On December 15, 1998, the negotiations between the NBA and the Players' Union finally made the first substantial progress.

Five months have passed since July 15th, and on December 17th, NBA official representatives and Player Union representatives finally appeared at the same press conference again.

Representatives of both sides said that a preliminary plan will be discussed within two weeks and that NBA operations will be restored in an orderly manner within four weeks.

As soon as this news came out, the happiest thing was the fans. They did nothing wrong, spend money to watch live broadcasts, spend money to buy tickets, and spend money to buy peripherals... They are consumers, but the NBA has been suspended for so long and may even cancel the season. The NBA may be bankrupt and reorganized... There may be some fans who want to see the players gain more benefits in negotiations and hope to see the scene of "the working masses defeating evil capital."

But NBA players are not living hard now, and it is not the era when playing the NBA 20 years ago when the salary is similar to being a white-collar worker.

The players were naturally happy and persisted for so long, and finally saw the progress they wanted to see.

...

There is good news about labor-management negotiations, and a good news that Zhang Hao had been waiting for for a long time also came. He spent 29 million US dollars...

However, not only did he hint with his eyes, he took the two people who spent money together to the bathroom to chat for a while, but the two still missed the opportunity.

Two Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, started their first round of financing. According to the Angel Investment Agreement, the highest proportion of original shares that Zhang can buy now is about 18 million US dollars, but O'Neal only invested 5 million, Kenny Anderson only invested 2 million. The proportion of the two people was vacant, Larry Page and Sergey Brin agreed to Zhang Hao to buy it.

Pelinka and two founders of Google went to talk about investment details. The money was obtained, and the two people who were preparing to continue to expand their business were very excited.

Zhang Hao was speechless against Big Fat and Kenny, who only gave checks of $2 million.

"Mr. O'Neal, you're not short of money? Boss Kenny, you just signed a big contract. Now you don't have enough money. I can lend you it! The first round of financing is not comparable to the subsequent financing!"

"Aix, you have such a big investment. What if they fail to start a business? I regretted it even if I invest 5 million."

"Yes, Aix, you're so uneasy! I didn't have time to stop you. Fortunately, I only invested 2 million, and I wouldn't feel as heartbroken as you lose."

“…”

Zhang Hao didn't know how to continue talking about this to the two of them, so he simply stopped thinking about it. Anyway, the rights of the two of them were not wasted, so he bought it.

Labor-management negotiations have finally made progress. Kenny Anderson is going to move and going to Boston. O'Neal also needs to start physical training, keeping his weight from continuing to move up, and adapting to his new weight when playing basketball.

After seeing off the two, Zhang Hao felt heartbroken - "Oh, I made an extra amount of money for no reason, and I don't know how to explain it to them. Since that's the case, I can only accept this future money."

...

There has been a pretty clear time when the new season will begin, and the active players are starting to do their own things.

There are players like O'Neal, Kenny Anderson, and Wen Baker who have long-term contracts, and there is no pressure.

But there are also some new seasons that are contract year and the labor-management negotiations are not completed in advance last season due to the progress of labor-management negotiations, so there will be a lot of pressure next season.

The most stressed one is the players who did not get a contract extension last season, not even the contract year. They had been looking for a job during the offseason for several months, but according to the latest negotiation progress exposed by the media, it is estimated that the official labor-management agreement of 7+6 will be signed between January 10 and January 20. The earliest time for the regular season to start is February 1, that is, after the suspension is over, there will be only 20 days to find a job before the start of the season.

Players will be anxious to find a job, and teams with shortages may sign a contract in a hurry, so for players looking for a job, they are really racing against time.

Time passed day by day, and on December 23, Inglewood High School ended 15 games before the Christmas holiday. Since the beginning of the season, Inglewood High School has won all 15 games!

In the two cup games, Yao Ming averaged 18.5 points, 22 rebounds, 5 blocks and 2.5 assists per game, 13 league games, averaging 28.3 points, 16.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 4.7 blocks per game.

