In the locker room, hearing Jordan's words, Kevin Willis's eyes turned red.

As Jordan's same year show, the first round of the No. 11 show in 84, he is also an old seniority, an all-star, and has been selected to the best team three times, how can Jordan say that about him?

Pippen is at odds with the Bulls this season, and his relationship with Phil Jackson, who is also general manager, has become sour.

The seven-year contract he signed was still good at the time, otherwise he wouldn't have stubbornly signed it when Jordan persuaded him not to sign it, but after Larry Johnson signed the 100 million dollar contract in '91, he regretted it.

In '92 and '93, he had a few fights with former general manager Jerry Krauss, and finally Klaus compromised twice and chose to raise his salary, and this season he had two more fights with Phil Jackson and asked for a salary increase again, but Phil Jackson did not agree.

Phil Jackson thinks the Bulls simply don't have room to raise Pippen's salary, and since they have chosen a long-term contract, they should execute it, otherwise what do they want to do with the contract?

This angered Pippen, and although it didn't break out, Pippen's relationship with Phil Jackson had taken a turn for the worse, and Pippen rarely took the initiative to speak to Phil Jackson.

At this time, after he heard Jordan's words, he also said in a non-yin manner: "If Jerry is still here, he will not trade Weir out." ”

Wilperdo was his good friend, but Phil Jackson traded Perdo in order to get Kevin Willis, which was one of the reasons why he was unhappy with Phil Jackson.

Kevin Willis glanced at Pippen, and his heart grew even colder.

Phil Jackson glanced at Jordan and Pippen, feeling a lot of pressure, no weaker than when he had just lost, and some fine beads of sweat soon appeared on his forehead.

He pretended to be calm, pushed the frame, ignored Pippen, and said to Jordan: "Michael, control your emotions, those reporters outside should still be there." ”

Jordan glanced at the door of the locker room, strode over and pulled it suddenly, and there was a bang, a few reporters, you squeeze me, I squeeze you, it was a mess, and two of them fell at Jordan's feet.

"Damn it!"

Jordan gritted his teeth and controlled his temper, then turned around and rushed into the bathroom.

Several journalists were asked out by staff and forced to leave.

"Hey, Binger, I'm outside the Bulls' locker room, there's news about the Bulls locker room fighting, it's related to Jordan, Pippen, Kevin Willis, Phil Jackson, do you want two thousand dollars?"

"Is there a recording?"

"Yes."

"OK, $200."

“800。”

"200, that's the last offer."

"OK, $400."

"You wait for me, I'll come right over."

Soon, there was infighting in the Bulls locker room, Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson had a verbal altercation, and the news of Jordan publicly questioning the head coach in the locker room began to spread after a few trades.

An hour later, the press conference took place.

The New York Times reporter, who was the first to ask, asked, "Coach Phil Jackson, I got the news, did Michael Jordan just beat you up in the locker room?" ”

Phil Jackson's temples jumped, and he immediately denied it, and said seriously: "NO, we're just ordinary communication." ”

"That is, you had a verbal conflict?" The reporter asked.

"No, we're just ordinary communication." Phil Jackson again denied it.

"I've got a recording here."

The reporter held up a cassette tape in his hand.

"Damn journalists!"

Phil Jackson, Jordan, and Pippen immediately cursed.

"Can you tell us more about that?" The reporter said triumphantly.

Phil Jackson said with a hesitant face: "There's nothing to say, we're just communicating, I'm sure there's nothing in your box of tape." ”

The reporter sneered and said, "Michael Jordan questioned your tactics in the locker room, and he thinks it was your command that caused the two consecutive defeats.

At the same time he also questioned your trade with Kevin Willis, he thinks Verperdo is better, he thinks you made a bad trade.

Also, Pippen also questioned the deal between Kevin Willis and Veldo, saying that you are not as good as Mr. Jerry Claus, am I right? ”

Phil Jackson's face turned black, he didn't expect the reporters to actually record their conversation in the locker room.

"Again, I emphasize that we did not have a verbal conflict, we were just communicating." He could only insist.

That's when the host showed up, confiscated the New York Times reporter's microphone, and gave it to the Chicago Sports reporter.

After the reporter took the microphone, he followed the reporter's topic and asked: "Michael, Scotty, do you think it's because of the coach's command problem that led to the consecutive defeats?" Don't you approve of the deal regarding Kevin Willis? ”

Things in the locker room were exposed, and Jordan's face was very bad.

