Bishop of the Devil

"Dudu!" The referee blew the whistle at the end of the first quarter.

What stunned the fans was that after the first quarter of the game, the three rookies with the best statistics turned out to be selected for the All-Stars for the first time!

Iverson played for 9 minutes in the first quarter and scored 12 points, ranking first among all participating All-Stars!

Kobe also played 9 minutes in the first quarter, scoring 9 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Overall, he was the best player in the Western Conference.

Xiao Ou even played the whole game in the first quarter, playing for a full twelve minutes, leaving fans unable to complain...

Richard is simply too shameless.

In twelve minutes of playing time, O'Neal scored 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block. In terms of statistics, O'Neal is not inferior to O'Neal at all...

The New York fans at the scene exclaimed in their hearts, will these three newcomers win this year's All-Star MVP? !

If this momentum continues, this year's All-Star MVP will really only be produced among these three people.

…

"Michael, don't tell me, you want to win the MVP this year..." Larry Bird asked Jordan with a smile.

Jordan waved his hand: "It's boring. I've already taken this thing twice. It really doesn't matter whether I take it this time or not."

"What I want to know most right now is what kind of deal you and Richard made. Larry, can you satisfy my curiosity?"

Larry Bird rolled his eyes and didn't answer Jordan's words. Anyway, he would definitely not reveal a word about this matter.

The news that Richard gave him was quite important in his opinion. The fewer people who knew about it, the better!

If Jordan knew about it, he might tell many people with his big mouth. By then, every team in the league would know about it, and who would be willing to part with the draft picks? !

Even if Larry Bird learns the news, it will be useless. Without the draft picks in his hand, even if it is a big draft year, Larry Bird can't expect anything good.

…

At the beginning of the second quarter, the head coaches of both sides had a tacit understanding and did not let the three newcomers start.

Larry Bird tried his best to reduce Reggie Miller's playing time as much as possible. After all, Miller is one of his own. If Miller's playing time is reduced and given to Iverson, no one can find fault with this...

Richard's side is trying to reduce the playing time of the Lakers players as much as possible, leaving it for the two newcomers of the Blazers. Anyway, the relationship between Richard and the Lakers is not harmonious...

In addition, the Lakers have three All-Stars playing. If one person collects six or seven minutes of wool, he can get about 20 more minutes. Evenly distributed among Ou and Kobe, it is enough for these two people to play. thirty minutes!

…

The three Lakers players are quite helpless at the moment, especially Fan Fan. As the starting guard in the Western Conference, he only played five minutes in the first quarter...

The three of them must be extremely dissatisfied, but what can they do if they are dissatisfied? Who makes Richard the head coach?

…

In the second quarter of the game, all three newcomers played for about 7 minutes, and their data further improved.

Jordan played for 8 minutes in the second quarter, and his touch was average. He made 3 of 6 shots and scored a total of 10 points in the first half.

Now what Jordan is thinking about is what kind of deal there is between Larry Bird and Richard...

He had a hunch that the deal between these two people must be quite important!

In the East, the Pacers are the Bulls' biggest competitor, and Jordan is really afraid that Richard will send a new guy to the Pacers...

This kind of thing has never happened in NBA history.

For example, if Richard rents his capital to the Pacers for one year, it will undoubtedly greatly improve the Pacers' strength and may really pose a threat to the Bulls.

Jordan is thinking about this now...

…

Now Jordan's goal is to win three consecutive championships, and he doesn't want any setbacks in this matter.

Many fans and media believe that Jordan was tired of the NBA and felt there was no challenge, and then he chose to retire after this season...

Jordan's first retirement may indeed be due to this reason and the grief of his father's murder.

The reason for this second retirement may be the same, but the possibility is not very high.

What really made Jordan retire was this year's labor salary negotiations. Even though the negotiations have not yet begun, the players union and the league management committee have already reached a tense confrontation.

The players union demands a significant increase in the salary cap like in 1995-96, and the league cannot introduce maximum salary regulations to limit the maximum salary of players...

It is worth mentioning that the current chairman of the players union is Gorilla Ewing. His philosophy is different from that of the Smiling Assassin. He is more on the side of the super giant...

The league management committee is unwilling to increase the salary cap, because if the salary cap increases, the owners will naturally have to spend more money to run the team, which will easily lead to losses. Stern naturally does not want to see the owners lose money.

Moreover, the management committee is also preparing to introduce maximum salary regulations to limit the maximum salary of players...

One is the salary cap and the other is the maximum salary regulation, which is the focus of this labor negotiation.

Jordan has been in the league for so long. He knows the bottom line of the league very well. The salary cap may be increased, but the maximum salary regulations will definitely be introduced. This is the bottom line of the management committee...

Once the maximum salary regulations are introduced, Jordan's salary will definitely not be 30 million, because the total salary cap is less than 30 million...

It may drop sharply to Reggie Miller's tens of millions of annual salary levels, and it is very likely that it may even be worse than Reggie Miller.

Think about Jordan's annual salary of 30 million this year, and only a few million more next year. This gap is really too big, and it may not be acceptable to any player.

Thinking that his annual salary may not be as good as Reggie Miller's, can the old gangster accept it?

I simply stopped fighting...

You can't make those millions of dollars by doing anything.

…

If Richard and Larry Bird really reached the kind of deal that Jordan had in mind, it might really threaten the Bulls' dominance.

The more Jordan thought about it, the more irritated he became...

Because there is still one week until the trading market closes!

Whether or not, as I guessed, these two scoundrel coaches made a PY deal, it depends on the next week...

Thinking of this, Jordan still has the heart to play in the All-Star Game. In his opinion, ten All-Star MVPs are not as good as one championship.

…

"Beep!" The referee blew the whistle to end the game.

The Eastern All-Stars defeated the Western All-Stars 127:116…

This result did not go beyond Richard's expectations. The Eastern backcourt was strong, and the centers in the All-Star Game had too few opportunities. Naturally, the Eastern team had the advantage.