In the 2000-01 season, Milwaukee fans felt joy in a game for the first time in a long time.

And that's exactly what George Karl hated about that team. He doesn't want his team to look happy. That Bucks team still has a few people like Karl — Scott Williams, Jason Kafee, Darvin Namm, but right now, only Kafee is still on the roster — more people who like to laugh at games and on the training court.

Given the situation, given their salaries — $9 million a year for Ray Allen, $7.2 million for Glenn Robinson, $3.5 million for Sam Kassel — how would well-paid people feel the pain?

Karl's approach was to lecture them hard at the start of the training camp. Karl tells them that you are too selfish, you like individualism, you only care about your own numbers, you always think about your next contract (Kassel), you don't work hard enough (big dogs), you don't have the resilience and courage to overcome difficulties, you lack a strong will and a sense of responsibility to the team (Ray Allen).

Not surprisingly, the trio who were harshly reprimanded had a poor start to the season, with the Bucks starting the season with a 3-9 record. Karl did so by publicly condemning their inaction, and it worked. The Bucks went 49-21 in the next 70 games, which is almost the best team in the league in terms of offensive and defensive statistics.

Their eventual reach for the Eastern Conference Finals was a footnote to Allen Iverson's saga, but it was a great revival for the Bucks who had struggled for years.

Karl made a comeback with a team that was different from the SuperSonics, and then, Bucks owner Herb Kerr also decided to tie him to the Bucks' chariot, and he agreed to a contract extension with Karl. This makes Carl the highest-paid NBA coach — $7 million a year. Not only that, but Kerr also gave a 1% stake in the Bucks to Karl.

This makes Carl not only the coach of the team, but also one of the owners of the team, and despite being only 1/100 owners, the difference between having and not is huge.

01 The success of the Bucks made Carl feel that putting pressure on players through outside forces is a way to move the team forward.

As a result, when the Bucks struggled in 2001-02, the same approach kept them out of the playoffs.

George Carr blames others for the failure, Ray Allen is too weak, Glenn Robinson is too unmotivated, Sam Cassel does nothing all day, Anthony Mason ...... Nothing to say.

And now, in the 2002-03 season, the Bucks completely rebuilt their team through offseason trades, and the addition of Yu Fei and Sprewell gave the Bucks the toughness that Carl appreciated.

However, Ray Allen is still a lingering haze.

After the game against the Wizards, Karl can be sure that Yu Fei is the most talented player he has coached, better than both Sean Camp and Gary Payton. Although Yu Fei's contempt for the authority of the coaching staff makes him uncomfortable, if he does have the ability to lead the team forward in defiance of the tactical system, Carl thinks he can also turn into an incompetent Doug Collins on some nights.

Moreover, Karl has a growing feeling that this Bucks team has the strength to win championships, Yu Fei has the potential to achieve greatness, and his task is not only to be a good coach, but also to play a good mentor, which is a role that Jordan failed to play well in Washington.

Because Jordan couldn't do it, Yu Fei would be traded.

Karl doesn't think he'll repeat Jordan's mistakes because he's not a player, he's not going to take possession of the ball, and he's not going to get in the way of being the leader of the team.

Who's going to get the flyball? The one who always complained about Yu Fei's too many shots.

Who will stand in the way of Yu Fei becoming the leader of the team? The man who obviously has no leader but does not want someone to lead him.

That's right, that person is Ray Allen.

Karl has never liked Ray Allen, a man who pretends to be high-minded and has a bad reputation for fame and fortune, and publicly complained to the media last season about "We Bucks are also strong, why do you always talk about Jordan".

He said he didn't care who was the leader of the team, but if someone wanted to lead the team in front of him, he would be-for-tat and embarrassed.

In Carl's opinion, the presence of Ray Allen is an obstacle to flying's ascendancy.

Sprewell's approach of directly treating himself as the team's deputy and not fighting for power at all is what a second or third leader should look like.

As Ray Allen becomes more and more distracted like a fishbone stuck between his teeth, Carl has an idea that can give him immediate relief - why can't we trade him? It's good for everyone!

Early one morning in mid-December, Yu Fei slept an hour longer than usual.

It's the damn radio show to blame.

The Bucks' radio program "Dialogue with the Chosen One" for Yu Fei received a positive response from fans as soon as it was launched. At first, only local fans in Milwaukee called, but gradually more calls came from out of town, and then, even people from the other coast called.

