NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 747 "I'm back!" (No protagonist chapter)
On Sunday, July 2010, 7, Tim Duncan, who failed to get custody of his child, finally returned alone. Currently, the former MVP is still suing his financial advisor.

Although life is not going well, it is always a good thing to go home. Before officially arriving in San Antonio, Duncan accepted an exclusive interview with the San Antonio Express, and then this morning's column appeared:

"I'm back!"

The title looks familiar. It was the one used by Michael Jordan when he returned. Duncan borrowed it but did not express his homesickness too much. Instead, he told the story of his mental journey over the past three years.

What touched San Antonio fans the most was that Tim Duncan still remembered his promise and assured everyone again:

"Even if I can no longer take on the responsibility of a core player, I am willing to dedicate the last few years of my career to this city."

"I am willing to play any role and I will do my best to win the championship for the Spurs!"

"."

Such a statement reminded many Spurs fans of the scene when Duncan first joined the team. At the grand rally, the young Duncan hugged David Robinson, and the two shouted with high spirits:

“Let’s win big!”

This scene is a moment that Spurs fans often miss. After Duncan left the team, everyone realized how important this low-key leader was to the team. Without Duncan, they would have difficulty making the playoffs.

Compared with Duncan, Andrew Bynum is a vampire. Apart from asking for big contracts, he is unable to play due to injuries!
Bynum, who was called "Little Shark" by the Los Angeles sports media, was not a leader at all. After the team's record plummeted, San Antonio fans missed Duncan more and more.

Now that the out-of-date MVP has really returned home, the fans have completely let it go. Some excited die-hard fans even updated their personal videos on You Tube. Many of them shed tears of excitement. Everything is back!
On Monday, July 7, Tony Parker and Ginobili, who were supposed to report to the national team, chose to stay in San Antonio to meet their old teammates.

After getting off the plane, Duncan, wearing a large white T-shirt, took off his sunglasses when he saw the familiar sports media. When he was about to leave the airport, he saw his two old teammates, and the eyes of the former MVP also turned red.

With everyone witnessing, the three of them embraced passionately. Duncan stroked Ginobili's thick black hair, shedding tears while excitedly saying:
"Thank you Bro! I don't know how to express my gratitude, this is the best moment I have had in the past few months."

Parker was also emotional. The Frenchman patted his old partner. Although Duncan didn't think highly of him when he first joined the team, the leader still took good care of him in those years:

"Tim, welcome home. We have been looking forward to this day for a long time."

"."

Many sports reporters pressed the shutter to record this touching moment. Duncan went home, Popovich returned to the coaching bench, the trio reunited, and the Spurs were back on track.

The Spurs' training hall is not open as often as the Knicks', but that day a large number of fans gathered at the training hall near the San Antonio Medical Center.

When seeing Duncan's SUV, the gathered Spurs fans cheered loudly. Everyone had forgotten that a few years ago, some extreme fans had burned the jersey of the out-of-date MVP. Everyone had completely forgiven this core player.

Duncan has been training here with the Spurs since 02. Seeing this familiar street scene and hearing the shouts of fans, the real core couldn't hold it anymore and shouted to the fans with some sobs:
"I'm back!"

The noise around them suddenly became louder, and some die-hard fans were so excited that they shed tears. A young man high-fived Duncan and shouted excitedly:
"Tim, when did you lead the Spurs to their first championship?"

Infected by the atmosphere on the scene, Tim Duncan, who has been in Los Angeles for three years, blurted out:

“Next season!”

Hearing the fans' excited shouts again, Duncan, who gave the answer, suddenly felt embarrassed. In Los Angeles, sometimes you have to borrow money to brag and talk. The real core who has no confidence in winning the championship couldn't help but make another patch:

"Next season, the Spurs will definitely return to the playoffs! The whole team will go all out to fight for the championship."

Such spoiling words were naturally ignored by the fans. Combined with the signals released by many football commentators, everyone agreed that the "real championship window" had appeared.

Even though the Eastern Conference has a "young Big Three" and an "old Big Five", as long as the GDP is united, San Antonio fans believe that the home team can still fight.

Many people felt painful when they reached the finals in previous years. After experiencing three years of lows, everyone began to miss the finals again. Even if there was no championship, they wanted to see the Spurs in June.

