Super Basketball Manager

Chapter 315: The Fish Don't Stop Swimming and the Last Lonely Hero
"I don't know what happened at that time. I only know that a 6-foot stubborn guy is flying around your head. You can calmly delete any 6-foot breakthrough. Unfortunately, he is Iverson."

"Where is Iverson? Where is he? I want to give him a bear hug..." Shaquille O'Neal, who just entered the Toyota Center, said in a red Hawaiian shirt...

On June 2010th, 6, Toyota Center finally waited for the big shark from Journey to the West...

Maybe it is really as his previous excuse said, "receiving active treatment and dealing with the next season of strong rise", or as people know it-playing big names...

He is holding the No. 32 jersey, and the photo of Alexander smiling happily is in the headlines of the major media, newspapers and networks on this day...

In the history of the NBA, there is no other player whose historical status is comparable to him, but who has changed hands so frequently.

"The fish that swim all day long, the fish swim non-stop", Yu Sheng made a prophecy back then.

Orlando, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland, and now Houston, the 38-year-old Shark has completed three trips between the east and west coasts of the league in the past 17 years.In the NBA's 63-year history, there is no other player whose historical status is comparable to it, but who has changed hands so frequently.

For 99% of people, Guan Gong and Qin Qiong are boring hypotheses that can’t make clear conclusions. For example, you can’t be sure that 9-year-old Jordan can beat 31-year-old Kobe, you can’t be sure that LeBron can overthrow Larry Bird at his peak, and you can’t be sure that if Duncan and Russell were born in the same era, the Spurs would win more championships. Can cover the next 31 years.Although McCann, Russell, and Kareem have more championship honors, almost everyone believes that if the fat man can be stuffed into the drawer of Doraemon and thrown back to any era, even the night when Chamberlain scored 20 points, he can beat his opponent and rewrite history.

Contrary to the world's recognition of O'Neal's highest level of competition, however, is the controversy over his overall career accomplishments.The Sharks were once the most powerful center in basketball history, but the greatest?Especially after wasting time in recent years, people can't help but wonder if the Sharks retired in the summer of 06 or even 04, would they be more stalwart in the memory of fans than they are now?
If constancy or loyalty is regarded as one of the criteria for judging greatness, both Chamberlain and O'Neal as players obviously lack a kind of unswerving belief and a sense of belonging.It's hard to say whether Chamberlain belongs to Philadelphia or Los Angeles. Where does he leave his real soul on the field.From the moment O'Neal decided to leave Angel City, he lost the attributes of the team totem or city hero. In the eyes of the manager, he became a pure puzzle, a mercenary, and a USB device.

Naturally?That's right, Shaq has never had the loyalty gene of Russell in his bones, and he himself doesn't shy away from it, "I'm a natural materialist", so we can't blame Gabriel (the Magic's manager at the time) and Kupchak for rejecting him. The sharks before the age of 32 were indeed too greedy for money and locker room power.At the same age, Shaq was by no means more precocious than Kobe. He almost fell out with more than 90% of the coaches or team managers he worked with. Except for Phil Jackson and Jerry West, he scolded almost everyone in his autobiography, interviews, RAP, and Twitter.Among them, Gabrield, Rambis, Bass, Kupchak, and Riley were so scolded that black smoke rose from their ancestral graves.

Of course, Shaq will never simply spoil things. His ability to use the media and manipulate the direction of public opinion is genius level.People will always naturally think that the Magic and the Lakers management have betrayed him by being filthy, ruthless, and mentally retarded. Penny and Kobe were once the most self-righteous players on the planet.But in fact, almost all the arguments come from Shaq's side of the story.

With the roar of Pat Riley, Shaq, who walked out of the Heat training hall for the last time, already knew very well that he was destined to end his career in a wandering way.

So he never said a lie in Phoenix that he was going to die here.

The bystanders are also very clear that he is just an experiment in the crazy reconstruction of the sun, and he may be abandoned due to the failure of the experiment at any time.

Then came Cleveland, where the 37-year-old Shark might no longer have the pleasure of sweeping with a water gun or rubbing his fifth finger in front of [-] hungry spectators.

And this year, he, who is about to turn 38 years old, faced this rage and declared that the Cavaliers manager who "would rather pay half the salary of the receiver as compensation", and James' sudden departure, could only rely on a small employee in Houston to find his next job under the dense numbers and formulas...

