At the Seattle Center Gymnasium, Zhou Quan is giving a live interview after the game.

An NBC reporter asked, "Iron Fist, do you think this mosaic will still exist next season?" ”

Zhou Quan was stunned, smiled and said, "The lineup should change." ”

"Do you think Barkley is leaving? His contract ended and was not renewed early. The reporter asked again.

"Possibly." Zhou Quan nodded.

"What team do you think Barkley is most likely to go to?" The reporter asked again.

"Well, I remember the year he said he was going to play brother basketball, so it was the Bulls? Haha, I can't be sure, it's just possible, after all, the trapeze and the flying pig are very good friends. Zhou Quan said with a smile.

"Big Dream's contract is also over, Iron Fist King, do you think Big Dream will leave Houston?" The reporter asked again.

"It's also possible that he's still one of the best centers right now, and whoever gets him and has a good squad can be a championship-caliber team." Zhou Quan said.

At this time, Dameng had returned to the locker room, and the general manager, Dawson, leaned in to say something, he shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Carol, I want to be quiet." ”

“OK。”

Dawson sighed deeply, nodded and stepped back.

Barkley also came in, saw this scene, shook his head, sat next to Big Dream, and said to Dawson: "Sir, I have confirmed with my agent that I will not renew the contract. ”

Dawson's face froze, sighed again, nodded and said, "Then Charles, I wish you to fulfill your wishes." ”

"Thanks, Carol, you're a nice guy." Barkley laughed.

"Me too."

At this point, Big Dream finally spoke, but this very short sentence shattered Dawson's last dream and sent the atmosphere in the locker room into an ice valley.

This sentence makes everyone understand that when the mosaic is finished, it will completely enter the reconstruction period, and the reconstruction period is far away, because Barkley and Olajuwon are free people, and they will leave freely, and the mosaic will not even fall a single hair.

An hour later, the press conference took place.

"Charles, do you think the Iron Fist King is right when he says you might join the Bulls and play brother basketball?" A reporter asked.

"Damn Iron Fist!"

Barkley scolded secretly, didn't this expose him? I was very depressed, because if he denied it, how could he go to the bull?

He said with some annoyance: "Don't worry about him, I haven't decided yet." ”

He could only use a noncommittal attitude to deal with the reporter for the time being.

"Hakim, your contract is over too, will you leave Houston?" The next reporter was the Seattle media, asked in a mocking tone.

Feeling the ridicule in the reporter's words, Da Meng's emotions suddenly couldn't be controlled, and he shouted in a low and depressed voice:

"I'm disappointed in the management and the bosses, they have failed our efforts for money, they are wasting our lives and our youth."

"Oh roar!"

The media became excited, but they didn't expect Dameng to suddenly shoot at the management and team owners, which is a big deal!

Big Dream's roar full of grief and indignation continued: "In order to save millions of dollars a year, they have created a rather 'gorgeous' bench lineup, and the annual salary of seven people in this bench lineup adds up to less than two million dollars, all of them are marginal people, this is our championship lineup, this is a shame for Houston, a shame!" It's not worth continuing with a team like this, I'm so disappointed in Houston! ”

"Alas!"

Many Houston reporters sighed.

The next day, on the morning of the 20th, the media reported last night's Western Finals match.

"A bloody and tearful accusation from a super center!"

It was the headline of the New York Times' sports section, which wrote: "With a combined annual salary of less than $2 million for the seven bench players, it is clear that Mosaic's management and owners are not ready to win the championship and are even trying to squeeze the surplus value out of superstars Olajuwon and Barkley." ”

"Two superstars have decided to leave on a free transfer, which is the sadness of Houston, and the Mosaic team has fallen." Houston Chronicle.

"The mosaic collapses, the Jazz may collapse as well, who will stop the hypersound in the West? Are we going to allow a Chinese to rule the Union? Dallas Cowboys.

After Jordan saw these reports, he immediately contacted his agent, David Falck.

"David, are Charles sure he won't renew Mosaic?" He asked immediately after passing through.

"Yes, Michael, he's already decided to leave. Besides, he wanted to come to the Bulls last year, what do you think? David Falck said.