Some of them are not even fans of Yu Fei, some just want to say "Cao Nima" to Fei in person and then hang up the phone, and some ask questions in life.

Of course, there is no shortage of fans with humor, but the proportion of such high-quality calls is still too small compared to low-quality calls.

As the radio station became popular, Yu Fei's agent asked the Bucks to hand over the rights to the show to Yu Fei.

After negotiations between the two parties, Yu Fei finally got the ownership of the radio station.

Nominally, his station still belongs to the Bucks, but the show is completely his own, from a contract perspective. While the Bucks can't get the commercial benefits of radio, radio can drive attention and merch sales, so overall, it's a win-win partnership.

Yu Fei rubbed his eyes, washed up, and ate breakfast.

After a while, Lawson and Clark (assistant) arrived.

"Listen to Aunt Jenny, are you in bed today?" Lawson asked playfully.

Yu Fei said angrily: "I was bombarded with phone calls by Bucks fans who lost my mind last night for three hours, what's wrong with sleeping a little longer?" ”

Clark asked curiously, "Impossible, right?" It's very popular in Milwaukee. ”

"Not bombing me." Yu Fei explained, "They bombed George Carr. ”

Hearing this, Lawson and Clark both had the same expressions on their faces.

They know Karl's virtues, and they know why the fans are "bombing" Carl.

Although they are both Yu Fei's people, and Carl has hardly publicly criticized Taifei, Carl's penchant for criticizing players in the media is quite explosive from any point of view.

"So did you decide to go along with the fans?" Lawson asked.

Yu Fei shook his head: "I haven't figured out how to do it yet." ”

It's a really difficult thing to do, because Carl doesn't target him.

Carl looks like he's squirting at everyone, but he actually has a point of fire.

What he really bombarded was Ray Allen, and the others were more like Ah Cheng who was sprayed for no reason in "The Pretender".

This is the reason why it is difficult for Yu Fei to participate in it.

The main contradiction is not him.

Ray Allen is the titular boss, and if Carl really drives the former away, then Yu Fei can take the position.

This looks like the best outcome.

But Yu Fei never felt that Ray Allen would be an obstacle to his ascension, because this person was too lonely, disdainful of competing for the status of the team, and strict with himself and others.

This personality has led to Ray Allen having no friends in the team at all, how can a person who lacks support be the leader of the team?

In Yu Fei's opinion, as long as it develops steadily, his status will naturally be confirmed.

Ray Allen doesn't say anything else, the style of play is suitable for him.

However, seeing that the matter between Carl and Aaron was getting worse, Yu Fei smelled the smell of danger.

If it goes on like this, maybe the team will suddenly trade Ray Allen one day.

In the afternoon of the same day

Yu Fei came to the St. Francis training gym and saw Ray Allen practicing shooting.

Outwardly, everything works fine.

But Ray Allen's face was full of words, "Don't come near animals."

It must be said that in the eyes of Ray Allen, there are few people in St. Francis who are not "animals".

Either they are Carl's comrades, or they ignore Carl's misdeeds as bastards, and such people have no right to be called human at all.

"Ray-rey, if you need someone to talk to..."Yu Fei opened the chat window to Ray Allen.

But Ray Allen just glanced at him indifferently, "I don't want to talk." ”

Yes, it was this unwarm tone, the impersonal expression, and the indifferent eyes that seemed to have the whole family suddenly died, which is why Ray Allen had no friends.

He probably thinks there's no one here to be his friend.

"Well, I just want to say to you, I hope George's words won't affect you, and I'm sure he has no ill intentions."

Yu Fei's remarks accurately stepped into the minefield of Ray Allen.

"No malicious ?!!!" Ray Allen gritted his teeth and said, "You don't think he has any ill will!!? ”

Yu Feicha said, "Do you think he has malicious intentions?" Isn't he doing this to everyone? ”

What makes Ray Allen angry the most is that Carl doesn't do this to everyone. For flying, Karl never made a positive criticism. No matter whether Yu Fei played well or not, whether he was alone or not, whether he worked hard or not, Carl was indifferent.

"You who have never been publicly insulted by him, of course you can't feel his malice!" Ray Allen couldn't restrain his resentment of wanting to pull Yu Fei to sink together, and what he really wanted to ask was: Why did Carl never criticize you?

Yu Fei smiled flatly, he had known Ray Allen for a while, and it was only at certain times that Ray Allen made people think that he was an emotional person.

Ironically, such moments all seem to be associated with George Carr.

"You see, we really should talk."

