December 2 at 10 a.m., Time Warner Stadium Conference Room.

Jenny Bass got home and slept less than an hour before receiving a call from the team's operations director. He was irritable when he was disturbed to sleep, but after hearing what was going on, he immediately cheered up, collected information, analyzed information, and thought...

Then all the team management personnel who needed to make joint decisions were quickly called to the training hall for a meeting.

After the crowd arrived, Jenny Bass briefly stated the topic of the meeting: "I received an invitation from Starbucks, and they intend to sponsor us."

Jim Bass responded: "Jenny, don't you just decide on this? The boss has given you all the power."

In addition to Miss Second Miss Jenny Buss, all five young ladies from the Lakers came to the stadium.

Joey Bass is cooperating with the NBA's official plan to establish a new league NBDL, Johnny Bass is preparing to establish the Los Angeles Sparks, Jim Bass is Jenny Bass's competitor, and Young Master Josie Bass is an intern in the team's operations department.

Jenny Buss is responsible for the commercial development of the "first ticket" sports channel jointly created by the Lakers and the Lakers and Time Warner Cable Sports, which specializes in live broadcasting the Lakers games. She has the highest management rights of the team except Jerry Buss.

The competition between Jenny Bass and Jim Bass has been on the table in the team, and the others don't find it strange at all about Jim Bass's aggressive and sour tone.

Jenny Bass was used to it, and replied: "But they have the conditions."

"Condition..." the logo man took over the conversation, "I remember Aix is ​​a partner of Starbucks, and it should be a condition related to him."

After looking at the logo man, Jenny Bass quickly calmed down and responded: "Yes, they put forward a condition that requires Jerry and Del's consent. Del's opinion is the most important. If you disagree, we can refuse to accept Starbucks' sponsorship."

Del Harris, who had been irritated the night before yesterday, shuddered - what happened to me?

Let's not talk about the conditions for now. Del Harris's right to decide whether to accept sponsorship or not fall on the head coach who has the lowest status in the game?

The others were also surprised. Jenny Bass called them, but they thought that the boss's most valued lady had something to leave to them for handling.

It does seem quite troublesome, but it is not them who are troublesome. They look at their team head coach with a good look.

Del Harris said, "If there is anything I have to do, I will try my best to cooperate with the team."

Jenny Bass said: "Starbucks put forward two conditions. If we agree, we can start negotiating with them. The first condition is the sponsorship time. Aix is ​​on our team, so they will provide sponsorship. If Jerry, you trade Aix away, sponsorship will be suspended."

Jerry Wess nodded and replied: "This condition is no problem. The reason why they are willing to sponsor us should be that we traded Aix back. The second condition is..."

As he said that, Jerry West glanced at the poor Dell Harris.

Jenny Bass continued: "The second condition is that Aix must start and ensure playing time."

...

...

Looking at Del Harris, whose face was so bad, was conducting technical tests for Zhang Hao. Kupchek on the side of the training ground couldn't help laughing and said to the logo man next to him: "Do you think Aix will be targeted by Del? Del likes Vlad very much."

"I also like centers like Vlad, but there is no way. No matter how blind the Nets are, they will not want Cedric. Eddie can't change to Aix alone, so he can get more than 15 points in every game."

"The most troublesome thing is that before Del contacted Aix, he didn't know how good Aix was, so he was forced to give Aix a starting and stable playing time. He probably had a very bad impression of Aix..."

"Jenny is that strong, but she is really outstanding."

"When we decided to send Vlad away, we guessed that Del would be dissatisfied. But we didn't expect that as soon as Aix came, a sponsor of a listed company became his backstage. Jerry, do you think this is a good thing?"

"Maybe, at least we don't have to discuss with Del about Aix's playing time. Jenny helped us solve it. Jason Williams is about to arrive. He has a good rebounding game. This salary-matching bonus can supplement our inside depth."

"I prefer Kenny Anderson."

