Chapter 1 After the Draft

After the draft, taking advantage of the brief period before the lockout when he could still contact Kupchak, Su Feng told him about another important task for the Lakers this summer.

That was, without violating the lockout regulations, to send someone to scout Hassan Whiteside, who had been selected by the Bucks in the second round of the 2010 draft and was now unemployed due to being waived.

As one of the most famous underdog success stories in Su Feng's previous life in the NBA, "Big White Side" was, at this point, an annoying nobody that everyone disliked.

If Su Feng remembered correctly, besides NBA teams looking down on him, when he chose to pan for gold in the Chinese CBA in the future, CBA teams would also think he was a complete idiot.

As a result, it was unknown whether he had picked up a system abandoned by some unknown protagonist of a basketball novel while playing for the Jiangsu Tongxi team in the NBL...

Anyway, from then on, "Big White Side" began his road to success.

However...

Although he would go against the current in the future, his poor lateral movement would make him increasingly out of his depth in the fast-paced NBA game.

However, for these Lakers...

No matter how many shortcomings "Big White Side" had, as long as he could complete his rim protection and boxing-out tasks on the court,

He could greatly increase the Lakers' bench depth in the frontcourt.

Over the years, after trying various tactics in games, Coach Lu and Su Feng both agreed that the Lakers' usual fast-paced game had seriously affected Gasol's performance on the court, as he was an important presence in balancing Su and Kobe.

Therefore, in the regular season of the just-concluded 10/11 season, in order to allow Gasol to play at his best when he and Su and Kobe were on the court at the same time, Coach Lu had strictly controlled Gasol's regular season playing time to around 25 minutes.

On the one hand, this not only reduced the risk of injury for players of Gasol's tonnage when playing run-and-gun basketball.

And on the other hand, Gasol, with more energy, was also more efficient on the court.

In the 09/10 season, Gasol, who played 31 minutes per game for the Lakers, became an All-Star starter for the first time in his career.

In addition, in the regular season of that season, he could also contribute 13.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game for the Lakers.

And what about the 10/11 season?

Gasol, whose playing time was reduced to 25.4 minutes, besides being able to contribute 13.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game for the Lakers...

Because he could recklessly expend his energy on both offense and defense, Gasol could also contribute 1.2 steals and 2.2 blocks per game for the Lakers in the 10/11 season.

It was just a pity...

Because he played alongside Su and Kobe, Gasol was unfairly treated by the judges when selecting the best defensive player...

Otherwise, in Su Feng's opinion, his performance in the 10/11 season definitely made him more worthy of the title of best defensive player than Howard, who had led his team to a first-round exit in the playoffs for three consecutive years.

However, after reducing Gasol's playing time,

The Lakers also encountered new problems.

Because Jordan often partnered with Su Feng on the court,

So even if his defensive positioning and judgment had made qualitative leaps under Ben's training in recent years...

But because he always had to take the blame for Su Feng on the court...

Therefore, once Jordan was in foul trouble in the game, the Lakers would be forced to play Mbenga, who could wave his towel over a hundred times in every game.

In short, next season, with Bogdanović and Seth Curry joining the team...

The main focus of these Lakers, built around the framework of Su, Kobe, and Gasol, was still to maintain the original lineup framework.

And on this basis, "Big White Side," who didn't need to worry about being treated as a cash machine by opponents due to lateral movement problems, and didn't need to consider the problem of too many fouls...

Wasn't he the kind of inside player the Lakers needed most?

It should be known that since Kobe signed an early contract extension with the Lakers in 09, and the Lakers used the mid-level exception to renew Marion's contract...

The total salary of these Lakers had already exceeded 100 million.

Plus, they had to seize every year before Su and Kobe retired...

Therefore, in terms of team operability...

Su Feng, who had already won nine championships, knew very well...

Before he and Kobe retired, plug-and-play role players were far more important to these Lakers than those high-potential youngsters in his memory.

Because it was like building a computer, even if you had ten RTX 3090s, you could only plug one into the motherboard.

Therefore...

Looking at this group of opponents who had already quietly assembled a series of galactic battleships...

In addition to being surprised...

In fact, Su Feng wasn't worried at all.

Because you have your galactic battleships...

I also have my star destroyer cannons.

...

At the end of June, besides discussing with Britney about where to go first on vacation at home, Su Feng also paid close attention to news about labor negotiations.

Before the start of the 10/11 season, those who optimistically believed that the league's owners and players couldn't afford the losses brought about by another NBA lockout were dumbfounded.

Because on the 30th, after a three-hour negotiation between the two sides, all NBA players received a text message from Derek Fisher, the president of the players' union.