Of course he told "Sports Illustrated" that he would not buy a house in Houston, as long as he rented an apartment, because he didn't think that the combination of McGrady, Iverson, and even Yao Ming, who came back halfway, would have any fans' fantasy ending.

Of course, it is still possible to flick the box office...

Of course, Shaq would never like a place like Houston, which is not a materialistic paradise at all. Tom Hanks describes the pace of life there is extremely mechanical-even "the grass is brown."

It definitely doesn't look like a good place to retire...

No wonder Olajuwon, the big dream who humiliated O'Neal in 95, is still fighting on the front line. When he took the management to welcome O'Neal, he thought he was alive...

Regarding the "shark effect", Ron didn't say much, he just put his hands in his pockets, stood shoulder to shoulder with the little fat brother, and joked...

"Your set of numbers games, it's better to be useful..."

"what?!"

Ron smirked and patted him on the shoulder...

"Just kidding!"

...

July 7 Philadelphia.

In this city full of hippies and gunmen, ron wakes up from a hangover...

After a strong migraine, my first instinct is to search my wallet, and everything is safe and sound.

He looked at the unknown woman lying beside him, frowned slightly, then put on his shirt, picked up the landline...

"Hi! I'm Olajuwon..."

"It's me..." While putting on his pants, he glanced back at the blond woman lying on the bed...

Ignoring his endless complaints and teasing, he said calmly, "Well, I've basically got it done here...inform everyone...be prepared accordingly..."

...

One day ago, in a mansion in Philadelphia...

The man sitting respectfully across from Ron was always smiling...

"You know, it's not as simple as money..." Iverson said with a smile.

Ron also smiled: "Yes, I know, I already knew it last season...we worked together very happily last season, didn't we?"

He briefly thought about it, and his eyes were piercing: "...you know, I paid too much to integrate into the team...including dignity, including the way of playing...but still stopped in the Western Conference Finals..."

He smiled softly again: "Of course, although this is already a proud achievement... But for me personally... I am already an old man in his 30s... I don't have to surrender to fate, but time has taken away everything from me... This will only leave me with more painful memories..."

Indeed, time can take away everything, but he can't take away those good memories that were left to people... indelible...

The two sides were silent for a while, and only Ron sighed: "AI... hold on for another year... give yourself one last chance... even if it is to give the fans one more chance to see you galloping on the field..."

He spread his hands: "Forget it, sir... I'd rather go to Turkey than stay... After the gorgeousness, when you can't return to Zhengrong again, your embarrassment will only accelerate people's forgetting of you..."

He squinted at the corner of the wall—the regular season MVP trophy (2001), which symbolized the player's highest honor, and quietly buried his eyes...

"Two-year veteran contract..." Ron stood up expectantly, with a smile on his face: "Why don't you try it? Maybe being with people like McGonagall and Shaq who have fought for a lifetime will allow you to find the fun of basketball again...Maybe...it will allow you to find your old self—return to glory!"

"Don't forget, in Hugh City... there is a big treasure, and you have been waiting impatiently for a long time!" Ron added with a smile.

"Thank you..." He seemed a little happy about Ron's thirst for talents, and after a little thought, he still grinned...

"Okay...Okay! Anyway, it's just the last year...With the basic salary of a veteran, I won't have any pressure...Just treat it as a kind of travel!" Iverson breathed a long sigh of relief, perhaps only he himself can convince himself-even the burden of last season does not exist.At least his performance in the 7th game of the semifinals, he fought back the Grizzlies and Pistons, and all the players who thought he couldn't even play basketball...

After the next day, the news that this lonely hero chose to fight for another year and execute the final year of his veteran contract also became the most comforting thing for Houston and Amy around the world...

...

Yes, that's it, unimaginable...

When O'Neal and Iverson set foot on the land of Space City at the same time, people in Los Angeles and Miami, who have been advocating for a whole summer, were surprised to find that the people of Houston were also secretly accumulating strength...

But there is only one question - Lian Po is old, can he still eat?
When the heroes are late, there are still eternal memories...these memories can further enhance people's perception of their current team in the imagination...

Of course, if two 37 and 38 veterans attack together...

Maybe you should ask the farmer if the three punches really hurt...

　Regarding the "shark effect", Ron didn't say much, he just put his hands in his pockets, stood shoulder to shoulder with the little fat brother, and joked...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)