Chicago

Six team members, including Jordan and Tim Grover, came to the hospital and met John Heflon, a sports medicine doctor he had worked with for many years.

"Michael's knee is swollen again." Grover spoke about the situation.

Even Jordan couldn't deny that tenosynovitis had progressed to a state that could not be ignored.

At this point, Jordan's assistant made the last thing he wanted to hear: "It might be better to take a few breaks." ”

Jordan glared at him fiercely, and he quickly retreated.

"I want to keep playing and that's why I'm here, but what if. The condition has progressed to that point, and if both Dr. Heffren and Dr. Haas thought I should take a break, I would consider it. ”

Heffren has been working with Jordan longer than Grover, and he's not sure if Jordan will commit to a long break to recuperate before he is cornered.

There was a precedent for this, as back in 1985, in Jordan's second season, when he fractured the scaphoid tarsal in his left foot, he entrusted his career to Heffren and was treated by the renowned Chicago orthopedic surgeon. The rehabilitation program lasted six to eight weeks, but it actually took much longer, until Jordan couldn't take it anymore and at one point participated in a temporary game in North Carolina during his rehab period, much to the displeasure of Jerry Krauss and the rest of the Bulls' staff.

Jordan, who played that game, was sure he was recovering, and he angrily said that his feet had recovered enough for him to get back into play. He told Heffren that he needed to play, that he needed to play.

Heffren agreed to Jordan's comeback plan at the time and vouched for it, believing that the young Jordan had recovered. But now, Jordan is no longer young, but Heffren knows that there is no point in any exhortation, because Jordan will eventually do what he wants.

Instead of admonishing Jordan as Grover did, Heffren followed the process and arranged for him an MRI and a second knee drainage since September.

After the MRI results came in, Heffren did not see structural damage on it, but there was obvious tenosynovitis, so his advice to Jordan was: "Reduce your playing time, stop playing back-to-back, reduce the intensity of training, rest your legs as much as possible and let the swelling go away." ”

Jordan was noncommittal.

But that's the reality, there is no quick fix to his problems, age and years of hard years on the relentless basketball court have taken a toll on his body, and three years after his second retirement, Jordan, who is eager to make a comeback, has given himself a training intensity beyond his physical endurance, and his knees have exceeded the threshold of "wear and tear".

"Michael's knee has gone through a lot of wear and tear, and human knees are not made for wear and tear." Heffren also noted Jordan's dreaded minutes lately, "In the early stages of the season, a lot of playing time can trigger more irritation and inflammation, and then make sure to let Doug control your playing time. ”

Like Tim Grover, Heffren thinks Jordan might have been well-maintained if Jordan hadn't been in a hurry to come back after a three-year retirement. Doctors know better than sycophants: Jordan wasn't a god, but a man — an amazing athlete with an extraordinary body, but still a man — whose muscles were declining at about the same rate as other athletes his age, except that Jordan had more talent.

During his time away, Jordan's physical condition deteriorated, and the leg muscles that provide core strength and stability around his knees atrophied due to long-term inactivity and age, losing most of their protection. If Jordan had never retired, he would still have faced a certain level of decline, but it would never have been that outcome.

"At your age, you usually lose some strength in your legs," Heffren noted. The muscles of a 38-year-old are certainly not as good as those of a 25-year-old. Your thigh muscles aren't as strong. You have fewer fast-twitch fibers and a lower percentage of muscle fibers than younger people, and your athletic career is coming to an end. ”

Just as Heffren was painstakingly advising Jordan to take a comprehensive look at his physical condition, an assistant who had just finished answering a phone call came over and whispered a few words to Jordan.

Reason vanished from Jordan's mind, replaced by a fury.

"That bastard, how dare he !!?"

※※※

After meeting with Abi Boleyn, Yu Fei discovered that the Wizards were not easy inside.

On the surface, Jordan rules everything, but Pauline is clearly very unhappy with what he does.

For some reason, Pauline, the big boss and the de facto owner of the team, did not dare to come forward to confront Jordan, so when Yu Fei appeared, he hit the idea on this young man.

Out of the sensitivity of this matter, Yu Fei called his agent after the training and informed him in detail of what happened in the office.

He wondered if he had made the right decision.

Even Arne Trem was shocked by Fei's situation.

"It's even as sophisticated as LA." Trem sighed.

"Can you catch up?" Yu Fei asked unexpectedly, "Do you want to say that Kobe Bryant's situation is worse than mine?" ”

Because Kobe's agent is also Trym, Yu Fei asked.