In this life, Fisher, who had never touched a championship, claimed in the text message that in order to guarantee the rights of all players in the league, he hoped that everyone would be prepared for a long-term battle with the owners.

And now...

Everyone knew...

A lockout was inevitable.

On the same day.

The managers of all NBA teams also received a list from the league.

This list clearly stipulated who the staff of each team could not communicate with during the lockout.

And among them, in addition to agents and players, even players' family members were included.

According to the league's requirements, NBA team staff not only could not send text messages or make phone calls to players during the lockout, but also social media interactions were not allowed.

For example, if Warriors owner Lacob liked a tweet from James, he would immediately receive a million-dollar fine from the league.

For another example, if Coach Lu ran into Su Feng in a restaurant, he would have to leave immediately after entering the restaurant, in addition to not being able to talk to him.

Otherwise, as long as someone reported it...

Coach Lu and Su Feng would be punished by the NBA at the same time.

In addition, if an NBA coach had children playing in the NCAA or AAU league, he could only watch his own children's games.

Moreover, according to relevant regulations, this coach was also not allowed to train with his children.

There was no doubt...

This regulation was clearly aimed at Raptors coach Rivers.

Because everyone knew that among the children of NBA coaches, only Little Rivers had the potential to play in the NBA.

On July 1, in an interview, Stern apologized to the fans and said, "Thank you to all the fans who have supported the NBA in the past.

After spending one wonderful season after another together, we witnessed the Lakers winning the championship again in the recently concluded Finals.

However, for most owners in the league, they still firmly believe that they are not profitable in this process.

Especially those teams in small markets, they simply cannot experience such happiness.

So, our goal is to make the NBA's future operations more cost-effective, and at the same time, make all 30 teams in the league competitive."

And as the league's deputy president, Mark said in an interview, "Obviously, the just-expired labor agreement cannot allow players and owners to reach an agreement.

We need a sustainable business model.

To find a new balance between the owners and the players."

Unlike Su Feng's previous life, where "Silver" was more biased towards the owners in this labor negotiation,

Because in this life, the NBA had introduced a super luxury tax early on to sanction those cosmic teams...

So in the eyes of Stern and Mark...

Those owners who only knew how to cry poor were somewhat blaming others.

In fact, history had proven countless times in Su Feng's previous life...

Even if NBA teams could get a large sum of money under the new TV broadcast agreement in the future...

And...

Even in order to support those weak teams, the league would insult people's intelligence by giving those Adu teams good draft picks year after year...

Those teams that should be Huskies would only be Huskies after all.

Take the space where Su Feng transmigrated and was reborn, which he didn't know how it would develop.

During the years when Wiggins played for the Timberwolves, had you ever seen the Timberwolves try to make Wiggins their signature?

Oh?

You said Wiggins didn't have much commercial value?

Then why, after he transferred to the Warriors, did the Warriors' staff in charge of arranging interviews understand Wiggins' "goji berry" meme, and repeatedly emphasized to him before he accepted interviews with Chinese reporters that he had a large number of fans (haters) in China?

To put it bluntly.

Obviously, with social networks becoming more and more developed...

As long as you operate patiently, you can wait for the clouds to clear and see the moon...

But there were just some owners who liked to blame the players after a series of nonsense.

But in terms of the NBA's protection policy for rookies selected by the parent team...

To be reasonable...

In the land of "equality and freedom,"

Su Feng believed that in the future, there would definitely be players who were unwilling to wait so long in their parent team to become completely free agents.

Because for professional players...

How many eight years do you have?

On the 1st, after Stern officially announced the NBA lockout...

For a time, on the surface, the biggest losses were the super stars and team owners...

But in reality...

Like the 98 lockout, those role players who urgently needed to play and earn money to support their families were the ones who suffered "real damage."

Because according to relevant regulations, players who currently had contracts with the NBA had to obtain a license from FIBA before they could go to overseas leagues to play...

So those players who wanted to find another way out, if they couldn't get through to FIBA, which had always been at odds with the NBA, they wouldn't even be able to go to overseas leagues to play.

In Su Feng's previous life, the CBA was able to sign a lot of NBA players during the lockout precisely because Chinese basketball at this time had a certain say in FIBA.

In short...

During the lockout, for most players with contracts, they were destined to only temporarily form teams and play and entertain for free.

Because according to regulations, during the lockout, all players were not allowed to use the training facilities provided by the NBA teams...

Therefore, before the income of the NBA role players increased...

They simply couldn't afford the relevant expenses to maintain high-quality training.

As the saying goes, training and training were not the same.

Because for these NBA supermen, it was better not to train than to train randomly in streetball...

