Chapter 291 Sakuragi’s First Salary

The self-correction of history is constantly unfolding in Lin Dong’s eyes.

For example, although the Suns took away Bosh, they allowed the Raptors to take away Amar'e Stoudemire, who should have belonged to the Suns this year. Coincidentally, with Stoudemire's strength, he should have been taken away in 2002. The ninth pick, however, fell out of the lottery due to the shining stars this year. Instead, it just gave the Raptors an advantage. Taking Stoudemire with the 18th pick in the first round can be regarded as the Raptors losing the "Dragon King of next year" A kind of make up.

There are still some balances like this, which makes Lin Dong feel that history seems to be looking for a balance for each team.

Of course, this is just a mysterious statement, but it can actually be traced. After all, every team has its own expectations and plans. Whether it is the league or the team itself, they are in a process of constantly pursuing balance. , it is impossible to say that if I miss so and so in history, the team will not develop or function. At most, it will just change the path. In fact, most of the players have also returned to the original track of history through this coincidence. …

What can truly be called an imbalance is probably the only source of change in history itself.

For example, the Sonics acquired three potential players in a row, or the Cavaliers won LeBron and Wade.

However, according to the previous intelligence analysis of the Sonics, LeBron's potential is not as good as before. Whether he can team up with Wade in the Cavaliers to carve out a place in the Eastern Conference is really unknown.

…………

With the addition of new teams, the competition system of the 2002-03 season has also undergone minor changes.

There are still 82 regular season games as before, but the difference is that there is an additional 3-game rule for 4 teams in different divisions of the same league.

The 30 teams are divided into two major leagues according to east and west, and they play two games each with the other 15 teams in different leagues during the regular season, one at home and one away.

The same league is divided into 3 major divisions, and the 4 teams in the same division play 4 games each, 2 home games and 2 away games.

The 6 teams in different divisions of the same league also play 4 games each, 2 home games and 2 away games, and then play 3 games with the remaining 4 teams. They have a total of 12 games, accounting for 6 home games and 6 away games. An away game.

In addition, 3 rule rectifications have been added. The regular season is unified by a computer-distributed competition system. There will inevitably be difficult schedules such as back-to-back and consecutive away games, but overall, each team should try to achieve a balance.

At the same time, the playoff schedule distribution has also been modified from the previous rule that the first place in the regular season division was the seeded team to the rule that only the top four in the entire Eastern Conference or Western Conference can become the seeded team. This also avoids the situation last season when the Wizards were ranked first in the Eastern Conference. Fourth, they met the eighth-ranked Pacers in the first round, or some unreasonable schedule where the top two teams in the league encountered them in advance.

The third rule rectification is to shorten the timeout time in the playoffs, changing each team's original three 60-second timeouts to two 60-second timeouts and one 20-second timeout to speed up the team's progress in the final stage. The pace of the game...

Studying the format was an adjustment for the rest of the team, but for Lin Dong, it was fun.

What’s interesting is that these reforms only started to appear in 2006, and his own time travel and the intrusion of slam dunk characters caused changes such as the Nike Summit and the World Championships, and finally spread to the NBA, leading to changes in the United States and the United States. The value of the ball market in Dragon Country has skyrocketed, which has also accelerated the overall development process of the NBA.

Frankly speaking, after Stern abdicated, Xiao Hua came to power, and after being completely controlled by Nike in 15 years, the NBA's influence around the world has been declining. By Lin Dong's era in 2028, although the NBA is still It is the highest palace and the most intense league of basketball in the world, but in fact, in terms of influence and intensity, it has been slowly caught up by the European leagues.

However, whether the NBA, which has changed in advance, will still follow the same old path in history, Lin Dong thinks this is something worth looking forward to.

The team's schedule for the new season has been released. The SuperSonics will usher in the first game of the new season on October 13. With last year's league record, they will face last year's NBA championship, the Lakers, who have an OK combination...

It is an absolutely tough battle. The newly crowned king will face the challenge from the most popular super rookie in the United States. As early as when the competition system was first announced, it has attracted the attention of many people.

But before that, as the NBA plans to officially enter the Dragon Kingdom market this year, Stern also arranged two preseason games in Yanjing, the Dragon Kingdom.

This NBA Dragons National Game, which was supposed to happen only in 2004, between the Rockets with Yao Ming and the Sacramento Kings, where Liu Wei was training at the time, also happened two years in advance.

On October 2 and October 3, 2002, at Yanjing Stadium, the Seattle SuperSonics with Payton and Lin Dong faced the Washington Wizards with Jordan and Yao Ming, back-to-back games.

