"What do you want to say, that losing is my responsibility? Then you can trade me now."
Hearing Klaus's words, Jordan couldn't help but snorted angrily, and strode up to Klaus, looking down at the fat pig that he hated with disdain.
From that year, Krause didn't choose his alumni as he said, but chose Cobra Grant. He began to hate this damn fat man. Even if Grant became the iron triangle and helped him win three championships, it would still be the same. Hate.
"Michael, I'm not wrong. Our lineup is no worse than Iron Fist. It's not my responsibility to lose." Jerry Krause insisted.
This sentence not only made Jordan even angrier, but even Phil Jackson snorted coldly.
If there is no problem with the lineup and he does not dare to blame Jordan for the loss, then he, the head coach, can only bear the responsibility for the loss. How is this allowed? He didn't want to take the blame.
Jordan's anger escalated, and he immediately roared: "Damn it, what do you mean, are you saying that I can't beat Iron Fist?"
Phil Jackson said coldly: "Our rebounding is obviously not as good as the SuperSonics, and our low-post offense is not as good as the opponent's. Obviously, this is a problem with the inside lineup. If you can keep Grant, we will easily defeat the SuperSonics."
Glancing at Phil Jackson, Klaus chuckled, his eyes full of disdain.
Back then, he brought Phil Jackson to the Bulls, and later pushed him from assistant coach to head coach despite Jordan's obstruction. Now he has finally tasted the consequences. This guy is coveting the power of general manager in his hands.
"Michael, Phil, I'm not going to argue with you, but I can tell you, if you lose the series, Phil Jackson, you're going to leave the Bulls."
As soon as these words came out, the entire locker room fell silent instantly. Everyone looked at Klaus in shock.
Phil Jackson is confused, how dare Krause fire him? He is the coach of three championships, a meritorious coach of the Bulls, and Jordan is standing behind him. How dare he?
The anger in Michael Jordan's heart could no longer be controlled. He stared at Klaus with sharp eyes, wanting to stab this damn fat pig to death.
Klaus gave Phil Jackson one last cold look, then squeezed through the two of them, opened the door to the locker room, and walked out.
"boom!"
As the door closed, Phil Jackson, Jordan, and Pippen all trembled, and then looked at each other.
"Is he crazy?" Jordan gritted his teeth.
He didn't quite understand why Klaus, who had let him abuse him in the past, dared to treat him like this today?
"Michael, what do we do now?" Phil Jackson didn't have the strength to fight against Jerry Krause. His strength was Jordan.
"If he dares to fire you, I will retire." Jordan said decisively.
"What?"
The entire locker room was stunned.
…
"If the Bulls lose the Finals, the team will collapse because Phil Jackson will be fired by Jerry Krause, he will be the scapegoat, and Jordan will retire because of it."
The next day, June 12, the Los Angeles Daily News suddenly broke a big story, which shocked the NBA and even the entire United States.
"Michael must not retire. Without him, the development of the entire NBA will stop. If he retires, it will be a loss for everyone, a loss for the entire United States."
Magic Johnson immediately approached the media and expressed his attitude.
"Hoke, go investigate."
After Stern learned the news, he was shocked and immediately asked his special assistant Hawk Houston to investigate the matter.
Not to mention that Jordan is still in his prime, even if his condition declines, with his influence, as long as he can still play, he can attract a large number of fans. Retiring now is something he absolutely cannot accept.
When Zhou Quan woke up, it was already ten o'clock in the morning. At this time, news about Jordan's retirement was already flying all over the sky. It was difficult for him not to see it.
"Jordan and Zen Master have a deep relationship!" He couldn't help but sigh.
"By the way, what happened last night was exposed so quickly. It seems that the Bulls' locker room is already in chaos. It should be almost out of control. If it doesn't collapse this time, it will collapse in the future."
This must have been revealed by a player or staff member secretly, or sold to the Los Angeles Daily News, otherwise it would not have been exposed so quickly.
"Iron Fist, can you win the championship this time?" Reid asked next to him.
"Don't be careless. Jordan has a very strong psychological quality. This matter should not affect his performance. It may even stimulate him to a super explosive state." Zhou Quan said with an extremely cautious expression.
"Iron Fist's ex-girlfriend, British actress Catherine Zeta Jones returns to Hollywood." He flipped through the newspaper and was suddenly startled when he saw the Los Angeles Daily News.