The grand welcome ceremony made Duncan smile after a long absence when he returned to the training hall. Many old teammates including Elliott and David Robinson came forward to hug and greet him.

Popovich almost burst into tears after seeing this scene. The old man took out a handkerchief from his suit pocket, wiped his eyes, and finally hugged his beloved player and encouraged loudly:
"You see, Tim, you are always welcome in San Antonio. This will always be your home!"

"We understand the decision you made. Believe me, no one will blame you. Everyone knows your contribution to the team."

"."

Hearing Popovich's heartfelt words, Duncan couldn't help but cry again. His life was a mess now, and these encouragements meant a lot to him. He hugged the old man and choked up and promised:
"Maybe that was the stupidest decision I've ever made in my life, coach. In the last few years, I just want to focus on playing basketball!"

Patting Duncan on the back, Popovich knew that his beloved player was not living a happy life. He had lost his wife and children, and a lot of his gold coins had been depleted. When he heard about focusing on basketball, he comforted him again:

"No problem, everything will be fine. Basketball is not just about champions."

Witnessing this touching scene, Ginobili couldn't help but shake his head slightly, looked at Parker beside him, and whispered:

"If I had gone through what Tim did, maybe I would have chosen to leave basketball. If I could have predicted the future, I would have stopped him from making that choice."

Parker glanced at his partner. The Frenchman had regained his composure by then. He had been living a good life in the past three years and often took care of his old teammate Barry's family.

Big Brother is not at home, and the Frenchman is very busy. He only regards basketball as a job. He looks at Duncan, sighs, and then lowers his voice and says:

"You can't win the championship without paying the luxury tax, Bro. I've seen this league clearly. Only a few teams can compete for the championship every year."

"I don't want to hit Tim, but we really lack help, at least we should make up for the vacancy left by Jefferson."

"."

After a long period of silence, the French seemed to be ready to surrender early, but after careful consideration, Ginobili felt that his teammate had some truth in what he said.

The Spurs have been shouting slogans loudly about not paying taxes every year, but they just don't pay any money and even encourage their players to take a pay cut. Argentines have some opinions about this. Isn't this bullying the workers?
Fortunately, the team has accumulated some young talents. Ginobili feels that they can fight again in the new season and persuades his partner again:
"We can take this opportunity to talk to the management, at least add some more rotation players, and get into the top half in the regular season." Shrugging helplessly, Parker was not optimistic about the talk with the management. The Frenchman saw clearly that the Spurs might just have no money and could not compare with the "big money" in New York.

When everyone crowded into the office, Popovich took the initiative to bring up the issue of reinforcement. After Jefferson left the team, the Spurs still had room to sign outstanding role players.

The old man already had a candidate in mind, but in order to take Duncan's feelings into consideration, he didn't bring it up until now:
"No matter how the league changes, we need more three-pointers. I plan to sign Gary Neal. It is undeniable that the Knicks have indeed cultivated many excellent role players."

"."

No one said anything for a while. David Robinson was worried about Duncan's mood and was about to speak, but the real core nodded and said seriously in the surprised eyes of everyone:
"Pop, you're right. I trust your judgment."

The Spurs lacked championship experience in the past, but as a good friend of Dio, Parker knew the atmosphere in the Knicks locker room. The Frenchman was a little worried that Gary Neal would destroy the team's atmosphere, so he whispered a suggestion:
"Why not go for a striker worth tens of millions? Maybe we should strengthen our forward line."

Popovich quickly gave an answer. Quentin Richardson had agreed to it. The old man showed a satisfied look when talking about the signing, but Parker was powerless to complain.

The French knew that the other party's salary would definitely not be high, and that was indeed the case. For 2 million in two years, the shooting forward joined the Spurs.

The big man had no objection, and Ginobili had no opinion either. They just urged the team to strengthen the depth of the bench. If they wanted to achieve outstanding results in the regular season, there would be no way to fight against the main players.

At the end of the morning meeting, David Robinson finally took hold of his little brother and comforted him:

"Tim, everything will be fine. I know you are worried about the children. I will help. Maybe in a few months, the little one will be back with you."

