Zhou Quan said with a smile: "Dameng didn't make an appointment with me, so the postman and Larry Johnson and Oakley's agents contacted my agent.
The postman previously said that he would have a boxing match with me in public, but he has not contacted my agent further, and the match has not been finalized. Maybe it is because the Jazz are playing in the playoffs, or maybe he still has concerns, I don’t know. . "
The assassin said disdainfully: "Fighting with you in public? It must be because he is afraid of being beaten by you again and losing face again."
"Haha, I think Isiah is right."
"It must be the same reason for other people. How can they have the confidence to defeat you, Iron Fist?"
"If it were me, I would fight quietly and make it public after I win."
"What if we lose? It's not as embarrassing. Do you think Iron Fist has the responsibility to keep them secret?"
After staying in the locker room for half an hour, Zhou Quan went to the post-game press conference with Assassin and Joe Dumars.
"Isiah, Iron Fist recognizes you as one of the leaders of the Pistons again, is that true?" a reporter asked.
"Yes."
"What agreement did you make?"
"There is no agreement, we work together for the team and fight together, that's it."
"Iron Fist, what does this Eastern Conference Finals series mean to you?"
"I saw the peak that we need to cross in the future. Next, we need to climb up step by step. No wind or snow can stop us. I believe that through unremitting efforts, we will eventually have the opportunity to stand on that peak and step on it. Underfoot."
"The peak you are referring to is Michael Jordan?"
"No, I'm referring to the Bulls, because without the right helpers, he will always only play the role of the scoring leader and will not be able to win the championship."
"Tekken, how do you plan for your future? Well, I mean, do you want to be an offensive point guard like the Assassins? I know the Pistons definitely want you to be such a point guard, or do you mainly focus on passing the ball? Point guard?" the next reporter asked.
This question made Zhou Quan unable to answer for a while, because the reporter was right. The Pistons management and coaching staff have always wanted him to become the next assassin, and this is indeed how he was trained.
In the main lineup, he has a lot of ball rights, and there are still some restrictions ahead. Joe Dumars can still control some of the ball rights, but starting from the late period of the regular season until the just-concluded Eastern Conference Finals, he basically controlled all the ball rights. Control, which is why he can produce All-Star statistics.
In terms of shots, when he took few shots earlier, I thought he took too few shots, so I kept asking him to take more shots.
However, this is different and conflicting with the position he gave himself before. After getting the system and having a full panoramic vision, he hopes to become a traditional point guard like John Stockton.
When Big Bird Larry Bird told him that the scoring leader will always outshine the assists leader, he didn't agree with it at all.
However, losing the Eastern Conference Finals this time touched him a lot, even very much, and made him change his mind a little bit.
When Michael Jordan stood up and scored for the team time and time again, the Pistons had no one like him to turn the tide, including him.
In the past, the Assassin scored 25 points in a single quarter in the Finals, which made him an idol in Detroit, but no more.
"Sorry, I can't answer your question now because the management and coaching staff and I will discuss this issue next."
After the press conference, Troy Weaver made an appointment with Zhou Quan and will discuss some future issues at the headquarters tomorrow.
He is the boss of the team, has the power and qualifications to participate in these discussions, and has the obligation to make his own suggestions. This kind of status is something that the Assassins and Laimbeer did not have before.
Returning to the locker room, carrying his packed bag, Zhou Quan said goodbye to his teammates one by one and said goodbye to him in the new season.
Some of these teammates should leave the Pistons, and perhaps some will say goodbye to the NBA forever, and they will be eliminated.
When they got home, it was already 2:30 in the morning. Catherine was woken up by him, and then the two of them started doing some indescribable stimulating behaviors until dawn.
At noon on the 30th, Zhou Quan and Catherine got up from bed. The girl hurriedly made lunch. After eating, she started packing her luggage and booking air tickets, while Zhou Quan drove to the headquarters.
Arriving at the headquarters, McCloskey, Troy Weaver, and Chuck Daly were waiting for him.
"Zhou, starting from today, I officially retire. I hope you and Troy will work together in the future, and I hope you live a comfortable and happy life in Detroit."
"Jack, thank you for bringing me to Detroit. I feel valued here, which is very important to me. In addition, I wish you a happy retirement life, and I hope you can come back to see us often."
The old man McCloskey said goodbye to Zhou Quan and then left gracefully.
"Mr. Davis made an appointment with him, and they have a good relationship." Troy Weaver sent McCloskey out the door and said enviously when he came back.
"This office is yours now, congratulations, Troy." Chuck Daly said.
