After playing Jazz, the SuperSonics continued their road trip.

There are four more away games in this round, and the next four games are all Eastern teams.

Near five o'clock in the afternoon of Feb. 24, the SuperSonics settled into a hotel in Cleveland.

"Hey, Iron Fist, we're done with the listing process."

After dinner, when he just returned to the room, Zhou Quan received a call from Jeff Bezos.

"What?"

He was taken aback, it usually takes at least six weeks to complete all the procedures for listing in the United States, and it is only a little more than ten days, at most twelve or three days, how can it be so fast?

"Haha, you're really scared."

Bezos laughed happily and then explained, "It's our lawyer, Mr. Ben Holen, who is too fast and efficient." ”

"Then you'll have to give him a raise."

"I don't need you to say it, I've already given him a raise. By the way, the release date is May 15th. Iron Fist, I hope our IPO is a success. ”

"Hope everything goes well. So Jeff, I'm going to wish you a billionaire in advance. ”

"I also wish in advance...... Oh no, you're already a billionaire. Then I wish our company a smooth development in advance, and we will all become billionaires and billionaires in the future. ”

"Haha, I wish you the next Bill Gates and Mr. Ballmer."

After ending the call, Zhou Quan sighed a little emotionally, investing in Bezos is really a good idea.

He and Bezos met by golf, when Bezos had just come to Seattle to develop, and was still preparing to build a company, but he didn't expect that in two years, the company would go public.

Now Amazon has been developing for almost two years, from the beginning of the book is expanding to other scopes, not just a simple online bookstore, began to transform into a comprehensive online store, the business scope is much larger, operating income is growing rapidly, although it is still losing money, but the development prospects are getting better and better.

However, he feels that the Internet in the United States has been too hot in the past two years, and a large amount of money has poured into the industry, and Internet companies have opened every day, and some Internet companies have collapsed, and bubbles have begun to be generated.

He is optimistic about Bezos, that is, he is optimistic about his steady style, and those who withdraw from the company are the opposite of him.

From the Internet industry in the United States, he thought of the domestic Internet industry.

China began to develop the Internet in 94, because it began to access the international network in 94, and now it is in the initial stage of burning money, and no company can really gain a firm foothold.

He does not plan to invest in the domestic Internet industry, because he is completely unfamiliar with the domestic situation and does not have the opportunity to contact the founders of those companies.

The birth and development of a company mainly depends on the ability of the founder, otherwise bankruptcy is a high probability thing, and there is not much room for development if it is barely supported.

He is not a professional venture capitalist, and the primary basis for investment is that the founder must be worthy of investment, otherwise he will not easily participate in the cash-burning stage of domestic Internet companies.

On the 25th, the SuperSonics challenged the Cavaliers away.

After the Cavaliers left the team from multi-time All-Star point guard Mark Price, their strength was not good, they were a strong team in the East before, they were out in the first round of the playoffs last season, and they are temporarily in tenth place in the East this season.

On this day, Schramf officially returned after the approval of the team doctor, ending a two-month truce.

His comeback has made the SuperSonics' rotation a little better, and with the addition of Scheffler and David Wingate, two fringe men, he can still maintain a ten-man rotation lineup.

But in the final quarter, the injury struck again, and the 36-year-old veteran Cummings was accidentally injured and fell to the ground when he grabbed an offensive rebound under the basket.

Although he won against the Cavaliers in the end, Cummings suffered a fractured right ankle and was reimbursed for the season, once again leaving the SuperSonics with one less rotation, leaving only nine in the rotation and seven in the important rotation.

Whithit, the general manager who has returned to Seattle with McMillan and Rodman, learned the news of Cummings' injury, and knew that the problem was a bit serious, and there were still 28 regular season games ahead.

He's already looking for someone and has contacted a couple of okay free agents, all of which are not suitable, either with injuries and haven't recovered yet, or not in the United States and going to play in other countries.

But there was no time to delay, he picked two.

A forward named Larry Stewart, an undrafted, 28-year-old, played four seasons with the Washington Bullets, lost his job last season, continues to be unemployed this season, and now plays in a minor league with only a few teams.

The second is Greg Graham, a guard, 26 years old, the No. 17 pick in the first round in '93, who was seriously injured by the Nets last season, played only 45 games, and then was cut, and now he is recovering from injury and waiting to be employed.

Stewart offered a base salary of $200,000 and Graham a little more, $350,000.

Then Whithit began to apply for an injury exception from the league to find another better swingman at the guard, as well as at the guard.

