Chapter Thirty-Eight: Prelude to Departure

  In May 1998, New York was once again surrounded by basketball. The New York Knicks can be said to be one of the most beloved professional teams in New York, having won the overall championship, and this is also known as one of the Basketball Halls of Fame, while Madison Square Garden is even more so a sacred place for basketball, and since Patrick Ewing joined they have always been one of the top teams in the league.

  Although located in the East, although suppressed by Jordan, and although it has been a long time since they tasted the championship, this place still owns one of the greatest arenas and one of the greatest teams.

  They once reached the heights in Pat Riley's hands, losing to the Rockets in seven games in the 1994 Finals. The scene of Patrick Ewing being blown up by Hakeem Olajuwon is still vivid today. After Pat Riley left, his apprentice Jeff Van Gundy took over and although he couldn't lead the Knicks back to the Finals, he kept them competitive in the East.

  However, in the playoffs this season they met Reggie Miller's Pacers again. The famous "choking incident" in 1994 made the two teams sworn enemies and arch-rivals. However, in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs this year, the Knicks were already down 1-2 after three games, and a slight mistake would be eliminated from the game. This is not acceptable for New York fans. They can tolerate the team losing, but they cannot tolerate the team making no progress or even regressing every year. The greatest hope, the most anticipation, but often these hopes and expectations will turn into extreme despair.

  Today, in the fourth Eastern Conference semifinal held at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks must win at home and cannot afford to lose again. If there is no progress, the Knicks may not have any more opportunities in the future. The team's leader, Patrick Ewing, is getting older, his condition is getting worse, and he is getting injured more often, everything that follows is full of variables. From this season, he has already started a serious decline.

  So fans yearn for a savior-like coach or boss to break this deadlock and make a charge at the league's highest honor while Patrick Ewing can still fight.

  It's because of the fans' demand for quick results that the new boss of the New York Knicks, James Dolan, is ready to take action. He plans to bring in Phil Jackson and has invited Steve Kerr, who has been one of the hottest coaching candidates in the US in recent years. Jackson is a good coach who can get you some wins with talented players, but he's not a coach who can bring out the maximum potential of his players, he lacks the championship gene.

  "This seat is really not bad" Zhuang Fei sat in the middle of the front row of the New York Knicks' home court, Madison Square Garden, and could see everything that happened on the court very clearly. And sitting next to Zhuang Fei was James Dolan, the boss of the New York Knicks, and his son, little Dolan.

  The NCAA season has ended, and Zhuang Fei announced that he will not renew his contract with Vicksburg and will enter the NBA. Many NBA teams have expressed interest in the legendary coach who won three consecutive NCAA championships. The matter between Zhuang Fei and the New York Knicks is an open secret. Today, as soon as Zhuang Fei sat down at Madison Square Garden, TV cameras turned to him, and all of New York's basketball fans knew he had arrived.

  "If we could really invite the Demon King, our Nix would have a chance of revival"

  "Yes, he is indeed a recognized champion coach"

  "Don't be so optimistic, Van Gaal has done a good job, whoever comes will not be able to win the championship with this team"

  "What are you talking about? We have Patrick and Alan, how can we not win the championship, Van Gundy is too weak"

  For Zhuang Fei, being able to take over New York is also a good choice. New York has some good players and the strength is not bad either. Most importantly, this place doesn't lack money, so Zhuang Fei can focus on his own ideas for rebuilding the team without worrying about financial issues. This is a great place for a head coach.

  This was a real barnburner of a game, with the teams tied at 102 after regulation and the Pacers winning 118-107 in overtime. The Knicks completely fell apart in OT, allowing Indiana to score 16 points while they only managed 5. Reggie Miller scored 38 points by himself.

  James Dolan was very disappointed after the game, he is not a professional basketball fan, and he also knows that it's hard for Knicks to win against Pacers again after losing at home, so New York stopped making progress this year.

  Zhuang Fei and James Dolan left the arena and arrived at the team owner's office.

  "Zhuang, what do you think of New York?" James Dolan asked Zhuang Fei.

  "It's very poor, I personally don't like it," Zhuang Fei said thoughtfully after a moment. Seeing James Dolan nodding in agreement, he continued: "Patrick Ewing performed poorly, but considering his age of 36, this is also normal. His rebounds, scoring, and defense are all declining, and it's clear that he's no longer suitable to be the first core of a team. And then there's Allan Houston, whose shooting is beautiful, even more beautiful than Stojakovic, but lacks stability. However, several role players for the New York Knicks performed well, which is also why they were able to hold on until the end."

  "If the team can boldly solve the problems of Alan Houston and Patrick Ewing, the Knicks can still make a championship run. Of course, it's not necessarily about making these two leave, but rather repositioning their roles in the team."

  Zhuang Fei is not optimistic about the two leaders of the Knicks after this game, and they are not his favorite type. Zhuang Fei likes team leaders who are stable, have a strong sense of invasion, and are resilient, like Duncan, who can be trusted in critical moments, won't be emotional, and can make teammates feel at ease on the court. Obviously, the two current leaders of the Knicks are not this type, if they just want to maintain competitiveness, these two are enough, but for a championship, it's far from enough.

  After hearing Zhuang Fei's words, James Dolan furrowed his brow. He believed in Zhuang Fei's professional judgment and knew it wouldn't be wrong, but this matter was too difficult to handle. He had just moved into the Knicks last year and now wanted to operate on Yuwen, although it wasn't certain that he would get rid of him, but there would definitely be friction between them. Relying on Yuwen's status in the hearts of Knicks fans, how could the Knicks fans do? Zhuang Fei also said to take down Houston, which was even more impossible. Dolan had a great affection for Houston and the two were close friends, so how could he bear to take him down?

  "If these two remain the same, I'm willing to bring you the players you want, salary is not a problem. With them as the core and adding some powerful players, do you think New York can win the championship?" Dolan asked cautiously after considering it for a while. However, seeing Zhuang shake his head, he could only sigh. This was the biggest difference between the two.

  Zhuang Fei left Dorian's office with a heavy heart, the boss was unwilling to give up on the player, he had no choice, although he wanted to join the Knicks, but there were too many internal conflicts within the Knicks, although James Dorian liked him, his son seemed not to like Zhuang Fei.

  "Dad, why are you being so humble and asking this arrogant kid for favors? Just because he won a few championships in college, his nose is already pointing to the sky. As soon as he arrived, he's demanding control over team trades and signings, does he think he's Phil Jackson? Even Phil Jackson wasn't like that. If he really comes to the Knicks, I, as the general manager, will be useless." Xiao Dao Lan was extremely dissatisfied with Zhuang Fei, thinking he was completely unaware of his place, and that a top team like the New York Knicks had offered him a chance because they looked up to him, yet he still dared to be picky.

  The status of NBA coaches is generally not high, and everyone knows that the ball star is the first in the boss's heart, and the coach is at the end. As long as Jordan speaks, Phil Jackson has to step down, unless a coach can become a symbol of a team like Red Auerbach. This is also the biggest difference between NBA and NCAA.

  Daolan heard her son say this and wanted to scold him a few words, but she couldn't open her mouth. She could only sigh and think that she and Zhuang Fei were destined to be apart.

  ;