Because the game against the Pistons ended early, the Magic players returned to Orlando that night. Although it was already late at night when they landed, the players' energy was high, and this was their normal sleeping spot.
So at 9 a.m. the next day, all members of the Magic showed up at the Waterhouse Center training hall on time. Just as Edison was still leading the team to practice in the training hall as usual, a staff member suddenly came to inform him that the team's player development
The manager of the department, Odis, asked him to go to a meeting. It was an important meeting and he couldn't take leave.
Edison was very surprised to hear this. Since he took over the Magic, the team's top management rarely had such sudden meetings except for a regular meeting once a month. There were only two situations in the past unconventional high-level meetings: 1. Dev received the call
For a new large-scale commercial sponsorship, everyone will be invited to discuss whether it is acceptable and how all parties should cooperate after acceptance; 2. During the summer transaction, Edison convened everyone to discuss the target candidates, but it was more of an informing process than a discussion.
.
What's going on today? It's not Dev, but Otis. Edison feels a little weird.
While walking to the large conference room on the top floor, Edison thought about the possible content of this meeting, "Is it a contract extension? It shouldn't be. The team has no players whose contracts have expired in the past two years. Could it be that these bastards are breaking in again?
What happened, and it was photographed by reporters, and now the club is planning a crisis public relations? It's possible." The more Edison thought about it, the more it made sense. He really couldn't think of any other problems.
When Edison arrived at the conference room, he found that he had arrived relatively late. Old Pat and others had already arrived, but Otis, who initiated the meeting, did not come.
As soon as Edison entered the conference room, he found that the comparison was too right, and the atmosphere in the room was particularly depressing. "It seems that it is not a big deal." Edison had a new prediction when he saw this posture.
At this time, Edison really wanted to communicate with Old Pat first and determine the content of the meeting in advance. However, he was very far away from Old Pat and could not communicate at all. Because although he was the core of the Magic game, he was not in the team management
The first floor can only be regarded as a junior, so he sits very far back, basically from the bottom.
About 5 minutes later, Otis accompanied the two people to the conference room.
Edison recognized one of the people, and suddenly he knew that today's event was bigger than he originally expected. Because that person was none other than Dick, the eldest son of the team's majority shareholder, Charlie DeVos.
· DeVos.
Charlie DeVos was not in good health, and even his heart was not an original one but a transplant. So since that serious illness, he has basically been absent from the board of directors. When he is in good health, he will come out and go for a walk.
It makes the employees of his various companies feel at ease, and also reassures the shareholders who hold the company. In short, it is a real-life mascot.
Nowadays, the DeVos family's property is managed by the children of old Charlie, and the most powerful among his children is the eldest son Dick. For Edison, Dick also has a special identity-he
He was the pioneer who proposed that the DeVos family give up the Magic. According to Old Pat, this guy had repeatedly suggested to Old Charlie to sell the Magic and invest the money in other profitable places, but he was always suppressed by Old Charlie.
.But since old Charlie fell ill, this guy started to come out and play around again.
"What did this guy do in the team today?" Edison thought of this guy's previous words and deeds, looked at this guy's stinky face, and suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart. It seemed that things were not as simple as he thought before.
After all three people were seated, Dick glanced at Otis and said it was okay, and the meeting officially began under the chairmanship of Otis.
The actual content of the meeting is very traditional, which is to analyze the current situation of the team for the big boss. Because Dick is more concerned about the economic benefits brought by the team, it starts with some business things, including current profits and future profits.
Planning. During this process, Dick remained silent, looking at the information in front of him, not sure if he listened.
When Dev said that the team was communicating with the city government and planned to build a new stadium to expand its influence, Dick, who had been silent, spoke up.
"How much money is needed to build a new arena?"
"The overall plan is more than 1 billion. We are talking with the city of Orlando, hoping that they can be responsible for the early demolition and surrounding planning to free up the land. And we are only responsible for building the arena. Mr. Charlie did it before
The initial budget is around 250 million."
After hearing what Dev said, Dick thought for a moment and then said, "What do the people in the city say now?"
"Mayor Buddy Dyer is very supportive of our plan. But he hopes that we can further increase investment in venues and build a landmark building in downtown Orlando to expand the city's tourism influence. But now there are many dissenters in the government.
Opinion people.”
"It is impossible for the company to increase investment. If they don't agree, forget it and stop it."
"But this was Mr. Charlie's original..."
"I said the matter of building a new arena can be stopped here. We don't have the time and money to play with those politicians. If they don't agree, forget it."
Building a new arena is something that everyone in the Magic team has been striving for in the past few years. However, the city of Orlando has always supported it. Now it has finally turned around. Unexpectedly, it has been rejected internally. So everyone here
Everyone's faces suddenly turned ugly. Although we can't say that we are all mourning, we are still a little sad.
But these have little to do with Edison. It doesn’t matter whether the arena is big or good, because no matter how good the arena is, the league cannot arrange two more home courts for you, and the actual playing field of 94 by 50 square feet cannot be changed.
Flowers come out.
Just when Edison felt that today's meeting had nothing to do with him and was about to get through it, Otis suddenly spoke.
"Another point is that the team's performance this season is very unsatisfactory. We have lost many games in a row before. After losing to the Pistons yesterday, we fell to sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The team's shareholders are very dissatisfied with this. Paul is
You have a lot of responsibility inside. I read the newspaper two days ago and the fans and media in Orlando have a lot of opinions on you."
When Edison heard this, he was about to explain a few words, but he didn't expect that Otis didn't give him a chance at all, but started to talk about his various shortcomings.
