"What are they shouting?" Adams asked, unresponsive, toward Butler.

Butler's expression was amused at this point, and he smiled and spread his hands to say that it had nothing to do with me.

“.your.dady。” West on the side reminded.

Adams then pointed at Butler and laughed and blamed, "It's all your fault." ”

At this time, the on-site photographer is also very good at doing things, and the lens is given to James.

The shouts of the fans at the scene continued, James's expression at this time was very interesting, he pretended not to care, but his eyes subconsciously rolled to see what was happening, and when he finally looked up and saw that it was himself on the big LED screen, he frowned, and finally pretended that nothing happened.

At this time, beside him, Davis and Owen both subconsciously wanted to avoid the camera, after all, this is not a good thing.

This scene is destined to become a classic shot of the season.

To be honest, the Bulls fans at the scene did this very excessively, and the photographer gave the camera a shame, and it should have been replaced by an ordinary supergiant, at least turn it into motivation and win the game back.

But as Blatter knew, the Bulls were too strong, and it wasn't something that could be solved with a single run.

Moreover, Thibodeau opened the fourth quarter with West, and when it came to the main stage, he used James Johnson as a power forward.

In the end, the Bulls defeated the Cavaliers 109-97 at home, making it a 12-game winning streak at the start of the season.

In terms of statistics, Xu Yong shot 17 of 28 and got the first 40+ of the season, with 45 points, 8 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers.

Butler had 21 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, West had 12 points and 6 boards, Adams had 10 points and 11 boards, and Rose had 9 points and 4 assists.

On the Cavaliers' side, James had 23 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, and it is worth mentioning that his plus/minus of +7 was tied with Dellavedova for the highest on the team.

Irving had 21 points and 3 assists, Love had 17 points and 8 boards, and Davis had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks.

"Senior, how can I see that you were very happy before the game, why are you a little unhappy after the game?" On his way to the press conference after the game, Butler couldn't help but turn his head and ask.

Xu Yong could only smile and smile to indicate that it was okay.

In fact, he talked a lot with Theron last night, in addition to the name, but also about whether this kid should be made public.

On this point, the two people are very unanimous in their opinions, and both agree that it should be made public.

Theron hopes that the child will not have trouble growing up, and when asked who his father is, he can't say who he is;

And Xu Yong's words, although the way he couldn't get married was a little unusual for him, he knew that this kind of thing couldn't be hidden, it was just a matter of time or time.

That night is not as good as early, it is better to choose a day than to hit the day, and it is better to hit the day than today.

But today, 20,000 people chanted ".your.dady" in unison, imagine that he sat down after the game and said to the media with a happy face: "I'm a father!" ”

It's not about delivering joy, it's about being one of the most lethal trash talk in NBA history.

So how can he be happy?

And he can't blame Butler, after all, Butler just improvised trash talk in the first place.

It can only be said that the root of everything is still James, James does not throw magnesium powder away to provoke Bulls fans, how can there be a later thing.

Chicago Gangster City, this James is sometimes not enough Smart.

……

Cleveland, basement of a mansion.

An assistant wearing a protective mask tosses a glass bottle into the air, and James smashes the .jpg directly with a special baseball bat.

Then, the process repeats itself.

Mike is a good psychiatrist, and after James decided not to receive his treatment anymore, he gave James one last piece of advice, to build a [venting room], when there is an emotion that needs to be vented, not to hold it in his heart, but to vent it in this way.

From Indiana to Cleveland, James has been using this.

This stuff turned out to be very useful.

After not knowing how many glass bottles he had broken, James's mood finally stabilized.

He took off his protective gear, turned to go out, and returned to the living room.

Rich Paul and Windhorst had been waiting for him there for a while.

"I watched the game and I think the next time we play it will be the Cavaliers." Wenderhorst spoke when he saw James.

James didn't speak, he had been fighting Xu Yong for so many years, and he knew this old opponent better than anyone else.

In Xu Yong's state, even if the Cavaliers are completely run-in, the two sides will be at most five or five.

"King, I think the Bulls are better than the average team right now."

