meng Gasol, Paul Howard was traded in early August, and there was nothing to do in early September but it was shut down in early October.

As the shutdown got longer and longer, Wang Meng was a little less calm.

Wang Meng really wants to ask, what do you want to make trouble?

You must know that during the shutdown, Wang Meng and these players did not get a salary, and in the entire NBA league, there are superstars like Kobe Bryant who earn tens of millions of dollars a year, but there are also role players who only earn more than 100,000 yuan.

However, Wang Meng is just a small person in the NBA, and even if he asks, it is estimated that there are few people who bird him. Wang Meng should be glad that his Chinese identity allows him to get a lot of advertising contracts, even if he does not play, he still has a lot of income, which can make him wander around every day without being hungry, this feeling, just like the summer vacation, when the school is about to start, [***] comes, and the school is closed again.

As far as Wang Meng knows, Howard and other living treasures were idle and bored, so he made a thing called "lying on the street" on Twitter, taking photos of himself lying in various places and putting them on the Internet, the more strange and interesting the place he climbed, Wang Meng also followed the blind coaxing, and took a photo of himself lying on the rebound, and the response was okay, just entertaining himself.

In this way, the shutdown lasted for six weeks, and about 100 games were missed, before the players' union finally negotiated a suitable contract with the team owners, and the NBA was finally ready to play.

In order to save a trace of popularity, on the day of the opening game of Christmas, Stern concentrated on arranging a very gorgeous big game, 5 big battles, all of which are favorites, Celtics vs Knicks, Heat vs Lakers, Bulls vs Hornets, Thunder vs Hawks, Clippers vs Warriors.

Now that the shutdown is over and the union's ban on players and teams has been lifted, Wang Meng has also flown to New Orleans to see his new club.

For the new owner of the Hornets, Wang Meng is still a little apprehensive, after all, he used to be very arrogant here, whether he will be popular or not, Wang Meng is not clear, Wang Meng is most afraid of being directly shot to death on the cold bench since then, and he has not even had any playing time.

Wang Meng went with Gasol, and since he had become a difficult brother, he simply went together.