Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 560 The Offseason Begins! Who the hell cares about the championship?

Lin Tian ultimately couldn't escape Old Nelson's clutches and promised him that he would spend at least a month joining his summer training program to help Stoudemire, Anthony, and others improve.

But apart from that, Lin Tian's offseason this year has been quite enjoyable.

This year, he had no national team duties, and he never went to Asian competitions. The creative camp he and Dolan were involved in had its copyright sold earlier this year, allowing Lin Tian to make a fortune.

Of course, Dolan also wants to try something similar, such as singing and dancing in the same style or some other gimmick.

But those things have nothing to do with Lin Tian, ​​well... not entirely unrelated.

The money that should be paid must not be less than a penny!

Copyright fees must be paid in full.

Furthermore, Dana White hopes that Lin Tian will make a guest appearance in two more matches to stimulate the UFC, which is now developing rapidly and has become one of the mainstream fighting leagues in the United States.

Lin Tian, ​​who has won an Olympic gold medal and defeated Tyson, still has a large number of die-hard fans in the fighting world. Especially with Lin Tian's status as a crossover superstar, many fighting fans are looking forward to Lin Tian going to the UFC to fight a few matches against the top fighters there.

As for Lin Tian's response?

No way! I'm too old for that. Why would I compete with young people for jobs? My arms and legs are so weak. What if I get injured?

In particular, Lin Da Guan Ren now has a 100% win rate, and he even defeated Tyson. He doesn't want to break his perfect fighting career record.

That's it!

However, since it's his own business, Lin Tian is too lazy to go on stage now, but if you ask him to stand on stage, cut a ribbon, or shoot a couple of adult videos, that's absolutely no problem, he has to show his support!

After all, they're all making money for themselves!

In addition, Pelinka also stated that Lin Tian must continue his world tour this year, firstly to increase shoe sales and popularity, and secondly because some business collaborations have expired, and Lin Tian needs to make an appearance to renegotiate the details of the collaborations.

Furthermore, the Laureus Awards, which are becoming increasingly formal and influential, have been moved to June this year. They specifically postponed the event so that Lin Tian, ​​the first Grand Slam winner, could come and support them as a special guest to present them with some awards.

Although changing the date just for one person sounds very unprofessional, Lin Tian definitely has to attend the awards ceremony since the sponsor is a big spender.

Especially since they have a new endorsement contract to discuss with Lin Tian, ​​how could he not go if they were giving him money?

I heard that this year's awards ceremony will be held in Estoril, Portugal?

I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to meet the future superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. If I do, I'll definitely encourage him and say, "Little brother, you're great. I think you'll become the GOAT of football."

Hmm... If you have the chance, go to Barcelona and see if you can meet Yoshi, and then persuade him to just go to Japan next door and get naturalized, because it's more suitable for you than Argentina.

Or maybe we could bump into Benzema, Ribery, Xavi, Neuer, or someone else, and go and buy a bunch of football GOATs?

I have faith in all of you; may you all become the GOAT!

Anyway, this stuff isn't worth much, so let's buy it wholesale.

Finally, take a world tour, happily exchange souls with your friends, and infuse some of the source of life?

Lin Tian suddenly felt that this offseason, which was longer than almost any of his seasons, seemed to have become truly leisurely.

However, Lin Tian was never one to overthink things. He spent several days in his New York apartment, sleeping and playing non-stop, giving himself a good rest.

It's worth mentioning that the Olsen twins, who had completely ignored each other after the All-Star game, have reconnected with Lin Tian. Both sisters acted as if they were completely unaware of his existence, appearing at completely different times.

Even when Lin Tian asked, "How are your sisters doing lately?" the two girls would get angry and then angrily tell Lin Tian: "Elizabeth is not doing well in her studies, and as her older sister, I am heartbroken."

Poor Elizabeth, she's left out when her sisters are having fun, but she's always the one who gets blamed.

Of course, in just a few days, Lin Tian didn't do anything fancy like forcing the two of them together and then having another "life-binding" operation. These things have to be done slowly, there's plenty of time in the future!

If you make someone angry, won't you lose one... no, two portions of happiness in the future?

Lin Tian stayed in New York for more than half a month. He waited until late June before finally deciding to get moving and travel around.

By this time, the NBA season had officially ended.

Lin Tian had genuinely been too lazy to care who won the championship, but now that he arrived at the airport and saw the huge posters of Billups holding the FMVP trophy, with Ben Wallace, Hamilton, and others looking just as happy as children, he finally realized that the Pistons had won the championship. As for the score...

Let's talk about it next season; Lin Tian is too lazy to care right now.

Meanwhile, the NBA draft lottery and draft were also completed during this period.

The 30-win Bucks emerged as the biggest winner, surpassing a host of "powerful" opponents with only a dozen or so wins to secure the number one draft pick! This team, which had a chance to make the playoffs if not for injuries, suddenly gained hope for rebuilding!

The Bobcats got the second overall pick, the Hawks got the third, and then the Hornets and Warriors were next. These five teams became the top five teams in this season's draft.

