On the 3rd, the Bulls’ media day.
"Michael, it is said that Iron Fist left the Eastern Conference out of necessity. Some media believe that the league hopes to send you to the Eastern Conference Finals. Do you think that is the case?" a reporter from the New York Times asked.
Jordan had a good time. Last season, the media pressure was on him, targeting him desperately and sucking his blood. But since the finals, the media's main attention has been on Zhou Quan, but this problem suddenly This made him anxious and said angrily:
"What are you talking about? What do you mean? Are you saying that I'm afraid of Iron Fist? What does his leaving the East have to do with me? I would rather he stay in the East and compete with me. Your question is ridiculous."
At this time, general manager Jerry Krause took over the topic and said: "Gentlemen, the reason why Iron Fist left the Eastern Conference has nothing to do with Michael. Michael will never avoid any competition."
This question was raised, and a reporter asked again: "Michael, your goal for the new season is the championship, that's for sure, so do you think the Pistons can stop you in the new season?"
"Who can stop me?" Michael Jordan asked disdainfully.
"What do you mean?" The reporter seemed not to understand, and asked.
Jordan explained: "The new Pistons' lineup is indeed strong, but they don't have an iron fist. Who among them can stand up at critical moments?"
This statement was clear enough, and the media immediately understood what Jordan meant.
Indeed, last season's SuperSonics reached the Western Conference Finals, but ultimately fell to the Suns. The important reason was the lack of someone who could make the final decision at critical moments.
George Karl is not good at using superstars. The Sonics play too much as a team, which is also a weakness. No superstars stand up to solve the problem at critical moments.
Like the last tiebreaker of the Western Conference Finals, Barkley stood up and scored 44 points and 24 rebounds with a shooting percentage of 60%, so the Suns had the last laugh. This is the role of superstars at critical moments.
In Phoenix, today is also media day for the Suns' new season.
Barkley, shaking his bald head that glowed blue, stood in the middle with Lightning Kevin Johnson, accepting the baptism of media cameras. The bald head was particularly conspicuous.
"Charles, Iron Fist has come to the West, what do you think about it?" The first reporter asked a question that put Buckley in a bad mood.
He said unhappily: "I don't know what the league is thinking about, and I don't know what the media is doing. After the finals, they rushed to push Iron Fist to leave the East. This must be a premeditated and purposeful behavior.
It's too bad, I think Iron Fist doesn't want to leave the East. If he continues to stay in the Pistons, this season..."
At this point, he said no more.
"Sir Charles, are you afraid of competing with Iron Fist?" the reporter asked with a smile.
"Nonsense, am I afraid of him? He can just come here. If he comes to the west, he will come to hell." Buckley jumped up.
"Charles, do you think the Suns and SuperSonics will enter a very fierce competition in the new season? Is it possible that Iron Fist will affect your championship goal?" the second reporter asked.
"We killed them last time in the Western Conference Finals, and we will kill them again next year." Barkley was very annoyed, but he wisely avoided Zhou Quan's name.
"Do you think this Sonics is a first-tier team? Do you think Iron Fist..."
The third reporter still asked questions about the SuperSonics and Zhou Quan, but before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by a dissatisfied Barkley.
"Hey, hey, sir, please ask about the Suns and me. Don't talk about the SuperSonics and Iron Fist. This is Phoenix, not Seattle. I think you should rush to Seattle now instead of staying here to waste time." Buck Lee was very dissatisfied.
That afternoon, Zhang Lili and Sun Zhenping arrived in Seattle, the same five people as before.
"Brother Zhang, Teacher Sun, why did you arrive today?" Zhou Quan asked casually as he drove over to pick him up.
"It was delayed for a few days due to funding issues. We have to stay here for more than half a year, and I wanted to raise the salary. It took a long time to get the approval."
Sun Zhenping had a headache when he mentioned this.
"You are so far away from home. You really need to improve your salary and get more subsidies." Zhou Quan nodded.
Sun Zhenping smiled and said: "After this season, I may not come here. I can't take care of my family at all. Teacher Xu will come to support me. Maybe I will choose a young man who has not married yet, but there are no good candidates for the time being." "
"Xu Jicheng." Zhang Lili added.
Zhou Quan didn't recognize him, so he just nodded and said with a smile: "It's more convenient for Brother Zhang, my home is right here."
Zhang Lili was startled and sighed: "I just got divorced."
"What?"
Zhou Quan was stunned and quickly said to Sun Zhenping: "Teacher Sun, you'd better return home as soon as possible."
