Chapter 477 Stern Retires

The day after the Lakers successfully defended their title, David Stern officially delivered his retirement speech.

In his speech, besides reviewing the changes he had brought to the league since taking office and summarizing his achievements, Stern also especially thanked those who had made outstanding contributions to the development and progress of the NBA during his tenure.

Such as the late former Lakers' general manager, Jerry Buss.

Jordan, who was wildly spreading money in major North American casinos because Su Feng's career championship total had tied Bill Russell.

And, the most successful couple in Stern's CP career:

—Su Feng and Kobe.

Looking back on the past, Stern, who choked up several times at the time of farewell, said: "Many people say that without me, there would be no NBA today.

"But in my opinion, I am just a small person who has built a stage for these great figures who are enough to change basketball history to display their talents during my tenure.

"During my time as league president, I have experienced countless memorable moments that will surely be recorded in history.

"And the NBA has become a popular event loved by basketball fans all over the world.

"I hope that in the future, the NBA can continue to bring joy, laughter, and joy to people.

"Sports is sports, basketball is basketball.

"Showing the purest side of basketball to the fans was my motto.

"And now, as I am about to retire, I would also like to tell the league's next president:

"As the world's top basketball league, the reason why the NBA has been successful in the past is because we have always adhered to a heart that serves all fans and all teams.

"Without fans, basketball is nothing!"

On the day Stern officially announced his retirement, David Colangelo, chairman of the Hall of Fame committee, stated on his personal social media platform that in the future, the Hall of Fame would design a special area for Stern to showcase his great achievements during his tenure in the NBA.

"He deserves such grand recognition.

"Over the past thirty years, David has made indelible contributions to the NBA!"

Starting June 21st, North American time, Mark, who had served as Stern's deputy for 20 years, officially became the new president of the NBA.

Because Stern had deliberately handed over the negotiation of the NBA's new TV broadcast agreement to Mark, the owners of the league's 30 teams and the vast majority of players congratulated him on his inauguration via social media on the same day.

And what was interesting was that Mark, who had always been at odds with Adam Silver, announced his first personnel appointment as soon as he took office...

All the staff within the league who had a good relationship with Silver were transferred to Africa.

And he euphemistically said: the NBA will use its influence to provide more opportunities for children in Africa who love basketball.

In addition, Mark also announced that the NBA would hold a meeting within the next week to discuss whether some of the game rules could still adapt to the current version of the NBA game.

Unlike the limitless jokes in Su Feng's memory in order to catch up with Stern.

Although in the past two years, the NBA's prevalent offensive basketball has greatly improved the viewing experience of the game...

But as a president who understands basketball, Mark believes that the NBA must introduce some rules to help teams better defend in games.

Because offensive basketball, which is extremely entertaining, can indeed bring a lot of attention to the NBA in the short term...

But in terms of the individual abilities of modern basketball players...

If defensive players can't even touch the offensive players' body hair when defending...

Then how can those players who are good at defense play?

Moreover, basketball games with no defensive intensity, and scenes comparable to the All-Star game...

Can it really bring long-term benefits to the NBA?

In Mark's opinion, this year's Finals are the best example.

Because the referees deliberately relaxed the penalties for some 50-50 balls, many fans in the market believed that this was the most exciting Finals they had seen in recent years.

In short, how to make NBA games more exciting, in Mark's view, in addition to balancing offense and defense through rules, the NBA must also organize referees to conduct training as soon as possible to unify the future penalty standards.

In addition, as the NBA's salary cap is about to rise sharply...

Mark believes that the NBA must further increase the penalties for the super luxury tax starting next season.

To prevent the strength of the league's teams from being completely out of balance.

Online, after the new president Mark announced a series of NBA's next work plans, the public generally believed that the league was targeting the Lakers.

Because in recent years, the Lakers have been able to maintain their main framework, precisely because after signing a sky-high broadcast agreement with Warner Times, the Lakers simply did not care about paying the super luxury tax.

However...

The people who are so anxious for the Lakers may not believe it...

Su Feng didn't care about the concerns in the market at all.

Because rules are relative.

According to the plan previously agreed upon by Su Feng and Kupchak, the Lakers' reconstruction this summer fully took into account his and Kobe's current ages.

Therefore, the Lakers will not only be the first to respond to the NBA's call, but even Su Feng wants to applaud Mark's new policy.