As for the final draft results, the Bucks, with the first overall pick, selected a dead man from Australia; the Bobcats, desperately needing a point guard to team up with Okafor, selected North Carolina prodigy Raymond Felton; the Hawks took Marvin Williams, nicknamed "Landlord"; the Hornets, with the fourth pick, selected Deron Williams; and the Warriors, with the fifth pick, selected the small guard Chris Paul.

What happens next?

Lin Tian didn't know what happened after that.

Oh, wait, I know one. Donnie Walsh called Lin Tian and told him that he picked another guy who can fly and dunk at the end of the first round, which can be considered as finding a backup for Lin Tian.

Nate Robinson.

A 175cm tall dunk champion, Spud Webber is another well-known short player in the league.

However, unlike Webber, Boykins and other well-known short players in the league, other short players rely on organizing the offense and passing to make a living.

Nate Robinson, on the other hand, relies on scoring!

He's a scorer with little organizational ability.

Despite his short stature, he possesses great impact, excellent physical strength, explosive jumping ability, a skillful shot, and a complete lack of defensive awareness.

That actually suits the Knicks' style quite well.

As for why Lin Tian only knew about the top five picks, it was because Jordan called him again.

Jordan asked Lin Tian who he would choose.

Lin Tian told Jordan without hesitation, "Paul! Pick Chris Paul!"

Then Jordan told Lin Tian without hesitation, "Haha! I've already made my choice. I didn't choose Paul, I chose Felton. He's my junior, and he'll become the best point guard in this draft class. He and Okafor can lead the team to the playoffs next season!"

"As for Paul, whom you recommended? He's fallen to fifth! He's no good at all. He's too short, can't defend, and will be exploited as a weakness. I bet you he'll be the weakest of the top five picks."

After hearing Jordan's words, Lin Tian couldn't help but roll his eyes and said, "Why didn't you listen to my recommendation? Why did you ask me who to choose?"

"I'll provoke you! I'll prove that my judgment is 100 times better than yours!"

Okay, okay, a hundred times, a hundred times.

Hearing Jordan's words, Lin Tian resisted the urge to further humiliate him and instead said directly, "I bet Chris Paul will win Rookie of the Year. Are you willing to bet?"

"I bet Chris Paul won't be the Rookie of the Year!" Jordan was quite clever this time. If it were the old Jordan, he would have told Lin Tian that he was betting Felton would be the Rookie of the Year.

But after losing so many times, Jordan had long since learned his lesson.

Hehe, I'm going to try a different way of betting!

I'm betting 59 rookies on just one of Lin Tian's. How could I possibly lose?

With a dragon charging right in my face, how could I possibly lose?

Then, Jordan waited nervously, afraid that Lin Tian would realize the trap in his words.

"It's a deal, let's do it this way. Tell me, what are we betting on?"

"10 US dollars!" Jordan asked for an astronomical price.

"Come on, neither of us is short of money. What's the point of betting 10 a year?" Lin Tian thought for a moment and said, "How about this, the loser has to wear the other person's sneakers and appear inside their sneaker glove compartment. How about it, dare you?"

"Come on! I'm going to win!" Jordan hung up the phone smugly, convinced he had a huge advantage.

Lin Tian was equally pleased and called AND1's GG department, asking them to come up with a good script, one featuring Jordan. He said there was no rush, as it wasn't needed until April of next year.

Jordan thinks he has a huge advantage? Lin Tian says: You can probably call it GG!

After a super happy Jordan hung up the phone, he immediately called Felton and said, "Little brother, I have high hopes for you. Let's train together this summer!"

Felton: No problem! You're my god! When do we start?

Jordan: Number 26, I guess!

Felton: No problem! See you next month!

Jordan: Next month? I mean the 26th of this month!

Felton: Mr. Michael, but it's 10 p.m. on June 26th!

Jordan: You don't have to come.

Thus, Felton's nightmare began on the night of the draft.

Of course, it had nothing to do with Lin Tian. Whether or not Jordan would completely ruin him was something Lin Tian didn't care about.

Now, Lin Tian is embarking on his happy and leisurely off-season. Just how leisurely?

So leisurely that before the previous sentence even began, he had already returned to New York.

Time... flies by so fast!

In the past month or so, Lin Tian has traveled almost halfway around the world, from business activities to taking a vacation, to supporting Lawrence at the event, and also extended and updated a series of endorsement deals. By the time he returned to New York, it was already mid-August.

After getting off the plane, Lin Tian only had time to go back to his apartment in New York and get some sleep. The next morning, he was forced to go to the Knicks' training facility by a phone call from the impatient old Nelson.

He had been playing around for almost two months, having a very leisurely time. Even his muscles had become a bit bulky, and his weight had increased. But it wasn't a big problem. For Lin Tian, ​​it would take at most a month to get back to his peak physique.

But the other Knicks players weren't having it so easy.

For example, players like Stoudemire and Anthony took a few days off after the season ended, went on vacation for more than half a month, and then returned to training in August!

