The Whip of the God of Basketball

The next morning, Leon woke up at five o'clock. Today he will go to the Celtics headquarters to visit the team's development director Michael Karl to get his first job after entering this time and space.

After a brief wash in the bathroom, Leon didn't wake up Khomeinis, of course he didn't know that Khomeinis didn't sleep almost all night.

When he got downstairs, Leon found two pieces of clothes scattered on the sofa in the living room, one was a woman's red shawl, and the other was a man's sports jacket. Leon looked at the door again. There were two more pairs of shoes. It seemed that Khomeinis' roommate came back in the middle of the night.

Leon went to the kitchen and made another chicken sandwich for himself. By the way, he also made one for Khomeinis, and added an egg fried in the pan.

Before leaving, Leon left a note on the table, thanking Khomeinis for her overnight stay, and told Khomeinis that he would contact her again after he had a job in the Celtics.

After that, Leon packed himself up and went out to the Boston Celtics' headquarters, the Celtics Building at 226 Causeway Street.

With the last dozen or so dollars in his pocket, Leon hailed a taxi and headed to Boston's North End, where the Celtic Building was located.

………………

The North District of Boston is not an area corresponding to the South District, but a place name in Boston. The so-called "North-end", which is the most northeast corner of the entire old city of Boston, is located at the entrance of the Boston Strait and the Charles River** On a delta at the confluence.

This is the most famous area of ​​Boston. It not only has the oldest urban buildings in the United States, but also has a beautiful port and Quincy Market full of restaurants and cafes. Of course, the former home of the Boston Celtics, the Boston Garden Plaza and the newest arena, the North Shore Garden Arena, are also built at the North-end, where the essence of Boston's history and life is gathered.

The taxi driver drove the car on the Storrow Ring Road and drove eastward along the Charles River. Leon sat in the taxi and looked at the Charles River, which was getting wider and wider as it got closer to the mouth of the sea from west to east. , I can't help but cheer up.

After two months, his life finally started to improve. The troubles with the underworld don't seem to bother him for the time being, because he spent two months in prison and made a clean break with his past self. Those friends, women, enemies and even relatives all disappeared from his life. Everything starts from scratch, and now his zero is finally going to take the first step.

"It turned out to be basketball... I never thought of doing a job related to basketball." Leon said with emotion in his heart. Originally, he expected to be the same as himself in the previous life, to be engaged in the old business of finance. Physical education and age are very, very difficult, but as long as one's intelligence and knowledge are still there, these are not problems.

Or Leon also hopes that he can work in psychology, because he really wants to find his memory. If possible, he hopes to return to China with his memory, the hometown of his soul.

But at present, it seems that he is going further and further on another road, just like the taxi he is sitting in is speeding towards the Celtics headquarters.

Just as Leon was wandering, the driver spoke. This is a bookish driver wearing glasses. He half turned his head and asked Leon: "Sir, are you an employee of the Celtics? Things are not going well for your team."

It seems that the other party regards himself as a Celtic employee, but if he thinks about it, if he can get a job there, then he will naturally be a Celtic employee.

So Leon nodded lightly, whether he will be a cleaner or a porter after he goes?

Seeing Leon nodding, the driver suddenly got excited and kept asking Leon what kind of work he did in the Celtics. In the end, Leon had no choice but to say: "This is my first day working for the Celtics." , someone recommended me to go there, and I don’t know what I will do there.”

The driver had an understanding expression after hearing this, but it didn't make him shut up, on the contrary he opened up the chatterbox.

It turns out that the driver has been a Celtics fan since he was a child. He is 39 years old this year. He has been watching basketball games with his father since the end of the Celtics’ first dynasty in 1969. From the first time he walked into the Boston Garden Square, he Became a Celtics fan because the vibe was just amazing.

After that, he accompanied the Celtics through 30 years of ups and downs, from a yellow-haired boy to a bald uncle, and witnessed the strength of the Celtics in the 1970s, the glory of the 1980s and the glory of the 1990s. Lonely, the current hobby is to chat with guests about basketball and the Celtics in a taxi.