Rhett stretched out his head to take a look and said with a smile: "Oh, your old lover is back. But I warn you, you can't stand on both sides before you teach me Tai Chi."
"Looking at what you said, don't worry, I treat every relationship with my whole heart." Zhou Quan closed the newspaper and said with a smile.
"That's it. Sooner or later you will develop to the point where you fall in love with everyone you meet. That's called being infatuated." Rhett teased.
The two teased each other, but in fact they knew in their hearts that the other person did not belong to them.
Rhett just wanted to forget the broken pair of scissors, but he didn't really fall in love with Zhou Quan.
As for Zhou Quan, Rhett meant as much to him as Roberts meant to him, not as good as Catherine and Christina. He didn't want to be exposed together with Rhett, lest the media say he was chasing Hollywood glamour.
At 12:30 noon, Zhou Quan and the team boarded a special plane to Chicago.
At this time, Chicago was filled with restlessness due to the news of Jordan's retirement.
"Klaus, get out of the bull!"
"Klaus, Fak Oil!"
When the Bulls bus pulled out of the airport parking lot, it was immediately surrounded by a large number of fans, and general manager Krause received countless abuses.
Of course fans will not scold Jordan, they are his fans, nor will they scold Phil Jackson, because Jordan supports Jackson, they will only scold Jerry Krause, who had a very bad relationship with Jordan.
…
"Mr. President, the Bulls' situation is very complicated. After some disadvantages in the finals, internal conflicts arose. Their main conflict is the conflict between Jordan and Phil Jackson and general manager Krause."
At this time, Hawke Houston was reporting to Stern about the Bulls.
"Go on," Stern said with a frown.
"Then there are also conflicts in the locker room, such as main center Wilperdo, who Jordan once beat. And Pippen, in fact, his personal relationship with Jordan is not good, and his relationship with Phil Jackson is also average."
"Can the management still suppress the conflicts in the locker room?"
"It depends on how much the Bulls boss supports Klaus. Logically speaking, this team was built by Klaus, and the Bulls boss should trust him. But he definitely doesn't want to lose Michael."
David Stern nodded silently and waved Houston out.
He began to consider the subsequent impact of this incident. Jordan certainly could not let him retire, but he did not care too much whether the Bulls collapsed or not.
Just like Iron Fist left the Pistons, he went to the SuperSonics for two seasons, reached the Finals twice, and now has a match point in the Finals series. It is possible to defeat Jordan's Bulls again and change to another team. , does not mean failure. Wherever the strong go, they will always be strong.
The SuperSonics' ball market has also successfully risen to the second level. If they win the championship again this time, with Seattle's city spending power, the SuperSonics may even have a chance to overwhelm the other three major league teams in Seattle, and the ball market will have a chance to improve. to the first level.
So even if the Bulls collapse, as long as Jordan does not retire, even if he leaves the Bulls, it is not a bad thing, it is just that the ball market has moved from Chicago to other cities.
…
Bulls headquarters, team president's office, owner Jerry Reinsdorf sits behind his desk, general manager Jerry Krause sits across from him.
"Jerry, how are you going to solve Michael's threat to retire?" he asked with a headache.
Jerry Krause looked a little pale, with obvious dark circles under his eyes, because he was under too much pressure, and both the media and fans were scolding him.
He only regrets one thing now. He underestimated Zhou Quan in the 1991 draft and only regarded him as a thug. If he had an iron fist in his hands now, he would dare to trade Jordan.
As far as he knew, whether in Detroit or Seattle, the relationship between Iron Fist and the management was handled very well. This was something he envied. Iron Fist respected the management very much, while Jordan treated him like a dog.
"Jerry, if, I say if, I trade Michael Jordan for Iron Fist..."
"What?"
Before Klaus finished speaking, Reinsdorf was startled. The coffee cup he had just picked up shook and spilled coffee all over the table.
"No, absolutely not."
He stared at Klaus sternly and said: "I don't deny Iron Fist's strength, nor his influence and popularity. He is this year's All-Star vote winner.
But Jerry, you have to understand one thing, Michael's influence in Chicago, he is a god here, and the Iron Fist cannot replace him.
Michael Jordan has become a symbol of this city. No one can replace his status in Chicago, not even the Iron Fist. "
"I see."
Klaus nodded helplessly and stopped talking about this topic.
He collected his thoughts and then answered the boss's question, saying: "Michael has been too unscrupulous in the team. Now the finals are somewhat disadvantageous. He and Phil Jackson want me to take responsibility. This is unacceptable to me."
