Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 16

In fact, with the media, as long as you can maintain your mentality and keep a clear head, you can face their problems just like that.

Many people can't do it more because they lack self-confidence and are timid before fighting, but Li Sheng is full of confidence at this time. His confidence comes from his own rebirth, from his "judgment" of the future, from his own system, and from his current situation.

I have the backing of my boss. I am now the head coach of the team. I just need to do my job well. Do you care about your opinions?
When he is confident, he will feel that he can do a lot of things, and dealing with reporters is certainly no problem.

And as he dealt with the difficulties of the reporters with ease, Presti seemed to have discovered another side of him.

Communication in public is different from private communication. A person may be eloquent and funny in private, but he will get stuck in the eyes of the outside world.

But Li Sheng seems to be born to live under the spotlight. He can't say that his answers to questions are impeccable, but he is obviously familiar with the routines of dealing with the media.

But sometimes, some things are not something that can be done once you know it. It is the key that he can maintain such a good attitude, otherwise he will get stuck when he is nervous, and he will not even be able to speak, let alone cope with it freely.

Especially in this kind of on-site interview, as a rookie head coach and a foreigner, it is impossible to gain the respect of reporters.

Even if it is a famous coach with senior qualifications and high status like Popovich, the reporter will not give up making troubles, let alone a rookie like him.

Some reporters’ questions will make you feel that they are not here to interview at all, but to irritate you. As long as there is a little bit of poor response or wrong words, then they have something to write about.

Reporters can start with a picture, and the content is all edited. If they can say something that suits them, it is even more desirable.

But at this time, Li Sheng was smiling and unhurried from beginning to end. He didn't look like a person who was facing the media for the first time, and he didn't look like a shy and reticent Asian in everyone's impression.

Thanks to the language talent of his predecessor, he couldn't even pass the fourth level in his previous life, but now he can speak American English fluently, and talk to these media who play word games.

He even enjoys the current state very much, and regards it as an exercise for himself, so his smile is definitely from the bottom of his heart, which in turn makes his thinking and his answers smoother.

In the end, Presti stood up and reminded everyone that the time for the press conference was almost up. Although Li Sheng didn't seem to have any problems, there were still four rookies beside him.

At first they could still face it with a smile, but when they found out that the reporters were all asking questions about Li Sheng, they were inevitably a little disappointed and a little impatient.

Moreover, this kind of press conference itself has a process, and it cannot be extended indefinitely because of one person.

Anyway, as the head coach, Li Sheng will have more opportunities to face reporters in the future, so there is no rush.

"The last three questions..."

Hearing this restriction, the reporters finally came to their senses and finally started asking the rookies again.

The first is Brother Antetokounmpo, but at this time, Brother Antetokounmpo still lacks in expression, and the language is relatively easy to speak. The key is that he can only answer in a satisfactory manner without the guidance of a professional agent.

Among the other three rookies, Gobert also paid more attention, and the reporters even asked him to answer questions in French.

French is considered to be the most beautiful language in the world. Li Sheng doesn't know how it came out. Anyway, he has no research on this aspect, so although he doesn't think so, he won't deny it casually.

But the reporters still seemed to be very comfortable listening to a Frenchman flattering the American team in French.

At this moment, a reporter stood up and asked, "Hello, Coach Li. Since your name is a little... special, I don't know what we will call you in the future. Didn't you choose an English name for yourself?"

Finally, there was a relatively normal question. Li Sheng also felt very happy, and said with a smile: "Actually, I think you can call me LI or SHENG directly. As for the English name, I don't know what to call it. It's more distinctive. After all, there are too many Kevin and Russell in the league..."

Everyone laughed, after all, their team has two cores.

In fact, if Li Sheng's name is translated into English, it can probably be called "Holly" or "Saint", but it loses his personal characteristics.

Li Sheng doesn't just want to be a head coach, he wants to become a star in the coaching world, which is not determined by good grades alone.

Look at those famous coaches, which one has no personal characteristics?

Patricia's devil training, Popovich's jokes, Cole pretending to be a criminal, perch emoticons, Rivers being reversed... forget it...

Now is the media age, the league is not only packaging players, but also doing everything possible to package the head coach.

Moreover, Craig Bennett's meaning is also very obvious. He hopes that Li Sheng's joining will not only have the performance on the field, but also have more commercial considerations. He hopes that his identity can help the Thunder expand overseas, especially the Asian market.

Businessmen always want to make money in business, and no one is willing to throw money out just for charity.

As for Li Sheng, as the only Chinese head coach, he has already attracted enough attention, but from now on, he will show his uniqueness, and maybe he can win more attention for himself.

Especially fans and the media in the United States like this kind of personalized character. The attention of the NBA in the future is getting lower and lower. This has a lot to do with this kind of personalization.

The press conference was finally over, and Li Sheng was secretly relieved. He seemed to have entered a strange state before, but now he suddenly relaxed, and he was surprised that he could perform so well.

But soon Li Sheng's attention was no longer on the media, because there has been no movement, and he thought that the system, which was too poor to make even the panel, finally had news again.

[Congratulations to the owner for officially becoming the head coach of the team, the coach panel opens:
Team: Oklahoma City Thunder
Coach value: 100 (base points)

Season tasks:

1: Get the first record in the regular season (the better the record, the more points)
2: Get the best head coach (10)

3: Players in the team won MVP (3), DPOY, FMVP (2), best team, best defensive team, MIP, best sixth man (1)

4: The rookie in the team was selected to the best team (1)

5: Playoff sweep (3 points each time)

6: Win the championship (the fewer games you get, the more points you get, the benchmark score is 20)]

[Hidden side missions can be triggered during the season, please pay attention to the owner at any time]

[The mall system is about to open, please pay attention to the owner at any time]

Ha ha……

After reading it, Li Sheng felt that it was as expected, it was still the same simple, but he had already seen the "ability" of the system, so he didn't mind this, as long as the benefits were real.

In fact, for Li Sheng, in addition to the system, he can also provide very important help based on the vision of people who have come in the future.

He knows which player will play well in the future and which team will play well.

But of course, there are many accidental factors in winning the championship. Injuries, personnel changes, and even the attitude of the league will affect the final result.

At this time, the existence of the system can save him a guarantee, otherwise he can only become an excellent scout or a good assistant coach, but it is impossible to become a real champion coach.

Li Sheng's initial goal is of course to lead the team to win the championship. In the future, he will want more championships. If he can establish a dynasty, especially three consecutive times, it must be a very wonderful thing.

(End of this chapter)