activa-t Chapter 157 Goodbye
Chapter 157 Goodbye
Chapter 157 Goodbye
Li Guoqiang's generous writing did not bring Li Chongxiao any good luck.
In the next game, although the Spurs won the first game at home and took a 2:1 lead, the Lakers then evened the big score and won three games in a row.
On June 6, in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, at the home court of the Spurs, the Lakers won 114:108, thereby eliminating their opponents with a total score of 4:2 and entering the finals.
The Lakers celebrated wantonly, and Kobe tore his jersey to vent his excitement.Yao Ming also smiled openly, his eyes narrowed for joy.
The Lakers had reason to celebrate, and their desperate midseason trade paid off.However, the Spurs hesitated to buckle Suosuo, resulting in the failure of the transaction. They could only watch their opponents celebrate and silently lick their wounds.
After Li Chongxiao politely congratulated the Lakers players, he went back to the locker room and packed all his belongings.
Popovich didn't come at all, and went directly to the scene of the press conference.The teammates watched Li Chongxiao pack his luggage one by one, and they all remained silent.
Soon Li Chongxiao packed up, hugged and bid farewell to his teammates one by one, then turned around and left gracefully.
After driving out of the arena, he walked around the AT&T Center and said silently:
"goodbye!"
……
After being eliminated from the playoffs, Li Chongxiao took a week off in San Antonio before heading to Los Angeles to watch Game [-] of the NBA Finals between the Lakers and Celtics.
Before leaving, he listed his San Antonio house for sale.
The news was quickly learned by all-powerful sports reporters, and then spread in the league.
Li Chongxiao's move undoubtedly indicated that his fate with the Spurs was over and he jumped out of the contract.
After Yao Ming personally promised not to jump out of the contract, Li Chongxiao became the biggest free agent this summer.
Unlike two years ago, he is still a restricted free agent, where he is not under his control.In this summer, it is completely up to him to decide.
So he was surrounded by reporters, even more attention than the finals.
Li Chongxiao did not hide the fact that he jumped out of the contract and became a free agent, but kept silent about which team he would go to.
In fact, he himself was a little confused about the future.It is certain to go to a team to be the head star, but he doesn't have a plan in his mind which team to go to.
No matter how busy the reporters were, he couldn't answer half a point. He didn't even know how to answer Yao Ming's question before the game.
The Lakers won the game. Yao Ming scored 26 points and 14 rebounds to help the Lakers take a 2:1 lead.
After the game, the reporters asked Yao Ming about Li Chongxiao's whereabouts in the summer after asking how the Lakers felt about winning.
Everyone thought that Yao Ming would give an ambiguous reply, but Yao Ming said without hesitation, "Is there any need to ask?"
The reporters immediately listened attentively to his answer as if they had been pumped out:
"Of course it's the Huaxia team. This summer, the capital welcomes you. See you soon!"
After teasing the reporters, Yao Ming teased Li Chongxiao off the court and said, I have watched you twice in the finals, and now it is finally your turn to come to me.But you actually came here to grab the limelight, what does that mean?
……
In the next four games, the Lakers withstood the Celtics' counterattack. After seven hard battles, they finally won.
Kobe scored 32.4 points and won the MVP of the 2007-2008 NBA Finals. Finally, after leaving O'Neal, he won his own championship and can speak up straight.
And Yao Ming also played well. He averaged 26.4 points and 13.7 rebounds per game, proving his worth.Less than half a year after leaving the quagmire of the Rockets, he won the honor that many players dream of.
Li Chongxiao only watched two games at the Lakers' home court, and was so annoyed by reporters and various people who came to invite him to drink tea. He didn't watch the next game and went back to China directly.
This time he was more high-profile, announcing as soon as he got off the plane that he would come back to participate in the national team competition, giving the fans a reassurance.
As for which team to go to, the reporters and fans couldn't get the result, so they didn't ask any more questions. After all, the top priority now is the Olympics.
I have seen the leaders of the basketball management center, and they even hope that Li Chongxiao will make a decision after the Olympics, so that it can attract more attention, and secondly, it will also help to concentrate.
But this is obviously impossible. When Li Chongxiao returned to Pengcheng for a rest, there were always calls from various well-informed people.
Li Chongxiao knew that he would either declare that he would wait until after the Olympics, or he would deal with this matter as soon as possible.
The idea of waiting to announce after the Olympics was denied by himself, the timing was too inappropriate.
As a result, many teams can't wait for that time, and if they can't wait for the exact news from Li Chongxiao, they may give up.Secondly, many capable players were taken away early. If they join the team late, it will delay the team's reinforcement. I can't play games alone.
