The Godfather of Basketball

Brad Stevens should be the closest to Tang Tian among all the coaches.

Understand tactics, have absolute coaching authority in the team, and get along well with all players, maximize their abilities, and have excellent on-the-spot command skills.

Of course, there is another point, just like Tang Tian, ​​he has an outstanding appearance.

But now he is still the head coach of Butler University.

Since he joined Butler University as an assistant coach in 2001, he has been here for 11 years. In the past two years, he has led the team to the NCAA Finals and reached his personal peak.

"You want me to go to the NBA?" Stevens should have basically guessed it when he saw Tang Tian.

"Yes, become my assistant coach, first assistant coach." Tang Tian continued.

Stevens said nothing.

The first assistant coach, a college exchange student who has never had NBA experience, Tang Tian's bargaining chip is not low.

"No, I won't go." But after a while, he gave Tang Tian an affirmative answer.

"Why?" Tang Tian was a little surprised.

"I don't know much about the NBA, and I don't want to leave the college campus for the time being, and I haven't led this team to win the final championship." Stevens didn't hide it, or he could feel that Tang Tian was that A straightforward person.

"Did you know college basketball before entering Butler University?" Tang Tian tried to persuade Stevens.

"Well, I understand."

"..."

He realized that Stevens in front of him was really difficult to deal with.

"You've proven your strengths in college basketball. There was Gordon Hayward two years ago. Last year you led a team that ended up with no one in the NBA. You can lead such a mediocre talent. The team made it to the finals, really, college basketball has no challenges for you, don't you want to go to a higher stage?" Tang Tian reorganized his words.

"No, Shelvin Mack was the No. 34 pick last year, and he did a little better there than I expected."

"..."

Tang Tian looked back at Anna.

Anna nodded, indicating that there was such a player.

Tang Tian wants to pat the table, but can he talk properly!

"Give me some time to think about it. I can feel your sincerity. If I think about it, I will give you an answer as soon as possible." Stevens continued.

"Okay, if you are willing to come, I will offer a bigger contract than all other assistant coaches."

"Yeah." Stevens nodded.

After he got up, he sent Tang Tian and Anna to the school gate, watched them leave in the car before going back.

"This coach is very personable." Anna said for the first time.

"Why else would I come all the way to this small place?" Tang Tian said with a smile.

Although I was choked by Stevens several times, I can feel that Stevens is a rigorous, principled, and of course smart enough coach.

Of course, only such a person is worthy of taking Tang Tian's class.

Stevens didn't give him a clear answer, so Tang Tian naturally wouldn't just sit around and wait.

He also began interviewing teaching assistants.

The competition for NBA coaches is fierce, and there are many coaches who have been fired before, such as Scott Skiles and "Little General" Johnson. The coach works.

Tang Tian worked for the two teams for 6 years, and the first assistant coaches all became the head coaches in the end. There is absolutely nothing to say about this. In other words, the first assistant coach of the Thunder will also be the head coach in the future.

Just focus on this, there will definitely not be fewer people coming for the interview.

But after the interview, Tang Tian didn't feel very good.

Those head coaches have their own strengths, but knowing that Stevens is there is like a chicken rib, and the key is to be the head coach for a long time, and I feel that the style of speaking is stronger than him. As for the first and second assistants, come to the interview None of them were great.

However, among the players who came to apply for the job, Tang Tian found a familiar figure.

Luke Walton.

Walton in his previous life did not retire until 2013. He was waived by the Cavaliers at the beginning, but because of his intervention, the future coach of the Lakers had no ball last year. This year, he just announced his retirement two days ago. , later than expected.

As for Wharton, he still has some abilities, but he has just finished his playing days and doesn't have much experience.

After some interviews, Tang Tian identified a few candidates for the first assistant, but he didn't finally confirm the candidate. The second assistant directly chose Wharton.

What's more interesting is that Walton is very confident in his ability, and finally only signed a 2-year contract with the Thunder.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it is mid-July, and the player market is coming to an end.

However, the activity of the league teams has not been less, because the biggest player James has not announced his final decision.

Although the free agency market will not officially close until the start of the playoffs, the general signing will be finalized by mid-July.

"nailed it."

When the time came to July 15th, Jones came to Tang Tian enthusiastically.

"Jason Kidd, just agreed to join us for 3 million a year!" Jones was full of excitement.

Kidd is here?

Tang Tian was also a little happy.

The Thunder have been chasing Kidd since the start of the free agent market, but Kidd has not given a clear answer.

In his previous life, Kidd was signed by the Knicks for 9 million in 3 years, although he retired after 1 year of the contract.

Now choosing the Thunder, the only possibility is to fight for a final championship before retiring.

Considering Tang Tian's performance in the past 6 years and 6 championships, Kidd's choice is not so surprising.

Kidd can bring a lot of playoff experience to the Thunder's back line, and most importantly, he can guide Westbrook.

If Tang Tian himself is not enough, together with Kidd, he can basically pull Westbrook back from the road of paranoia.

Kidd signed the contract and made up the last spot of the team. The Thunder's core lineup has been basically determined. As long as a few more non-guaranteed contracts are signed, the team's preseason roster is basically done.

"Ding!"

While chatting about this, Tang Tian's cell phone rang.

I picked it up and saw that it was from Woj.

As soon as I picked it up, the phone vibrated several times, and there were three consecutive messages.

Tang Tian glanced at it with a complicated expression, then handed the phone to Jones.

Seeing Tang Tian's expression, Jones was a little suspicious, took a look at the phone, and then understood.

"Steve Kerr announced his resignation as the general manager of the Suns, and there is a high probability that he will return to the commentary position of TNT."

"LeBron James announced that he will bring his talents to the east coast, and gather in Miami with his friends Wade and Bosh. He will sign a 4-year maximum salary contract with the Heat. The third and fourth years of this contract include Player option with trade veto power."

"Steve Nash was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers."

...

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