The injury exception can only be applied for after the player's season is reimbursed, and the league will only approve the player's injury after checking the player's injury, and use this annual salary to sign another player.

The next day, he sent McMillan to a league-designated medical facility for examination.

Soon, the inspection passed, and the league approved an injury exception, taking McMillan's annual salary, which means that the SuperSonics received a $1.3 million injury exception.

As for Cummings, it's just a base salary, and the veteran is here specifically for the championship, so there is no need to apply for an injury exception, and if he does, he can sign a marginal person with a base salary, which makes no sense.

That night, the SuperSonics faced the Pacers back-to-back on the road and lost.

George Karl deliberately controlled the playing time of the main players, allowing the two fringe men to play a little more time, and did not want to win at all, and the away game in the East did not matter.

With a 42-13 record, it was finally overtaken by Mosaic and ranked second in the West.

February passed, and on March 1, Grahans and Stewart arrived in Orlando to join the team, and after the team doctor arranged a medical examination, they officially joined the SuperSonics, and the team's rotation was restored to 11 players.

On this day, the league announced the Player of the Month for February, as well as the MVP rankings.

Glen Les won last month's best month, the league's No. 1 Bulls core Michael Jordan is still ranked first in MVP, the league's second-best Mosaic core Olajuwon is second, and Zhou Quan, the best personal data player, has dropped to third.

On the 2nd, the SuperSonics defeated the Magic on the road, ending this round of road trips.

No. 3 returned to Seattle, and No. 4, again at home against the Magic.

In the 7th minute of the second quarter, the accident happened again, the glider Drexler fell after a fast-break layup, slipped his feet, hit the basket with his waist, and was unable to stand up again, and was directly lifted off the court.

For the successive injuries, especially several veterans, Zhou Quan has long been mentally prepared, after all, hitting the triple championship is also a good thing, as long as it is not a serious injury.

He was very sad when the glider was carried away, and he went up to comfort him: "Clyde, take this opportunity to rest, save up your energy, and save your energy to play in the playoffs." ”

The glider nodded with a wry smile and said, "It happens to be an old injury in the waist, I hope to come back." ”

"You can try Chinese medicine, acupuncture and cupping are good, they should work." Zhou Quan suggested.

"Okay."

The glider nodded, acupuncture and cupping are not uncommon in the United States, he knows this, he just hasn't tried it before.

After that, Zhou Quan opened the killing ring, scoring 54 points in a single game on the head of the Magic and achieving the second 50+ in this season. and led the team to defeat the Magic.

The next day, the glider's injury came out, a lumbar muscle strain, there was inflammation, and he was out of action for at least six weeks, and it would be nice to be back in the playoffs.

"We need a defender now, and it's better to shake the striker."

Whithitt arrived at Seattle TV with a 1.3 million injury exception and began searching the world for a defender.

The temptation of $1.3 million is still very strong, and the regular season is almost over, at this time, joining the SuperSonics, maybe you can get a championship ring, and although there is no salary to play in the playoffs, there are bonuses, so many unemployed players at home have taken the initiative to call the SuperSonics to apply for jobs.

Whithitt looked through some of the player information provided to him by the scouts, most of them had never played in the NBA, and he felt that there were no available players, and he was completely disappointed that the $1.3 million injury exception was not worth it.

"Hugh Porter Davis?"

When he saw this player's profile, he stopped and didn't scroll down.

Davis is the No. 20 pick in the first round in 92, a 198-centimeter guard, played on the bench for four years with the Knicks, and was traded to the Raptors this season, but after playing 30 games, he was reimbursed for the season with a serious injury in January, because he only had a contract for this season, $1.28 million, which was bought out by the Raptors, and is now recuperating at home, and the injury is recovering well.

There was no better target, so he contacted his agent, asked about the current situation, and said that he was ready to play.

He asked Davis to come to Seattle first, and if he could pass the team's physical examination, he could give him a one-year contract first, and he agreed.

On the 7th, Hugh Porter, Davis and his agent came to Seattle and got a one-year contract after passing a medical exam.

Davis was bought out, and according to the rules, the league needs to reduce the original buyout fee according to the new contract, and generally gets about the same as the base salary, so Whithitt discussed it with his agent and set the contract at $500,000.

Davis also agreed, he couldn't get it anyway, he just helped the Raptors save money, it was better to be cheap supersonic.

……

A succession of injuries to the SuperSonics has stimulated the Jazz and Mosaic, both of whom see an opportunity to make it to the West.

The Jazz, in particular, will begin to work hard in the next period of time to catch up with the SuperSonics, so that they can occupy a better position in the playoffs.