Although most of these pre-season games are of a performance nature, as soon as the news came out, the entire Dragon Country basketball world immediately became excited...

On one side is Yao Ming, on the other is Lin Dong, the two NBA No. 1 picks of the Dragon Kingdom, two of the hottest new stars in the Dragon Kingdom basketball world now, and the absolute future of the Dragon Kingdom basketball, full of highlights.

On the other hand, even if it’s a ‘supporting role’… I’m sorry, is that a supporting role?

On one side is the basketball god Jordan, and on the other is glove Gary Payton!

These two are also old enemies. The 72-win Bulls in the 1996 season, known as the God of Basketball's strongest season, was in that year when they competed with the SuperSonics in the Finals. It was also in that year that Payton guarded Jordan for the rest of his career. The only time he averaged less than 30 points per game in the finals, he won the dpoy of the year and was known as the glove.

Both of them have huge fans in the Dragon Kingdom, plus Yao Ming and Lin Dong, two local players and top picks that the Dragon Kingdom is proud of... The NBA has just released this news, and the major media and newspapers in the Dragon Kingdom, It was published like crazy and was even featured on XW Network.

Mr. Lin carefully recorded the content of the XW broadcast that night. Although the "key shot" was only a short dozen seconds, and the old man could already recite every sentence in it, as long as an old comrade came to the house, If they break out, the old man must try his best to show it to them twice!

MD, this is XW broadcast. Do you have such a grandson? Guangzong Yaozu!

During this time, the old man felt like he was floating when he walked, and his body was as light as a swallow.

And the Longguo Yanjing Stadium has sold a full 28,000 tickets since July 1st...

Tickets are divided into six levels, with the lowest price being 210 yuan and the highest price reaching 4,000 yuan. The average price is around 1,500 yuan, equivalent to 200 US dollars!

In the Dragon Kingdom in 2002, such a ticket was simply not affordable for ordinary people.

But in just over an hour on the day of ticket sales, the first batch of 5,000 tickets had already been snatched up by crazy fans who queued up all night and blocked the ticket gates. There were many or even dozens of tickets. To buy tickets, the ticket seller had to quickly make new regulations. One ID card can only purchase two tickets at most. At the same time, they also vigorously arrested a large number of ticket sellers, completely eliminated the scalpers, and took back and resold them. Ensure that the ticket sales are absolutely fair and impartial... Otherwise, if those fans who are already crazy but can't buy tickets really start a riot, the matter will be even bigger.

The Dragon Country Basketball Association is doing its best to protect it, and Yanjing City has begun to allocate forces from all over the country as early as August. The entire Yanjing City is covered with large posters of Lin Dongga Payton VS Yao Mingjia Jordan, all People are talking about this matter. Whenever an outsider comes to take a taxi anywhere, the taxi master will ask you if you know Lin Dong and Yao Ming. If you don’t know them, they will give you a good education... That posture , even a visit from a head of state is nothing more than that.

An absolute grand occasion!

——Seattle, Carey Apartments.

Today is a big day for Sakuragi Hanamichi...

After signing with the team, this guy got a three-year rookie contract worth 9.5 million US dollars, 2.5 million US dollars in the first year, 3 million in the second year, and 4 million in the third year. In terms of his draft position, this The rookie contract is a lot too much, but obviously both the SuperSonics and Lin Dong know that this is what Sakuragi should get. If he performs well during the trial, he will be ranked in the first round of the draft. , it is even possible to enter the lottery area.

Compared with Lin Dong's three-year salary of 18 million based on the rookie salary cap, it is naturally not much, but Sakuragi Hanamichi is very satisfied.

2.5 million US dollars, nearly 400 million yen!

For this 18-year-old kid who has been living in government low-rent housing in Japan, he never dreamed of having so much money.

This guy had a diary, which Lin Dong had seen before when he went to the dormitory where he and Rukawa Kaede lived.

Frankly speaking, before seeing the diary, Lin Dong had never thought that a scumbag like Sakuragi had the habit of writing a diary. But after reading it, he felt a little silent. Most of the diaries on it only had a few words. I don’t write a sentence every day, but what I write is very interesting...

For example: On June 20, 2000, at Anke Fried Chicken Restaurant, the manager Nishikawa secretly gave me a big bag of unsold fried chicken.

On X, month

On June 1st, Stephen took me to have a Teppanyaki meal, Wagyu Teppanyaki! I secretly glanced at the bill, it was 30,000 yen!

...On March 31, 2001, my father took me and Rukawa Fox by plane to the United States. My father bought the tickets!

