Chapter 49 Banned

At 11 a.m., the league announced its handling of the elbow incident: Suns player Li Ba was suspended for one game and fined $20,000.

At this time at the Lakers headquarters, owner Jerry Buss summoned general manager Kupchak to learn about his statement in the media.

"Jerry, that's why I made such a statement. One is a star who is about to retire, and the other is a defensive insider with potential. I chose the latter."

After explaining the reason, Kupchak said.

"Defensive inside? How high is the upper limit of growth?" Jerry Buss frowned a little.

"Jerry, at present, Big Ben is his template. Both offensive and defensive, the defensive end is very active, and he has no offensive ability when he is away from the basket." Kupchak said.

"What are the chances of becoming the next big Ben?"

Hearing that the template is a big book, Jerry Bass is a little interested, but not very interested, and tasteless can describe his opinion.

The reason is that the Lakers' centers are all super centers who are good at offense and defense. If they are only good at defense, they are coolie centers. At the limit, they are Big Ben, and Big Ben is not worthy of the luxury of the Purple Legion.

He himself doesn't like such a center, and at the same time, he can be sure that Phil Jackson will not like such a center either. Because such a center cannot play the triangle offense, and has no restraint in the paint at all.

"I haven't done any research on this, and I need them to calculate it," Kupchak said.

"Just pay attention, he doesn't matter. But, you need to explain to Karl. This year, we want to win the championship, and there must be no problems."

Jerry Bass ordered.

"Okay, Jerry." Kupchak nodded helplessly.

He also wants to get a young Shaq or Malone, but where?

If Shaq left and brought in that Chinese man, who would guard the inside and do the dirty work, and leave the outside to Kobe, wouldn't that just satisfy Kobe's attacking space and desire?

Even if Shaq doesn't leave, having that Chinese man as a human shield can reduce Shaq's energy consumption, making him a good substitute.

But the boss doesn't seem to be too cold, so he can only give up.

At noon, Li Ba went to the team training and was blocked by a group of reporters outside.

"Ba Li, can you tell me the reason why you elbowed Malone? Are you afraid of him to elbow?"

"Iron Hammer, we watched the replay. Malone elbowed you once before. Are you a retaliatory elbow?"

A lot of questions were thrown to Li Ba.

"Cough, please be quiet, everyone. I am very happy to accept your interview." Li Ba was very excited about the media.

He wanted to be interviewed by the media last night, but the team didn't allow it. Today he has the chance.

"You asked me if I was revenge, and I told you, no, how could I have revenge on such a kind person? Karl Malone has been in the league for 18 years, and he hasn't hurt anyone. He hasn't elbowed an admiral in the back of the head. , I didn’t elbow Thomas on the brow bone, I didn’t elbow Jordan, I didn’t elbow Nash, why should I revenge him? Am I crazy? I just accidentally touched him, I didn’t expect his bones to be too big Soft, typical soft bones, just broken like that. This has nothing to do with me, I was wronged, and the league should not pursue me at all.”

The reporters stared dumbfounded at Li Ba's nonsense, and then watched him walk into the Suns headquarters shaking his head.

"This is not a normal rookie!" said a reporter, smacking his lips.

"I think so too. Even if Karl Malone comes back, he probably won't be able to please this rookie. This guy is as ruthless as Malone!" another reporter said.

After training that afternoon, when Li Ba returned to the apartment, Chen Hong told him with a worried face that the domestic news of last night's game had begun to spread. The elbow incident aroused a lot of public opinion, and most of the media were critical of it.

"No surprise." Li Ba said indifferently.

He is not illiterate, and the domestic situation is very clear. It has only been less than two years since he joined the WTO, and the pace of reform and opening up is accelerating. There is a blind admiration for the powerful United States, especially the media, so it is expected that public opinion will criticize him.

But he doesn't care, at most he doesn't want domestic commercial interests, and the salary of playing basketball is enough for their family to live well.

"Some forums, like Hupu, respond better than those in the media. But more than half of the people are criticizing you."

Speaking of this, Chen Hong's expression became less serious, and not much better.

"What are you worried about?" Li Ba asked.

Chen Hong smiled wryly and said, "I'm worried that the media will cause official reactions. Firstly, CCTV may not choose to broadcast your game. Secondly, I'm worried that you will be blocked by relevant departments like Dazhi."

"It's unlikely. I'm not part of the system. Besides, I'm completely different from Dazhi. You're overthinking it." Shaking his head, Li Ba said.

"Really? I'm afraid of media hype." Chen Hong said worriedly.

"Come on, the league just banned me for one game. As long as I play, what are they going to do? Maybe they are better than the league officials? The domestic media are soft and cheap." Li Ba said disdainfully.

Chen Hong blushed a little when he heard this, because his weekly newspaper was also one of the media.

Speaking of this matter, Li Ba suddenly remembered the Dazhi mentioned by Chen Hong just now.

Although Dayao is powerful, he is not his idol, this one is. Because of his mediocre skills, he especially likes this delicate technique, especially the movement of steps.

It's a pity that when this brother came to a critical moment, he didn't meet a reliable person, so he fired the original reliable agent and found a banana man as the agent, which ended in a big accident.

As far as he has collected information, it can be said that there are problems between Dazhi and the relevant departments, but the main problem is that Dazhi cut off the direct contact with the relevant departments, and even sent people on his own initiative to the relevant departments. When his mentor for several years came to the United States to meet him, he refused to meet him. Among them, the banana broker played a key role.

Thinking of this, he felt that he should find a reliable broker in China, or establish a contact channel.

Although he did not come from an institutional background, he is very clear about one thing. Without the three-year training given to him by the university team, it is impossible for him to have the opportunity to play in the NBA.

The high-level coaches in the United States, those good universities, the average student has to bear hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt after graduation. In China, the better the university, the cheaper it is. Not only does it cost you nothing to study for a master’s degree, but it also gives you money, and he himself is the beneficiary.

For the three-year school team, as the best player, he can get several thousand yuan in nutrition subsidies every semester, not to mention food, drink and clothing.

Therefore, although he is not from the system, he is definitely willing to serve the country if the relevant parties want him to.

Of course, if he was asked to hand over his salary, that would not work. Of course not, talking about money hurts feelings, don't talk about money.