After hanging up the phone with Richard, Golden Dragon went directly to Jordan and told Richard what he meant.

Jordan's face was naturally a little ugly, but seeing that Richard took a step back, he couldn't say anything more.

He also knows that in fact, what Huang Jinlong said is not wrong at all, if Richard is not a coach, then it is normal not to get a salary......

But if he becomes a coach and doesn't get a salary, he Jordan will take a big advantage.

The two sides belong to a partnership, not charity, and this 10 million US dollar metal is Richard's part.

At the moment, Jordan could only sigh and agree to this.

In fact, the main thing is that he can't agree to it, he knows very well that if he turns his face with Richard, he will definitely suffer a loss in this matter......

……

The matter of diamond ring and salary is settled, and the final results of the semi-finals of the East and West are out.

The Nets and the 76ers faced off against each other on the Eastern side, and in the end, the Nets won this time and won the Philadelphia 76ers in the tiebreaker.

The two teams faced each other in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, but that time Dazhi played quite well and eventually eliminated the Nets.

And this season, Dazhi's performance can only be regarded as mediocre, with an average of 19.5 points per game, which is far less fierce than last season.

A player like Dazhi is quite a eater, because he is too tall, if he plays on the outside, he can't break through at all......

With such a high center of gravity, as long as the dribble breaks through, the chance of being stealed is infinite.

So he's on the offensive end, relying more on projection.

If you play the inside line, Dazhi is not unable to play, but because of the disadvantage of tonnage and strength, he can't eat at all on the inside line, and he is not as big as a meat shield blue-collar worker.

In the semifinals on the Western side, the Lakers finally won the Spurs by relying on the tie-break, after all, the strength of the Lakers F4 is there, if it is not for injuries, their strength should not be underestimated.

……

The Eastern and Western finals are out, with the Pistons vs. Nets and the Timberwolves vs. Lakers.

If nothing else, the Timberwolves should not be the opponent of the Lakers, the Lakers are not a team with obvious shortcomings like the Trail Blazers, and their starting lineup is simply what they want......

Maybe the Timberwolves can win one or two games, but in the end, the winner of the Western Conference finals will definitely be the Lakers.

As for the Eastern side, there is no doubt that the Nets are by no means an opponent of the Pistons, and even if they win one game, it will be considered a success.

Richard felt that it seemed that Green Kai's strength was really no worse than the Nets, that is, Green Kai was unlucky this year, and finally only entered the playoffs in eighth place......

If it weren't for the eighth place, maybe in this round of the East Finals, the Pistons' opponent would be Green Kai.

……

The Eastern Conference finals began, and the Pistons beat the Nets in the first game, winning by 27 points.

This has basically set the tone for this round of Eastern Finals......

In the next three games, the Pistons shaved their heads directly to the Nets and swept them easily.

With the Nets being swept away, Richard knew that the Nets might be disintegrating.

Their three core players, in the coming season, may undergo a blood change, and even Kidd is not out of the question.

As for the Western Conference Finals, the Timberwolves are also showing a disadvantage, and they are now 1:3 behind, basically powerless.

On May 29, in the Western Conference Finals G5, the Timberwolves struggled to keep their home court and pulled the big score back to 3:2.

In the Western Conference Finals G6 on May 31, they did not have this kind of good luck and were easily eliminated by the Lakers away from home.

Since then, the 2003-2004 season Finals opponent has been officially released, the Pistons against the Lakers F4.

Richard knows very well that the Lakers' F4 lineup can only be said to be short-lived, regardless of whether they win the championship this season or not, this F4 lineup is estimated to be dismantled.

At least Malone will definitely leave the Lakers......

As for whether the OK combination will be dismantled or not, Richard feels that even if the Lakers win the championship, the OK combination may still be dismantled.

If both of them are willing to take a pay cut, then the OK combination may be able to continue to coexist.

It is estimated that it is impossible to reduce the salary of these two people.

……

"We're going to teach Richard a good lesson and try to take out the Pistons in six games and win the championship."

The Lakers, who broke into the Finals, are full of confidence, O'Neal said to reporters at the press conference.