In the past 6 games, Yao Ming has completed 35 dunks in total, more than twice the total dunks in more than 30 games last season!

After this wave of schedule, Yao Ming's evaluation in the California high school community has improved greatly.

In the past, his "soft" had a great impact on his market. Although he is now 220 cm and 122 kilograms, in high school, he only needs to squeeze into the position successfully, and no one can stop him. The opponent can only block the space under the basket by shrinking the basket in advance and preventing him from entering. In high school and college, there is no strange rules for the NBA to prohibit early attacks.

After he played hard inside, the opponent contracted more actively, and Jason Hart and other teammates on the wing had more opportunities.

After Christmas, Zhang Hao began to guide Yao Ming to train for a turnover jump shot as promised.

During this period, Zhang Hao has carefully planned how to guide Yao Ming to practice a turnover jump shot, which is also very beneficial to him. He has re-examined the turnover jump shot move.

As Zhang Hao remembers, Yao Ming was very suitable for this flexible skill-based play before gaining weight. As a 220 cm tall big center, the turnover speed is faster than many 210 cm centers.

The main reason is that Yao Ming has talent in this area, and he is extremely talented!

Zhang Hao’s first “teaching” was very successful!

...

After dinner, when Yao Ming was about to go back to Pierce's apartment, Zhang Hao stopped him.

"Xiao Ming, I have nothing else to teach you about the training method of back-shot jump shot and practical skills. I have nothing to do. Next, you have to practice well. I will keep observing your game in the second half of the season. After your senior year, let's discuss your future development direction."

"I know Brother Hao, I will work hard to win the championship that you haven't won!"

“…”

Looking at Yao Ming's back as he left, why did Zhang Hao feel that Yao Ming is becoming more and more like him, Mr. Zhang? This knife was stabbed!

The biggest regret of Zhang Hao's high school career is that he failed to win the championship. This short hand actually brought him a scar!

The new year has arrived, and today is January 1, 1999.

At 5:30 pm, Zhang Hao received a system prompt at the end of the sixth day of his turnover jump shot training method.

“Teaching (Bronze):

Teaching target: signing player Yao Ming.

Teaching objectives: 1. Training method for back-shot jump shots, 2. Guiding Yao Ming to complete the most basic training and reach the level of being able to start subsequent training independently.

Teaching efficiency bonus: 50%.

Time limit: 7 days.

The teaching has been completed and took 6 days. Congratulations to the host, the teaching object Yao Ming will receive a 50% effective training bonus in the next back-shot jump shot independent training."

"The bug is good for a while. Now the problem is coming. The doctor... the doctor cannot treat it by himself! I don't have this teaching bonus myself, hey... forget it, I have a super top training and improvement card, so I can barely use it."

Sending Yao Ming away, it has been 1999. Zhang Hao has no extra time to care about Yao Ming now. He will first get his own affairs done. In the next half month, Zhang Hao, Wang Zhizhi, Jason Williams, Ben Wallace, Rick Fox... and others have made an appointment for confrontational training.

Wang Zhizhi was taken over by the Kings, and he was in California, not far away. He didn't have to run to Boston early to get to familiar with the environment like Kenny Anderson.

On the next day, on January 2, the training began quickly...

...

After entering 1999, the entry of labor-management negotiations was updated every day. There is no doubt that the more you are still fighting for, the things that both sides are unwilling to give in.

But there is no way, everything must be compromised.

On January 4, the alliance officially gave up the launch of the hard salary cap and will continue to implement the soft salary cap.

On January 6, the Players' Union officially agreed to the "No Off-Hat Contract" clause, which stipulates that in principle, no more players in the league will break the salary cap system and receive salary exceeding the rules, and the contracts signed before will return to the salary cap and occupy the salary space of their team.

On January 7, the NBA rookie contract terms (1999 version) were launched.