"Congratulations, Troy." Zhou Quan also sent his own congratulations.
Troy Weaver said happily: "Thank you, we will work hard together."
Daley shrugged, moved his body stuck in the sofa, shook his head and said, "Troy, I'm old too."
"No no no..."
Upon hearing this, Weaver quickly shook his head and said: "Chuck, I just took over this position, you can't pile up picks right away."
Chuck Daly was not trying to pick on Weaver. He really felt that he was getting old and said, "Don't worry, I won't retire right away. I have to work for another two years."
"That's great, thank you, Chuck." Weaver breathed a sigh of relief.
"Troy, what are you going to talk about when you invite me here today?" Zhou Quan asked.
"There are indeed some things that need to be communicated to you."
Weaver added some coffee to the two of them and sat down and said: "First of all, regarding the lineup, we must introduce some young people and motivated young people, but I need your opinions on how to adjust the main lineup. "
Zhou Quan didn't say anything. Although Troy invited him over, he was self-aware. This was just an expression of respect for him.
After all, he is just a rookie, with insufficient strength and qualifications, and he was promoted by the management. He is still in the training period. If he really makes random suggestions, he will definitely not be liked by Weaver, and even Chuck Daly will not Happy.
Moreover, he doesn't understand much about this kind of thing and can't provide any valuable advice. Today he only speaks with his ears, not his mouth.
So Troy Weaver only looked at Chuck Daly, and he didn't expect Zhou Quan to provide him with any good advice.
In fact, he didn't even want Daly to give him advice on the lineup, but Daly's status in the Pistons was too high. He had just taken over and his foundation was unstable. Daly's opinion must be sought, which was inconsistent with his respect. Zhou Quan's boss status is the same.
Chuck Daly pondered for a while and then said: "Dennis is in some trouble now. The divorce lawsuit will begin soon. He will definitely have to pay a large sum of money and may go bankrupt."
"Maybe Madonna is willing to pay for it." Zhou Quan joked.
"Ha ha……"
The office suddenly burst into laughter.
Chuck Daly rubbed his stomach and smiled: "Okay, the joke is over, let's get down to business. Dennis still has two years of contract, and he and Zhou will renegotiate the contract after two years. Zhou, you will definitely not execute it. The fourth year of the contract, right?”
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "It depends on the situation. I haven't considered the next contract yet. It's a little too early."
Troy Weaver smiled and said: "Iron Fist, even if you don't consider it, we will still consider renewing your contract in advance. You deserve the team to do that."
"This is an encouragement to me."
Zhou Quan smiled and nodded.
The economic environment in Detroit is not good, the economy is beginning to decline, and more and more middle-class and white people are leaving. Although he has considered one person, one city, in fact the players are very passive.
The core of the Assassin who won two consecutive championships for the Pistons may be traded. In fact, if he had not reconciled with him, the Assassin would have been put on the shelf.
So for the future, his idea is not to stick to the concept of one person, one city, because he will also be injured and will get old. He may not be able to achieve results, and he is very likely to be put on the shelf.
This league is a business league, everything is business, and nothing is really for sale. The owners require players to be loyal to the team, but once the players lose value, they will immediately abandon the players who are loyal to them, so in fact there is no such thing in the NBA True reciprocal loyalty is only a player's unilateral loyalty to the team.
It is too difficult to find an owner who is loyal to the players. Unless the player's departure will cause huge losses to the team, no one can be traded.
Weaver then said to Daley: "Chuck, I know you and Dennis have a great relationship. Do you want him to stay?"
"Of course, we also need his defense and rebounding." Chuck Daly nodded.
Weaver nodded, but did not discuss the issue further. Instead, he said: "So Chuck, do you have any other suggestions for the lineup?"
Daly said: "Neither John Selly nor Dennis have a physique that can withstand exercise. I hope the thickness of the inner line can be increased."
At this point, he asked: "Is John's contract over?"
Weaver nodded and said: "The team doctor told me that his toe will not completely recover, and there will definitely be frequent problems in the future. I plan to give up on him."
"is that so?"
Chuck Daly has some regrets. Although John Salley is not good at offense, his defense is still good.
When Zhou Quan heard that Weaver was about to give up Seli, he didn't say anything.
He stepped on John Salley's toe, but it was not his fault. Weaver had to give up on him, and he could only express regret.
Daly added: "At the third position, Ulrich's playing style is still too monotonous and he has no defense. If we can find someone who can shoot better and defend better, I think it will be better."
"I'll consider it," Weaver said.
