The Whip of the God of Basketball

(Year-end settlement, late, sorry) When Leon arrived in Sydney, it was already 9:30 in the morning in Sydney. It was still hot summer in the northern hemisphere, and it was cold winter in Australia in the southern hemisphere. Fortunately, Sydney was close to the sea, and the wind came from the equator. The warm East Australian current makes the climate here relatively suitable.

Even so, Leon put on a cotton coat and took a taxi as fast as he could to his destination, North Sydney Seaview Hotel.

Leon encountered some troubles during the exit visa, because of his previous prison record, the Australian visa officer was still reluctant to stamp his passport. After more than an hour of hard work, he finally got permission. Boarded a flight to Australia.

This is the second time Leon has acted alone after he came to the Celtics. The first time he went to Chicago alone. At that time, he went to Chicago to join the big team; It is also very strange, that is, it is confirmed that Rodman will report to Boston before the start of the Celtics new season training camp in mid-July.

The only player in the league like Rodman will make the team worry that he will not come to the team to report before the start of the new season. After all, more than three months ago, his various performances in the Mavericks were impressive.

As an outcast in the lawless league, after being "taken in" by the Mavericks owner Cuban in February, Rodman played his first game in his hometown Dallas hard and decently, and expressed his surprise at the enthusiasm of the local Dallas fans. , Rodman was ejected for two technical fouls in Game 2.

Then in the game against the Utah Jazz, facing his old opponent Karl Malone, he was ejected for two technical fouls again, and took off his jersey and threw it to the fans as he left the field.

From February 9th to March 9th, in one month, Rodman was sent off three times, twice because of consecutive technical fouls, once off the field for six fouls, and repeatedly uttered nonsense in news interviews after the game. Such as claiming to compete with David Stern in the boxing ring, such as swearing at the boss who signed him, Mark Cuban.

It can be said that the Mavericks and its new owner, Cuban, have done their best to the big bug. During the team training period, he can arrive later than anyone else, and even as long as the game is not delayed, he can not participate in the training.

Rodman can still live in Cuban's luxurious villa on weekdays, and his private life is completely free from the team's rules. Cuban's $3,000 lodging fee will do the trick.

Compared with the strict rules during the Lakers period, Rodman received VIP treatment in the Mavericks. Cuban hopes that such laissez-faire can satisfy the experienced veteran and become the leader of the young Dallas Mavericks team. Lead them into the playoffs, allowing young players to learn from the rich experience of the players in the finals.

But obviously, Cuban, the young NBA owner, was too naive. He overestimated his understanding of Rodman and Rodman's needs. The first big lesson after the NBA, because this is his first free agent signing; Rodman almost completely blocked his NBA path, and no one is willing to accept this lawless Huatai Sui anymore.

Until Pitino decided to discuss with the Mavericks and bring Rodman to Boston, which is incompatible with him, by signing first and then trading. ——The evaluation of the difference between the two sides has completely gone to two extremes.

On the day Leon left Boston for Sydney, the sports newspapers in the entire Boston area were all arguing, and the criticism of Pitino was overwhelming. Many Celtics fans went to the Celtics headquarters. I hope the Celtics fire Rick Pitino immediately and don't bring Rodman back to Boston.

Some extreme Celtics fans even claimed that if Rodman wore the Celtics green jersey and walked to the TD North Shore Garden Arena, then their figures would disappear forever in the stands of the North Shore Garden Arena.

This kind of public opinion has put Pitino under tremendous pressure, but now he is already in debt, not to mention that this pressure is also passed on to Auerbach, and people keep calling Auerbach to hope that he will come forward Solve the problem, but Auerbach still secretly supported Pitino at this time. It can be said that his actions made Auerbach a little embarrassed.

So, the key to solving the problem seems to come to Leon, because he will be the first Celtics staff member to contact Rodman. Of course, the first thing he will face after arriving at the North Sydney Harbor View Hotel The first difficulty is to find Rodman first.

