The Whip of the God of Basketball

After ending their 23-game winning streak, the Celtics also took off a heavy burden from their shoulders and started from scratch. After Leon and the players spent a happy night in San Antonio, they took a plane to Miami at noon the next day.

The NBA regular season is so long and boring. You have to fly back and forth across the United States to training gyms, hotels, arenas, and airports. It is even more difficult once you have back-to-back games. In this long journey, victory is often the only fun. It's okay to be in a city like Miami with rich and prosperous nightlife. But if you go to small cities in the west or north, the monotonous life will drive many players crazy.

Halfway through the season, the strong teams have shown their prowess, the weak teams have slipped into the quagmire, and those young teams with potential are slowly showing hope for the future. After experiencing dissatisfaction at the beginning of the season, the Miami Heat are gradually getting on the right track and joining the ranks of Eastern Conference playoff teams.

However, facing the powerful Celtics, who had just ended their winning streak and started from scratch, the Heat had no chance of winning at home at the American Airlines Center. Lamar Odom, who is known as Little Garnett, did not perform as he should in front of the real Garnett. The entire Heat inside line was destroyed by Garnett and PJ Brown. In each game, the two grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and used the second offense to score at least 20 points.

With Pierce and Arenas having average outside touch, the Celtics relied solely on their inside advantage to defeat the Heat. They had an overwhelming advantage in rebounding, grabbing 21 more rebounds than the Heat. Under such circumstances, the Heat resisted for a first half, but were opened up by the Celtics in the third quarter, and ultimately lost the game as expected.

After the game, Leon returned to the hotel, but received an invitation text message from an unknown number, inviting him to drink coffee at a coffee shop in the South Beach Hotel in Miami. There was no record of this number in the phone book in Leon's mind, but after thinking about it for a while, Leon decided to go there.

After arriving at the place specified in the text message, Leon met the inviter, the manager of the Miami Heat, Pat Riley, in the high-end private room of this cafe. He was sitting on a velvet-covered stool, wearing a high-end Armani shirt and a huge ring on his hand - the championship ring he won with the Lakers.

"Welcome, you're here, I thought you would call to confirm." Riley stood up and said when he saw Leon being taken into the private room by the waiter.

"No need. I knew it was you from the tone of the text message. You look like an Armani high-end suit." Leon seemed to be able to determine the identity of the sender from the wording of the text message. In fact, it was just that he remembered it in his mind. It was Riley's phone number recorded in the NBA manager's contact book - he had looked through this contact book in Ainge's office and remembered almost everything.

Riley didn't care whether Leon was bragging or if he really had this ability. He called the waiter to give Leon a cup of coffee.

"This is Hujue coffee from Cuba's Crystal Mountain. The annual production is very limited. I got it from a Cuban friend." Riley pushed the coffee cup in front of Leon. This was the coffee beans he personally brought. The people at the cafe make it. The cup is steaming, and the smooth brown liquid releases a fragrant aroma.

Leon picked it up and took a sip. It was not very bitter, nor very sweet. It was very smooth in the mouth, with a slight sour taste and a hint of refreshing feeling. Although it was very weak, it gave people a wonderful feeling when combined with the coffee flavor. .

"I don't like coffee, but I can also feel that this is a good drink... Since there is Cuban coffee, there should also be Cuban cigars." Leon seemed not satisfied with a cup of coffee.

Sure enough, Riley smiled, took out a Havana cigar from his pocket and threw it into Leon's hand. He also took out one himself, and the two of them quickly started puffing away.

Since they met and played against each other in the summer league this summer, the two of them have developed a little friendship, and Leon is very good at dealing with this kind of old fox, because he never has stage fright, is very witty, and can often match his opponents.

"Let's get down to business. You've drank coffee and smoked cigars. You won't tell me that you just wanted to smoke with me. The game is over, and it's impossible for me to let you go." Leon asked Riley after blowing out a large puff of smoke.

"Haha, no, it's nothing, really nothing. I just want to smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, and chat with you. You and your Celtics have achieved astonishing results. Maybe I can start from I gained some experience from communicating with you, after all, the Heat are still growing." Riley smiled and said to Leon half-jokingly.

Leon didn't take it too seriously and really talked about basketball with Riley. As a legendary coach in NBA history, Riley naturally has a lot of valuable experience to learn from, and Leon, as a coach with no background, has many genius ideas that surprised Riley.

After drinking three cups of coffee in a row, Riley suddenly brought up a sensitive topic.

"Have you ever thought about coaching a team other than the Celtics?" Riley suddenly asked.

“Once a Celtic, always a Celtic,” Leon said.

"Hahaha, players and coaches in the league are divided into two categories, one is the Celtics, and the other is others. But things are different now. Although the Celtics are still very powerful, and you won the championship this year The hope is great, but this league is no longer the time when Bostonians block half of the sky. Fox, I know Auerbach has high hopes for you, but I bet you will not become the second Auerbach. From your I can tell by the way you act, you will be invincible, but you will not break the earth and become a king." Riley's eyes became like knives, but Leon was silent.

Leon had to admit that some of Riley's words spoke to his heart. He does pursue victory, championships, and success. In fact, if he was not engaged in basketball, he would still have such pursuits. He enjoys the joy of winning and success from the interesting sport of basketball, and enjoys pursuing the ultimate tactics and team, but he does not pursue building a Celtics empire.

From this point of view, he is a person who lacks basketball sentiment, but is a rationalistic pursuer of success.

Seeing that Leon stopped talking, Riley fiddled with the ring on his hand and said: "This is the championship ring I got when I coached the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time in 1982. In 1982, when I coached for the first time, I won the championship. , Haha, in my first season I got many things that coaches have dreamed of all their lives. The Lakers at that time were just like the Celtics now, unbelievably powerful. Many people like to recall the Celtics at that time. There was a yellow-green duel between the Celtics and the Lakers, but I tell you, the Lakers are much stronger than the Celtics. In Los Angeles, I spent nearly ten years and won four championships, and then I went to the Knicks , one step away from the championship. Finally, today, I am in the Miami Heat and have accomplished nothing. But I am more happy here than in New York or Los Angeles. This is my team. "

Leon smiled and said, "Yes, this is your team, not my team."

"Haha, I'm not here to persuade you to join. You still have a long way to go in Boston. I just mentioned it casually, don't mind. Oh, there is one more thing I want to tell you. When the team reaches a certain level, it will The only opponent left is really yourself." Riley finally said, and then they ended the meeting.

Leon left the South Beach hotel and left with the Celtics the next day to continue their regular season journey. No matter what Riley says, Fox-Leon's will to win a championship for the Celtics will not waver in the slightest.

This is a promise and a destiny.

In the following days, the Celtics won consecutive games in the regular season. The Lakers' record declined due to Malone's injury and Kobe's absence. Since then, no team has been able to match Kyle's regular season record. Special people compete. With a clear lead, the Celtics have begun to look towards the playoffs.