The new version of the rookie contract stipulates that starting from the 1999 draft, the first round pick will be calculated based on the ranking, salary cap, etc., with a maximum of 10% floating. The contract is fixed for four years. After the rookie contract is over, the team in which they are located has the right to match the contract; in terms of rookie power, as long as the rookie is selected in the first round, as long as they are willing to sign, the team they choose must be given a four-year contract that meets the league regulations. If they are unwilling to sign, they can voluntarily give up the next season and find free employment as a undraft after the next draft.

In terms of second round picks, the treatment of rookies is much worse, and the contract is not necessarily guaranteed. Even if he does not want to join and choose to rest for a year, his signing rights will still be in the hands of the team that selected him in the next year... If you want to say what is better than a first round pick, it is that in theory, he has no salary limit. As long as the team that selected him is willing, the team has room, so he can directly sign the maximum salary like a non-bird free agent... But if you like it, just choose it directly in the first round.

On January 8, the maximum salary clause was negotiated. Players under 7 years old can sign contracts with a starting salary of up to 30% of the salary cap. Veterans from 7 to 10 years can renew their contracts with a starting salary of up to 35% of the salary cap. In theory, there is no salary limit for 11 years and veterans. The maximum salary clause is affected by the bird rights, and renewal on the hat requires bird rights.

At the same time, the contract period is specified, with the maximum contract period of 7 years. Players who sign a 7-year contract will not have player options or team options.

With these negotiations that are fundamental to players' income reaching an agreement, now, there is only one thing that can really hinder the resumption of operations, and the others are not that important. It can be done slowly after the resumption of operations in the season. This thing is - income ratio distribution.

When we first mentioned this, the two sides quarreled, and now, the two sides have started to discuss normally.

However, this matter is too important. For example, if the player and the boss make a reservation, for example, the entire NBA income in the 199-00 season was about 2.5 billion US dollars, then if the player's total salary is above 1.25 billion US dollars, then the proportion will be given less part of the salary. If it is below 1.25 billion US dollars, the bosses will have to pay more salary to each player in proportion.

This matter is quite complicated. The lawyers of the Players' Union, accountants, NBA lawyers, and accountants began professional negotiations, and Jordan and the Bulls boss began professional quarrel.

Time passed day by day, and it took a week. Finally, on January 15, an agreement was reached and finally determined that in the next seven years, the proportion of player income in the total NBA revenue will be between 53% and 58%. In this range, there is no situation of giving more or less money. There is a buffer zone, which is not that complicated to execute.

Starting from the 1998-99 season, players' salaries will no longer be paid in full, and 10% of their income will be handed over to trust companies officially guaranteed by the league.

The framework agreement was signed, and the league and the Players' Union held a press conference at 9 pm on January 15th. The official announced that the strike would end at 12 noon on January 17, 1999 and the NBA would resume operations!

There are still many details left, so the players don’t need to work hard. These are already done about income, contracts, and rights.

However, the NBA's resumption of operations was "stolen" by some rules passed by the league between January 9 and January 15.

When the lawyer and the accountant were discussing the share ratio, the bosses were idle and suggested to the alliance to modify some rules. After reviewing the alliance and the rules committee agreed to apply, started the voting process, and passed several rule changes.

So, on January 16, when the teams were quickly starting to resume operations, the league announced several rules changes. After these changes were announced, it sparked heated discussion.

Several really substantial terms, media, experts, fans, players, saw a word between the lines - Beat-XO!

There are two most popular rules for the newly passed rules.

One is to cancel the rules for early pinch violations. The previous rules, for players without balls, can only defend one at most, and the offensive player must receive the ball before double-teaming.

Another is to reintroduce a three-second violation - if the defending player is in the three-second zone and for three consecutive seconds, the defensive player has no opponent within an arm's distance, and if he does not leave the three-second zone before the three-second zone arrives, he will be blown to defend for three-second violation, the offensive party will receive a free throw and continue to have the ball rights.

Others, such as the 5-second slap rule for serving, the 24-second return rule, the ball hitting the rebound twice is equivalent to being out of bounds... No one cares about the changes in the rules.

These two rules that will bring earth-shaking changes to the entire NBA defense are obviously aimed at the head and horse combination!
Chapter completed!