...On August 3, 2001, Brother Gao Ren gave me the key to his apartment. This room is so big, much better than the one assigned by the school. I heard that these apartments in the United States are not cheap!

On August 4th, Rukawa Fox actually bought an extra piece of breakfast. Hmm, let’s help him eat it. It’s shameful to waste food!

On August 11th, Brother Gao Ren bought a lot of things for me, all of which he asked me to give to Mr. Peyton and the others. Brother Gao Ren is so kind!

...On November 12th, Father Lin sent food again, a lot of dorayaki, so delicious!

...November 22nd, Haruko’s 25th letter. I’m so happy. Haruko’s handwriting is so beautiful, unlike mine, which is so ugly!

...On November 30th, Chandler gave me a shopping card with 500 US dollars in it. He thought the store was too far away, but it was very close to the school. He was a nice guy, but a bit lazy.

...On December 25, my mother fell ill. Fortunately, Haruko and Yohei were there, but the surgery fee was not enough. My father was not in Kanagawa, and the phone was not connected. Fortunately, Brother Takato called Lin's father and gave him 200,000 US dollars... …I can’t sleep, I miss my mother, I really want to cry…

Although the diary is simple, it records almost everyone who has helped him and everything that has helped him in the past two years.

So after getting his first salary, this guy started to 'expand'. In addition to training every day for a month, he was spending money like crazy.

He bought gifts for everyone in the Sonics, and also bought many to send back to Japan, for everyone who had helped him, such as Coach Anzai, Lao Lin, his friends, and even Anke Fried Chicken. The store manager, and even other clerks in the store, took care of everything from food to clothing, and even valuables such as mobile phones.

He also sent large amounts of remittances to Lin Dong and Coach Anxi. Lin Dong was given a check of US$300,000, and father Anxi was given a remittance order of US$700,000.

Lin Dong doesn't know exactly how much Coach Anzai spent on him, and Sakuragi himself probably doesn't know either, but Lin Dong only took 200,000 that time, but the guy gave him 300,000... Thinking of Sakuragi Lin Dong did not refuse because of his self-esteem. He also took the extra money and saved it for him. After all, judging from the speed at which this guy is spending money, he will probably go bankrupt before his salary is paid next year... …

Originally, I wanted to remind him to pay attention to financial management. After all, many NBA stars went bankrupt after retiring. But when he thought of the diary, Lin Dong kept his mouth shut and would talk about it later when he had the opportunity.

Of course that's not all.

This guy also spent 400,000 US dollars to buy a 180-square-meter second-hand apartment with 4 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, and 2 bathrooms. This is where he moved today - Kairui Apartment.

It is next to the SuperSonics Arena, in the same block, next to Kerry Park, and about two kilometers away is Seattle Beach. It is absolutely in the city center. At this time in 2002, US$400,000 was already considered a high-end residence in the west. .

Then he bought tickets for his mother, Coach Anzai, Haruko, Akagi, Mitsui, and the four members of the Sakuragi Legion to fly over, all in first class... I originally wanted to call them Miyagi and Mugure, but I heard that Miyagi Cheng is currently playing in his first summer league as a freshman, and Mu Mu is busy with his studies, leaving him with only a few regrets.

Rukawa Kaede had already gone to Charlottetown at this time. Lin Dong came to help with the move, as well as several younger Sonics teammates, and of course his teachers Payton, McMillan, Stephen and others. Sakuragi and others The guy has always been very popular.

Reunion of old friends naturally brings special joy and emotion.

So moving, partying, partying until midnight, the busy, lively and fulfilling day passed quickly.

After the carnival in the evening was over and the accommodation was being arranged, a small incident occurred.

According to the original arrangement, Mitsui had a place to go. Since the Mitsui Group cooperated with many companies in Seattle, his father had bought a house here a few years ago and someone had been taking care of it. This time Come over just in time to take a look...

Coach Anzai and Akagi took Haruko to live at Lin Dong's house, but the Sakuragi Legion insisted on seeing Lin Dong's large villa, and they just gave them the four bedrooms of Sakuragi's house, and everyone readily agreed.

But when I was assigned a room, I realized something was wrong.

Sakuragi is in one room, his mother is in another room, Akagi is in another room, Coach Anzai is in another room... What should Haruko do? !

Mito Yohei blinked fiercely and said to Sakuragi Hanamichi: "Hanamichi, why don't you and Boss Akagi squeeze in and let Haruko sleep in your room?"

Sakuragi was startled.

Then the originally lively living room suddenly became quiet in an instant...