April 13, the final matchday of the 2010-2011 regular season.

The Mavericks swept the Hornets at home by a 23-point advantage at 119:96 to knock the Hornets out of the playoffs.

The Clippers "let the water out" at home, losing to the Grizzlies 90-105, and the two teams finished seventh and eighth in the West, respectively.

In this game, Min Congda got his wish and let the Clippers fall to the eighth place in the West.

He thought that although he made the playoffs, he was eighth in the West last year and eighth this year.

When the time comes, they will be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs again, and there will be no progress, and the team's prestige will slowly fall.

After two or three more seasons, wait until the Lakers, Spurs, Grizzlies, Thunder and other teams, the old strong teams will become stronger, and the new strong teams will rise, crushing the Clippers under them, and the Clippers will be ready to disintegrate.

Although the team's operation in the past two years has been good, while the income is high, the expenses are also large.

When revenue declines and expenses remain the same, the Clippers are not far from bankruptcy.

Just like some people, the current salary is 20,000 yuan a month, and they take 10,000 yuan to repay the loan to buy a big house of 200 square meters.

There are still 10,000 yuan left in the salary and bonus, which is more than enough money every month, so there is no need to worry about it.

But the good times didn't last long, and when the economy was down, the industry environment was not good, he was fired by the company, he lost his job and had no income, and the loan of 10,000 yuan per month was a lifeline.

The better ones are desperate to find a good job and try to maintain it, but the income can no longer reach the level it once was, but the loan of 10,000 yuan a month will not change.

The worse ones faced the suspension of the loan and the interruption of the payment, and finally the house was repossessed, and the bank worked for nothing, and it was empty.

Min Congda saw a lot of such people when he was in the bank, because people always make expectations based on the present and simply think that the future will be better.

But the reality is likely to be the best in the present, and it will only get worse in the future.

If the Clippers don't say anything else, the salaries of the team's employees and players alone are a huge expense.

Bringing in Steve Cole and Jeff Ball, it's all millions of dollars in salary expenses.

Moreover, Min Congda is also determined not to lay off employees, and the coaching staff has more people, and he will not lay off to maintain a large team.

Not to mention the various departments of the team, which have only increased rather than decreased, and the number of departments has increased by two compared to last season.

The number of employees increased by six percent, and total payroll expenses increased by twenty-five percent.

The Clippers stay in hotels and planes away from home, and try to provide the best and definitely don't save money.

Although the sponsorship of various enterprises has increased, a considerable part of it has been invested by Min Congda in the bottomless pit of China's Basketball Development Foundation.

Olchea went to China for more than a week in March, and when he returned, he said that the basketball game was in full swing and his influence in some cities in China was growing.

But he still didn't find any excellent seedlings, and he couldn't even pass Fan Chen's level, let alone enter the eyes of Olxie and Min Congda.

Min Congda was quite satisfied with the "Three Treasures Plan" and asked to continue to implement and invest.

There is also the huge "Afang Palace Plan", and Min Congda has not forgotten it.

In February this year, because of the previous good foundation of cooperation (opening a restaurant), coupled with the excellent performance of the Clippers and good potential, Wells Fargo, National City Bank and Clippers signed a strategic cooperation agreement.

The two banks provided Clippers with $15 million and $20 million respectively, which can provide loan funds for the Clippers in the acquisition or construction of some fixed assets.

While $35 million is a drop in the bucket for the construction of a new arena, it's too little.

However, Min Congda has always been interested in buying the old Great Western Forum Arena first, and then considering building a new arena on this basis.

Being able to get a loan of 35 million means that the Clippers have taken a step closer to "Afang Palace".

Naturally, Min Congda is one step closer to completing the task.

Thinking of this, at the end of the game between the Clippers and the Grizzlies, Min Congda showed a very satisfied smile.

The smile was captured by reporters on the sidelines and made headlines in the sports section of the Los Angeles Chronicle that day.

The article was titled, "Clippers GM Smiles at Loss, Clippers Drop to Eighth in the West, Seems Confident of Beating Spurs." 》

Of course, Min Congda didn't mean this, but according to the understanding of normal people, it was indeed a smile full of confidence.

Min Congda laughed when he saw this report, and said in his heart: "Which of their mentally disabled reporters could come up with such a headline?" One by one, you don't understand me at all. ”

Since then, the Eastern and Western playoff tables have come out.

In the West, the Spurs vs. the Clippers, the Lakers vs. the Grizzlies, the Mavericks vs. the Trail Blazers, and the Thunder vs. the Nuggets.

In the East, the Bulls take on the 76ers, the Celtics take on the Knicks, the Cavaliers play against the Hawks, and the Heat play against the Magic.

In terms of championship odds, the Lakers are still in first place from the beginning of the season, and people are expecting the Lakers and Kobe Bryant to win three consecutive championships.

In this way, Kobe Bryant said that like Jordan, he completed two triple championships.

And Phil Jackson will achieve four consecutive triple championships.

They are followed by the Miami Heat, although they are only fourth in the East.

But the combination of Bosh + Wade + Guy cannot be underestimated in the playoffs.

The third and fourth places in the East and West are the Bulls and Spurs, respectively.

The Clippers are third-to-last among 16 teams, just a little above the 76ers and Grizzlies.

The odds of the highest teams are just what they mean.

Min Congda, who basically completed the task, was in a good mood.

The first game between the Clippers and Spurs will be played on April 17.

If you play all seven games, you will play until April 29.

However, Min Congda does not think that there is a possibility of playing seven games.

It is estimated that five to six games will be over, which means that the season will end at the end of April.

Then in May, at the turn of spring and summer, when the weather is at its best, it is suitable for going out to sea!

Therefore, Min Congda and D'Ardario made an appointment to go to the Atlantic Ocean in May to go fishing.

Daddario was curious, "Smart, maybe you're still playing in May?" ”

Min Congda said, "Uh...... There is this possibility, but I think it is more likely that we were fishing on the boat. ”

To this end, Min Congda spent $2,000 to buy a pair of good carbon fiber sea fishing rods.

This is the largest single consumption he has made since he came to the United States.

More than 10,000 yuan of fishing rods, if you don't fish out of the name, I'm really sorry for this money.

Of course, in order to prevent the deduction of money for winning, Min Congda prepared $6,000 and put it in the card.

He thought, like last season, win two, almost.

On April 16, Min Congda boarded a plane to San Antonio with the Clippers players.

Kicked off their 2010-2011 season in the playoffs.

At the same time, it is also Min Congda's biggest nightmare trip this season.

(End of chapter)