"But there is no way. The Nets are not really stupid. If you want to switch Kenny Anderson and Aix, unless we send all the starters together... the Nets may not agree. They don't need so many players who can win."

"What a pity, that's a top point guard who can be selected as the All-Star starter at the age of 23. We didn't find this cheap..."

"Yes, it's a pity that the Nets actually sent away all the dual cores of the past few years. I didn't expect Duncan to be so attractive to the Nets. However, our goal is Aix anyway."

...

Is Jenny Bath that called negotiation? That's the notification!

As a head coach, can he take the blame for offending his sponsors?

Except for agreeing, Del Harris has no choice but to protect his face.

Looking at Zhang Hao's physical test and technical test report, in fact, when he said that he would use Cebaros as a bargaining chip to trade Zhang Hao, Del Harris was very happy. Although Zhang Hao's strength may not be as strong as Cebaros, his playing style can improve any team.

Later, Zhang Hao played better and better, and his average score was stable at 18+. The logo man found him and said he would use Cebaros and Eddie Jones as bargaining chips. Del Harris also felt that he could still accept it, after all, he could not practice height.

They are all pitchers. With Zhang Hao, Eddie Jones is not so important.

But in the end, Cebaros stayed. Not only did Eddie Jones send him away, but he also sent Divac away...

As a head coach, you have the right to arrange the starter or substitute of players according to your preferences, and you have the right to decide the player's playing time and role positioning. When the feeling of discomfort becomes weak, you can communicate carefully about it and gradually there will be no problem.

The logo man planned this at the beginning, and he was confident in Zhang Hao's ability.

However, now, in addition to being unhappy with the loss of Divac, Del Harris will obviously also have prejudice against Zhang Hao, and this cannot be improved by communication.

Without talking to Zhang Hao, he left after helping Zhang Hao finish the technical test.

"The shooting is OK, the athletic ability is OK..."

Del Harris recognized Zhang Hao's ability, otherwise he would not have been actively rushing to the players to beat the Nets to death when he was playing against the Nets before.

But I was still very unhappy and didn't give Zhang Hao a good look.

After Del Harris left, Zhang Hao's face suddenly collapsed when he went to the bathroom to take a shower... "I knew that this head coach didn't like newcomers..."

He remembered a memoir about Kobe that he had read. In the 1998-99 season, Kobe was selected for the third team when he was 20 years old. However, in the early stage of that season, Kobe's playing time was suppressed below 30 minutes. Del Harris still didn't like to use him, and finally broke up completely. After playing 12 games, the Lakers temporarily fired Del Harris and replaced him with Cott Lambis as the interim head coach. That season, Kobe was successfully selected for the third team, starting a brilliant career of the best team for 15 consecutive years.

"Sure enough, treatment like the Nets is hard to come by..."

...

At noon, Jason Williams arrived at Time Warner Stadium. After completing the physical test, he and Zhang Hao went to the hospital for a physical examination under Kupchek's leadership.

The detailed report still takes time to wait, but the doctor's evaluation of both of them was very healthy, and both of them were proven that they could play games.

An old teammate who played with him as soon as he entered the NBA appeared. Zhang Hao felt much more at ease. Jason Williams saw a familiar face as soon as he arrived at the new team, and he felt much more at ease.

However, Zhang Hao was really relieved, and Jason Williams, after a little time, he felt that he couldn't bear it anymore.

There are two training classes at the Lakers Training Hall at 3:00 pm. Zhang Hao and Jason Williams returned to the training hall after the physical examination at 2:00 pm, waiting for training.

The Lakers will usher in a game against the Indiana Pacers at home tomorrow.

After only one hour of reassurance, Jason Williams felt anxious again and came to the lounge and said to Zhang Hao who was watching the Lakers game video: "Aix, can you talk to me for a while?"

Zhang Hao responded without raising his head, "Okay, what are you talking about?"

"Do you think we can play basketball as happily as we did with the Nets?"

"No, there is no happy basketball here."