Fu Paul's words at this time successfully attracted his attention, and as his agent, Fu Paul had no reason to suddenly say a word of praise for his opponent.

"So I think in addition to making us stronger, we have to find a way to make them weaker."

James was even more puzzled when he heard this.

Will he not know what Fu Paul said?

Isn't it just this goal that he has personally stepped on in the past few years?

But Xu Yong is not afraid of this, and this season the Bulls have also added Johnson and Artest two hitters.

Why don't you think he was angry at the last minute of last night's game?

After being beaten by Bosh, he is now more and more wary of his old rivals.

"I mean ......" At this moment, Fu Paul lowered his voice.

……

Time passed, and it was the end of December in a blink of an eye.

After two months of play, the Bulls have a 19-1 record.

It can't be said to be a bit exaggerated, but it can only be said to be quite outrageous.

Because the only game they lost was when Rose and Butler were both sidelined due to injury.

And the Trail Blazers, who defeated them because of this, were blown into the sky by the fans.

Thanks to this god-level performance, the Bulls began to make headlines in major media outlets, and even Sports Illustrated used them as its cover.

Xu Yong stood in the C position, with Butler and Adams next to him, and Thibodeau and Ross behind him.

A new bull triangle? No, they even have Ross.

That's the headline on the first line of the first page of Sports Illustrated.

Even some of the role players of the Bulls are starting to receive some endorsements.

For example, Adams endorsed a male enhancement brand, and that brand became a hit.

The Bulls' ball market has really swelled this season.

Although they are yet to win the season, they are recovering as the third largest market outside of Los Angeles and New York.

It was also at this time that the first round of voting for the All-Stars of the new NBA season began.

In the Eastern backfield, one man's name stands out in the spotlight.

Jimmy Butler is averaging 20 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game so far this season, and his 47.4% shooting percentage is also a career-high one.

This performance, coupled with the popularity of the Bulls, he beat Wade and Irving, and the votes were closely tied to Paul, ranking second in the Eastern backcourt.

He didn't miss the All-Star Game last year, but this year's momentum, he has a good chance of becoming an All-Star starter in the East.

Although the season is not over yet, the performance of the past two months has proved that Butler's [confident] choice in the summer is the right one.

……

Chicago.

On this day, after finishing the game and knee treatment, Rose returned home.

Although he changed his style of play, there were sequelae of major injuries for two years in a row, which would have him need to take a break in some games and make him feel pain after some games.

Fortunately, the Bulls' record has been soaring, and it has all become worth it.

However, after returning home, he found that his second brother, Reggie Rose, who also followed him with the Bulls, was a little sullen.

"What's wrong?" Ross looked at the brother he trusted the most and the most educated in the family with a puzzled look.

"I think it's a little unfair." Reggie spoke.

"Unfair?" Ross was a little confused.

"Jimmy Butler is going to be an All-Star starter now, and you don't have that chance anymore, this used to be your team."

Rose was stunned for a moment, not because of what Reggie said, but because of Reggie's attitude.

As early as two years ago, they had already accepted the fact that the Bulls were Xu Yong's team.

"Yes, Xu is talented, and he deserves it, but why is Jimmy ahead of you?" Reggie continued.

"He took his chance."

"You were injured before, but now that you're recovering, you should at least be the second in charge of this team." Reggie said as he looked at Rose's knee, knowing how hard his brother had worked to make a comeback.

"That's what Jimmy won with strength." Ross is still sober.

"Did you see the cover of Sports Illustrated? You're not even in the first row, and they use words like 'they even have Ross,' which I think is unfair compared to what you've done. Reggie continued.

Rose took a deep breath, if he didn't think about this topic, he didn't really care about it, but these words came out of the mouth of his most trusted brother, and it was difficult for him not to fluctuate in his heart.

He used to be the hope of the Chicago stars, the youngest MVP, and now he is only the team's "sixth man", and the gap is indeed huge.

He looked at Reggie and took a long breath: "There's nothing fair or unfair, the team is winning and I think it's the best now." ”

The experience of these two years has made him mature a lot.

Reggie's expression was a little complicated at this time, he felt his brother's maturity, but he still felt that such a effort was not worth it.