Therefore...

For a time, Su Feng had become the generally recognized decision-maker!

Heh!

You scumbags, didn't you refuse my calls because I led the team to three consecutive championships?

How come you all proactively called me as soon as you thought of my training facilities in Las Vegas?

Just like in the 90s.

Whenever Jordan held a heroes' meeting in Chicago, all kinds of super stars would go to rub his training facilities and training experts.

At this moment.

Su Feng had undoubtedly become the only savior that these stars who had no ball to play could count on.

And now...

Fisher, the chairman of the players' union, who was superficially benefiting the players but was actually ready to compromise with the owners in private, was immediately dumbfounded!

Because in addition to Las Vegas, this summer, Su Feng would also open Toronto Steel House and Los Angeles Galaxy Training Base to those NBA players who had no ball to play.

In addition, in order to keep everyone in shape.

These players would also provide a two-month Galaxy Basketball League for fans who were willing to come and watch them play this summer, free of charge.

And since the players would not receive any compensation or accept any sponsorship during the Galaxy Basketball League, and the team formation was mainly based on voluntary participation...

Therefore, for a time...

Fisher, who was still thinking that as long as the role players couldn't hold on, he could lead the players' union to surrender to the league owners in order to gain a brighter future after retirement...

How could he have imagined that the decision-maker of this generation of the NBA would have far surpassed Michael Jordan in those years?

Unlike the 98 labor negotiations.

Because before 1998, the NBA had not introduced a maximum salary system, and its various rules and regulations were not perfect enough, so for many small teams, even if they patiently cultivated super stars, other teams could poach their core players by offering higher prices.

And this 2011 labor negotiation...

The owners' initial demands to reduce the salary ratio to 45%, cancel the Bird clause and a series of exceptions, and introduce a hard salary cap were unreasonable in themselves.

As the president serving the NBA's 30 teams, if Stern played the role of putting pressure on the players together with the owners in the 98 labor negotiations.

Then in this 2011 labor negotiation...

Regardless of his previous or current life, Stern hoped that both the labor and management sides could each take a step back.

Because compared to the minor details that the labor and management sides were arguing about in this negotiation...

In fact, with the continuous expansion of the NBA's overseas market in recent years...

The biggest achievement of "Silver" in Su Feng's previous life, when he took office in the future...

Was just a gift that Stern gave to his successor, which was the sky-high broadcast agreement.

Because no matter how much role "Silver" played in that broadcast agreement...

If it weren't for Stern's painstaking operation for nearly 30 years...

What would "Silver" have used to negotiate with the broadcasters at that time?

Stern knew very well that as long as the NBA could get higher returns in the future, then all the problems currently faced by the labor and management sides would no longer be problems.

Because in the future...

Those owners who could easily offer their star players annual salaries of 30 to 40 million, and role players annual salaries of 10 million...

Wouldn't they use their strength to interpret...

What is meant by, as long as a problem can be solved with money, then it's not a problem?

In this life, due to the appearance of Su Feng, the NBA's overseas expansion speed was obviously faster.

Therefore, Stern knew that once the labor and management sides were deadlocked like in 98...

Then at that time, what the NBA would lose would not just be the local market.

In short, this was a deal destined to be a lose-lose situation.

Because even if the players could shamelessly use Su Feng's training facilities.

Since during the lockout, their original teams did not need to bear any obligations to them, so you couldn't let them play for free all the time, right?

And what about the teams?

According to American media statistics in Su Feng's previous life...

In this labor negotiation, the owners of the 30 teams in the league lost nearly 2 billion US dollars in total.

And in 2011, what was the concept of 2 billion US dollars?

You should know that if you planned to launch a coup in Gambia, 2 billion US dollars would be enough for you to launch more than 10,000 coups.

In mid-July.

With Britney, Su Feng and his wife first returned to Beijing to visit their parents and children.

As she grew older, Su Baobao had grown into a little beauty who could "bring disaster to the country and the people."

And Su Tianliang...

If you only looked at his height...

Then you wouldn't think that this was a kid who was only six years old.

As for Su Hao?

After Su Feng bought the Leicester City Football Club in 2009, because Su Hao was currently playing in the local youth competitions with the Leicester City youth football team...

So Su Feng and Britney planned to visit this little comrade who was determined to bring the national football team to the World Cup in the UK after staying in Beijing for a while.

The only regret was that.

Since European football was currently in the off-season...

So as the owner of Leicester City, Su Feng had not yet gone to the scene to watch the team's Premier League matches.

And although he didn't know much about football, as a senior FM player...

In the past two years, Su Feng had also provided Leicester City with a "list of wonderkids" for the next ten years.