Ray Allen is no longer rejecting people from thousands of miles away, but his tone is still very hard: "What is there to talk about? ”

"I don't agree with George's approach, there seems to be a lack of a line of communication between you." Yu Fei said, "If you can sit down and communicate, I don't think there's anything you can't say." ”

Then, Ray Allen's resentment exploded.

He revealed to Yu Fei all kinds of public insults that George Carr had inflicted on him in the past two years, and if what he said was true, it was indeed Carl's inappropriate person.

If it were Yu Fei, I'm afraid he would have fallen out with Carl a long time ago.

So, why can Ray Allen endure until now? And he looks like he's going to put up with it.

Yu Fei remembered the other party's family background.

Ray Allen was also a lucky man with both parents, but there was one thing his father who didn't run away like a dog, but he rarely got along with him. Because Aaron's father was a soldier, he regularly returned home to check on Aaron's schoolwork to make sure he was in good order.

His father carved a mental seal on Ray Allen, and that was to obey authority.

No matter how much the superior criticizes you, you should not refute it, let alone confront it.

On the one hand, he resented Carl for finding fault with him when he was fine, making him embarrassed in front of the media, and on the other hand, he didn't want to prove that Carl was right, so whenever he didn't play well, he was actually the most angry himself.

He was angry that he had given George Carr another chance.

Yu Fei really doesn't understand what kind of psychology it is to admit punishment and admit punishment, is this still black? Rey-ray is a shaker of black stereotypes.

"Since you don't like it, why don't you say it?" Yu Fei pointed out a path that normal people would take to Lei Allen, "Go and talk to him clearly." ”

Ray Allen said: "Why should I say it? Would you say if it were you? ”

Apparently he didn't know enough about what someone was doing.

Yu Fei nodded lightly and generously admitted, "I said it." ”

Ray Allen's eyes widened as if he had heard some terrible secret.

"Why else do you think he would keep his mouth shut?" Yu Fei confessed, "I told George that I don't like to see my coach criticizing me through the media in the newspapers. If he had any grievances against me, he should have said to me, and if he insisted on doing so, then only one of us could stay in Milwaukee. ”

Will Ray Allen's Thought Seal Disappear?

His eyes twinkled with thought and struggle, and finally, he said, "You are no different from Anthony Mason. ”

"If you are dissatisfied, you have to say it to your face, and holding it in your heart will only make you more uncomfortable." Yu Fei said, "This has nothing to do with whether I am Anthony Mason or not, but the most basic thing we do as a team, only in this way can we avoid internal friction and misunderstandings." ”

Ray Allen stared at Yu Fei for a long time, and only after a while did he say, "You are more like a leader than me. ”

Yu Fei said modestly: "You know, I'm here to assist you. ”

This is what Yu Fei can do, and the conflict between George Carr and Ray Allen ultimately needs to be resolved by themselves.

A few days later, trade rumors of Ray Allen emerged.

A reporter from the Seattle Times broke the news that the Bucks and SuperSonics are in discussions about a trade for Ray Allen and Gary Payton, but after the news came to light, both teams called the rumors.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Ray has many years left on his contract, and we plan to end his career as a Bucks player in Milwaukee, and the trade rumors are fake!" — Bucks general manager Larry Harris told The Milwaukee Sentinel.

"MJ will pay $5 million to Carla Knafel (lover) in exchange for her silence." —The New York Times

"No. 1 doesn't mean the Bucks' hard power is No. 1 in the East, they just have a better schedule than the other teams. They're overrated, that's my opinion. - Nets forward Kenyon Martin said in an interview with The New Jersey Express.

"What's the funnier thing about Beverly Yu's comparison of Michael Jordan to Hitler on a radio show? Kenyon Martin's claim that the Bucks are underrated makes us forget about the fact that the Nets lost to the Bucks some time ago and look forward to the reunion of the two teams on Christmas Eve! —ESPN News Express

PS: Book friends who want to play the role of listeners and ask questions against the sky to Dafei's radio station can leave a message in the book review area. The rules are as follows: 1. Don't ask questions that will be eaten by river crabs. 2. Don't ask questions that go beyond the current timeline, 3. Think of a normal/anti-natural English name, and where it comes from. If you're embarrassed to post in the book review section, you can leave me a message on Penguin.

Thanks to the little boss for the award of the alliance leader, and also thanks to lceBerG Zichen, book friend 160527182847322, nervous chatter, and numb Dusgoria for the reward

(End of chapter)