In mid-March, the trade deadline for the 2012 season is approaching.
At this time of year, the league is in turmoil and various rumors continue.
But this year is obviously an exception. There were basically no big revelations in the news before the trade deadline.
The only thing reporters are paying attention to is whether Dwight Howard will choose to apply for a trade, or jump out of his contract early, or reach an agreement with the Magic to renew his contract in advance.
At present, Howard's career in the Magic has entered a countdown, and the Magic have lost their championship competitiveness in the Eastern Conference.
The Heat and Bulls are on the rise, the Celtics are getting older and stronger, the Cavaliers are thriving, and there is no room for the Magic to survive in the East.
Except for the future ownership of this "number one center", no other teams have made any big moves worthy of attention.
Because this season, the Eastern and Western divisions are very divided. The strong teams are very strong, the weak teams are very weak, and the mid-level teams do not have many opportunities.
In the East, the four top half teams of the Heat, Cavaliers, Celtics, and Bulls compete for a spot in the finals. The Magic have withdrawn from the championship, and the Pacers have not yet become a phenomenon.
In the West, the Clippers, Thunder, and Lakers have taken shape and are leading the Western Conference record rankings.
The Spurs, Grizzlies, Nuggets and other teams followed closely behind, but in terms of record and strength, there is a big gap with the top three. There is no longer the feeling of the Wild West.
The imbalance between the east and the west for ten years has gradually returned to a state of balance.
In fact, the east side seems to be overwhelming the west side.
The fundamental reason is that Min Congda is causing trouble.
His two interceptions in the draft and random signings in the free market ruined the rebuilding plans of both teams.
One is the San Antonio Spurs and the other is the Indiana Pacers.
Both teams are small clubs without a big market.
If you want to rise, you can only rely on the draft and some tinkering with small transactions.
It is difficult to catch big fish in the free market.
Popovich was calculating carefully and inspected repeatedly during the summer, and took a fancy to Leonard, a rising star.
Suddenly, he was snatched away by the Clippers, causing the reconstruction plan to be completely disrupted.
They had to bite the bullet and continue to use Richard Jefferson, who achieved pretty good results in the regular season.
But Popovich knows that it will be difficult for the Spurs to compete with the Clippers, Lakers, and Thunder in the playoffs.
Therefore, the Spurs have been looking for trading opportunities to strengthen the team's third position and squeeze more GDP oil.
Duncan, Ginobili and Parker still have gas in the tank.
Like the Pacers and the Spurs, the rising star Paul George was snatched away by the Clippers.
Bird saw George getting better and better with the Clippers, and he was so angry that he wanted to resign.
Since he took charge of the Pacers, every time the Pacers were about to rise, they would always run into trouble and fall short.
Reached the finals in 2000 and met the Sharks, met the Pistons in 2004, and disbanded in 2005.
After struggling for several years, Granger, Hibbert, David West and other players have been pieced together one by one, and a strong Pacers will emerge.
However, Paul George, an important piece of talent, was taken away, which made Bird very uncomfortable.
Min Congda destroyed the Spurs and Pacers, and indirectly made the Cavaliers and Lakers.
At present, these two teams are very strong. Even if the Clippers win 17 consecutive games, they still have not opened up the gap with the Lakers in the rankings.
Although the Lakers do not have a long winning streak, their winning rate is very stable, and the combination between Paul and Kobe becomes more and more tacit.
Many domestic Lakers fans basically wake up in the morning, have a late breakfast, and turn on their mobile phones or TV to watch Lakers games.
After watching half of the show, you can basically go and have lunch in peace, because the game often loses its suspense in the first half.
If the Lakers play away, the game starts at nine or nine-thirty. For those college fans who sleep in, waking up is a victory.
Under the guidance of Phil Jackson, this Lakers team is very stable. They also want to make some minor repairs at the trade deadline to enhance their strength.
I hope to have a smooth playoff run and win the championship.
The situation of the Cavaliers is similar to that of the Lakers. The lineup is perfectly constructed with almost no flaws.
LeBron James is on his way to his third MVP trophy.
All this is the result of Min Congda's secret help.