O'Neill was really driven crazy by Richard, he had only won one championship over the years, and he had a feeling that if it weren't for Richard, he would definitely have more than one, three or even four.

Now that he has finally found an opportunity to meet Richard in the finals, he naturally wants to be strong.

Karl Malone sat next to O'Neill with a solemn expression.

His thoughts are similar to O'Neal's, if it weren't for Richard, he probably wouldn't have to come to the Lakers to hug his thighs late in the morning, and he might have won the championship in the Jazz.

Coupled with the previous deep hatred, Malone has already made up his mind that this round of the finals will definitely give Richard a good look.

Kobe Bryant has not spoken, but he also attaches great importance to this round of the finals, his dream is to beat Richard in the finals, and now he has finally found this rare opportunity.

……

"Oh? Are you so confident? If you lose to us, it will be ugly. At the Pistons press conference, Richard said with a smile.

If he had faced the Lakers F4 in the Finals last season, Richard might still have some concerns.

After all, the Pistons were too young at that time, and now the Pistons players have matured a lot after two seasons of tempering.

Richard wasn't worried about the Lakers at all......

……

On June 4, at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the first battle of the finals began.

The expressions of the players on both sides are quite solemn, even if the other side has players who are familiar with each other, they do not come forward to say hello at this moment.

When you set foot on the stage of the finals, you have no friends, only enemies.

As the referee's whistle blows, the starters from both sides begin to take the field.

Richard sat on the sidelines and recalled what the Finals would have been like under normal circumstances.

Under normal circumstances, this round of the finals is the Pistons Five Tigers vs. Lakers F4.

The popularity of this round of the Finals can almost rank among the top five of all the Finals in NBA history.

Even the top three are possible, and Richard is naturally impressed.

The Lakers lost the first game, and Kobe Bryant had to bear the blame for the loss......

Even if Kobe Bryant is Richard's own person, from the perspective of fairness, the strength of this first battle is also Kobe's pot.

Bryant made 27 wild shots, but only scored 25 points.

You must know that the pace of both sides is slow, the Lakers only have a total of about 70 shots, and the Pistons are even more pitiful, with a total of only 65 shots.

You can imagine how terrifying the number of these twenty-seven shots is.

In the case of a normal 100 shots in later generations, Kobe Bryant made almost 40 shots in this game.

Of course, this pot is completely carried by Kobe, and it is not particularly accurate.

Malone also has to carry a third......

Malone made only two of his 9 shots in the whole game, and only scored four points in the end.

Malone is really old, and when he aligns the piston twin towers, it can be clearly seen that he is powerless.

But even so, he played a full 44 minutes.

This is probably the main reason for his G3 injury, after all, he is forty years old, he has been crazy for 44 minutes, and he is fighting against such a fierce finals, so it is no wonder that he is not injured.

……

The game on the court was already in full swing, and Kobe missed two consecutive shots at the beginning, which directly gave the Pistons a four-point lead.

But then O'Neal began to take charge of the game, carrying Yao Ming's defense, hitting one after another to save the disadvantage.

Richard sighed, Yao Ming's tonnage and strength are still quite different from O'Neal.

Even if Yao Ming has been gaining muscle and weight all the time in the past two years, he is still at a disadvantage in the face of a monster like O'Neill.

"Doot toot!" The referee blew for a defensive foul on Clarke, which was fouled on O'Neal.

O'Neal walked to the free throw line with a solemn face and began to execute the free throw.

What Pistons fans didn't expect was that O'Neal hit both free throws.

Richard couldn't help but think of this round of finals under normal circumstances, O'Neal's free throws were really super high-level play.

In this round of finals, O'Neal's free-throw shooting rate reached nearly 70 percent......

Such a free throw percentage, and then use foul tactics against O'Neal, it will definitely be worth the loss.

……

By the end of the first quarter, the two sides were basically tied, with a score of 22:21, and the Pistons temporarily trailed by one point.

In the first quarter of the game, they did not use shark-cutting tactics against O'Neal because they were not instructed by Richard.

O'Neal made 3-of-4 free throws in the first quarter, which was an amazing percentage.