"Jimmy Butler's rookie contract expires next year." It was at this point that he spoke of a more realistic question.

"With his current performance, even if the team doesn't want to give him, there will be other teams who will give him a contract with a maximum salary, do you think the team will match it then? If it matches the salary explosion, will you still be here then? ”

Ross was silent this time.

The new collective bargaining agreement, the severity of the luxury tax penalties, the average boss really can't afford to play.

And the Bulls' summer operations speak for themselves, and they're trying to avoid that.

In fact, if Butler accepts the early contract extension offered by the Bulls, then Lawnsdorf may grit his teeth and maintain the lineup.

After all, the Bulls' current ball market is inflated, and it's worth paying tens of millions of luxury taxes.

But Butler didn't agree, and more importantly, it was actually the status of the team that Reggie said.

A sixth man with a super maximum salary, such a player is replaceable, and there is a high probability that he will be replaced.

The more he sacrifices now, the more likely he is to be replaced.

Reggie then got up and walked over to Rose, reached out and patted him on the shoulder: "Derek, I don't want you to do anything excessive, I know your feelings for the team, but I think there are times when we need to fight for ourselves. ”

……

Xu Yong has also started to get very busy lately, with his media interviews and media coverage of him increasing significantly.

This also includes mainstream media outlets like ESPN, which have previously been extremely difficult to deal with him.

If you think about ESPN's previous report on Xu Yong, maybe it wasn't just to divert attention as it seems.

ESPN is more or less preparing in advance.

After all, James' contract with Nike expires this summer, and if Nike really doesn't renew James's contract, then there will be a backlash, and they ESPN don't want to stand on the other side of the torrent.

Not only the media, but also the frequency of Xu Yong's participation in sponsorship events is also increasing.

If in the past two seasons, because the future of the Bulls is uncertain, everyone else is still a little wait-and-see, this season everyone can see that Xu Yong is likely to become a god, and they all want to be on their thighs as soon as possible.

Even the league officials began to increase the frequency of his propaganda.

Stern also hopes to officially push Xu Yong to that throne before he retires.

The false first person is constantly demanding respect from others, and then emphasizing his position by wearing a crown; The real first person never has to move on his own.

Xu Yongdu began to be a little busy, and sometimes he had to reduce his training time.

Because a lot of it is not something that he can not go if he says he doesn't want to go, he is no longer a [person] now.

He kind of realized what Jordan said back then: "A lot of people say they'd like to try to be Michael Jordan for a day or a week, but I don't think they understand that it's not fun to be me, and you won't envy me for this lifestyle." ”

Fast forward to January, and the Bulls' record began to show some ups and downs, first to the old rival Thunder, and then to the Pelicans a few days later.

The loss to the Thunder is understandable, after all, the Thunder have caught up with the Warriors in terms of record after Ibaka's return, but the Pelicans are different, and the Pelicans are now the team that Westbrook is raving about the data.

And while they still top the league in terms of record, they lost more games this week than they have in the last two months.

This forced Xu Yong to completely return his attention to the team.

After the loss to the Pelicans, he offered to watch the game tape in the video room with Thibodeau.

It was while watching the video that he began to feel that something was not quite right.

There were some rounds where Butler asked for the ball and Rose didn't give it, but attacked it himself;

There were some more rounds where Rose called for tactics and Butler didn't run for tactics.

There seems to be some problems between Ross and Butler.

Because there wasn't a lot of intersection between Rose and Butler, and he was busy with off-court things during this time, he didn't notice it.

"Isn't my arrangement a little unfair to Rose?" After watching the video, Thibodeau asked Xu Yong.

After all, he watched a lot of videos, and he could see the order of the ball problem, and Rose didn't like to express it, so he was expressing his dissatisfaction in this way.

"Tom, you're doing the right thing, I'll take care of it." After Xu Yong finished speaking, he got up and left the video room.

Thibodeau is right, as a coach he has to find the winning pattern of the team, and the team's record this season speaks for itself.

Xu Yong returned to the villa after leaving the office, and he didn't rush to deal with it, because the problem between the two was indeed a bit tricky.