"Are you from Boston? Do you remember the final against the Pistons in 1987? Oh, you were young at that time, teenagers? I was married at the time, and I took my wife and my daughter to watch the game in the garden. Five games, you know, we were behind and the Pistons still had the ball, and then Bird broke the ball! I was holding my daughter and almost threw her out! Hahahaha!" Driver When it comes to Bird's thief of the century in 1987, he is still elated, almost dancing.

Leon had to sweat to remind him to pay attention to hold the steering wheel tightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so excited, I'm sorry..." the driver apologized sheepishly.

It seems that this driver is very familiar with the history and players of the Celtics. Leon took a closer look at him. He was indeed around 40 years old. His head began to bald. Still tilted up, he looks like a slovenly guy. He was wearing a beige casual suit, with narrow shoulders and a big belly. It looked like he hadn't exercised for a long time.

Leon couldn't help asking curiously: "Do you like playing basketball?"

Hearing Leon's question, the driver, who was originally proud of his knowledge of Celtics history, stopped talking immediately, with a slightly embarrassed expression, and smiled and said: "I... I have never played basketball. Don't you I know that if I play on the court, it will be a disaster, I have been poor in sports since I was a child, and I can only be a spectator."

Leon shook his head and said, "Then why do you like basketball so much? How can you experience his fun if you don't play by yourself?"

Hearing what Leon said, the driver suddenly became a little excited. He raised his voice an octave and said, "Why can't you experience the fun of basketball if you don't play? Playing in person and watching as a spectator have different meanings! It's because I'm a sports idiot that I love to sit on the sidelines and watch the talents perform. I remember when I was a kid, I dreamed of standing on the garden floor and playing for the Celtics one day. I found out that I am not that material at all. However, I still love basketball, the Celtics, the feeling of watching the game from the sidelines, and the joy after winning. Tell you, the people who watch the game are as important as the people who play, That's what makes basketball great and great!"

What the driver said made Leon speechless. He was also a sports idiot in his previous life. Although his body is a boxer now, he still has some rejection of sports. I don’t know what a group of people are running around for. .

"The pupils are dilated, the neck turns red, the blood vessels become thicker and exposed, and the heartbeat should speed up by 30%. It looks very excited." Leon looked at the driver's appearance and thought in his heart that the driver's words undoubtedly touched him, because from his From the look on his face, he was serious.

He asked Khomeinis a similar question and got a similar answer. Leon couldn't understand this feeling. He thought that perhaps in the days to come, he must feel what it was like.

Seeing that he was about to reach his destination, Leon suddenly remembered Michael Karl mentioned by Auerbach. He asked Leon to go to the Celtics headquarters to find him, but so far he knew nothing about Karl, so He asked the taxi driver, "Do you know Michael Carr?"

The driver raised his eyes and smiled and said, "Are you testing me? Michael Carr, of course I know, M.L. Carr, Michael Leon Carr, the towel master on the bench, he is an NBA player, sitting The player who can contribute the most to the team on the bench! Of course I am not mocking him, he really swings the towel very well, and he plays very tough, oh of course, the Celtics players are tough guys. Also, His free throws in Game 5 of the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals were also important, when we almost went home."

As soon as the old Celtics players are mentioned, the old driver gets excited again, but what Leon cares about is not Karl's past, but Karl's present.

"Current Carl, he seems to have his own business in Alabama, and at the same time he is part-time the head of the development department of the Celtics. The head of the development department is mainly responsible for evaluating and discovering new players. The Boston Celtics' real power to scout new players rests with their player, Leon Popper... and their relationship..."

The driver obviously not only knows the past history of the Celtics, but also knows a little bit about some current gossip. It seems that he is a die-hard Celtics fan.

By the time the driver finished talking about these gossips, the car had already arrived at the Celtics headquarters, a red building located on Causeway Street, not far from the North Shore Garden Arena, the home stadium of the Celtics.

When getting off the bus, the driver waived Leon's fare. Before leaving, he said to Leon: "Come on boy, I hope you can make a little contribution to the rise of the Celtics! Even if you are a cleaner, in the future Kyle You are also responsible for the special people becoming stronger, so my fare will not be waived!"

After speaking, he stepped on the accelerator and left. Only Leon was left standing there and thinking silently: Am I really that much like a cleaner?