Chapter 177 The Football God

At the end of July, after spending some time with Su Hao in Leicester City, Su Feng and Britney were sent away by him with the reason, "I'm such a big kid, I don't need you to accompany me." They went to Spain.

There was no other way.

For Su Hao, who had always been strong-willed and had his own opinions...

Su Feng and Britney's visit made him feel uncomfortable.

However, during this visit to Su Hao...

It must be mentioned...

If Su Tianliang inherited Su Feng's gentle and kind personality...

Then Su Hao...

Was clearly a new generation of "Little Cup King"!

"Basketball God?

What's so great about the Basketball God?

Can the Basketball God lead the national football team to the World Cup?

Just wait, in another ten years!

I will definitely let the world football community know that I am the only God in football history!"

That day, while watching Su Feng and Britney leave, Su Hao clenched his fists and secretly vowed.

…

In early August, NBA player union representatives and team owner representatives held another fruitless negotiation in New York.

Even though the player union had already agreed to lower the salary ratio...

The owners, led by Sterling, actually demanded that the player union agree to lower the player salary ratio by another 10 percentage points next season.

And now...

Even if Fisher sincerely wanted to accept the "offer"...

He knew that this negotiation could not continue.

In Los Angeles, after recalling Little Buss, who represented him at the negotiations, on the grounds of his health, Old Buss clearly did not want the Lakers to continue to participate in this labor negotiation this summer.

Because according to the lockout rules, Warner Time, which had just signed a sky-high broadcasting agreement with the Lakers, did not need to pay the Lakers broadcasting fees during the lockout...

So Old Buss, who knew Sterling well, was very clear...

This guy simply wanted to make everyone uncomfortable in this labor negotiation.

In Su Feng's previous life, at the end of this labor negotiation, in relevant reports, it was not difficult to find descriptions such as "because the players made positive concessions, the owners also decided to agree to the new labor agreement."

But in fact, few people know that during the mid-term of this labor negotiation, in addition to the player union refusing to budge on principle issues such as the Bird exception, various related regulations, and a hard salary cap...

Many of the new agreement details discussed by the player union and the owners during the mid-term of this negotiation...

Were no different from when the final negotiation was settled.

It was just that, with the passage of time, the owners themselves couldn't hold on any longer.

After all, even for some owners who were not as good at operating as Old Buss, their investment in the NBA was a losing proposition...

But compared to the losses during the lockout...

Most owners still hoped to facilitate this negotiation as soon as possible so that the NBA could restart.

And at this moment, Sterling, who was in the limelight in this labor negotiation, had no idea...

From this moment on, it was only a matter of time before he would "shoot himself eight times in the back".

During the negotiations, instigated by Sterling.

Many small-team owners initially thought that this guy was trying to seek benefits for himself.

But the further the negotiation went...

Sterling became more and more like a "resentful woman" making all kinds of unreasonable demands.

No cap.

With a mole like Fisher in this player union, without a "pig teammate" like Sterling...

The owners would have probably gained even more advantages after this labor agreement.

So Sterling, who always disliked those high-paid black players, had no idea...

Under various coincidences...

In fact, he had fought for greater benefits for these black players.

Because with the drafting of various agreement frameworks for this labor negotiation.

In the future, as soon as the NBA signed that broadcasting agreement, the NBA's role players would take off one after another.

…

In August, at the invitation of Real Madrid President Florentino, Su Feng, as the owner of Leicester City, watched a goal feast at the Bernabéu, where Real Madrid unilaterally slaughtered Leicester City.

Although since purchasing Leicester City in '09, Su Feng's requirement for the team had always been to look further ahead and not pursue immediate results...

But as the owner of the team...

Who could stand watching their own team being hammered with five goals by others?

Damn it!

Because for A'lian, who had won the NBA Best Sixth Man in this life...

As long as he could maintain his recent form, he would definitely be able to catch up with the salary surge.

So Su Feng, who knew that the new NBA season was about to start, also said to Yi Jianlian on the phone, "Don't panic. It is estimated that the labor and management sides will be able to reach an agreement by the end of this month at the earliest, and the beginning of next month at the latest."

Sure enough.

Exactly as Su Feng had predicted.

At the end of October, after the owners were willing to make concessions, the player union immediately accepted the floating distribution plan of 49% to 51%.

The owners promised that if the NBA's revenue grew ideally, the players would receive 51% of the revenue.

In addition, the 11/12 season schedule was also initially set in this negotiation.

Unlike Su Feng's original timeline.

Because this time the lockout didn't last until the end of November, so in addition to leaving enough time for the players to recover...

