Three Hundred and Fifty-Seven: The New Boss Is Here

In June, the frenetic summer has arrived. Even in Memphis, a city not known for its sunshine, the weather was very sunny.

On the streets of Memphis, life goes on. Street performers sang songs, and many tourists lined up to visit Graceland, the former residence of "Elvis Presley". Everything seems to be the same, but some things have obviously changed again.

For example, you will obviously find that more and more pedestrians are walking on the street wearing the No. 0 Grizzlies jersey. And most of them only wear the No. 0 jersey of the away game. According to the explanation of the locals, "the dark blue jersey of the away game looks more like a big villain, which is more in line with the style of Memphis."

The jersey with the Chinese surname "lin" written on the back has become a new fashion on the streets of Memphis.

Sunlight shines through the windows into the bedrooms of a small two-story building. In the bedroom, a muscular man slowly opened his eyes, probably because the sun was too glaring, he covered his face with his palms, and then slowly sat up from the bed.

In the bedroom, the game video is still playing on the TV. On the ground, a dark blue Grizzlies No. 0 jersey was scattered. And the man who just got up is the real owner of this jersey.

"Uh...Damn, when did you fall asleep yesterday?" Link looked at the clock, it was already half past ten, he rarely got up so late.

Last night, Link was alone in the room watching the game video and saw it very late. He didn't know the exact time when he fell asleep. But getting up late doesn't delay things, because the Grizzlies don't have to practice anymore today.

To be exact, the Grizzlies didn't have to train until the start of the preseason training camp for the 1213 season. Because a day ago, the Western Conference Finals were over.

In the sixth game of the series, Lin Kezhun killed the Thunder with a lore, defended the glory of FedEx Arena, and won praise from all over the world.

But in Game 7 of the series, the Grizzlies failed to make it to the end in Oklahoma City.

In the tiebreaker, the Oklahoma City Thunder gave everything. Durant had 36 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds in the game, fully carrying this young team on his shoulders.

Link's data is not bad, 25 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists, a beautiful double-double. But compared with Durant, it's a bit less interesting.

Of course, if there were only Durant's 36 points, the Grizzlies would not lose. After all, the Grizzlies won Game 4 of the series after the Thunder's trio combined to score more than 80 points.

The key is that in addition to Durant, Thunder forward Ibaka also miraculously made 11 of 11 shots in this game... Even free throws were 4 of 4 free throws, and he really made 100 shots.

In the history of the NBA, only 6 players in the previous playoffs maintained a 100% shooting percentage under the premise of taking more than 9 shots. In the millennium, there is only Yao Ming's 9-of-9 shooting record in the 2009 playoffs. The last time someone went 11-for-11 in the playoffs was 27 years ago.

After the game, even many reporters and commentators commented in disbelief, "Even when there is no defense in training, no one may be so accurate!"

With Durant playing so well, Ibaka also played a record-breaking superb performance, coupled with the Thunder's whistle as always. In the end, the Grizzlies lost 103 to 109 in the tiebreaker of the Western Conference Finals.

One step away from the Western Conference Championship.

But after the game, there was a scene that was very interesting. Durant didn't raise his arms and cheered, and seemed a little sullen. Obviously, reaching the tiebreaker in the series was seriously inconsistent with his expectations.

Durant was upset, and Link was even more upset. It was a surprise to reach the Western Conference finals last year, but it is a pity to fall to the Western Conference finals this year.

What's more, the tiebreaker only lost 6 points to the Thunder.

Therefore, Link, who was not reconciled, was still watching the video of the Thunder after the series ended, until last night.

Although they lost, the media was full of articles praising Link and the Grizzlies, after all, their performance exceeded expectations.

At the beginning, even Kenny Smith, who was most optimistic about the Grizzlies, believed that the Grizzlies could only win two games at most. And most people insist on the views of 4 to 0 and 4 to 1.

As a result, the Grizzlies and Thunder fought to the last second of the final game.

As for Link, his performance in the series did not lose to Durant, which attracted many people's pursuit. Among them, the shot of him grabbing the floor ball and shooting to kill the game, and then squatting on the ground to stare at Durant has become one of the most classic images of this season.

But none of these praises could satisfy Link, and he was still very unwilling. After all, it was the Thunder that finally lifted the Western Conference trophy on the court.

Thinking of this made Link's heart ache. Therefore, I can only use the research video to paralyze myself.

The weather outside is sunny, but Link's mood in the room is indeed gloomy.

Just then, Link's cell phone rang. He lazily picked up the phone, and then looked at his sloppy self in the mirror. starter

"Link, are you awake?" Randolph's voice was on the other end of the phone.

"Of course, what's the matter?"

"I just want to remind you, don't forget what happened in the afternoon. Play around with yourself, you are the face of the team."

"Oh," Link rubbed his eyes and hair that hadn't been washed for two days in the mirror, "don't worry, I'm a person who cares about my personal image."

"Haha, you know you're joking? Have you accepted the outcome of failure?"

"If you don't mention this, I might tell you a few more bad jokes." Link curled his lips, Lan Fat really didn't open any pot. starter

"Okay, I won't talk nonsense with you. Rectify yourself, remember your failures, but don't keep dwelling on past failures. See you this afternoon, Link."

"See you this afternoon, buddy."

After hanging up the phone, Link sighed. This afternoon, it seems that I can't stay at home comfortably.

Link didn't forget what Randolph said. This afternoon, the new owner of the Grizzlies, Robert Pera, will invite the entire team to a meal, which is also the first time to meet everyone.

Robert Pera officially acquired the Grizzlies from Michael Heisley just one day after the Western Conference Finals.

In fact, the two sides may have reached an agreement long ago, but they just don't want to affect the players who are fighting. So the Grizzlies officially announced the news until the Grizzlies' playoff journey was over.

Link wasn't surprised when he heard the news. After all, about Heisley's going to sell the team, there has been a lot of noise during the regular season.

Although the Grizzlies players didn't care too much about it because they were focused on the game, they were all mentally prepared in advance.

So at the end of the season, the team suddenly announced a change of owner, and the players were not very surprised.

To meet the new owner of the team, in order to show respect, Link naturally had to dress formally.

So he opened the door of his closet, and found that several expensive suits were almost ashes.

"Uh... Otherwise, I'd better buy a new set." Link said to himself, but quickly rejected the proposal.

It's too wasteful to spend so much.

Having said that, although the new boss has just taken office, Link has more or less heard a lot of rumors about Rudy Gay.

Indeed, there were rumors about Gay in the previous two seasons, but the Grizzlies never took any substantive action.

I don't know if this new boss will act more vigorously? After he takes office, what kind of changes will the Grizzlies experience?

Link doesn't know how much the future development trajectory of the Grizzlies will deviate from the original one. But he can guarantee that after having himself, history will definitely not be copied exactly.

Thinking of this, Link suddenly became more interested in the meeting this afternoon.