After December, the suspension is a very expensive war for both sides.

In previous years, the regular season has been going on for two months, and now these millionaires are doing everything they can at the negotiating table to prove who is more greedy.

Then, David Stern gradually took off the hypocritical mask that always had a smile.

He would let the players know that this sissy who always smiles and seems to be no threat to anyone can be so decisive.

On December 23, Stern announced that if the labor and management sides still cannot reach an agreement before January 7, 1999, the entire season would be cancelled.

Chaos began to appear.

If the entire season is cancelled, the ones who suffer serious losses will be those big-name players with annual salary of over 10 million, because they cannot sign such a large contract in other places.

As soon as this happened, those big-name players with firm will begin to have strange intentions.

As this deadline approaches, disunity begins to occur within the players' union.

The Players' Union originally planned to hold a meeting in New York on January 6, where the meeting voted on the proposals made by the bosses. These proposals were firmly opposed by the union. However, this time, Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon hope to vote secretly. At the same time, some people also said that they want to return to the field regardless of the voting result.

Guild President Kevin Johnson believes that if a new agreement cannot be reached, most players will fight against the division within the union.

Under heavy pressure from the outside world and inside, the Players' Union and Stern reached an agreement one day before Stern's original deadline, and the new agreement was also passed by the trade union and the NBA Council.

This suspension can be seen as a victory for the boss's camp, and the two sides successfully signed a new contract until January 20.

The 204-day shutdown has finally ended.

The new agreement limits the team's salary. The salary is based on the length of the player's time in the league. There is also a standard for the rookie contract. The Larry Bird clause is retained and the league's basic salary level has also increased to $280,000, an increase of $15,000 from the previous period.

The shutdown ended, but the negative impact of the shutdown is immeasurable. Fans are very disgusted with the actions of both labor and capital. In their opinion, both labor and capital are comparing who is more greedy than who is.

Both labor and capital have suffered great damage in both financial and image, and there is no winner at all.

Although Stern later stated in an interview that he had made many concessions, the players would be greedy, but the arbitrator of the suspension said that both parties were actually evasive.

The 199899 season officially started on February 5, with each team's regular season shortened to 50 games, and the 204-day suspension caused 464 regular season games to be cancelled.

The party held by Mo Mengchen ended in mid-December because no one is sure whether this season will start. If the whole season is suspended, the players will have to consider their own way out.

Mo Mengchen has always been very confident. He knew that the shutdown would be resolved, but he did not disclose much information to his teammates.

He wanted to use this to see what these people think.

The result was similar to what he thought. Some people didn't care, such as Barkley and Choudhumas. Both of them were about to retire and didn't care about the final season. Some people believed that the dispute would be resolved. For example, Hill and Rashid were so anxious that they didn't want to have fun. They just wanted to stop and ended quickly, so that they could start playing games.

On the day the league announced the end of the suspension, Dean Osgus personally called the players and asked them to meet in Detroit.

The biggest problem for the Pistons now is that they have not selected a new head coach.

Because of the suspension, the team cannot do anything, but this does not prevent them from selecting the right person for such a long time.

Mo Mengchen believed they already had the answer.

After the shutdown, Michael Jordan announced his retirement.

"I will leave basketball forever this time."

Haha, it would be strange if I believe you.

However, Jordan, who could affect the league structure, did leave the arena forever.

At the age of 36, with six championships and countless glory, he sat on the first throne of the Pantheon and laughed and proud, leaving an eternal legend in the world.

"Even if we succeed in the future, there will still be people saying that our success is because of M's retirement."

Henry Ford Center, Momontchen said this to Hill.

Hill didn't think so much, he just said, "Do you know about the new coach?"

"New coach?" Mo Mengchen remembered the team's notice.

This is unexpected news. He also watched the legendary battle played by this coach as a player in the finals not long ago.

The new coach of the Detroit Pistons is Paul Westfal.

Westfal has been on the break for two years, and the last time Momonchen saw him on the field was his rookie season, his last season in the Suns.

He gives people the feeling that he is rarely excited and hardly leaves the coaching seat. The so-called handsomeness is always inseparable from the position.

