"Li, I hope you can return to the No. 1 position next season." The moment he saw Li Hao, Luke Walton's eyes lit up.
As Kerr's first assistant, Luke Walton knows all too well that Kerr loves Li Hao, but unfortunately, it's useless no matter how much Kerr likes him, because Li Hao belongs to the Lakers, and now he has the opportunity to coach Li Hao.
So as soon as he met Luke Walton, he couldn't wait to say that all the Lakers' tactics in the new season will only revolve around Li Hao, and there is only one core of the Lakers.
"I am also planning to return to the No. 1 position next season." Li Hao obviously prefers the No. 1 position to the No. 3 position and likes to control the ball in his hands.
Although the ball was in Li Hao's hands for most of last season, the feeling was completely different.
"Coach, I have to train in the afternoon, so I'll leave first." Rather than chatting with Luke Walton here, Li Hao still wanted to go back to training.
"Okay, you go to training first." Luke Walton naturally would not force Li Hao to stay.
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In the next few days, Li Hao focused entirely on training, occasionally torturing rookies like Russell and Booker. Not to mention, he still had a very satisfying day.
If there is any shortcoming, it is that his girlfriend is not around. While Li Hao is busy training, Kim Seol Hyun from Asia has returned from Japan and is even about to leave for China.
The two basically have video calls at least once a day, and their voice calls never stop. As long as they have time, they will send each other various messages.
In addition to constant contact with Kim Seol-hyun, Li Hao and Li Ji-eun have also been in contact. Since Christmas that year, contact with each other has become a part of their lives.
However, during this period, there was always someone waiting for his call, but he still couldn't wait for Li Hao's call.
At this moment, the league successively announced the major awards for the 2015-16 season.
The Rookie of the Year was won by Towns. The No. 1 pick performed very well last season, so the Rookie of the Year was the least suspense and was unanimously elected.
The best sixth man is veteran Crawford, who was 36 years old in 1980.
Then there is the regular season MVP, Curry also has no suspense.
The second is Lao Zhan, and Li Hao is third, and the gap with Lao Zhan is very small. The Lakers' record is really bad, ranking last in the league, but averaging a triple-double per game for the first season in more than half a century is so dazzling.
Tenth last year and third this year, Li Hao can no longer be described as progress, but as a rocket.
Then the best defensive team, Li Hao was selected for the first team again.
One team: Paul, Li Hao, Leonard, Green, DeAndre Jordan.
Li Hao's performance on the defensive end last season cannot be faulted. He averaged 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, which was no worse than Leonard, the best defensive player.
Li Hao even had 0.5 more blocks than Leonard. Although defense does not only focus on steals and blocks, even in the game, Li Hao can compete with Leonard.
Second team: Bradley, Butler, Paul George, Millsap, Whiteside.
Defensive Player of the Year: Leonard.
Except for the best team, all other awards have been announced, and based on Li Hao's performance this past season, it is inevitable that Li Hao will be selected for the best team.
However, Li Hao's failure to be selected for the best team will not affect his signing of the maximum salary contract, because he has been selected as an All-Star twice as a starter and has met the conditions for triggering Rose's clause.
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With the announcement of a series of league awards, Li Hao once again appeared on the front page of the media. There is no way, Li Hao is only a second-year rookie.
A second-year rookie performed at an MVP level, something that has never happened before in the league.
And just when Li Hao was on the front page of the hot search, people who had not been waiting for the call took the initiative to appear in front of Li Hao.
"Hey, how did you know you were here?" Li Hao looked at Howard who suddenly appeared.
"I'm here to tell you good news," Howard said with an arrogant look.
"Welcome to the Lakers." After hearing what Howard said, Li Hao directly opened his arms and hugged Howard.
"Dwight, you must feel extremely lucky to have made this choice," Li Hao said again after the hug.
"Lee, are you happy too early? If the Lakers can't give me a satisfactory annual salary, it's impossible for me to join the Lakers," Howard said.
"Leave the contract matters to the team and your agent." As a wealthy team, the Lakers shouldn't be too stingy.
Immediately, Li Hao first called President Jim Buss, and then called Kupchak, telling them that they could discuss the contract with Howard.
"Dwight, if you officially sign the contract, I hope you can do two things." After hanging up the phone with Kupchak, Li Hao turned to Howard.
"What's going on?" Howard asked.
"Go for back surgery, I hope you can come back healthy." Howard had a serious back injury when he first joined the Lakers.
Although he later underwent surgery, Howard returned early before fully recovering from the surgery. Howard has been suffering from back injuries in recent years.
"Lee, you have to know that recovering from a back injury is a very long process," Howard said.
"Of course I know, but Dwight, we need a healthy you. I would rather you miss some games in the early part of the regular season than miss the playoffs because of a back injury. We have ambitious goals," Li Hao advised.
"Li, thank you" Howard took the initiative to hug Li Hao.
"What's the second thing?" Howard asked after being moved.
"Losing weight, the offensive and defensive speed of the league is getting faster and faster now. I have already met with the head coach and discussed some tactics for next season, so you must lose weight and speed up next season, and losing weight is also good for your back injury. "Howard will indeed lose weight in the future. At that time, in addition to adapting to the small ball era, Howard had to lose weight because of a serious back injury.
"Are you sure?" For a center, tonnage is very important.
"Believe me, Dwight, if you don't lose weight and speed up, you won't be able to keep up with the team's offense next season. And I also believe that even if you lose weight, no one in today's league can take advantage of you." Li Hao Continue to persuade.
"Besides, you should have the deepest experience after just playing in the playoffs." Howard's Rockets were eliminated by the Warriors.
"I will consider it carefully." Howard not only has his own management team, but also his own training team, so Li Hao said that Howard needs to discuss these with his team before making a decision.
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"He agreed?" After Howard left, Kobe came over and asked.
"Then it depends on what kind of contract the team offers," Li Hao replied.
"If Dwight had thought about it earlier, would you have had multiple championship rings?" At that time, the Lakers' lineup was not bad, with Howard, Gasol and Kobe.
"There is no if in this world," Kobe said angrily.