The reason why he told Thibodeau to let him come is because the communication between the players is always better than the coach, and the coach can easily escalate the problem if the coach comes forward.

After thinking about it for a while, he first made a phone call and called Butler from next door.

"Senior, you haven't slept so late?" Butler said as soon as he entered the door, and it was already past eleven o'clock in the evening.

"Jimmy, sit down first." Xu Yong gestured, then opened the cigar and divided it to him, and lit one himself.

Butler didn't order it, but put it back on the table, and although the cigar was not a good mouthful, he didn't have a hobby.

"Is there any problem between you and Derek?" Waiting for Butler to sit down, Xu Yong also asked directly, with his relationship with Butler, there is no need to turn around when speaking.

"No, we don't have problems off the field." Butler shook his head, "But senior, you know me, I'm not a person who likes to hold back, he didn't play as the coach asked, and I also responded." ”

Xu Yong looked at Butler and did not speak.

Butler was looked at a little uncomfortable.

"Senior, I'm sorry, my approach is not rational." He finally apologized.

"Jimmy, you're a player who can be a leader and you need to learn how to deal with this kind of problem properly." Xu Yong only spoke at this time.

Butler was stunned for a moment, then looked at Xu Yong and nodded vigorously.

"It's not early today, let's go back and rest first, and I'll deal with the rest of the problems." Xu Yong said and got up.

When Butler left, he stood at the window with a cigar and spat out a smoke ring.

Butler struggled all the way, but because of his relationship, after entering the NBA, it can be said that it has been smooth sailing from role players to rotation to organizational core, so it is not surprising that he will deal with this kind of problem in this way.

And Butler quickly realized that this would not solve the problem.

So the crux of the matter is still in Ross.

He remembered the contract extension that Butler had talked to him about in the offseason.

At that time, if Butler does renew his contract with a maximum salary, excluding Adams, the salary cap will be filled with the salary cap for their four starters.

From his point of view, he must want to top it for two years, and by 2016, when the salary cap has skyrocketed, these will no longer be a problem.

But the boss's perspective on the problem is different from that of the players, and the luxury tax that costs tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars is out of their pockets.

He didn't have much contact with Lawnsdorf, but the latter was clearly not the type of boss that Cuban or Ballmer was.

And the point is that Rose is not indispensable right now, and the Bulls don't have Rose in their iron triangle.

One day, the Bulls traded Rose, which is not surprising at all.

So in his shoes, he could understand why Rose made these moves.

Playing well, fighting for team status, and not increasing the value of the trade, even if it is actually traded, it means a new team status.

People think about themselves, and they need to think about themselves.

He picked up another cigar and took a puff.

After standing at the window for a few more moments, he turned back to his seat, and after snuffing out his cigar, he had already made a decision.

The next day, Xu Yong asked Rose to dinner at his manor.

"Are your ankles okay?" During the meal, Xu Yong said to Ross with concern.

"My ankle is fine, but my knee still reacts a little bit sometimes." Rose squeezed out a smile, he could actually guess the reason why Xu Yong invited him to dinner at this time.

"Speaking of which, you kind of dedicate a pair of knees and a pair of ankles to the team." Xu Yong sighed.

In fact, if he is the boss, the problem now is very simple, just make some contract renewal commitments to Rose, after all, Rose's salary cap will expire in the summer of 2017.

Rose's comeback this season proves that he can still play, and the key is that Rose used to be the team's totemic player, and keeping him will also make the team look human and win more fans.

But alas, he wasn't.

Hearing this, Rose also looked emotional, let down the guard in his heart, and looked at Xu Yong with a different gaze.

"When I think back to the time when we were together with the Black Eight Cavaliers, and then we beat the Heat Big Three together to win the championship, it feels like yesterday." Xu Yong continued to sigh.

Hearing this, Rose's expression became complicated, and finally said with a wry smile: "If only I had listened to your advice earlier." ”

If he had listened to Xu Yong earlier, he would not have been injured, and even if Xu Yong grew up to his current status, he would be the best helper by Xu Yong's side.