Moreover, every time he was caught by the camera, he always looked calm with an artist who said, "Well, this painting is skillful, not sweet, but lacks realm." Occasionally, he turned around and called a pause, and he just raised his hand. The storm was stormy on the field, and the clouds and smoke were passing by.

The teams under his rule are still good and bad in defense, and are not good at it. However, they are free and easy to make their offensive ends and are fully integrated.

He is one of the most tragic head coaches in NBA history.

In 1992, he experienced three great defeats with the Phoenix Suns, and together with Charles Barkley, he became the greatest supporting role in history.

In 1995, the Suns fought with the Rockets until Game 7, and then scored a long-range shot with Mario Elli's kiss of death.

In 1994, in the seventh game, Barkley played in the closed game and was still killed by the Rockets.

In 1993, the Suns forced Jordan to average 41 points in the finals that were unprecedented and unparalleled, and then he was defeated by John Paxson.

and,

As the protagonist of the tragedy, the Suns of these three seasons are the first three seasons of Westfar's coaching career. In other words, in the first three years of his entry, he became the most tragic supporting role in history, and half of them were due to the injuries of the players.

As a coach who has not coached for a long time, he has left enough tragedies in the playoffs.

When he left the sun in 1996, he left calmly.

The quotes he left were as calm as his expression. In 1993, when the Lakers and the Suns had a stalemate, everyone suspected that the Suns were "just a regular season team". He said concisely: "We are a better team than the Lakers, and we will win this series."

In the finals, when Jordan scored 55 points to beat the Suns, he said: "I didn't say we can defend Jordan. No one can defend Jordan."

In 1996, when injuries hit the sun, he didn't care: "This topic is not interesting. I don't want the outside world to talk about myself. For me, every step I take is to see three steps that may be taken in the future."

He is a bit like Adelman attaches importance to the dynamics of players, and his offensive strengths and overall consistency are a bit like Phil Jackson doesn't like to call timeouts forcing control, allowing the players to figure out and solve the problem by themselves.

His fate is somewhat related to this. He is too free and indulgent, sometimes losing control and protecting the players too much, and sometimes he is inevitably spoiled. However, his team can always play beautiful games that make people see fun and hopeful.

"You shouldn't ask me, you should ask pregnant women."

Mo Mengchen raised his eyebrows and looked at Barkley not far away.

For three months, Barkley's only task was to lose weight. Currently, his weight is 131 kilograms, which is still 20 kilograms away from the end of last season.

Losing weight is painful, and he screams every day.

Why do old guys like him who are ready to retire at any time still want to lose weight? This is simply unfair!

"Chuck, what do you think of Paul?"

Barkley's peak in his career was spent under Westfar, and he should have a good understanding of this coach.

Upon hearing this, Barkley said, "Paul is a good man, very smart and patient."

Mo Mengchen absolutely believes in cleverness.

There are many things that can be seen in that final. Only at critical moments can people like Westfal see the light of his inspiration.

Half an hour later, Paul Westfal, the elegant five-year-old man who had left his coaching position for two years walked into the Henry Ford Training Center.

Before this, he coached two teams, but neither team has such a strong personnel reserve like the Pistons.

This will be the biggest challenge of his career, and the fate of this team over the past few years is very similar to his.

He has experienced three regrettable defeats in the Suns, and the team has also experienced three regrettable defeats in the past three years.

Like Westfall, they both want to succeed.

Westfal was not a stern coach, and he walked in and patted Barkley on the shoulder kindly.

"Coach, I'll say we'll see you again." Barkley said with a smile.

Westfal asked the players to concentrate, and he stood in front of everyone, accompanied by the assistant coach team led by Frauses.

"We don't have much time, guys."

Westfar doesn't tell everyone about those old chicken soup. He is very pragmatic and organizes players to have a confrontation match as soon as he comes.

"I need to see your strength and style of the game, which means you have to do your best in the game. Is there any problem?" Westfal asked.

Hill replied: "Coach, it has never been a problem for us to do our best in the matchup."

Because there is a dad here.

"Very good." Westfar said expectantly, "Let's get started!"
Chapter completed!