Because after Mark's new policy comes out...

The Lakers will surely become the team with the most room for maneuver in the future NBA.

June 25th.

After resting in Los Angeles for a few days, the Lakers officially held a grand championship parade.

Last year, due to the death of Jerry Buss, the Lakers reduced the scale of their championship parade.

Therefore, at this year's championship parade, Jeanie Buss, who didn't care about spending her father's money, was not only extremely luxurious, but also arranged a championship party that far exceeded last year's scale.

On the day of the championship parade, the Lakers players had a great time.

When the championship float returned to the Staples Center, Su Feng and Kobe each took out their pre-written essays to share with the world their eleventh NBA championship and first Finals...

"Uncle Su Feng, NBA, I'm coming!"

In front of the TV, when Su Feng saw this scene, he was filled with emotion.

Because back then, when he led Wiggins to the center of the stage at the Air Canada Centre...

He was just a young man in his early twenties.

But now...

"Time waits for no one!" In front of the TV, Su Feng sighed silently.

Although in the future, the rookies of the 2014 draft will generally be considered overrated...

But as a draft year that was generally recognized by scouts before the draft...

There are indeed many good seedlings in this draft.

With the second overall pick, the Bucks selected Jabari Parker.

And Joel Embiid, who was previously one of the top picks, was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the third overall pick.

Like Nerlens Noel last year, Embiid's future was also shrouded in shadow because he underwent a stress fracture surgery on his right foot before the draft.

And, if Su Feng remembers correctly...

Embiid will also be out for the season due to injury next season.

In fact, Embiid won't start his rookie season until the 2016-17 season.

It has to be said that with the development of modern sports medicine, young players are no longer as afraid of "returning to the factory for major repairs" as they used to be.

In addition, as the driving force for Su Feng to participate in the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest for the last time before his retirement, Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine were selected by the Rockets and Pelicans with the fourth and thirteenth overall picks, respectively.

In order to completely block the way for future young people...

Bah!

In order to allow future young people to feel the love from their seniors, Su Feng had planned early on to have a good competition with LaVine and Gordon before retiring.

And on the scene, just as Su Feng was thinking about how he could defeat LaVine and Gordon in the slam dunk contest, news also came back one after another from various teams about trades being made at the draft.

First, the Celtics used their first-round pick next year (2015) plus Perkins and Wallace to trade for Marcus Smart from the Trail Blazers.

Because Perkins and Wallace both had only one year left on their contracts, the Trail Blazers management, who believed that Smart was not a cornerstone for the Trail Blazers' reconstruction, agreed to the deal without hesitation.

And then the Knicks used Aldridge to trade back Julius Randle and Tyler Ennis from the Kings.

There is no doubt.

This is a typical brain-dead trade.

Because although Randle's future is promising...

But in 2014, Aldridge was a genuine All-Star power forward.

Su Feng knew that as long as D'Antoni could use Aldridge well next season, the Kings would definitely become a force to be reckoned with in the West.

Because you must know that the Tyreke Evans of this world...

Is not the Evans that was ruined in Su Feng's memory.

Plus Cousins, Lin, Thomas, etc...

"Does the Knicks think the West is not chaotic enough, so they deliberately sacrifice themselves to complete the West?" In front of the TV, Su Feng commented on the Knicks' trade with a puzzled expression.

To be fair.

This time Su Feng really wronged the Knicks.

Because the main reason why the Knicks wanted to trade Aldridge at the draft was because Aldridge himself didn't want to stay in New York.

Last season, Aldridge, who was always caught between Anthony and Jackson, just wanted to achieve something while he was still at his peak.

Therefore, after the Knicks' management used Aldridge to trade back Randle and Ennis, one inside and one outside two potential rookies, even James Dolan specifically called the Knicks' management to say, "Congratulations, you've hit the jackpot!"

And Clint Capela, another potential interior player in the 2014 first-round rookies, was selected by the Celtics after trading up for the pick.

Before the draft started, everyone knew that the Celtics would definitely strengthen their stretched interior.

But...

Bird, who just wanted to pick a slightly reliable substitute at this time, didn't know...

In a sense, the Celtics also hit the jackpot tonight.

Thirtieth overall pick in the first round.

It was the Lakers' turn to play.

According to Su Feng's instructions, Kupchak used the Lakers' first-round pick this year to select Nikola Jokic from Serbia.