Xu Yong smiled and raised the wine glass in his hand.

There is more medicine than wine in this world, but there is no regret medicine.

"Derek." After putting down the wine glass, Xu Yong looked at Ross and his tone changed.

"When the Cleveland Big Four teamed up, the whole league was worried, but I wasn't worried because I knew that just like the Lakers' F4 back then, no matter what they did, the ball problem was always with them.

When a team has a problem with the ball, that's when it starts to fall, and you can only play well if you do your job, and I think we've experienced that even before. ”

When it came to the end, Xu Yong looked straight at Rose.

Rose lowered his head and nodded after a long moment.

Xu Yong didn't say it directly, but he knew that the season when he won the MVP, Xu Yong made sacrifices, and the ownership of the team to win the FMVP actually explained the problem, if Xu Yong wanted to fight, the MVP was not necessarily his.

"You should know me, I've always felt that the team is the most important thing, and if I really need to, I can give up some of my shots, I just want that championship, you know we've lost two years in a row." Xu Yong's gaze never moved.

"No, that's not going to work." Rose looked up at Xu Yong and shook his head, his eyes were full of guilt, Xu Yong had already made a sacrifice back then, and now he wants him to make a sacrifice, then he will really feel guilty for the rest of his life.

"I'm sorry, Xu, I'm a little selfish." His gaze changed from guilty to apologetic, he had no problem thinking about himself, but he was only sorry for Xu Yong, you must know that Xu Yong has always supported him since he arrived at the Bulls, whether it was after he was injured or before he was injured.

"Derek." Xu Yong called Ross by name again, but his tone softened, "'The collapse of the dynasty began from within', not to mention that none of us have yet to prove ourselves, if we go through this now, only our opponents will be happy." ”

"I see, I'll go talk to Jimmy." Rose's expression was serious.

Xu Yong nodded when he heard this, and then clinked glasses with Rose: "Everything is for the championship." ”

After eating and sending Rose away, Xu Yong also took a long breath.

The problem seems to be solved, and it doesn't make a big fuss.

At this time, looking back at what he did back then, it seems to have a long-term vision at this time.

If he and Rose had been competing for that MVP, the problem would have been unsolvable.

And the reason why he used soft and didn't use hard is also based on this, after all, as he said, he and Rose have struggled together.

……

After a more struggling week, the Bulls quickly regained their form, and they defeated the Mavericks, Raptors, Hawks and other strong teams in succession, and soon started a new wave of winning streaks.

At this time, someone has already begun to think about a question.

In TNT's latest episode, Barkley and Kenny Smith made the issue official.

"Are the Bulls on their way to the Bulls' 72-win regular-season record?"

This is the first time in many years that a team has been able to achieve this goal.

And what's even more interesting is that it's still the Bulls.

What's even more interesting is that the second-best regular season record in history is also the Bulls (69 wins).

Chicago Breaking Team History is Historical Record Bulls.

Originally, when the supergiants chose their teams, they had to weigh the Bulls when they saw them, because Jordan had done so much in Chicago, not only those 6 championships, but also a lot of records.

It was like a rammed mound of earth, and it couldn't be shaken at all.

But now, Xu Yong is leading the new Bulls and is going to loosen the ground for it.

The discussion of this topic has also allowed the Bulls to continue to be the hottest team in the league and the team that has long dominated the team power rankings.

Even the Warriors, who played a dazzling record next door, were completely overshadowed.

……

Cleveland.

"Smack! Syllable! ”

James smashed the glass bottle in the venting room again.

And this time, he smashed it a little longer than usual.

When Paul Fu's plan worked, he couldn't sleep with excitement.

But just a week later, the situation has changed radically.

Now the Bulls are literally in full swing.

And even the ESPN media have used to make stinky feet.

Including Nike also hinted that he must win the championship this season, otherwise it is likely that the cooperation will end.

"A bunch of snobbish guys!"

He ended up angrily slamming the baseball bat against the wall, and then left the venting room in a huff.

When he returned to the living room, he saw that Fu Paul did not have a good face.

Fu Paul had promised that the Bulls would be in big trouble, but now everyone is talking about breaking history!