With two super rivals in the East and West as double insurance, it is extremely difficult for a team like the Clippers, which has potential but is young, to win the championship.
Especially when the Boston Celtics broke the Clippers' winning streak on the road, Min Congda was in a good mood.
What made him feel better, of course, was that his banned horse was about to be counted.
Dr. Mia issued a psychological diagnosis for him and believed that Min Congda was emotionally stable and could watch the game on the sidelines.
During the last psychotherapy session, Min Congda battled wits with Mia, pretended to be hypnotized, made up stories, and got through.
This time it was different. Min Congda took the medicine seriously. He really took the medicine.
Then it passed a series of tests and was certified as: no problem.
Min Congda was already very hungry and couldn't wait to go to the scene to watch the game.
He is now completely obsessed with the NBA scene.
The grand, bright venue, the noisy and interesting environment, and the fierce confrontation are all fascinating.
After 25 games and not watching football for more than a month, Min Congda really misses the feeling of the stadium.
Of course, he feels that the league's ban is very good.
Because in these 25 games, the Clippers lost two!
If you watched this from the sidelines from beginning to end, wouldn't you be mad to death?
Well now, in the first game after the ban is lifted, the Clippers will challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder away from home!
Wherever you fall, you get up.
Min Congda was fined and suspended during the game between the Clippers and Thunder.
I'm going to watch the Clippers play the Thunder in the first game after the ban is lifted.
This makes the alliance quite worried. Will Min Congda do something wrong again?
Before the game between the Clippers and Thunder on March 17.
New York, in the NBA Commissioner's Office at the Olympia Building.
After the regular work meeting in the afternoon, Adam Silva held an internal meeting to discuss the league's work before the trade deadline.
Since Adam Silva became the league president, such small cabinet meetings have been held much more frequently than during the Stern period.
First of all, Silva has just become the president of the league and has many issues that need to be discussed and decided with the vice president.
Secondly, Silva needs such a meeting to establish his authority.
During the last referee strike, Silva was fully prepared to disrupt the offensive of his vice president and referees.
This has further enhanced Silva's authority in the league, and the voices below who dare to oppose him have naturally become smaller.
And after the incident, Adam Silva further expanded the size of the league's referee reserve group, and at the same time required the referees of the reserve group to participate in more NBDL and summer league games this summer to increase their experience on the field.
He also asked the officials to increase the number of referee training camps from the beginning of the new season and enhance the training of novice referees.
There is no doubt that Silva is strengthening his control over the referee team in this way and paving the way for future plans.
In today's small cabinet meeting, the issue of refereeing was raised again, and this time it was related to Min Congda.
Bozia, who is in charge of referee work, said: "Mr. President, I have a problem that I need to report to you. Tomorrow is the Clippers' game against the Thunder on March 17. No referee is willing to go out and enforce the law."
Silva raised his eyebrows and said: "No one is willing to go out to enforce the law? Why?"
Bozia said: "Because... Smart is coming back in that game, and he will definitely come to the sidelines to watch the game."
Silva laughed and said: "Smart is back, so the referees are unwilling to call the game? What is the reason? Do they still want to have a strike?"
"No, no, no, they don't want to go on strike, they just don't want to brag about the game with Smart on the sidelines..."
"This is a strike in disguise. Smart's suspension time has expired. We cannot ban him from watching the game as a spectator. The referee cannot refuse to enforce the law because of a spectator. Do you understand, Bozia? "
Bozia nodded. At this moment, he and the referee team had no room for resistance in front of Silva.
This slight struggle was easily suppressed by Silva.
Bozia knows that if the referee insists on not appearing, the result will be the use of reserve referees.
Then these referees who refuse to appear will definitely be sanctioned by the league and lose the qualification to continue to enforce the law.
With the support of Stern and most senior executives and shareholders, Silva's authority cannot be challenged.
But what Bozia can't figure out even more is why Silva is so protective of Smart.
"Although tomorrow's game must be officiated, Smart is indeed a trouble. Therefore, send a steady and fair referee to blow the whistle tomorrow. Don't let Fitzgerald's violent temper be stunned again, be steady, You must be steady!”