Although before the draft started, the media generally predicted that Jokic would fall to the late second round.

But because the Lakers choosing Jokic with their first-round pick can not only get him for four years for free, but also complete the over-cap renewal through Bird rights in the future.

So Su Feng told Kupchak early on that the Lakers must use their first-round pick this year to select Jokic.

At the draft site, as the last player among the 2014 first-round picks to receive blessings from President Mark, when Jokic took the stage with his big belly, many people were curious as to why the Lakers would choose this fat paper that didn't look like a professional player at all.

But in the near future...

People will definitely be shocked by the Lakers' choice at this year's draft.

"Su, should we sell our second-round pick?" In the Lakers' forward combat conference room, after completing the important task that Emperor Feng had given him, Kupchak continued to ask Su Feng for instructions.

"Sell it, and then buy a slightly earlier pick in the second round." After thinking for a while in his mind, Su Feng said.

"Who are we going to pick with that pick?" Kupchak asked curiously.

"Sean (Livingston)'s future successor.

"Spencer Dinwiddie." Su Feng replied.

As a point guard with a height of 198cm, Su Feng is very optimistic about Dinwiddie's development in this Lakers team.

Because both Gasol Jr. and Jokic have the ability to clear out space to create mismatches for their teammates.

Plus, when playing against the Warriors, the Lakers need to drag out Stephen Curry, who was hidden by Van Gundy, to play...

So Su Feng couldn't miss a big point guard like Dinwiddie.

So, with the seventh pick in the second round, after the Lakers used dirty money to force the Pacers to reluctantly trade their pick to the Lakers, Kupchak immediately used it to select Dinwiddie from the University of Colorado.

Result...

Unlike Jokic, who knew early on that he was going to report to the Lakers.

Because Dinwiddie had never been to Los Angeles during his individual tryouts...

So almost instantly, Dinwiddie almost fainted from excessive excitement.

Mom, I'm going to play basketball in Los Angeles!

This...

Is this the legendary pie in the sky?

In front of the TV, looking at Dinwiddie, who was so excited that he was incoherent when he took the stage, the elderly Kobe had already seen through this kid's future career.

"It seems that he is another unfortunate kid who is still counting money for Su Feng even after being sold by Su Feng." Looking at Dinwiddie on the TV screen, Kobe sighed silently.

Barclays Center, after the Lakers selected Dinwiddie, in the second round, the Warriors also spent money to buy a draft pick and selected Jordan Clarkson, one of the former boyfriend groups of the famous NBA socialite Jenna Kardashian in the future.

It has to be said that even if he is not a time traveler, Logo Man's vision is better than most people.

Because this summer, after Kirilenko and Nash retired one after another, the Warriors, who had a serious aging problem in their bench lineup, desperately needed a young man like Clarkson who could take the lead in charging forward.

And accompanying the official end of the 2014 draft.

After Kupchak returned to Los Angeles, the Lakers officially launched their reconstruction plan.

This summer, the Lakers will not choose to renew Whiteside's contract.

Although letting go of a ten-million-level center for nothing seems a pity...

But because the Lakers will renew their contracts with Rondo, Su Feng, and Kobe one after another this summer...

So Kupchak rejected his assistant team's proposal that he should persuade Whiteside to sign and trade first.

In the NBA, the premise of a sign-and-trade must be that the trading parties can meet the corresponding salary rules of the NBA.

Therefore, in Kupchak's view, those Lakers' management members who can't bear to part with this or that are clearly a bunch of fools in terms of the overall picture.

Especially that person named Rob Pelinka who was arranged by Jeanie Buss to be by his side.

In Kupchak's view, if Aunt Jeanie had really taken over back then, then this iron-headed idiot named Pelinka would have didn't know what the future of the Lakers would have been overdrawn into!

At present, giving up Whiteside is of course gratifying.

But because Whiteside himself is dispensable to the current Lakers.

So, in Kupchak's view, only by being willing to give up first can one gain something.

"Now, it's time to show the real skills!" This day, looking at the small note left for him by Emperor Feng, Kupchak muttered to himself after taking a deep breath.

……

ps: Wow—! Ah Qiao, you've been so long lately! In addition, thank you Milan 灬 Kaka for the reward of the alliance leader! Thank you again Milan 灬 Kaka for the reward of the alliance leader!