On June 26, 2004, Zhuang Fei's first day in Los Angeles Lakers, in his head coach's office, at this time the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers Kupchak was standing in front of Zhuang Fei's desk with a worried face, at this time the general manager of the Lakers still looked at the Chinese who knocked on his desk with his right hand from time to time, and now the office of the Lakers head coach is very quiet, although the lights are on in the office, but because this office has been transformed by the former Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, Now that the windows are sealed, even the lights that are on are the kind of dim lights, coupled with this quiet atmosphere and the sound of Zhuang Fei banging on the table, which makes the Lakers head coach's office look a little gloomy, and it is precisely because of this that the Lakers general manager is also trembling in his heart at this time, because he has no idea what Zhuang Fei wants to do next, and now the situation within the Lakers is really bad, even worse than he expected.

Although he knows that Malone, O'Neal and Kobe are not right, and Zhuang Fei is not very good, and these people are still Phil Jackson's henchmen, in this case Zhuang Fei's work to the Lakers is difficult to do, but Kupchak still believes that Zhuang Fei can do things well, after all, Zhuang Fei is the league's most famous problem expert, and the ability of problem solving players is absolutely top, but when I think of the way this Chinese solved problems in the past, Kupchak was a little absolutely scared at this time.

When the Timberwolves were in the Timberwolves, the contradictions between the new and old players and the contradictions between Garnett Marbury and others did not affect the team's record, that was because the Chinese beat the old players into the cold palace as soon as they came up, kicked Marbury and those players who had conflicts with Garnett away, and to the Boston Celtics, the conflict between Anthony Walker and Maddy made former Celtics head coach Pitino suffer, but it also did not affect the Chinese, because the Chinese directly kicked Anthony Walker to the Warriors, This is a very strong person. Before Zhuang Fei became the owner, Kupchak had an investigation of Zhuang Fei, and he was very clear about Zhuang Fei's methods, he was not Phil Jackson, and his rights with Phil Jackson in the Lakers were completely different, Phil Jackson was not capable of kicking out any F6 player, but this Chinese could, if necessary. He was able to kick everyone out, and that's how old Bass trusted him.

And at this time, these Lakers players are forcing Zhuang Fei to kick them away, and when he thinks of this, the Lakers general manager is also cold in his heart, and he doesn't dare to guess what Zhuang Fei thinks now.

This morning he was ordered by Zhuang Fei to call the Lakers players who were not in Los Angeles and were on vacation everywhere, informing them to come back tomorrow to report, but to the great embarrassment of the Lakers general manager. O'Neal, the team's boss, ignored him and didn't answer Kupchak's phone call at all, and the phone couldn't get through, while Gary Payton, another player, said he didn't want to go to Los Angeles right now and said he was on vacation in Hawaii. Peyton is a Californian, and his daughters are still in high school here, so it can be said that if others have a reason, they can even confront Zhuang Fei.

But it is impossible for this Mr. Peyton to confront Zhuang Fei head-on. After all, staying in Los Angeles or California is his best choice, even if Phil Jackson really values him and really trusts him. For the sake of his ball possession, he even kicked Kobe Bryant aside, but at this time, the Lakers are no longer Phil Jackson's final say, he doesn't need to accompany Phil Jackson to die, at least in Kupchak's opinion, Peyton is not necessary to do this, he was forced to Jerry West, he just didn't want to die with Jerry West, he knew that even if Jerry West was strong, he couldn't resist the combined efforts of the two Bass Jr. and Phil Jackson, so he didn't understand Peyton's behavior, And what also made him incomprehensible was the team's starting interior line Karl Malone, one of the best power forwards in NBA history, the power forward did not refuse to answer his call, but after receiving his call, before Kupchak could say a word, one of the best power forwards in history, told the Lakers general manager bluntly that he was ready to hold a press conference and that he would choose to retire today. This is also directly so that the Lakers general manager doesn't know what to do.

It can be said that now there are not many players in the entire Lakers team who are willing to play under Zhuang Fei, except for Kobe and Szebiak, who are considered Zhuang Fei's direct cronies, Wharton and Cook and Stanislav Medvedenko are all insignificant players, and more importantly, the Lakers general manager can be said to be one of the few people who know the gamble between Zhuang Fei and the rich second generation, in this case, he naturally knows that Zhuang Fei has fallen into a desperate situation, Want to rely on Kobe and Zebiak and a few average role players to beat the behemoth he's built himself? That's basically impossible, so that's why Kupchak now feels that things are so bad, and it's unthinkable if the Chinese really finally chooses to quit the NBA and basketball. So he was also extremely worried about Zhuang Fei's current state of mind at this time, but at this time, Zhuang Fei was still quietly banging on the table, and there was no other indication at all. It's just that what Kupchak doesn't know is that this is an old habit of Zhuang Fei, which he had when he was in Vic Forest, and Zhuang Fei would be like this every time he encountered the most tricky thing.

