Bishop of the Devil

Granger's expression was extremely dull.

"Coach, I really don't want to leave the Pirates, why don't you think about it again..."

If the scene in front of him were known to other teams, I'm afraid it would make him vomit three liters of blood.

Other teams are begging their grandfathers and grandmothers to keep young stars like Granger, and they even offer conditions that would "degrade their rights and humiliate the country".

But when it came to the Pirates, the situation was completely opposite. On the contrary, it was young stars like Granger who begged to stay on the team, even taking a salary cut, just to get the chance to stay on the team.

"Moreover, after leaving the Pirates, I really didn't know which team to join. I had serious difficulty in choosing..." Granger said painfully.

"Go to the Trail Blazers. That's a good choice. They can give you a maximum salary, and they have good strength." Richard promptly recommended Granger to join the Trail Blazers.

Granger was startled. He didn't expect that Richard would recommend him to go to the Trail Blazers, because the Trail Blazers were not a good choice no matter how he looked at it.

First of all, the Trail Blazers have Durant, which conflicts with Granger's position. Although the two can play the small forward and shooting guard positions respectively, their data will definitely decline by then, and the matching effect It may not necessarily be ideal.

Secondly, there is a lot of news in the league that the Trail Blazers want to trade Ou, and Granger is naturally very aware of it.

Without O'Neill, the Trail Blazers will be able to swallow their contract next season, but Granger is not particularly thirsty for money.

Without O'Brien, the Blazers' strength will decline again. Even if Granger wants to leave the Pirates, he will definitely want to join a strong team.

So no matter how you look at it, joining the Trail Blazers is not a good choice. Although the Trail Blazers can give you a maximum salary, other teams can also give it.

Granger is still confident about his own strength.

In fact, because the Pirates have not reported any news about renewing Granger's contract, several teams have already contacted Granger privately.

These teams not only promised Granger a maximum salary contract, but also a series of other guarantees.

However, Granger rejected them all. At least before winning the championship this season, even if Richard told him today that the team would not renew his contract, he would not consider leaving the team.

This is the quality a professional player should have...

…

Seeing Granger's expression of doubt, Richard couldn't help but explain.

"Danny, what I'm going to tell you next is confidential. Only two or three people in the alliance know about it for now."

"After this season, Greg will be swapped with Durant. You should understand what I mean, right?"

"Furthermore, you should also know the relationship between me and the Trail Blazers. After you go to the Trail Blazers, you don't have to worry so much. To put it bluntly, if McMillan dares to treat you badly, I will let him do it that night. Pack up and get out of Portland."

Granger was stunned and murmured: "Greg? Is this our Oden?!"

Richard nodded, confirming Granger's idea.

Crazy, so crazy!

Granger was stunned. He didn't expect Richard to be so crazy that he even wanted to sell Auden!

That's Oden, the super center known as O'Neal's successor!

Now that Richard wants to sell him, Granger really doesn't know what Richard is thinking...

In Granger's opinion, Durant is pretty good, but it's just good. Even now, Durant's strength is not as good as his own, so how can he compare with Oden!

Richard also smiled bitterly when he saw Granger's surprised look. He didn't want to sell Auden, but the old man was so shameless that he couldn't do it without selling it.

…

"I know you don't want to play in a strange environment, but now that Greg is going to the Trail Blazers, you won't feel unfamiliar there."

“The core players over there are all West Lafayette players, all our own.”

"The most important thing is that after you and Oden join, the Trail Blazers' strength will begin to take off, and they will become a team that is qualified to compete with the Spurs and Lakers in the Western Conference!" Richard said with a smile.

After Granger was stunned for a moment, a smile appeared on his face and he breathed a long sigh of relief. Judging from Richard's description, joining the Trail Blazers seemed to be a good choice.

Of course, if he can stay with the Pirates, Granger will definitely still choose the Pirates, even if his salary is reduced.

"Go back and train hard. In this season's finals, strive to win FMVP and leave the Pirates in glory." Richard continued to say with a smile.

Granger nodded solemnly. Since he was destined to be unable to stay with the pirates now, he also thought that he would be able to leave the pirates in glory.

After all, the opportunity of FMVP is quite rare. After joining the Trail Blazers, although the Trail Blazers are not weak, who knows how many years it will take to see the hope of winning the championship.

Maybe there will never be a chance to win a championship again in this life, but this is not impossible.

…

After Granger left, Richard also breathed a sigh of relief.

I can be considered worthy of Paul Allen, and I have helped him with all the help I should have. Even if it is said, this cannot be regarded as help, after all, they are all his family members.

…

As the schedule progresses, the Pirates have remained undefeated so far. Their strong combat power sometimes makes their opponents lose their fighting spirit before the game even starts.

On March 27, the Buccaneers went to Los Angeles to play away. Their opponent was not the Lakers, but the Clippers in the same city.

After seeing Richard, Stevens was also filled with sadness.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed. I entered the league at the same time as Richard, but I entered the league as an assistant coach.

For more than ten years, Stevens' coaching experience cannot be said to be successful. After taking charge of the Clippers, although he made the Clippers enter the playoffs, they were only a team at the threshold level of the playoffs. Can't make a difference in the playoffs.

Once upon a time, Stevens, who had just joined the Clippers, also thought that one day he could become a great coach like Richard.

I have stayed with Richard for many years and learned a lot. It may not take long to build the Clippers into a super power in the Western Conference.

But reality poured cold water on Stevens.

And what Stevens has to face now is not only doubts about his coaching level, but also despair about the Clippers team.

He has coached the Clippers for many years and found that this team has quite a few problems.

In particular, boss Sterling has the biggest problem.

Because Stevens is also Caucasian, Sterling sometimes did not have too many scruples when chatting with Stevens alone. Sometimes he showed discriminatory intentions against black people.

Sterling does not just discriminate against black people, he also discriminates against all people of color. Of course, homosexuals are also the targets of his discrimination...

This can explain why Sterling hates Magic Johnson so much.

…

Stevens must not tell Richard about this kind of thing, because Richard is also a person of color. Based on his understanding of Richard, if Richard knew about this matter, he would probably be able to bring it to him tonight. Someone goes to catch Sterling and beat him up.

The Clippers' starting five are all black players, and 12 of the 14 players on the team are black...

As a boss, Sterling is different from Richard and Cuban, who treat players as brothers. He rarely meets players, and even when he does, he always has a condescending attitude.

He regards the players as his employees, and of course, this idea is actually correct.

Players take the boss's money and play for the team. They are essentially hired workers.

But if the boss treats the players with the attitude of employees, how can the players work hard? After all, no matter whether they win the game or not, they still get so much salary.

Stevens now realizes that the Clippers have always been so weak, and owner Sterling is not to blame. He simply doesn't know how to respect the players.

But even if he realizes this, what can he do? He can only keep this matter in his stomach and take it one step at a time.