"He's not very efficient, but he can still play as a power forward and bring Tony Kukoc back to the bench, which is better for us as a whole." Jordan pondered.

"I see it that way, too, he can add a lot of thickness to your lineup, just like a glider is to supersonics. Actually, I think he's better suited to be a substitute, but I'm afraid he won't accept being a substitute. David Falck said.

"I'll contact him first." Jordan decided to come down.

"Charles, brother, come here, let's deal with Iron Fist together." After the phone was connected, he said directly.

"Bottom, base salary?" Barkley was still a little unwilling.

"Charles, you let David and Klaus talk about this."

Where would Jordan say this to Barkley, the base salary must be the base salary, and the team has no room at all, but he can't offend Barkley.

In fact, he wants to recruit Da Meng more, Da Meng, who still has top offensive and defensive strength, is two grades better than Mutombo, with Da Meng, he can pinch the iron fist to death, and he can pinch it to death as much as he wants.

And the contract of the big dream is over, and he is already a free man, and he can be recruited without any chips.

However, the state that Big Dream has shown this season is not comparable to Barkley, and it is impossible for the Bulls to recruit with a base salary, so it is better to bring Barkley in.

Another point is that he is afraid that the media will say that he is in a group, so he has scruples about introducing Big Dream.

Pippen is one of the top 50 superstars, but he was cultivated by his own team, and of course he is not a huddle. Mutombo is only a defensive center, he didn't make it to the top 50, and he doesn't count as a huddle. But to get the real big 50 big dreams, the top 50 superstars of a team with three playing years, it is a complete group.

As a person who used to hug his thighs, Barkley had no confidence at all, and then he received a call from his agent, David Falke.

"Hey, David."

"Hey, Charles, you've already decided, right?"

"Yes."

"But I'm afraid the Bulls can't give you the contract you want, and they can free up a small contract of half a million dollars at most."

Barkley gritted his teeth and said, "Sign for two years, Michael has two years left on his contract with the Bulls, and I will fight for another two years."

Also, David, you can only help me get a basic salary, so it's your responsibility to help me find a few endorsements in Chicago to make up for my financial losses. ”

"Well, it shouldn't be a problem to find a few endorsements, but you can't expect a big contract."

David Falke said this, and said: "The other one, Charles, are you willing to accept the role of substitute in the Bulls?" ”

"David, I only receive $500,000 a year, and I can't even get a main identity? Look down on me so much, believe it or not if I go to the hypersound? Buckley said angrily.

"No, no, I'm just asking you, I'll talk to Mr. Klaus, and the main identity should be fine."

Of course, David Falke can't let Barkley go to the SuperSonics, so the supersonic bench lineup will go against the sky, how can the Bulls play?

Then Jerry Claus received a call from Falke, hearing that Barkley was willing to join the team with an annual salary of $500,000, just asking for a main role, and what else he didn't want, he said yes.

After Barkley got the news, although he was very disappointed, his heart was also settled.

……

Zhou Quan didn't read the newspaper or watch the TV news, and after eating breakfast and sending off Zeng Li, who went to work in the company, he went to the dock behind him to kill time there.

Fine Coffee Company has been hiring people recently, and the company is expanding in preparation for expansion in the second half of the year, and the work is a bit busy.

The two of them have planned to invest tens of millions of dollars, and in the second half of the year, plus next year, in a year and a half, they will strive to open 100 directly-operated stores in the United States, and then they will be ready to go public.

He could more or less guess what news about the NBA was being reported in the media today, and it made him feel a little emotional.

As soon as he entered the league, he had a locker room brawl with the Ranbir guys, and it didn't start well, and it was pretty bad.

But he didn't choose to leave, but stayed, because it was not his character to choose to leave when he encountered difficulties, it was his character to face difficulties, and it was his character to let those guys who targeted him call him boss, which was what he wanted.

That's what he did when he was at UCLA, when he was on the basketball team and the ice hockey team, and everybody liked to target him just because he was yellow-skinned, and then he solved the problem with his fists and blood.

And it was because of this decision that he was successful with the Pistons, winning the championship in the second season, achieving the results and dreams of Barkley, Big Dream, and Postman, who worked hard for more than ten seasons, but did not complete the results and dreams.