Daly talked about the back line again, saying: "Regardless of offense and defense, the back line organization of Tekken and Joe Dumars is of course the top combination in the league, and this is our advantage.
If we want to beat the Bulls, in addition to trying to build a better inside line, the most practical and possible way is to continue to tap the potential of the back line. "
Speaking of this, Zhou Quan immediately sat up straight, because this question related to his development direction.
Weaver said, "Chuck, what do you think?"
Dai Li looked at Zhou Quan and said: "Of course I hope that Zhou can become the next assassin and be able to stand up when we need him most.
Zhou, what are your thoughts on this? It’s been a season and we have to make the right decisions, not only for the future of the team, but also for your future. "
Weaver also nodded and said: "Zhou, I think this is the best, the Assassin should be your template, not John Stockton.
In fact, I am not optimistic about John Stockton because he does not have the ability to stand up and solve problems at critical moments, while the Assassins do. "
Zhou Quan picked up the coffee cup, took a few sips, and then said: "For the benefit of the team, I think your opinions should be respected."
Of course, this is just a face-saving talk. In fact, this Eastern Conference Finals series has made him realize that if he does not have the ability to stand up at critical moments, he will never become a true superstar, let alone a super giant.
After Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was injured that year, the Magic was able to assume the center position in the most critical G6 game of the Finals. He scored 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists, and led the team to win the championship. This is what he can do in the game. The ability to stand up at critical moments.
Just from this game, Magic was associated with the word great.
The media now unanimously believes that he is not as good as Magic as a rookie. Even if he scored 20+10 in the playoffs, he is still not as good as Magic. In fact, he agrees, very much.
"It would be great."
Daly and Weaver looked at each other and smiled. This was the answer they most wanted to hear.
Daly added: "Zhou, I used to think that you might not have enough offensive talent, but the playoffs, especially this Eastern Conference finals series, made me realize that my previous ideas were wrong. You can develop Offensive ability.”
Zhou Quan nodded and said: "At the No. 1 position, without changing defense, as long as my offensive skills become more mature, my offensive ability will be further improved.
But if I encounter Michael Jordan, once I face him, I will need more diverse offensive methods to be able to break through his defense. "
"Zhou, don't worry, you still need time to grow. If your speed can be improved a little more and your breakthrough speed is faster, I think you will be more threatening." Chuck Daly said.
Zhou Quan said cautiously: "This is exactly the direction of my development. In the offseason, I will further reduce my weight to 90 kilograms, and then stabilize above this tonnage."
Chuck Daly smiled and said: "This is very good. With a tonnage of 90 kilograms, you will be healthier, but you are still a heavy tank in the first position, and the speed can be further increased, but your impact will not actually be reduced. , the impact will be even greater than the 95 kilogram period."
After staying at the headquarters for two hours, Zhou Quan left, officially ending his rookie season and entering the offseason.
Back home, Catherine had already booked her flight for tomorrow morning and packed her luggage.
Zhou Quan contacted Rodman and agreed to go to Los Angeles together.
"Sorry, Iron Fist, I'm already in Los Angeles. Madonna sent a private plane to pick me up." As soon as the call came through, Rodman's heartless voice sounded over there.
"You bastard, be careful not to die on Madonna's belly." He laughed and cursed.
"A pervert who doesn't care about his family. Zhou, will you become such a person in the future?" As soon as he hung up the phone, he heard Catherine say to him.
"Of course not. We Chinese value family more than black people can, nor can you white people. We can give everything for our families." Zhou Quan said quickly.
Catherine stared at him for a while, then suddenly sighed irritably and sat on the sofa without speaking.
In the afternoon, Zhou Quan and Philip came to Ford headquarters.
Last year, to compensate him, Ford offered him a $500,000 sponsorship contract, and now, Ford has offered him a three-year sponsorship contract to endorse Ford's latest off-road vehicle.
Three years and five million dollars was a very large contract in this era, and in an era when the Detroit auto industry was in decline.
Of course, this is also because of his excellent performance in the playoffs and against Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference Finals series. It is also because he is the boss of the Pistons that he got this sponsorship contract.
The leader of a team is bound to get a lot of attention in the city where the team is located, and is bound to get some commercial income. This is why everyone wants to be the leader and boss of the team.
In addition to Ford's endorsement contract, Philip also helped him accept several other contracts, but they were not large, adding up to more than one million US dollars.
If he hadn't performed as he did against Jordan, as a yellow man, he wouldn't have had a chance to get these contracts.
(End of chapter)