The lawyer told him that it was impossible to get a secret divorce. If he wanted to get custody back, he not only had to meet Amy's demands and pay a large sum of money, but he also had to make some connections and have someone in Orange County intervene.

Of course, there is another good way, which is to hire a more famous lawyer to handle this matter. Duncan needs to continue to pay more money. After all, in the United States, as long as the money is in place, most problems can basically be solved.

"Thanks, Bro, maybe this is God's test for me!"

Duncan forced a smile and bumped fists with his good brother. He still felt overwhelmed when he thought about the troubles in life. He didn't even dare to think deeply about how many kinds of "green lights" Amy had unlocked for him in the past few years.

Popovich naturally understood the pain points of men. The old man poured a glass of red wine for everyone, looked around, and said loudly:
"Go Spurs go!."

The familiar slogan made Duncan forget his troubles for a while. He just felt that he should go home early. The Spurs were the most suitable team for him. He raised his voice in excitement and said:

"Go Spurs go!."

For a while, the office was filled with laughter. Maybe they still couldn't win the championship, but after experiencing the "separation", everyone just wanted to play happily.

-

On Tuesday, July 7, several ESPN reporters first broke the news about the Spurs' deal:

Gary Neal accepted San Antonio's full mid-level exception;
Steve Novak also signed a two-year guaranteed contract with the Spurs after completing his rookie contract.

The atmosphere group of the Knicks was packaged in one fell swoop. The commentators gave high praise to the related transactions. Time has given the answer. The products of the Knicks must be high-quality.

The players' abilities are usually beyond reproach, but if they become a locker room bomb, that is clearly a leadership problem.

Playing in New York, everyone is very professional and everyone trains hard. If problems arise elsewhere, the Knicks can't always guarantee after-sales service. In short, the championship members are the best pieces of the puzzle in the league.

Last season, Gary Neal's salary was only 87 US dollars. After signing this contract, he will receive 576 million US dollars next season, a huge increase in income!
This is related to his excellent Excel. In the limited playing time and during the rotation, Gary Neal's three-point shooting percentage exceeded 4%, which is already the level of a top shooter in the league.

The champion defender personally confirmed the transaction this morning and updated several tweets in a row to express his gratitude:
"Lee changed my life. The few years I spent in New York were the best experiences of my life. I don't know how to express my gratitude."

"I will always be a member of the Knicks, and I will share my championship experience with the new team without reservation! #NewYorkGang #ChampionGuard #GOATRecognition"

"."

Because the Knicks are too introverted, Steve Novak spent most of his rookie season in the Development League helping the team win the championship, and he didn't get many opportunities to show himself when he was recalled to the team.

But getting a contract is always a good thing, and Novak quickly updated his status on Twitter:
"I will never forget this experience in New York. Lee made me understand what a champion really means!"

"As a member of the championship, I will work hard to show myself in the new team. I hope my championship experience can help more young people in the team! #NewYorkGang #ChampionForward #GOATRecognition"

Wesley Matthews, who also received a big contract, quickly forwarded his teammates' dynamics and continued to share his championship experience:

"Champions bring us together! Even though I can't play like Lee, I will share everything I've learned with my new team!"

"Being able to play next to Lee is God's care for me. I will continue to be strict with myself in the future! #NewYorkGang #UndraftedCounterattack #GOATRecognition"

When ESPN connected to Duncan on the show this morning, Grant Hill proudly showed the former MVP the Twitter updates of the new players.

In front of the camera, Hill showed a look of "Man, you have good taste" on his face, and loudly praised Matthews, Gary Neal and Novak, and finally exclaimed:
"There is no doubt that if we were to select the best championship puzzle, all the role players of the Knicks would be selected!"

"Tim, I believe that these championship experiences will help the Spurs after the start of the new season. I will give this trade an A+ rating!"

"."

Originally, he was on the show to promote "I am back", but when they talked about trades, the topic went off track. Listening to Hill's endless praise, Duncan barely kept a smile on his face, but he began to question in his heart:
"Was it really Kobe's problem in Los Angeles?"

After the call ended, Duncan was still thinking, but his phone soon received a text message. He clicked it and saw that it was from Kobe. Mamba seemed to be stressed by the "championship experience". The content of the text message was also very simple:
"Bro, screw that damn championship experience!"

"."

(End of this chapter)