His impression is that the team at the beginning is really important, and can even determine the success of a person's career.

Barkley, Olajuwon, Karl Malone, Ewing, David Robinson, these people are not strong, not only strong, but they are very strong at their peak, super strong, but they have not won a championship so far.

That night, the Bulls defeated the Heat, 77-84, to win the G1 game.

Gary Payton defended Jordan, and although he scored 32 points, he shot only 35.7% from the field, playing very good defense.

But Jordan, on the other hand, only allowed Gary Payton to shoot 3-of-16 from the field and shot just 18.8 percent from the field, and ended up scoring just 14 points.

Zhou Quan doesn't know if Jordan has played explosive form, but the 35.7% shooting rate shows that Gary Payton's current defense is really at the top level.

At least Payton's shooting percentage, he is not surprised, his own offense is at that level, and he is limited to less than 20% by Jordan, which is normal.

Next, the showdown continued, with the SuperSonics and the Bulls both winning two in a row at home.

On May 25, the SuperSonics completed a sweep of Mosaic in Houston and took the lead in reaching the finals.

This is also the third round of SuperSonics' sweep in this playoffs, exactly like last season.

At the same time, it is also the fourth time that the SuperSonics have eliminated Mosaic in the Western Conference finals, and swept the opponent for the second time in a row.

Zhou Quan averaged 40.5 minutes per game in this series, scoring 36.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 14 assists, 6.25 steals, 2.8 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2.3 fouls, with a shooting rate of 65.4%.

In terms of supersound, in addition to Zhou Quan, there are four people including Drexler, Leitner, Schramf, and Hawkins who scored double-doubles.

Big Dream averaged 27 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2 steals, 3.3 blocks, 3.2 turnovers and 3.3 fouls per game, with a shooting rate of 59.2%, which is still a top center performance, neither Leitner nor Matt Geiger can prevent him.

Barkley's performance was two notches worse, with only 16 points, 11 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.5 blocks, 2.8 turnovers and 3.8 fouls, especially shooting only 42.9%.

If you are a point guard, this shooting percentage is okay, but as a power forward, this efficiency is too low, Schramf plays small forward next to Zhou Quan, and the shooting rate is more than fifty percent.

Tim Hardaway's performance under Zhou Quan's defense was the worst of the Big Three, with only 10.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1 steal, 6.7 turnovers and 4.5 fouls, and his shooting rate was only 28.8%.

In terms of mosaics, in addition to the Big Three, Mario Elie scored double-doubles, averaging 11.5 points per game, which is even higher than the bugs.

"Hakim, Charles, do you have any plans?

After the game, the glider took the initiative to go up and hug Da Meng and Barkley.

"There's a chance I'll go to the Bulls." Barkley hesitated, thinking that there was nothing to hide, so he still whispered.

The glider looked at Da Meng, who shook his head and said, "I'm not sure yet." ”

"Good luck to you all."

Seeing the determination in the words of the big dream, this is definitely going to leave the mosaic, the glider sighed, nodded and said.

"Good luck too."

The two nodded, hugged again, and then parted.

Not far away, Zhou Quan was giving a live interview after the game.

The NBC reporter asked: "Iron Fist King, the current Bulls are also leading 3-0 and have a good chance of sweeping the Heat, what do you think of the next Finals?" How much confidence? ”

Zhou Quan said with a smile: "We lost both games in the regular season, and the strength of the Bulls is really strong, but we are still full of confidence in the finals." ”

"What is the source of faith?" The reporter interjected.

Zhou Quan smiled and said: "The desire for victory, the hunger for the three consecutive championships, the persistence of the dynasty, our own strength, and our confidence in ourselves are all sources of our confidence." ”

"Do the SuperSonics have a new tactic against Mutombo?" The reporter asked again.

"Sorry, I can't comment on that." Zhou Quan shook his head and said.

"The Bulls are not as fast as you on the outside, do the SuperSonics stick to a fast-paced offensive and defensive speed in the Finals?" The reporter asked again.

"We've been in that style for four seasons." Zhou Quan nodded.

……

(End of chapter)