For example, De Bruyne, who had already begun to show his skills in the Leicester City youth team.

For another example, the Chinese football youngster surnamed Hu that Nowitzki recommended to him a few years ago.

Although after watching a few recordings that he asked the scout to bring back to him, Su Feng always felt that this youngster surnamed Hu played worse than himself...

But it was said that in the Leicester City youth team, this guy had already gotten the nickname "Fox in the Box."

Because he could always complete goals in ways you couldn't imagine...

Therefore...

Even if he didn't look favorably on this youngster surnamed Hu before...

In Su Feng's opinion, maybe this was because he didn't understand football as well as Nowitzki, and couldn't appreciate the style and characteristics of this youngster surnamed Hu?

And on the other side, just as Su Feng planned to take a good rest...

In mid-July, the labor and management sides also launched a new round of negotiations.

In this negotiation, the players had initially agreed to lower the salary ratio.

However, on the premise that the owners demanded that the Bird clause must be abolished and a hard salary cap must be introduced...

This negotiation still ended without success.

The players' union, represented by Fisher, agreed to lower the salary ratio was a helpless move.

Because compared to the future...

The super stars at this time did earn too much more than the role players in terms of income.

However, what Fisher never expected was that...

These owners were like crazy people, and they had to demand that the NBA introduce a hard salary cap.

Therefore, even if Fisher wanted to compromise...

He couldn't accept the owners' "amnesty" at the risk of offending all the players.

Undoubtedly.

The sky-high broadcast agreement that the Lakers had previously signed with Warner Times was also one of the triggers for this lockout.

Because they didn't want to see the Lakers dominate...

So after being silenced by Old Buss at the owners' meeting...

The owners, represented by Sterling, wanted to dismantle this Lakers team by introducing a hard salary cap.

However, in this negotiation, the owners were not monolithic internally.

Because once a hard salary cap was introduced, the cosmic teams led by the Mavericks would be forced to disband...

So under the premise that they hadn't won a championship yet, the owners, represented by Cuban, were extremely opposed to the league introducing a hard salary cap system.

In Su Feng's previous life.

Many people felt that Sterling's phone gate incident in the future was very unjust.

But in fact...

As long as Sterling played the role of offending both the management and the players in this labor negotiation at the same time.

Then even if there was no phone gate in the future, there would definitely be all kinds of strange things happening to him.

For example, committing suicide with eight shots in the back.

At the end of July, when visiting Su Hao in the UK, Su Feng was asked by the relentless American media about his views on the NBA lockout.

And Su Feng, who had always been steady, also smiled and said, "I hope the NBA can restart as soon as possible.

Because although I earn a lot, I have also spent a lot recently."

Hearing this, the American reporters were amused.

Because since the lockout began, most of the NBA players had been using Su Feng's training facilities...

So this group of American reporters knew that Su Feng's spending more referred to the contributions he had made behind the scenes for the NBA players recently.

For the United States, which had always promoted exquisite egoism...

In this lockout, Su Feng had undoubtedly bought a lot of people's hearts.

Because in the eyes of many American fans, Su Feng had no need to share his training facilities with others at all.

But for Su Feng...

This expenditure, which was like a drop in the bucket for him.

Could allow him to invisibly let the younger generation feel what is meant by "imperial grace."

And...

In this world, often what is free is the most expensive.

Look, isn't this it.

In July, led by Hu Weidong, the Chinese men's basketball u21, u19, u17, u15 and other level teams...

Collectively experienced in Toronto, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles this summer what it was like to have NBA super stars as sparring partners.

Because of the meal granted by Emperor Feng this summer...

So in this training of the Chinese basketball teams at all levels...

Even those NBA stars who you remember as being grumpy instantly became good teachers and helpful friends.

And this...

Wasn't it more cost-effective than CBA teams spending money to hire foreign aid?

In addition, because the popularity of Chinese basketball in this life far exceeded Su Feng's previous life...

Therefore, in this training process led by Hu Weidong...

Don't mention it, there really were a few young people whose names Su Feng had never heard of.

As the saying goes.

Ten years of youth training can be effective.

After watching the recordings that Old Hu sent him.

Su Feng knew...

In this life, Little Yao was destined not to say that sentence "I am responsible" in 2019.

Because without a doubt...

Chinese basketball had already ushered in a new...

Golden generation.

...

ps: Qiao has already selected a few of the male basketball hopefuls that I solicited from you in the fanfics before, and is preparing to arrange them! In addition, because starting today, the entire left arm is numb, swollen, and tingling, which seriously affects the coding progress... so tomorrow Qiao has to go to the hospital first, and then code after returning!