"Paul, I know you have other careers now, and they are very successful. But you now have a contract with the Magic. Out of professionalism, we hope you can be more focused on your job as the team's head coach. The team
We are still paying the luxury tax this season. If there is no new breakthrough at the end of the season, we will consider replacing the team with a more capable and focused coach."
When Otis spoke, Dick did not speak. He half-closed his eyes.
But Edison saw and understood that Otis was obviously instructed by Otis to say these words, although Edison couldn't figure out what their purpose was. And what made Edison feel the most terrible was that every word Otis said was
Well-founded and standing on the moral high ground, Edison could not refute, because he couldn't explain clearly. In the eyes of outsiders, he was indeed a bit too active outside the game.
So Edison said nothing and looked at Otis with squinted eyes, wanting to see what other tricks he could do.
"Finally, we announced a change in team personnel. This is George Wood, who used to be the head coach of the NCAA Cats and Dogs team. Now the team has decided to hire him as the team's tactical consultant. He will join the coaching staff and participate in team games.
Formulate tactics. Paul, get to know him. If you have any questions in the future, you can consult him. The future of the team will depend on the two of you."
Only then did he realize what the person he had never seen before was here to do. He raised his eyes and glanced at George, who happened to be looking at him as well. The two people's eyes made contact, and the others could clearly feel the murderous aura.
The meeting was basically over at this point. Dick concluded by drawing a pie for everyone, and then everyone went back to their homes.
But Edison did not return to the training hall. Instead, he planned to talk to old Pat and ask what was going on. He really couldn't understand why he had to operate on himself. You must know that Edison can now be said to be a magician.
’s number one star, and now Dick is obviously doing this just to squeeze Edison away.
ESPN once conducted a test, "Who do you think of first among the Magic?" The final statistical result is that if you ask Orlando fans, they may have many answers, but Nash should account for the highest proportion.
Probably about 30%. But if you ask anyone outside of Orlando, the answer is Paul Edison, and he accounts for close to 50%.
Therefore, for the Magic, Edison is a guarantee of box office. Even if Dick really plans to sell the team, he should try to keep himself, so that the price of selling the team will be higher.
"Mr. Charlie is completely unable to take charge now. Dick has become the actual controller of the family, and he has never liked the Magic. You know this. The information I have now is that they do intend to sell the Magic team, but they are worried
If you really do that, it will irritate old Charlie and aggravate his condition. However, Mr. Charlie is already so old and in poor health. Every day he passes now is a gift from God, so in the long run it is inevitable that the Magic will change ownership.
Things." Old Pat said to Edison with his hands behind his back and looking out the window with a melancholy look on his face.
Edison nodded after hearing this, which would explain why Dick wanted to prevent the new arena from being built. He didn't want to invest too much energy into something that was destined to be sold. After all, dredging the city couldn't be done with just one dollar.
It requires a lot of human investment. And these things cannot be shown in the asset appraisal when selling. No matter how hard you try, you will only end up giving the new owner an advantage.
"So why exclude me? I am a commercial element that can increase the price of the team?" Edison raised another question that bothered him.
"It makes sense for them to do this. You are a coach and you have your own career. Now the result of your transformation of the team is that you are the biggest ace of the team. Although you can indeed increase the value of the team a lot
, but you can leave at any time, it doesn’t even matter if you never touch basketball again, so they can’t control you. If you choose to leave, they have no choice but to lose in vain. But training players is different. There is no doubt that players leave the team.
It is much more difficult, because the choices he can make are very small. There are only 29 other teams. Even if he really leaves like Shaquille, the team can make up for the loss to the maximum extent. Whether it is Howard or whoever, they can
Media resources are tilted towards him, making him the ace of the team. If you can develop a player of the level of Kobe Bryant or McGrady before, you can replace your influence. But the problem is that as long as you are on the team for one day, because you
With your acting style and the pretentiousness of Stern and others, the rest of the team can only be your foil, so now they plan to take the initiative and take everything into their own hands." Old Pat carefully told Edison
Explaining the thoughts of Dick and others, he also added a concluding sentence at the end.
"When the returns are almost the same, the businessman will definitely choose the one with less risk. If you were not my person, I would make the same choice in their position. But you don't have to worry about these, as long as you lead the team well
, don’t give them excuses, I will try my best to protect you.”
After hearing Old Pat's explanation, Edison wanted to slap him in the face. On the surface, he looked grateful, but deep down he thought, "Isn't it no wonder that people later became Magic's management?"
They are good at rebuilding the team, but they always undermine each other when trying to win the championship. I finally realize it now."
------segmentation----
The following is the QA link.
q: Gerrard and Smith caused the current gap.
a: There is a big gap between the two people, and it is definitely not the explanation of a small city. To put it simply, when it comes to Josh Smith, my first reaction is not the dunk king, but the defensive champion. Does Green have defense?
As for the offensive end, first of all, Josh Smith's offense is actually not that good. In the Hawks, he is not as good as Horford. Even among the league's insiders, his offensive ability is definitely above 20. Many teams have better offensive players than him.
Tall.
But Gerald Green is even worse. He basically has nothing but dunks, and they have to be the kind of dunks that don't come into contact with defensive players. You must know that he was a player who couldn't even compete in the CBA, and his offensive ability was terrible.
Just imagine.
Therefore, the current gap between Gerald Green and Josh Smith is all-round. Of course, whether this has something to do with the early training of the team, it is difficult to say, but I think the difference cannot be entirely blamed on the lack of vision of the team.