The media began to blame and ridicule the management of the supersonics, arguing that the management should not have renewed the contracts of Rodman and Schramf, nor should they have brought in gliders, and the three veterans raised the average age of the supersonic by at least three years, which is why there are so many injury problems now.

At the same time, the media also believes that the goal of supersonic hitting three consecutive championships can be abandoned, and it is difficult for supersonic to break out of the west this season.

These news had little impact on Zhou Quan, but now that many media have begun to target him, he is very bored.

Many American media have revisited the past, believing that his crossover caused his playing time to be drastically reduced, that he was not trying his best at all, and that he was even accumulating fitness for the offseason and Tyson's boxing match, which was an extremely selfish act that ultimately led to the back-to-back injuries of his teammates.

It's nonsense, his playing time has decreased, it is determined by the team's rotation this season, not only him, but the main players have played less time than last season.

After Schramf's injury, that is, after entering '97, his playing time began to increase, and then Rodman was injured again, and his playing time has increased to 40 minutes, and these games have increased to an average of 43 minutes per game.

News like this became very much in a matter of days, and with his influence, almost all of the American media reprinted and reported it, and soon a public opinion was formed against him.

On the 9th, the SuperSonics lost to the Trail Blazers on the road and returned to Seattle the next day.

Philip was waiting at home, and as soon as Zhou Quan arrived home, he discussed with him the public opinion issues that had been quite unfavorable to him in the past few days.

"Zhou, no one wants to see you and the SuperSonics complete a triple crown, you're not an American yet, you're more vulnerable to media targeting," Philip said.

Remember, the media in the United States is controlled by us white people, and at least seven out of ten white people are racists. ”

"Hehe......" Zhou Quan laughed.

"I'm not kidding, to be honest, my grandfather was like that."

Philip laughed too, and then added: "But even if you're an American, it's the same, so I think it's normal for these public opinions to appear before the playoffs, and what you need to do now is to keep a good mindset and just don't pay attention to them." ”

The two chatted for a while, and Philip suddenly asked, "If, Zhou, if you complete three consecutive championships this season, will you consider quitting the NBA league?" ”

"What? Of course not. ”

Zhou Quan was stunned, he didn't think about quitting the alliance, why did he quit? Is it because of those media? If he withdrew, wouldn't he follow their wishes and those capitals behind him?

Philip nodded, but said, "I've talked to Mr. Arum and Mr. Dewar many times, and they suggested that if you complete the triple championship, you can actually consider temporarily withdrawing from the NBA. It just so happens that these media are targeting you for a season, so they use them as an excuse. ”

"You go on." Zhou Quan said.

"Once you've completed a three-game winning dynasty, you're the true king of the NBA," Philip said. ”

Zhou Quan nodded and said: "In the NBA, there were only two dynasties in the NBA, George McCann's Minneapolis in the fifties, and Russell's Green Team in the sixties, both of which were ancient times.

If I do the dynasty, I can indeed lead all the stars in the past 30 years in hard honors, and I should be able to claim the king. ”

This is also the honor he hopes to achieve the most, a three-time champion dynasty in basketball, and then a heavyweight that unifies the four major organizations of professional boxing in the world, a real double king.

Philip laughed: "In this way, after you become the king in the NBA, why don't you temporarily retire and concentrate on playing in professional boxing for two or three years?" ”

"You mean?" Zhou Quan was shocked in his heart.

Philip said excitedly: "Arum and Mr. Dewar have said that if you concentrate on boxing, they can fully support you and strive to unify the heavyweights of the four major organizations within two to three years. ”

"United war?"

Zhou Quan also became excited, this was another goal of his, but immediately frowned and asked: "I want to fight with Tyson in a few months, it can be regarded as a unified battle, what if I lose?" ”

"They're bullish on you to win, because Tyson is really not in his prime." Philip said excitedly.

Zhou Quan hesitated, thought about it for half a minute, and said: "It's too early to say this now, let's talk about it after this season, if I can't finish three consecutive championships, I can't retire from the NBA." ”

"Of course, the NBA is what you are." Philip said.

Speaking of which, he continued: "Another point, the SuperSonics have a serious injury problem this season, and no matter what, the roster of this team is actually aging, several veterans in their thirties.

If you don't win the championship this season, the management will definitely break up the team next season, and you leave for two or three years to give the team a chance to rebuild. ”

"Let's talk about it later, there is no need to discuss this issue now, so as not to mess up my mentality." Zhou Quan shook his head and took the initiative to end the topic.

“OK。” Philip busy.

……

(End of chapter)