And what makes him even more irritable is that the Cavaliers have not been running in well this season, especially Irving, who doesn't seem to be willing to just be an assaulter.

This also led to the fact that although the Cavaliers have a good record, they have been up and down, not to mention catching up with the Bulls, and now they are still suppressed by the Pacers.

"King, I think to solve the problem of running-in, you can choose to truce for a while." That's when Paul Fub began to come up with ideas again.

James' face still didn't improve.

"Let that guy in Kerry recognize his ability to lead the team, let him know that the Cavaliers can't do without you, I think he'll change his mind on his own."

Hearing this, James's face improved a little.

However, he is also a little worried, what if the team has a better record without him?

Then he will be the one who will be embarrassed!

"I've seen the schedule and it's going to be a tough schedule for the rest of the game, and it includes the second game against the Bulls right away, and after about eight games, it's going to be easier again."

James smiled a little bit at this point, this is indeed the perfect solution, to make those people feel like "you need me so much", then all problems will no longer be a problem. [Note 22]

"What you said earlier about weakening the Bulls......" After the mood improved, James reiterated what Fu Paul said earlier.

"I'm going to step up my efforts, and their problems won't go away all of a sudden." Fu Paul said with certainty.

James nodded in satisfaction when he heard this.

Prosperity must decline, their two-pronged approach, this season may not be its Bulls' world!

……

Chicago.

The day before the Cavaliers, Rose returned home after practice.

"The second round of voting came out, Jimmy was still second, and if he did start, he would be in the team." Reggie looked at the happy Rose and couldn't help but remind again.

Recently, Rose has been content with the role assigned to him by the current team, and if he continues to play like this, Rose is really likely to leave Chicago.

"Reggie, I've promised Xu, it's necessary for the championship, the team is on a winning streak right now, isn't it? They all started talking about whether we could break the 72 wins. "The team is back on track and Rose is in a pretty happy mood right now.

"People will remember the Bulls with 72 wins, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Danny Rodman, who will remember Ron Harper?" Reggie couldn't help but ask rhetorically.

"I'm very happy now, and I really feel that winning games makes me happier than improving my stats, and as for what the future holds, who can say for sure?" Rose replied with a smile.

Reggie let out a long sigh, his brother was too naïve.

If Lauinsdorf had that kind of courage, the Bulls' second three-game championship that year wouldn't have been so difficult.

"And I know Xu." Seeing Reggie's reaction, Rose put away his smile and suddenly changed to a serious tone.

Reggie looked at Rose quizzically.

"He's a guy who values the team very much, he's talking to me in a soft way right now, and if I insist, he's going to do it hard for the team, and if he gets to that point, maybe the season isn't over and I'm going to leave Chicago." Rose said with a wry smile, after that meal, he not only knew Xu Yong's attitude, but also knew his [position] under Xu Yong's side knock.

Reggie was stunned, he wanted to say impossible, but if he thought about it, was it really impossible?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh again.

Although Xu Yong is very good to their family, after all, it involves his own interests.

Seeing his brother's reaction, Rose suddenly flashed the words he heard at Xu Yong's house at dinner before: "If we go through this now, only our opponents will be happy." ”

He thought back to it, at the beginning of the season, Reggie didn't think about it, but it seems to have been mentioning it lately?

"Reggie, have you been close to anyone lately?"

"Why do you suddenly ask that?"

"I know you're thinking about me, but don't you think it's a disservice to the team if I keep doing that?" Rose asked suddenly.

Reggie frowned at first, thinking that his brother had misunderstood him, but when he thought about it, it seemed that this was indeed the case.

There was silence in the room for a while, and Reggie thought about it for a while, remembering that a friend had indeed mentioned it to him twice.

He thought the same as Rose, and felt that the other party was thinking about them, so he didn't think much about it.

But when Ross said that, it did seem a little wrong.

"That man, I remember, seems to be a friend of Rich Paul as well." It was a long time before Reggie spoke.

Rich Paul, also known as Fu Paul.

The two looked at each other and seemed to understand a little.

They were, they were used as guns.

(End of chapter)