He now knows very well that he must not publicly blame Phil Jackson at this time, otherwise there will be no need to play the finals.

But now that the reporter has the recording in his hand, he can't simply deny it, so after thinking about it for a while, he shook his head and said:

"I said it in the dressing room because I lost the game and was in a bad mood, so I didn't think much about it. In fact, there are many problems with losing, and it is not simply a matter of tactical command.

As for Kevin's trade, you know, I've never picked on my teammates, and those things I said in the locker room were impulsive. ”

Hearing Jordan's words, Phil Jackson immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Pippen continued: "I was also impulsive, but I didn't expect the reporters outside to leave. ”

The press conference hall was silent, and many reporters burst into laughter.

Jordan glared at Pippen, you idiot!

Pippen turned his head and pouted, he has now played the status of a superstar, and Jordan has also been pressed by an iron fist, which is not as beautiful as before, he is not very afraid of Jordan now, and his relationship is average, except for training games, he doesn't contact Jordan much.

Another press hall, where the launch of the supersonic press conference is also taking place.

"Iron Fist, I heard that the Bulls are infighting, Jordan and Pippen blame the second straight defeat because of Phil Jackson's tactical command, and they blame the Kevin Willis trade, what do you think of their internal problems?" A reporter asked.

"Oh!"

Some reporters didn't know yet, and it immediately caused a burst of exclamations.

"Why is there infighting again?" Zhou Quan blurted out.

"Haha......" Many reporters burst out laughing.

Zhou Quan is also a little helpless, the Bulls had infighting during the finals last year, and this year is like this, can't they finish the finals and then infighting?

He thought for a moment and shook his head and said, "I don't have much to say about the Bulls' problems. ”

"Iron Fist, do you think the bull will disintegrate?" The journalist asked.

"Didn't it disintegrate after the infighting last year? Jordan just signed a big contract last year, probably not? Zhou Quan analyzed.

The reporter said: "Last year, it was because of Jerry Krauss's resignation that the conflict was resolved. ”

Zhou Quan smiled: "So you mean that Coach Phil Jackson's resignation will save the Bulls from disintegration?" ”

"Haha, Iron Fist, that's what you said, not what I said." The reporter laughed.

"You're cunning."

Zhou Quan said with a smile and stopped talking about this topic.

On the 5th, the issue of the fighting in the Bulls locker room was hyped, and a lot of topics were derived from it.

For example, will the Bulls dismantle and rebuild? Will Phil Jackson automatically resign like his predecessor, Jerry Krauss?

Like, Will Jordan leave the Bulls? Which team will Jordan play next? If Jordan stays with the Bulls, will he recruit stronger interior helpers, such as Barkley or Big Dream?

For example, Iron Fist said that as long as Phil Jackson resigns, the Bulls can solve the problem of infighting.

These news even suppressed the heat of the supersonic's two-game winning streak.

At 10 a.m., the Bulls announced that Ron Harper had suffered a sprained right ankle and was injured for three days.

At noon, Zhou Quan drove to the headquarters.

Zeng Li did not plan to take the team's special plane this time, but acted with his wife's group of relatives and friends, and Zhou Jun was also among them.

"Iron Fist, do you think Phil Jackson's resignation will solve the Bulls' internal problems?"

"That's not what I'm saying, the Bulls' problem is none of mine, and I'm not going to offer any advice."

"Did you sleep well last night?"

"No comment."

"Iron Fist, has your defending opponent been decided?"

"The finals will be announced after that."

There were a lot of media outside the headquarters, and Zhou Quan simply answered three questions, and then entered the headquarters with the help of security.

As soon as they met, George Carr asked, "Iron Fist, how did you sleep last night?" ”

Zhou Quan smiled: "Okay, George, don't ask me this question again in the future, it will interfere with your work and preparations."

My state has always been very stable, whether I sleep well or not depends only on whether I can break out, but even if I sleep well, I may not be able to fight explosively.

So George, you just do what you do, don't expect to win on the possibility of me breaking out. ”

George Carr smiled bitterly: "That's what you said. ”

At three o'clock in the afternoon of that day, the supersonic arrived in Chicago.

"Iron Fist, pay attention, the news of the bull's infighting is a bit troublesome right now, and some media are leading the topic to you." Philip called Zhou Quan and reminded.