The NBA officially announced on November 1 that the regular season for the 11/12 season would only be shortened to 72 games.

And, in order to ensure the NBA's consistent "fair, open, and just" competitiveness.

In the 11/12 season, the NBA would also introduce a play-in tournament for the first time.

According to the vision proposed by League Vice President Mark, in the 11/12 season, the ninth and tenth seeds and the seventh and eighth seeds in the Eastern and Western Conferences would each play a single-elimination play-in game.

And in the end, the loser between the seventh and eighth seeds would face the winner between the ninth and tenth seeds to determine the final eighth seed in the East and West.

Because the regular season was forced to be shortened.

Therefore, in order to minimize the losses caused by the shortened regular season...

Mark's proposal undoubtedly greatly increased the enthusiasm of small teams that could only hover on the edge of the playoffs for the new season.

As everyone knows.

In the NBA, apart from tanking and contending for the championship, the ninth and tenth seeds in the Eastern and Western Conferences have always been the most losing teams.

Because according to the draft lottery rules, unless they had heaven-defying luck in this position...

Otherwise, in addition to wasting a year in vain, they didn't even have the opportunity to strengthen themselves through a high draft pick.

However, under the new system, because the ninth and tenth seeds could also participate in the playoffs...

Plus, a single-elimination game meant that anything was possible...

Therefore, for a time, the owners all raised their hands and feet in support of Mark's proposal.

What about the players?

In order to ensure the interests of the broadcasters.

And also to ensure their own income.

The players didn't want to accept it, but they had to accept the decision that everyone would have to play back-to-back-to-back-to-back games in the new season.

You know, according to the schedule set by the league for the 11/12 season, players had to complete a total of 72 regular-season games in just five months.

And in this way, for those teams that were mainly composed of veterans...

This would undoubtedly be a huge test.

In Su Feng's original timeline, a big reason why the Heat and the Thunder were able to meet in the Finals this season was because the star players of these two teams were young enough at the time.

Therefore, knowing that the Lakers would definitely be targeted by the league in the new season...

Before preparing to reunite with his teammates, Su Feng was very clear...

In addition to continuing to strive to defend the title.

The Lakers' most important task in the new season was to ensure the health of Kobe, Marion, and others.

In addition, with the lockout lifted...

That day, Kupchak also presented Su Feng with a sincere early renewal agreement, as instructed by Old Buss.

However...

Not only did Su Feng reject this four-year early renewal agreement.

And, he also said that he would exercise his player option after the 11/12 season...

And then discuss his future with the Lakers in the summer of '12.

And now...

Old Buss and Little Buss were immediately scared half to death by Su Feng.

Because they originally thought they could easily reach an agreement with Su Feng to renew his contract...

How would they have thought that after going to Europe, Su Feng's attitude towards the renewal would become so "ambiguous"?

Hey!

Wasn't it because Su Feng had a hunch that the NBA in this life would sign that sky-high broadcasting agreement sooner than he remembered?

Admittedly.

From the perspective of team building.

It would be very cost-effective for Su Feng to sign a long-term contract with the Lakers now, and his contract would become incredibly valuable after the salary cap soared.

And at that time, the Lakers could also use this salary cap space to make signings in the free agent market.

But as the God of Basketball.

Asking Su Feng to work as a "child laborer" would be no different from asking him to die.

Just like the old generation of stars said.

In the NBA, player salaries are also a symbol of their status within the team.

Therefore, Su Feng could not save money for Old Buss.

Su Feng planned to only sign a "1+1" contract with the Lakers every season after the 11/12 season ended.

Of course, in addition to waiting for the salary cap to rise...

On the other hand...

How would Little Buss, who had been anxious these past two days, know that everything Su Feng had done was also to ensure that he could secure his position as the head of the Lakers after Old Buss passed away?

Su Feng was very clear.

Only by ensuring Little Buss's position within the Lakers could he and Kobe be guaranteed a retirement tour in the future.

Therefore, Su Feng naturally had to save the unparalleled feat of signing his last long-term contract for the most crucial moment to give to Little Buss.

After all, adding flowers to the brocade will never be as memorable as providing charcoal in the snow!

…

ps: I exercised for a long time today, and my left arm and palm don't tingle anymore, but they're still numb and swollen all day (tnt).

In addition, because Qiao can't write about the entertainment industry and investing in movies, in order to further improve Su Feng's amateur life during the lockout, Qiao chose soccer, which I still like. I don't know if you will say it's "filler," but in Qiao's opinion, this kind of "filler" is quite necessary.