The Knicks' internal mini-training camp has been underway for about a week.

When Lin Tian arrived at the training hall, he was surprised to find that everyone was there!

Apart from himself, all the other Knicks players were there!

How perfect is it?

Even Houston, who was out for the season, practiced shooting there. Even Ewing and Oakley, who had retired long ago, were there coaching Stoudemire, Okur, and others.

Damn it, all this is so neat and tidy, doesn't it make me, Lord Lin, look incredibly irresponsible and lazy?

"Don't worry, no one thinks that your absence is disrespectful to the competition or to them. On the contrary, they'd love for you to arrive a few days later so they can show you something completely different."

Old Nelson had clearly seen through Lin Tian's thoughts and explained right next to him.

At this moment, the players who were training hard in various places also saw Lin Tian and came over to greet him.

"I didn't expect you to arrive so early. I wanted to give you a surprise!" Xiao Si grinned from ear to ear, clearly showing that his training had been quite effective.

"Lin, wanna have a one-on-one?" Anthony asked enthusiastically, "I've learned a new move."

"Long time no see, Lin! How are you? Happy in New York! You should have come here 8 years ago!" Ewing grinned widely, becoming the least attractive person present.

Upon seeing old friends Nelson and Ewing together, Lin Tian immediately teased them, "Patrick, didn't you beat up this old man? He was trying to send you away back then!"

The moment Lin Tian uttered those words, the entire scene froze for a moment. Everyone was stunned; no one had expected that Lin Tian's first words would be like this.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot, you two have nothing going on anymore."

Lin Tian's second sentence managed to make the air in the room move a little more, but Old Nelson, who knew Lin Tian well, could guess with his knees that Lin Tian's next sentence was definitely nonsense.

"Didn't Patrick and his gang kick you out again, Don? So you two are even now, it's a draw."

Awkward, extremely awkward.

Although Old Nelson and Ewing no longer care much about what happened back then, considering it a shameful memory from their youthful folly, it's still incredibly unpleasant and upsetting that Lin Tian brings it up now.

It's like when you're 30 and attend your elementary school reunion, your classmates loudly recount stories of how you wet your pants and soiled your crotch back then.

Is this a big deal?

Absolutely not!

But just thinking about it makes you feel refreshed and happy.

"Shut up!" Old Nelson rolled his eyes, then decisively changed the subject, looking at everyone present and saying, "Since everyone's here, how about a game?"

"Come on, come on!" Ewing shouted quickly, "I'll be the head coach of the blue team!"

Just as Lin Tian was about to ask where the blue, white, and red teams came from, Ward had already quite sensibly taken out a bunch of red and blue vests. Obviously, these guys had been playing a lot of practice matches lately.

"Lin, Amaree, Josh, Matt, Gerrard, you five are on one team," Old Nelson said quickly. "Mero, Mehmet, Michael, Charlie, Alan, you five are on one team. Let's begin."

"I'll take Messi and Ronaldo!" Ewing cheered, making no secret of his desire for the head coach position.

"This guy has always wanted to become a coach," Old Nelson said frankly. "He's been asking me to give him a chance, and he's willing to start as an assistant coach."

"So what do you mean?" Lin Tian was very curious about Old Nelson's choice. Would he give Ewing a chance?

After all, if Lin Tian's memory is correct, Ewing has indeed always longed to be a coach and has been working hard towards that goal.

However, the harder this guy tries, the further he gets from the head coach position; the harder he tries, the fewer people want him to be the coach.

At first, he could still work as an assistant coach because of his fame, but he quickly dropped to the point where he could only work as a personal trainer. After he delayed the careers of two promising young stars, Yao Ming and Andrew Bynum, no one even wanted him to be a personal trainer anymore. He was completely talentless and knew nothing about the industry.

More importantly, both Yao Ming and Andrew Bynum changed trainers afterward; one hired McMillan, and the other hired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

And then?

They've all become top-tier centers in the league.

As for the ending of the story, Ewing could only coach in the Development League, and then in the NCAA. As for whether he could make it in the NCAA and whether he could return to the NBA...

Anyway, Lin Tian felt there was no chance.

If there were any hope, he wouldn't have had to work hard for 30 years after retiring and only be able to find a position in the NCAA.

Well... that's a story for later. Right now, Lin Tian needs to change his clothes and see what his little brothers have actually learned in the two weeks he's been away.

Let's see what kind of progress could make them so excited!

"Coach, I want to play too, why won't you let me play!" Stephen Jackson, the team's starting shooting guard last season, spread his arms wide, looking completely innocent.

"Get lost." Old Nelson was equally ruthless: "Didn't you sign with the Warriors? Instead of reporting to Golden State, you're shamelessly hanging around here crashing training. I'm already being kind by not kicking you out, and you still want to play?"

"Why don't you just go to heaven?"

"But, Coach, I want to play basketball!" Jackson looked aggrieved, almost as if he were wearing long hair, kneeling on the ground, his face covered in tears.

"Get lost!" Unfortunately, he wasn't facing Coach Anzai. (End of Chapter)