Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 933 933 558 A Change in Weather_3

?Chapter 933: Chapter 558: A Change in Weather_3 Chapter 933: Chapter 558: A Change in Weather_3 Bennett hoped that before that day arrived, his team could still profit as it had in the past.

He had backed Yu Fei’s empire with real money…

But he knew such reasoning was futile.

In the past four years, Yu Fei had brought him a profit of over two hundred million US dollars; now, was he going to start complaining over a few million in losses? How could the Greatest of All Time possibly understand this?

Moreover, because the super luxury tax reduced profits to zero, did Bennett really have no profit at all?

Don’t forget, the profit share between labor and management is 50-50.

No matter what, the management side always gets a 50% share, and moreover, Bennett was taking out his own profits, and other teams were also contributing their respective profits, eventually amounting to a considerable sum that was evenly distributed among thirty teams.

A loss would never be a loss; Bennett’s so-called losses were merely because he wasn’t making enough.

That was the crux of the matter.

He had no right at all to stand in front of Yu Fei and lament.

Because Yu Fei had already helped him make money, and even he, who had made big money in the past few years, could stand from the stance of a small-market owner demanding player pay cuts during labor disputes.

In the end, the players’ profit share dropped from 57% to 50%.

A concession of 7% in profit meant a pay cut for every player.

That meant even Yu Fei’s salary had decreased slightly.

Greedy beyond measure.

Yu Fei had initially wanted to press Bennett directly, but Chris Bosh talked him out of it.

Bosh did not want Yu Fei to exert any personal influence.

He wanted Bennett to bring the contract to him by himself.

After all, he was a star; the SuperSonics had already disrespected him once during the season, and now, magnanimously letting bygones be bygones, he was giving them another chance; what he wanted was an attitude.

Where was the most sensitive part of this matter?

During the season, after Bosh announced he would test the free market that summer due to lack of respect, the SuperSonics delivered the contract to his door.

This was like arriving with milk after the baby’s death.

Naturally, Bosh would not accept.

Now, having changed his mind about staying, since he had made such a statement, if the SuperSonics’ intentions had been genuine and not just for show, they should have offered the contract immediately.

Days passed, and nothing happened.

They hadn’t contacted Bosh’s agent; Bennett and Presti vanished as if they were dead, disappearing completely from the public eye.

This sparked strong negative sentiment locally in Seattle.

Eventually, the team had the Vice President, the venerable George Karl, respond to the matter.

“Our goal is to bring back the original team before the new season begins; until July, the team will focus on the draft.”

Karl still had prestige, and external criticism and doubt were suppressed.

However, anyone with clear eyes could see that this was just procrastination.

But since they had let Karl come out and play Tai Chi, fans and the media could only reluctantly save face.

The upcoming draft was touted as the most compelling draft since 2003.

Due to the lockout, the 2011 draft saw many popular players withdraw, including lotto picks like Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson.

They had to stay until the 2012 class, thus making this already highly-anticipated draft a historically significant draft year.

The draft was brimming with talent; however, the most eye-catching was Anthony Davis, said to be a super interior prospect that appears once every decade.

Though Davis hadn’t yet entered the NBA, in the past year, he was mentioned as frequently as Victor Wembanyama was by NBA scouts in 2023.

The scouts believed that AD was a combination of Duncan and Garnett; looking at his talent, his only current elite-level ability in the NBA was his defense, but because he was originally a guard who had rapidly grown taller during high school, he retained his agility and coordination along with fundamental guard skills, offering him endless possibilities.

Thus, this year’s draft number one pick had lost its mystery a year ago.

Last month, the annual lottery draw once again commenced the commiseration gathering.

Ever since the controversy of the 1985 lottery draw, the NBA’s lottery draw had been a focal point of external conspiracy theories. This was not surprising, given the numerous doubts it raised.

Other than the 1985 designation of Ewing to New York, a significant factor outside the lottery draw was commiseration.

The most pitiful team participating in this lottery draw was New Orleans; with Paul leaving and the team in a state of ownership limbo taken over by the league, though a new buyer had been confirmed, such an unattractive team needed to reassure the new owner with heavy benefits.

Thus, for some reason, the 2012 number one pick naturally landed with the Hornets.

The lucky draw for the second pick went to the New York Knicks, who opted to tank due to Stoudemire’s season-ending injury, making them the lottery draw winners who landed the second pick against very low odds and pushed the Knights and Wizards to the third and fourth spots.

During this time, Davis was being increasingly hyped by scouts, and comparisons with Bill Russell were already being made.

And the Hornets had all but confirmed their decision to pick this trump card.

But there were still some who daringly asked about the possibility of trading the number one pick.

The Hornets’ response dashed the hopes of the wishful thinkers: “Unless Seattle is willing to give up Frye, nothing will happen.”

This statement turned all the trade requests into a joke.

The SuperSonics would never trade Yu Fei, just as the Hornets would never give up Anthony Davis as the cornerstone of their team.

In the days leading up to the draft, the SuperSonics should have been focused on trying out those prospects with late first-round potential.

However, a bombshell from within their ranks once again catapulted them to the forefront of national headlines.

June 25th
ESPN’s NBA insider WOJ released a bombshell on Twitter: “Kevin Durant has officially requested a trade from the SuperSonics.”

Minutes later, Durant’s agent Rich Kleiman liked the tweet, confirming the news was true.

Within hours, Durant, the SuperSonics, and the Unique Empire trended on Twitter.

From now until the trade took place, this would be the most important news in the NBA.

It was almost certain to be the biggest news of the off-season.