After thinking about it, Silva was still worried, so he requested that a stable and reliable referee be sent to prevent Min Congda from getting angry.
To be honest, during the period when Min Congda was suspended and banned from talking, the league referee office really had a lot of leisure time.
No one is providing feedback all day long anymore, and there is no need to reply to those critical emails.
But to be honest, I really don’t have much motivation to work like this.
"By the way, also, think of a way to give Smart the best general manager this year. Use this award to appease this guy and make him less opposed to the league in the future."
Since we are talking about Min Congda, it is natural to talk about everything related to him, otherwise it will be very annoying to always bring up this trouble.
Silva bluntly stated at this kind of meeting that he wanted to give a certain award to someone. This was something that only Stern dared to do in the past.
Silva only served as president for half a season, and he showed his dictatorial style.
The vice presidents were secretly dissatisfied, but they couldn't say much.
Everyone is understanding and knows that there must be some PY transaction between Smart and Silva.
The two people are actually together.
In the last referee incident, the two of them were in harmony.
One is a troublemaker and the other is a peacemaker.
Min Congda seemed to be punished miserably, but in fact he secretly received a lot of benefits from Silva.
Judging from the current momentum, Silva not only wants to give Min Congda the best manager, but he probably also wants to give the championship to the Clippers, right?
Because when a new president takes office, he always hopes to create superstars and protagonists on the league stage.
Before the Stern era, Michael Jordan was the best protagonist and the most perfect superstar.
To a certain extent, it can even be said that Michael Jordan made the NBA and the league brilliant.
That's why after Jordan retired, the league has been talking about "Jordan's successor", which sounds ridiculous.
It seems ridiculous now and in the future, but it didn't seem ridiculous at the time because people knew Jordan was so important to the league.
He is the perfect protagonist of the NBA drama. Who will continue to watch the drama after the protagonist has taken his final bow?
Later, Stern praised many people, and in the end, Kobe was regarded as half of the successor.
And James is known as the son of the chosen one, but it turned out that Adou couldn't help him and couldn't win the championship.
Now, James is very close to the championship, and Kobe also has the ability to win again.
But both of them are legacies of the Stern era. No matter who wins the championship, they will be considered the afterglow of the Stern era.
As the new president, Adam Silva naturally hopes that new representatives, new superstars, and new protagonists can step forward.
In the 1983-1984 season, when Stern became the league president, the Celtics and Lakers launched the yellow-green war mode, which became a peak and classic in the history of NBA ratings.
And the representative figure of the Larry O'Brien era, the superstar Julius Erving who was poached from the ABA, won the championship in 1983 and has not been able to win any championship since 1984. The Super 76ers who just returned fofofo, short It fell apart in just one season, leaving all its glory in the early 1980s.
Everyone can see that Silva also wants to create a new era of his own, and the representative team is the Los Angeles Clippers!
It's just that Silva is embarrassed to say it.
After discussing a few more matters, the vice presidents left the president's office with their own concerns.
Silva took out his cell phone and dialed Min Congda's cell phone number.
"Hello, Smart? I'm Adam. I've taken care of the suspension for you. You can go to watch the game against the Thunder tomorrow... Haha, of course it's not that easy. There are still internal objections. This time You really need to restrain yourself and don't cause any more trouble. At least you won't cause any more trouble this season, including the playoffs, okay?"
On the other end of the phone, Min Congda heard Silva's words and knew that this guy was here to "ask for credit". He must have something else for him to do.
"I won't cause you any more trouble. Don't worry. Thank you very much for your care. If you have any instructions, just tell me and I, Smart Min, will do my best."
Min Congda thought to himself, as long as you don't want the Clippers to win the championship, I'm willing to do anything.
Oh, by the way, there is also the matter of participating in a charity dinner and donating money, so please spare me.
Silva did not mention these two things, but said: "I want to talk to you about the development of the Chinese market. I heard that you have established an Asian Youth Basketball Training Center in China for two seasons. Is there any result?”
"Uh...yes, we have cultivated a talented basketball boy!"
"Really? Why is there no news?"
"There is news that the last time I was suspended, he was the one who was kicked out along with me."
Some people died, but not completely...
