king of los angeles

Chapter 412 413. That Man Is Back

The atmosphere in the Lakers team is harmonious, and injuries cannot knock them down.

But the team management is at a loss. The Lakers are on the road to the championship, but too many injuries plague the team. This is not a good sign.

The regular season can rely on individual performance to win the game, but the playoffs are not only the arena of stars, but also need team basketball.

The weakest link of the Lakers is the interior. Chandler, who has the highest defensive efficiency, has a relapse of his old injury. Although his ability to protect the basket is top-notch, after all, at the age of 36, 20 minutes per game is already the limit.

Wagner and Zubac are full of vitality, but lack experience. The playoffs are not a training ground for new recruits. As long as they are on the court, they will become a breakthrough for their opponents.

Wagner and Chandler have been plagued by injuries, and now the Lakers need to find a solution immediately.

From this point of view, they must be strengthening the inside line.

There are not many available center players in the free market today. Do deals with other teams?
For one thing, the Lakers don't have a suitable bargaining chip. As long as they want to get a capable center, the Lakers must use the current lineup.

Second, the Lakers have been the best this season, making many teams jealous, especially when they selected a supernova like Lin Feng with the 60th overall pick.

Those team managers who had second-round picks in the summer have long regretted it. How could they give you their own center for reinforcement?
In Pelinka's office, sit Elvin Johnson and Jim Buss.

It doesn't seem right for the three of them to sit together, because both Pelinka and Johnson are Jenny's confidantes, and Jim has already been emptied of real power by his sister, and only retains the shares and the vacant title of deputy manager.

"Sir, I am very glad that you can come to my office. Regarding that proposal, I think we need to sit down and have a serious discussion."

Pelinka is very polite, and it stands to reason that he and Jim Buss should be Jim incompatible.Because in the Lakers coup that year, it was Jenny who dismissed Kupchak, who had a good personal relationship with Jim, and helped Pelinka and Johnson upright after she came to power.

Jim wears a Dodgers baseball cap, cotton shirt and jeans in "Silicon Valley elite style."

"To be honest, I didn't intend to get involved in the management of the team, but Jenny talked to me a lot yesterday, and she said that the team still needs me."

Jim spread his hands, obviously, he couldn't compete with his sister in the struggle for power.

This time Jenny took the initiative to propose that Jim return to the team management, and Jim didn't know the real purpose behind the eldest sister.

In fact, due to the current rapid momentum of the Lakers, returning to the ranks of the championship, the originally divided Bass family is moving towards unity.

Jim's return to management is a big signal. As the person with the most shares in the Bass family, he originally controlled the most right to speak.

Pelinka and Johnson had already seen the proposal, and the two had a brief discussion half an hour ago, thinking it was definitely a gamble.

"Sir, Dwight hasn't played for nearly half a year, and he had a bad relationship with the team before. I believe any Lakers fan doesn't want to see him put on our jersey again."

Pelinka said it seriously, and his face was serious.

The 53-year-old Jim smiled, and then flipped through the document in his hand, "To be honest, I have always kept in touch with Dwight. Now he is not the big boy he was six years ago. He has really changed. Losing weight, training aggressively, that's what he's doing."

Jim continued: "That guy disappointed us in the Lakers, but that's all in the past. You can't always look at things with old eyes. Am I right? Gentlemen."

Dwight Howard, nicknamed "Warcraft", once the league's No. [-] center, has been at home after being waived by the Nets in the summer.

Because of Howard's hilarious attitude towards basketball before, he had a very unpleasant time with Kobe in the Lakers.

"Black Mamba" Kobe is the kind of person who wants to drink coffee first, but Howard believed in happy basketball back then. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, as long as you are happy.

At that time, the Lakers were on the eve of the transfer of power. Jim, who was in charge of the team at the time, made a mess of the team.

Howard hurried to Houston after staying with the Lakers for a year, and almost disappeared from the league after spending three seasons in Space City.

Now that Howard is at home, no team dares to pick up this locker room bomb.Moreover, there is no projection in the small ball era, and Warcraft, who cannot open up space, is not suitable for most teams.

It is embarrassing that the former number one center in the league has fallen to this point.

Jim Buss, the first thing he did after returning to the Lakers management was to propose that Howard be considered a basic salary contract when the team lacks the ability to protect the inside basket.

After all, for the Lakers at present, they have been unable to reinforce an excellent inside player.

Pelinka and Johnson fell silent, welcoming back Howard, the former locker room bomb?

Undoubtedly a crazy move, at the end of "Los Angeles Hero" Kobe Bryant's career, his appearance completely hurt the team and broke the hearts of fans.

Now the team is thriving, ranking second in the Western Conference, and will soon return to the championship. If the team gets into trouble because of Howard, then Pelinka and Johnson will undoubtedly become the target of public criticism and even lose their jobs.

Johnson took a long breath, "Sir, this is really a risky decision. Dwight is a problematic character. To be honest, there are not many people in Los Angeles who have a good impression of him."

Jim smiled, he has always looked very indifferent, maybe it was the power struggle with the eldest sister a few years ago that made him look indifferent.

"A few years ago or even last year, it was true. But Dwight has changed his mind, he is training every day now, and he has lost 22 pounds to meet the times. It is unimaginable, right? I think it should be given. He has a chance."

"And Dwight spent a lot of time practicing mid-range and long-range shooting, and his shooting percentage is quite good. It seems that he is planning to learn from Brook Lopez and try the role of a space-based fifth position."

"Besides, judging from our current lineup, in the playoffs where the defense is stronger and the weaknesses will be infinitely magnified, the Lakers, who lack the ability to protect the basket inside, are destined to not go far."

Jim said a lot on his own. As the team president, Johnson didn't know why Jim, who had disappeared from the team, was suddenly recruited by Jenny, and he recommended Dwight Howard as soon as he came up.

In the end, Pelinka and Johnson compromised. They believed that this matter must be discussed in a formal meeting and communicated with important figures on the team.

After all, this is not as simple as simply introducing players.The object of their discussions was none other than Dwight Howard.

(End of this chapter)