"..." Jason Williams was silent for a few seconds and said resentfully: "You can't lie to me?"

This time, Zhang Hao raised his head, looked at Jason Williams, tilted his neck, thought for a while, sat down, and said: "Our team does not have many insiders now. Campbell is a pure center with a full tonnage weight, weighs 127 kilograms, and has excellent defense. It is difficult for us to compete with him in the center position.

The forward position is Cebaros, who is the scoring leader of our team. He can play from No. 3 to No. 5 like Almond. Both of them are definitely starting, but Divac left. Cebaros and Campbell played a little more than 30 minutes. They are both players with huge tonnage, excellent strength but cannot play full in every quarter. We have the ability to compete with others for the remaining playing time.

And you and I have their own advantages. The Lakers averaged only 40 rebounds per game in the first 15 games, and averaged 44.5 rebounds per game by their opponents, and they also fell behind 11-15 offensive rebounds. When we played against the Nets and the Lakers, the Nets also grabbed more rebounds than the Lakers, which is where you can fight for.

Divac left, but the inside pitcher, I had a chance, and I could pass the ball.

But playing here will definitely not be happy.”

This analysis made Jason Williams stunned.

Zhang Hao was busy with tests in the morning, and went for a physical examination at noon, and in the afternoon, they were in the training hall together. Zhang Hao only watched the video for half an hour. As a result, he, Jason Williams, is still like a headless fly, and Zhang Hao has already analyzed these things clearly!

Jason Williams played longer, and he had known old players like Cebaros and Campbell for a longer time, but he had never paid attention to the characteristics of these opponents, nor had he analyzed the appearance time and positions of these people.

Is there such a big gap in your mind?

Jason Williams' young heart was hit by a knowing blow.

Before Jason Williams could reply, a generous voice came into their ears: "Oh, Aix, you analyzed it well! No wonder the team spent so much money to exchange you back."

The two turned around and saw that it was Cedric Cebaros, one of the two inside teammates Zhang Hao analyzed just now.

Cebaros greeted the two enthusiastically: "Hello, I am Cedric. Some people like to call me Big S, some people like to call me Daboo-S, just call me Cebaros directly. I am so excited to join..."

Before the two responded, Cebaros sat in the middle of the two with one hand on the shoulders of one person: "Jason, don't be depressed, Aix is ​​right, Los Angeles does not have happy basketball, but we have something more worth pursuing than happiness, we are recreating the glory of the Lakers! Aix is ​​not wrong with that. You are very important to us. Your joining will definitely greatly supplement our rebounding strength. I have long wanted to partner with you with an excellent inside player with rebounding.

Aix, your shooting is also very suitable for me, and it is very suitable for our team..."

This new teammate, who has a height, weight and even plays very similar to Almond Gilliam, gives the two completely different feelings from Almond Gilliam.

Very enthusiastic and very big brother-like.

But it was too deliberate, and the feeling of forming cliques was very deliberate.

"Center: Elden Campbell, 27 years old, 211 cm tall, 216 cm wingspan, 127 kg weight, 81 ability evaluation, 75 offense, 86 defense...

Cedric Cebaros, 26 years old, 198 cm tall, 211 cm wingspan, 108 kg weight, 88 ability evaluation, 90 offense, 77 defense..."

Zhang Hao read Sebalos' ability evaluation again. Whether it is physical fitness or skill, Cebalos is actually not better than 30-year-old Almond Gilliam, but Almond Gilliam has never averaged 20 points per game. Cebalos has done it at the age of 25 and was also selected as an All-Star. The ability evaluation is that the strength gap shown on the court is also huge.

Obviously, Cebaros is indeed a player with a more mature mentality and courage when playing, and his improvement in the team's strength is not comparable to Almond Gilliam.

But at this moment, Zhang Hao found that he seemed to like Almond Gilliam more...

...

"Center: Campbell, 27 years old, 211 cm, ability evaluation 81; Fred Roberts, 35 years old, 208 cm, ability evaluation 66.
To be continued...