"I'd love to let you know what kind of life Kobe Bryant is like, you may think it's bad, but trust me, there will always be people in this world who struggle to survive in worse circumstances," Trem said meaningfully. ”

Yu Fei has no interest in Kobe's environment, he just wants to know what to do next.

"What should I do?"

"There are only two paths in front of you, work with Bolin, or, bow to MJ."

"I've turned down the boss."

"Then you only have one way."

"Bow to the old thing? No way. ”

"Then there is no way out, what happened today will definitely reach Michael's ears, and if you don't say anything, he will assume that you have taken refuge in Poleyn. But the fact that you've turned down Pauline means that if Michael increases the pressure on you, you won't get any help from Paulin. ”

Yu Fei asked rhetorically: "Could it be that I went from being a substitute with an average of only 15 minutes of playing time per game to being a starter now, is it because of Pauline's help?" ”

"No, he didn't give me anything, since the training camp, he has been free with the old things, this is the reason why I don't believe him, and the reason why I won't cooperate with him, he just wants to use me to make trouble for the old things, once the situation changes, he will be the first to give up on me!"

Trem couldn't argue with Yu Fei, who had too many players at his disposal, and superstars like Kobe and Maddie, to put all the attention on Yu Fei.

Therefore, for such a complex objective environment as the Wizards, Trem came up with the idea of letting Yu Fei defect to one of the two forces to gain a buffer.

But Trem didn't expect that Yu Fei's will to fight was so strong that even Kobe's Hall of Fame-level paranoia disguised himself as a "perfect team player" in front of reality, but Yu Fei had an indomitable ambition, which was the most difficult road.

If Yu Fei knew what Trem was thinking, he would only laugh.

His situation with Kobe Bryant is completely different.

Kobe Bryant is "aggrieved", "aggrieved" to have two crowns in hand at a young age, "aggrieved" to the point that the league's No. 1 boss is carried, and "aggrieved" is so "aggrieved" that he can be close friends with the big boss Bass, that is a person who can send O'Neal and Jackson away for Kobe.

You must know that Phil Jackson, who put Kobe Bryant in a "difficult environment", is one of the founders of the Bulls dynasty, and Shaquille O'Neal, who made Kobe "aggrieved" as a team player, is the most dominant player in the post-Jordan era.

What's the wizard? Can people like Pauline be trusted? He didn't even dare to criticize Jordan publicly. Collins? After the Bulls led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals, he was directly replaced by his own assistant coach, which is enough to prove his "gold content". Jordan? What does this old thing compare with O'Neill now?

Really, if Yu Fei and Kobe Bryant are replaced, he can also be a team, he can also recognize Shark as a big brother, and he can also listen to the boss.

"If you insist on staying in line, you have to keep playing well and be so good that neither Michael nor Pauline can find fault."

"I try my best," Yu Fei said, "but in fact, I don't have to be so troublesome, I don't have to do my best, I just need to be better than most people, if I want to liquidate me because I didn't play a good game, it's because they think too much, I'm not Kwamei." ”

Speaking of Quamelem to know how he was doing, he was sullen every time he called to say hello. As for the reason? Jordan, of course. And when Jordan bullied Brown, but Brown couldn't respond on the court, he couldn't do anything as an agent.

"Is Kwame alright?"

"Alive."

"That's good."

"Feel free to tell me if you have any news."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I'm thinking about a comeback right now, I miss the days of playing, and seeing Michael alone and I was sad, and I thought I could give him some help, but I needed to lose another 25 pounds or so before I could really help him. I don't know if I can help him, but I don't want to leave him alone because I'm one of his true friends. - Barkley said publicly on TNT.

"Did MJ's meeting with his personal physician, John Heffren, at a hospital in Chicago today justify long-standing concerns about his knee?" —The Chicago Globe

"Doug Collins declined to respond to MJ's question." —The Washington Times

"Karl Malone is unhappy with an anonymous Jazz executive's article published on the internet that blamed the 38-year-old's declining performance on his lack of training last summer." - Utah Star

"Fry, do you think Michael has a knee problem?"

“How dare you！！！！！ I refuse to answer such questions! ”

(How dare you)

"May I ask why?"

"Michael averaged nearly 38 minutes per game last month, and you think he has a knee problem? What are your intentions? Who instructed you to ask such questions? Isn't it you who is spreading rumors outside? How dare you！！！！！ - Yu Fei said in an interview with the Washington Chronicle.

(End of chapter)