"..."
Sun Zhenping was speechless, my Xiao Zhang is not that kind of person, he has a very good relationship.
Zhou Quan said: "It's not easy for you, running around with the team and not having a fixed place."
"I can't help it, I just like this business."
Sun Zhenping said with a smile: "When I was selling sesame seeds in a catering company, I had the opportunity to switch to this industry. I was so happy that I can't forget it now. No matter how big the difficulty is, I have to overcome it. And my wife is also very supportive of my work. , I will stay in China for a year next season, and maybe I will come back in the future.”
"If you have any difficulties, please tell me. You're welcome." Zhou Quan said.
"I won't be polite to you." Zhang Li said with a smile.
Sun Zhenping added: "This is probably the last free season for CCTV. The NBA will charge copyright fees next season."
Zhang Lili said: "The competition is quite popular in China. Xiao Zhou, you must have felt it when you returned to China this time, right?"
Zhou Quan nodded and said, "Everywhere you go, you will know someone."
Zhang Lili said: "CCTV's advertisements are also selling well, so the NBA must charge fees, but there is not enough foreign exchange, and the number of live broadcasts will be limited."
Zhou Quan took a few people to his villa. After they got out of the car, they sighed.
"Xiao Zhou, just because of the living environment, it's right for you to come to SuperSonics."
"Mansion, we can go into a multi-million dollar mansion today."
He gave the Ford pickup truck to Zhang Lili and the others for them to use when they were in Seattle. Most of the live broadcasts on CCTV were SuperSonics games. They spent more time in Seattle, so it would be more convenient to have a car.
…
On the 4th, one day before the start of the new season, the NBA announced the number of national television broadcasts for each team in the new season.
The Bulls are still the most popular team in the league, with 38 live broadcasts in the United States, and nearly half of the games are broadcast live in the United States.
This fully shows that Michael Jordan is still the number one active player in the league. Even if he did not reach the Eastern Conference Finals last season, he is still the most popular superstar.
The Sonics are second in the nation in live broadcast games, with 36 games, only two less than the Bulls. This shows that both the league and major TV stations believe that Zhou Quan's popularity is second only to Jordan.
The third-place Knicks have 31 games, and the fourth-place Lakers have 27 games.
In other words, there are only three teams in the league with more than 30 national live broadcasts.
Before the opening game, four of the 27 teams in the league had completed season ticket sales, namely the Knicks, Bulls, Lakers, and SuperSonics.
The defending champion Detroit Pistons' season ticket sales are in trouble, with only 30% sold and 70% left unattended. As the middle class leaves in large numbers, the Pistons' operations are becoming increasingly difficult.
So far, according to league statistics, Jordan still leads the way in jersey sales of all players.
The second place is Zhou Quan. The sales volume in the United States is only half of that of Jordan, which is a huge gap.
But with overseas sales, mainly in Asia, Zhou Quan has caught up a lot, adding up to 65% of Jordan's.
Domestically, the world is currently dominated by piracy, and the consumption power has not yet increased, but the NBA has put the plan to open stores in the country on the agenda.
…
November 5, 1993, the opening game of the NBA 93/94 season.
Thirteen opening games are scheduled, including the Sonics, which will face the Lakers at home.
The Lakers have been classified as a fourth-tier team by both TNT and ESPN this season, and neither team is optimistic about the Lakers reaching the playoffs. Although season tickets are selling well, the average ticket price is far lower than before Magic Johnson retired and has been declining for three consecutive years. , less than half of Magic's final season, and operating income dropped significantly.
Participating in the competition for weekly rights during the offseason and never working for the SuperSonics made the Lakers' reconstruction far in the future. For this reason, the management received a lot of criticism from the media and fans.
In fact, David Stern most hopes that Zhou Quan will go to the Lakers. Unfortunately, the Pistons chose to trade with the SuperSonics. Fortunately, the SuperSonics also have good market potential. They were ranked fourth last season. Based on the current situation analysis this season, they should be able to improve. First gear.
The SuperSonics' home stadium is the Seattle Center Arena. This is an old stadium that can accommodate 15,000 people. It has been difficult to keep up with the development of the NBA.
Previous owner Ackerley wanted the Seattle city government to fund the construction of a new stadium, but the city government was not prepared to foot the bill for capitalists.
As an emerging international city with professional teams in the four major sports leagues, Seattle could have become a city with a variety of comprehensive sports cultures like New York, Los Angeles, and Boston, and Seattle citizens also hope that.