Reinsdorf nodded noncommittally and motioned for Klaus to continue.
Krause added: "I don't think I did anything wrong, but Michael has repeatedly humiliated me in public. If I don't fire Phil Jackson this time, I will have no authority in the Bulls and my work will not be carried out. "
Having said this, he looked at Reinsdorf and said very seriously: "Boss, I am serious. If I am still in this position, I will fire Phil Jackson."
Reinsdorf had a headache. He originally wanted to mediate, but he didn't expect Klaus's attitude to be so tough. It would be difficult to deal with it.
He recognized Krause's ability very much. Without Krause, there would be no Bulls team and no three championships.
It is impossible for the Bulls to create a second-tier ball market in Chicago, and it is impossible for him to make so much money from the Bulls. The current valuation of the Bulls has increased countless times compared to when he bought it. Rolls deserves a lot of credit.
"Jerry, Michael is still at his peak. I can't possibly trade him, you know that." He also said to Klaus very seriously.
"I know."
Klaus nodded, relieved.
Judging from the boss's attitude, he is still very supportive of himself. As long as he can keep Michael Jordan while firing Phil Jackson, there will be no problem.
In fact, he knows very well that the Bulls have already won three championships. Just like the Pistons, it is impossible to invest heavily to win the championship. The boss just hopes to maintain the ball market.
So the problem to be solved now is how to keep Jordan and fire Phil Jackson.
He believes that Jordan does not really want to retire, especially if he loses this finals and loses to Iron Fist. With Jordan's competitive spirit, he will never retire.
So the key to the question is whether Michael Jordan will propose a trade to leave the team once he fires Phil Jackson.
Jordan still has one year of contract left, and next season will be his contract year. His annual salary is 3.85 million, which is lower than many stars, such as Iron Fist.
"It's time to talk to him about an early contract extension. Maybe a super contract extension can make him change his mind."
…
June 13, United Center, Chicago.
At eight o'clock, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Bulls: Wilperdo, Toni Kukoc, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, B.J. Armstrong
SuperSonics: Almon Gilliam, Rodman, Schrempf, Kendall Gill, Zhou Quan
In the TNT commentary box, Larry Bird said: "In the first five games of the series, Jordan averaged 38.6 points per game, while Iron Fist averaged 35 points. In the other four positive statistics, except rebounding, Iron Fist was better.
This is also the most important reason why the Sonics lead the Bulls 3-2. In the battle between the core players of both sides, Iron Fist performed more versatile and helped the team more. "
Magic Johnson couldn't refute the data and had to say: "In the previous five series, the Sonics won an away game and the Bulls also won an away game. From this perspective, the two sides are tied."
Larry Bird's face wrinkled up with laughter. It seemed that Earvin Johnson was indeed a big fan of Jordan, but he did not interrupt the Magician's words.
Magic Johnson continued: "The Bulls cannot lose this game tonight. If they lose in the Finals, it will be over. With Michael's strength, his desire to win, his ability at critical moments, and the home court advantage, I prefer the Bulls to tie the game and go to a tiebreaker."
"Tie-break?"
Larry Bird nodded and said: "This is indeed very possible. If the SuperSonics are dragged into the tiebreaker, it will be very disadvantageous, morale will decline, and it is the home court of the Bulls, which will be very dangerous. So for the SuperSonics In fact, tonight’s game cannot be lost.”
"Must win!"
At this time, under the leadership of Zhou Quan, the visiting team's locker room burst into cheers from everyone in the SuperSonics.
From the players to the staff, to the management, and the boss Ballmer, they are all chanting "must win".
Ballmer is very busy. He only watched games at home in the regular season and never away games. In the playoffs, he only watched away games in the Finals. He never went to away games in the first three rounds. He could win the championship today, and he couldn't. Absent.
"victory!"
In the home team's locker room, amidst Jordan's roar, the Bulls were also struggling to shout out their goals tonight.
At this time, accompanied by the Bulls owner, David Stern appeared at the United Center Stadium with the championship trophy.
The trophy was placed at the exit of the player tunnel, attracting the attention of countless Bulls fans.
"Grand champion! Grand champion! Grand champion..."
The shouts that came and went gradually formed a unified voice in the United Center, and soon reached an earth-shattering momentum.
The shouts were broadcast on television and spread throughout Chicago, and championship shouts rang out everywhere in the city.
(End of chapter)