Leon did not have Rodman's contact information, but he had a phone number from Rodman's agent Darren Prince. After arriving at his residence and settling in, Leon quickly contacted Prince. Meet at a cafe in the hotel.

Prince is a very shrewd broker. He looks round and harmless to humans and animals, but he is actually a ghost. As early as 20 years old, he sold the company he founded for one million The dollar price made the first pot of gold, and then opened a new brokerage company.

Some of his athletes are controversial but really great people, such as Muhammad Ali, Magic Johnson, and of course basketball geniuses like Dennis Rodman.

Even Playboy cover girls like Carmen Electra are also Prince's customers, which is enough to show how "educated and undiscriminated" Prince is in selecting customer groups.

Leon didn't know this manager before, but just by taking one look at him, especially seeing his sly smile and eyes with ghostly ideas, Leon knew that this was a difficult guy to deal with.

Sure enough, Prince was very polite to Leon, but he kept arguing with him. He was still unwilling to talk to Leon about Rodman going to the Celtics. He claimed that Rodman is now a wrestler. His goal is to enter the entertainment industry.

As early as 1996, Rodman filmed the movie "Crazy Coach". Mann took over his brokerage job after leaving the Bulls.

Because after the Bulls won three consecutive championships, Rodman has made no progress on the basketball road, and his age has reached 37 years old. At the end of a professional player's career, it is impossible for Prince to sign him because of basketball. reasons.

Negotiations with Prince were ineffective, but the only progress Leon got was that Prince was willing to arrange for Leon and Rodman to meet. In fact, Rodman himself agreed to re-sign with the Mavericks and be traded to the Celtics. Otherwise, according to Prince, he would not want Rodman to return to the NBA, because he was ready to take Rodman back to the NBA. Man made himself an entertainment star, and the purpose of bringing Rodman to Sydney was for him to participate in a competition called Generation I Superstar Wrestling Competition, just like the wrestling stars of WWE, to complete an entertainment game according to the established script Contest.

But Rodman, who is difficult to think with ordinary people's brains, accepted the condition of signing first and then trading, and then came to Sydney to start preparing for a wrestling match. Leon knew that this meeting would be his only chance to complete the task. Rodman returned to Boston to report, and it was basically impossible in the future.

…………………

"I don't know why I persuaded you to play in Boston. In fact, you are very good here." Leon sat on a stool and looked at Dennis Rodman who was lying on the opposite sofa.

In fact, Leon had never seen Rodman before this, not even in the game on TV or in the photos on the poster, so when he saw a man with dyed green hair, tattoos all over his body, wearing a colorful beach shirt and When the big black man in red shorts and wearing a pair of sunglasses was reclined on the sofa blowing on the heater, his heart was still a little shocked.

Especially he was wearing sunglasses, which made Leon a little embarrassed, because he couldn't see the other person's eyes, which made Leon very uncomfortable, and he liked to read useful things from the other person's eyes.

Listening to Leon's words, Rodman lay motionless, neither speaking nor moving, like a marine iguana lying on a rock basking in the sun.

This is a terrible silence, which is enough to drive a wise guy crazy, because in the face of a silent opponent, no matter how clever the words are, it will appear weak, not to mention that Leon's opening remarks are not exciting, even a little bad.

Leon observed Rodman for a while, and suddenly said: "You just fucked a blonde girl and a black girl with black hair. You are old, tired, and empty. Why don't you come and call me?" How about a gamble?"

Leon could feel Rodman's gaze looking towards him through the sunglasses. Although he couldn't see his eyes, he could feel it.

"What bet?" Rodman spoke, his voice hoarse and tired.

Leon took out a coin from his pocket and said, "Let God decide what to do next. Guess one side, guess right, I'm leaving here, guess wrong, you need to give me a chance."

Rodman thought that Leon would say that he guessed wrong and go back to Boston with him. He wanted to scoff at this kind of silly trick, but Leon said "give him a chance", and he became curious again.

"What chance is there for you?" Rodman asked.

"Give me a chance to fight with you." Leon replied, and then added: "I want to prove that you are not suitable for wrestling."