But this city has too many business cards, such as Microsoft, Boeing and other large companies, so it did not do that. The city's large sports facilities could not keep up with the development of the times. This was also a key reason why the Supersonics later moved away from Seattle.
The unsupportive attitude of the city government made the NBA very disappointed. Microsoft even proposed to invest US$150 million to retain the Sonics, but David Stern rejected it and then moved to Oklahoma City.
The last time Zhou Quan visited this old stadium, he lamented that Seattle, an international city whose economy far exceeds Detroit's, is far inferior to Detroit in terms of basic sports construction. The newly built Auburn Hills Palace is ten times better than here.
But the fans were very enthusiastic. Before seven o'clock, the entire Central Stadium was already overcrowded. Zhou Quan's first SuperSonics game made the arena full.
"Tekken, how do you feel about this arena?"
At half past six, Zhou Quan drove to the Central Stadium. Several media reporters followed him. A reporter from the Los Angeles Daily asked.
"Oh, the SuperSonics' first championship was won here. There have been glories here. I have to maintain respect for this place. But I have to be honest, it's too old. Look at the walls..."
He pointed to the large piece of peeling wall in the parking lot, shook his head and said, "At least it needs to be renovated."
…
At eight o'clock, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Lakers: Divac, Eldon Campbell, George Lynch, Tony Smith, Nick Van Exel
SuperSonics: Sam Perkins, Rodman, Schrempf, Kendall Gill, Zhou Quan
The game was broadcast live nationwide by ABC television, with commentators Bill Walton and Lewis Williams.
Williams asked: "Bill, what do you think is the reason why the Lakers didn't steal the Sonics? Is it because Iron Fist doesn't want to return to Los Angeles?"
Bill Walton shook his head and said: "I talked to Iron Fist on the phone. He didn't interfere in the deal. It was completely because the Pistons were dissatisfied with the Lakers.
Let's put it this way, among the four teams: Warriors, Trail Blazers, SuperSonics, and Lakers, the Lakers have the worst bargaining chip.
It's not that the Lakers didn't give everything they had. On the contrary, the Lakers used their team and added future draft picks, but the Pistons just don't like the Lakers' bargaining chip. "
Williams smiled and said: "I think the Pistons' choice is correct. The SuperSonics' bargaining chip is indeed the best."
Bill Walton laughed and said: "SuperSonics changed its boss before the deal was brokered. Mr. Ballmer should be very optimistic about Iron Fist, and Iron Fist has become the spokesperson of Microsoft.
You know, I got news that just now, Iron Fist complained that this arena is too dilapidated and should at least be renovated.
I think the city government, Mr. Ballmer, and Microsoft should take action. Look at Detroit, which is in such financial difficulties and has built a palace in Auburn Hills that can accommodate 22,000 people. With the strength of Seattle and Microsoft, and with Ballmer’s personal Financial resources, I think we should also build a new arena so that we can keep up with the progress of the times. Otherwise, what is the point of trading Iron Fist? Are we going to let him play in this arena that is about to collapse and the walls are falling off from time to time? "
"Seattle is a pearl in the northwest of the United States. I also think you are right. It does need supporting sports facilities. By the way, Mr. Ballmer is on the sidelines. I hope he can hear you." Williams. smiled.
At eight o'clock, the game between the Hornets and the Bulls begins at the home court of the Charlotte Hornets.
This is the home court of the Hornets, but as soon as Jordan showed up, he became the master of this court, and this became his home court.
Yes, Charlotte has always been his home court, where he is more popular than any other star.
On the sidelines, his family was there, including his father and mother.
"In the new season, I want to start again."
"Iron Fist, see you in the finals."
The moment he stepped onto the court, the fighting spirit that had been dormant for several months was rekindled, igniting his blood.
At this time, in the Seattle Center Arena, the home team's locker room, Zhou Quan opened the system, and the task for this season came.
"Please host to win the regular season MVP, lead the team to the best record in the league during the regular season, and win the championship this season."
Zhou Quan blinked, is this year's task so simple? No, it’s not, the task requirements are too concise, there are only three requirements.
However, this difficulty far exceeds the task last season.
"Complete the mission and you will be rewarded with Prediction +5, Physical Fitness +1, and Injury Resistance +2." There is also a reminder below, which is the mission reward.
"The reward is pretty good, but I don't know if I can get it."
…
(End of chapter)