Furthermore, my next contract must be a maximum salary, and I have to decide it early. If the salary space of my favorite team is not enough, it is better to leave time to clear the salary space.
……
According to his request, Li Chongxiao's team began to analyze the situation of each team.
He will never go to the three teams in Texas, so don't think about it.There are also teams like the Trail Blazers who are "worse than tigers" and bosses and management like the Knicks who are so bad that they don't need to think about it.
He also doesn't want to be the second or third child, so teams like the Lakers, Heat, and Cavaliers basically don't have to think about it.
He doesn't like the head coach being too strong, and the Jazz and Nuggets won't consider it.
There are still many teams that simply don't have enough salary space, and they can't go if they want to.
The owner of the Kings has always wanted to sell the team, which is not a good place.In the bitter cold of the Timberwolves, even Garnett can't move. Li Chongxiao believes that his current state can't surpass that of KG in 2003.
The owner of the Sonics wants to move the team away, but he really wants to have a super giant come over to decorate the facade.But the team focuses on training Durant and Jeff Green. Whether Li Chongxiao's coming will squeeze the growth of young people is something the management has been hesitant about.
The Clippers, their main power forward Elton Brand also chose to jump out of the contract. The Clippers clearly have the ability to give him a maximum salary, but their boss Donald Sterling is a long-time dunk, and Li Chongxiao also I don't want to be a mascot for selling tickets in the past.
After all the calculations, there are only the Warriors and Grizzlies in the West and the 76ers, Bulls and Bobcats in the East.
When such a file was put on the desk, Li Chongxiao immediately took a fancy to the Bulls.The fourth largest city in the United States, the team is well-known, and Li Chongxiao's friends Luol Deng and Du Hong also won the No. 2008 pick in [-].
Followed by the 76ers, has a very large salary space, and Li Chongxiao appreciates Iguodala's playing style.
As for the other three teams, Li Chongxiao will not give up contact, one more spare tire, one more way.
……
When Li Chongxiao fell into choice phobia, the team first helped him do the elimination method.
Jordan, the small owner of the Bobcats, invited Larry Brown as the team's head coach. Li Chongxiao was still in the shadow of Popovich's coaching, so naturally he would not go to this hardline patriarch, so he flatly rejected them. invitation.
Then Boss Joe, unwilling to be lonely, came out to speak out again, thinking that Li Chongxiao would definitely help the Bulls win the championship, and gave 3 specific numbers.
But he also said that Li Chongxiao is definitely capable of retiring his jersey with the Bulls, but he will never surpass himself.
Li Chongxiao was a little annoyed by Jordan's words, and he was a little confused, so he had to ask his brains, Li Guoqiang, for help.
What Li Guoqiang said is very simple, since there is no shortage of money, there is no need to consider off-court factors.Big cities and small cities alike.
There is no need to think about the remaining friendship at all, can it be stronger than Duncan?
The adaptability of the new team does not need to be considered. As a top star, the boss in the past, only the team and teammates adapt to themselves, so there is no need to adapt to others.
After setting aside these things, Li Chongxiao basically understood his choice.He found that although the Warriors are good, but with their style of play and himself, they can't beat the Lakers, and they will definitely not win the championship.
As for the Bulls, to be honest, what Jordan said awakened Li Chongxiao. Since he has the ability to reopen the world, why should he live in the shadow of others.
Just when Li Chongxiao was about to notify the 76ers to sign the contract, he got a message that Elton Brand was also interested in signing with the 76ers.
Looking at the photo of the No. 42 player, Li Chongxiao remembered a false alarm that year.He was very sure that what happened in the white space back then was not a dream, especially the moment he learned that Brand's Achilles tendon had ruptured.
He felt that he couldn't grab the position of the No. 42 player who had reached out to him, so he rejected the 76ers and chose the final selection Grizzlies.
……
Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley was stunned, it was pie from the sky.He has never felt that the team has the hope of winning the superstar, but he is willing to make some attempts to clear the salary space.
The only reason he could think of was to donate some money out of appreciation for Li Chongxiao. He saw this player score 50+ points in his home court with his own eyes.
But this reason is nothing to a super rich family, at most there are some good karma.
Michael Heisley hesitated again and again, but still couldn't help being curious, he personally took the contract and flew to the capital to meet with Li Chongxiao who was preparing for the Olympics.
"Why did you choose the Grizzlies?" He rambled on about some of the team's disadvantages: "You have a lot of choices. Compared with other teams, we didn't make the playoffs, we didn't have an All-Star team, and the city wasn't big enough. The team has no history."
Li Chongxiao replied lightly:
"Precisely because you have nothing!"
(End of this chapter)