"Mitch, do you know where Shaq is now" Zhuang Fei looked at the general manager of his team and asked with some frowns, his expression was not very good-looking at this time, and Kupchak in front of him was also shocked after hearing Zhuang Fei speak, and then looked at Zhuang Fei's expression and did not dare to slack off, and immediately nodded.

"I think he should be on the beach in Miami now, in the playoffs this year, he often told Malone and others that if he beat the Boston Celtics this year, then he invited the whole team to go to Miami for a vacation, he said that he had booked a beach villa in Miami, I think he should be there" Kupchak returned with some uncertainty, and at this time Zhuang Fei was also stunned when he heard Kupchak's words, in the impression that O'Neal did go to Miami, but soon Zhuang Fei also shook his head, It's impossible for Miami to contact O'Neill right now, and Pat Riley is still busy with things for this year's Olympics, for someone who values the Olympics more than the championship. Even if Carter flows into the free market, it is estimated that it will not affect his preparation for the Olympic Games, so at this time, O'Neill should not have anything to do with Rehe, it should be a simple vacation, and Zhuang Fei is also relieved when he thinks of this.

"Let's leave now" Zhuang Fei finally got up from his seat and walked out of the door, and Kupchak was also stunned at this time.

Leave? Going to Miami? He knew that O'Neal might go to Miami, but he wasn't sure if O'Neal was in Miami, and even if he was in Miami, he didn't know where he was in Miami. You know, tomorrow is the day when the team's players come back to report, and the day after tomorrow is the day when they leave for New York to participate in the draft, how can there be time to find O'Neal, but seeing his team's head coach like this, the Lakers general manager can only go out.

It's just that just when Zhuang Fei and Kupchak left for Miami, there was another big drama in Salt Lake City at this time, and the city's once proud postman Malone would hold a very surprising press conference here, and Malone held a press conference in a hurry. This is also the result that there are not many media in other places except the local media in Salt Lake City, but even so, the scene of the big press conference is full. Because everyone has a hunch that this could be a big deal.

And just when Zhuang Fei and Kupchak bought their plane tickets and were preparing to board the plane in the waiting room, at this time, a special picture was inserted on the large-screen TV in the airport waiting room, and the person who appeared on this screen was a figure that Los Angeles people were very familiar with. Last season's starting power forward, Karl Malone, and at this time, Karl Malone's voice surprised everyone in the waiting room.

"Today is one of the most important days of my life, and being able to announce where I love the most that I am going to give up my favorite sport is an extremely difficult thing for me and a thing that I have to do. Yes, you guessed it, this is my own retirement press conference. I'm retiring from the NBA."

And at this time, Kupchak, who saw the TV picture, was also stunned and looked at the Lakers head coach next to him, and when he wanted to say something, he found that he couldn't say anything, at this time the Chinese's face was still not very good, obviously, this is the last 'gift' that Malone gave to Zhuang Fei, and when Zhuang Fei took office, it was also when he retired.

"One of my greatest dreams was to win a championship in the NBA, to win a championship with John, and Sloan, and all my Utah Jazz teammates, and to bring the greatest gift to the city, and in the end, I found out that we all failed, and then, I left here, this place I love, my favorite teammates, my favorite head coach, and now it's the wrong choice, I was wrong from the beginning, and it couldn't be more wrong."

"The championship I've been chasing is really just an illusion, and what I really want is to be able to share all the grief and joy with John, not just a cold O'Brien Cup, when you can't get married to your favorite person, no matter how beautiful the wedding ring is, it's worthless."

"I'm sorry, John, I was wrong"

When everyone in the Los Angeles airport waiting hall saw Malone suddenly stand up and bow, everyone chose to be silent at this time, it is hard to imagine that this tough guy will have a scene of tears, and it is difficult to imagine that this Lakers' biggest opponent last year's Lakers player will have such a moment, and at this time Zhuang Fei also sighed, I don't know whether he is regretting or sympathizing.

"Mickey, let's go"

Although Zhuang Fei didn't say much, at this time, Kupchak was obviously able to see something from Zhuang Fei's back.

It's just that he still doesn't understand why Malone is like this, maybe he won't understand a lot of things from the moment he was forced to Jerry West. (To be continued.) )