"I see." Zhou Quan said.

At half past five, the team held a press conference at the hotel.

"Iron Fist, the media said it was you who said it, as long as Phil Jackson resigns, the internal problems of the Bulls will be solved, do you want the Bulls to disintegrate and reduce one of the strongest opponents for the supersounds? Can you respond positively to my question? A Chicago Daily reporter asked.

Zhou Quan smiled: "The internal problems of the Bulls have nothing to do with me, it's boring, I don't have any interest in whether it disintegrates or not, so if the Bulls lose the finals, it will only be the reason for strength, don't put the blame on me, OK?" ”

"But what the media say?" The reporter said again.

Zhou Quan interrupted the reporter and said: "The media also said that Jordan and Pippen accused Phil Jackson of tactical guidance and trading, it seems to be true? ”

"Of course not." The reporter said angrily.

"Huh?"

Zhou Quan smiled and asked in a sarcastic tone, "So you're using me to divert the conversation for them?" It seems that what the media said about Jordan and Pippen is true, otherwise would you be able to use you, a Chicago reporter, to create topics and public opinion on me? ”

"You?"

Zhou Quan's words were too straightforward, and the reporter was speechless.

In the evening, Whithitt arranged for several staff members to stand guard outside the elevator and at the fire escape entrance to prevent the players from being disturbed by some extreme fans.

It's customary because there have been many times in the league where fans have entered hotels to harass stars, and now it's the finals, so he was so cautious that he even took this floor.

In addition, he asked the players to unplug the phone lines in their rooms so that they would not be harassed by phone calls.

But that still didn't stop the plans of some extreme fans, who sent batch after batch of call-ups to storm the supersonic floor, and were driven away one after another.

It also included a group of Japanese and Korean beauties they recruited at great expense to attack Zhou Quan's room.

The room number was obtained from the hotel waiter, and even Zhou Jun and Zeng Li's room numbers were obtained, and even the two of them did not escape harassment.

In the end, the players didn't sleep well, were woken up several times throughout the night, and then the morning tactical meeting was cancelled, and they were scheduled to catch up on sleep, and after breakfast, they went back to bed.

At 10 a.m. on the 6th, a tactical meeting was held at the Bulls' headquarters, which was also attended by owner Jerry Raindorf and a group of management.

And Ron Harper was also in attendance, and it didn't seem like there was any problem.

Jerry Rainsdorf knows that the internal problems of the Bulls are somewhat serious now, and the main reason is that the two consecutive defeats, coupled with the poor record against the team of Iron Fist in the past, led to Jordan's trust in Phil Jackson to decrease, and the accumulated contradictions broke out.

This annoyed him, the big hero who fired Jerry Krauss last year was because Jordan supported Phil Jackson, and now in a blink of an eye, the situation has changed, what does this make him do?

Now in the situation of the Bulls, he has no good way for a while, but to appease Jordan and finish the finals first.

Phil Jackson didn't sleep all night, thinking about how to fight the supersonics, how to win.

Jordan blamed him for two points, in fact, he only recognized one point, Kevin Willis really did not live up to his expectations, after the injury last season, he slipped too much and lost a strong confrontation under the basket.

But tactically, he doesn't think it's much of a problem.

In G2, he thought he had a chance, but Ron Harper's sudden injury in the first quarter weakened the outside defense, increased Jordan's physical exertion, and eventually led to a collapse in the final minutes of the final quarter.

After the meeting began, the owner said a few words to the effect that it was to calm the players' emotions, and then Phil Jackson arranged the tactics for tonight.

Jordan looked serious and stared at Phil Jackson.

Two consecutive defeats on the road made his patience drop a lot, and his trust in Phil Jackson also dropped again.

Phil Jackson said: "Tonight we still have the tactics of the G2 fight, but we have to be more flexible, and we have to adjust the game against Iron Fist in time according to his style of play.

I once said that when he has a good hand, he mainly relies on jump shots, and when he has an average hand, he mainly relies on breakthroughs to score.

But in the last game, he had a good hand, but he changed his style of play, focusing on jumpers and breakaways, which really caused some confusion for us.

Our players don't do a great job on the court, so we have to be mindful of this game when he's on an outside jumper or on a breakaway, and when he's on the edge of the three-point line and on the edge of the box. ”

(End of chapter)