In addition to the high free throw shooting rate, the dominance under the basket is also unconvincing, the Lakers scored 22 points in the first quarter, of which 13 points came from O'Neal, 5 of 7 in the basket!

That is, the remaining four starters did not play well, otherwise, I am afraid that the Lakers will be able to play a big advantage in the first quarter.

Malone was 0 of 3 in the first quarter, Kobe Bryant was 2 of 6 in the first quarter, Payton was 1 of 3 in the first quarter, and Devin George, who started the game, didn't get a chance to shoot at all......

Poor little fish Fisher, who didn't get the chance to start, only played two minutes in the first quarter and got a 1-in-0 data.

In addition to O'Neal, the remaining five Lakers players who have appeared on the court have only scored a total of six points in the athletic battle, and if you count free throws, they have only scored nine points, which is quite miserable.

Richard felt a slight sense of crisis in his heart, if he continued to let O'Neal go on like this, their Pistons might really be pulled down tonight.

However, this sense of crisis is only fleeting, and the ages of Malone and Payton are there, and they can't hold out for long if they continue to fight with such a high intensity.

And the Pistons are all young men in the prime of life, even if the physical exertion is too great tonight, they may be able to recover after a night's rest......

In the first quarter of the game, Yao Ming and Clarke played the whole game on the Pistons' side, Gerald and Nash played for 11 minutes, and Ragabel also played more than 10 minutes.

In the second quarter of the game, Richard had already changed his strategy and began to defend O'Neal around the front......

Even if it will make Carl Marone vacant, it will not hesitate.

O'Neal's shooting rate is too exaggerated, and although Malone has a hand-shot, even if he feels hot, it is impossible to reach O'Neal's terrifying basket shooting rate.

Moreover, Gerald, who is very mobile, can also harass Malone from time to time......

In the second quarter of the game, under Richard's arrangement, the Pistons finally gained a certain initiative and took advantage of the situation to lead by three points.

Seeing such a scene, Richard was also relaxed.

In this round of the finals, the more you get to the end, the more advantage the Pistons have, as long as they don't give the Lakers a beating, the final winner will definitely be the Pistons.

Malone had a pretty bad hand tonight, making 0 of 3 in the first quarter, and in the second quarter because O'Neal was trapped, he got a lot of the ball.

However, Gerrard was not harassing him, and he could only pass the ball to Devon George.

As a result, in the second quarter of the game, Ma Long's data of 2 of 6 was still quite sluggish.

Devin George is the most non-existent one in the Lakers' starting lineup, and when he receives a pass from Malone, the first thing he thinks about must be a pass.

Either pass Kobe Bryant or pass Payton......

If you pass to Payton, there is a 70% probability that the ball will be in Kobe's hands.

If you pass it to Kobe, then this offensive round is basically over.

O'Neal could only stare dryly under the basket, and could only take advantage of the second offensive opportunity that appeared.

……

"Doot toot!" By the time the referees blew the whistle for the end of the game, the Pistons won the game.

The margin of victory was not much, only a measly seven points, but Richard was quite satisfied.

The main thing is that tonight's game will make the opponent's Malone and Payton tired enough.

Malone actually played a full 45 minutes, and as for Payton, because he had a small fish as a substitute, he was more comfortable and played 37 minutes.

This kind of playing time is definitely quite fatal for a veteran, and there may be no drawbacks in one or two games, and there are more games, and it is unreasonable not to get injured......

The key Lakers are also powerless to change this situation, and their bench lineup is quite shabby.

This is also something that cannot be helped, O'Neal's salary alone is as high as 25 million dollars this season!

Kobe Bryant is $13.5 million......

The salaries of these two alone reached a terrifying $38 million!

You must know that this season's salary cap is only 43.84 million US dollars in total, and these two alone account for almost ninety percent!

Although Malone and Payton both took a salary cut to join the Lakers, Malone signed a base salary, but Payton's contract is close to $5 million......

Devon George is also five million dollars.

The salary of such a starting lineup is far more than the salary cap, where is there still a salary to engage in a bench lineup, most of the Lakers' bench lineup is a base salary player, and it will definitely not be able to be used in the finals.

So the Lakers were also forced to have no choice but to let these Malone and Payton play crazy......

.。 m.