The Whip of the God of Basketball

Chapter 8: Basketball-related past

   For dinner, in an ordinary restaurant in Marshfield, Auerbach watched Fox-Leon finish a whole turkey, wondering how long this guy had been in prison for a good meal.

After eating and chatting, when Auerbach learned from Leon that he was the amateur boxer who was in jail for provoking troubles at the bar and injuring NBA players, he couldn’t help but patted the table and laughed, completely unlike an 80. Year old man.

   "The unlucky ghost of the Timberwolves, it turns out that you hurt him. I heard that his jaw was knocked off and he couldn't even eat any food, hahaha."

Leon felt a little guilty when he heard it. He learned from Auerbach that the player he injured was named Malik Siri, a shooting guard for the Timberwolves. After the game that night, he ran to the nightclub for a drink. Cup, after all, Timberwolves’ hometown is in Minnesota, a small city in the cold, of course you have to relax in the big city of Boston.

I didn’t know that while drinking and drinking, Leon deliberately found fault and suddenly got into trouble. He fought with the nightclub security guard. Of course, Xili didn’t want to get involved in it, so he wanted to walk around. He didn’t expect that he was too tall and he was a black man. He came to think that he was a thug in the nightclub, and indiscriminately went up and punched him in the chin. He directly dislocated Xili's jaw and passed out on the spot.

It was April, and the NBA regular season was about to end, and the playoffs were about to begin. The Timberwolves ranked sixth in the West. This young team was preparing for their fourth playoff journey. Once they want to make some breakthroughs.

   And Malik Siri is an important player in the team's guard line, but he was accidentally hit in Boston. After being beaten, Siri had a bone in the hospital and missed the last few games of the regular season.

In the playoffs, he had to wear a mask to participate in the first round of the Timberwolves and the Trail Blazers. Faced with the more experienced Portlanders and extremely strong forwards, the Timberwolves lost in four games, and their The opponent played until the conference finals and almost reached the finals.

   Things are not over yet, Auerbach continued: "This guy is really unlucky. He almost lost his life in a car accident in Minnesota in May."

Leon could only shook his head with a wry smile, but he didn’t know that in the original historical trajectory, Malik-Ciri would be killed in this car accident, and Leon’s punch obviously changed history. Xili survived.

Speaking of Malik-Siri, the two naturally talked about basketball. Auerbach is not a person who likes to chat. The years have made this old man who used to be a professional basketball player become taciturn, especially when he was with him two months ago. With the death of his wife Dorothy for most of his life, the other half of Auerbach's soul was taken away.

   He often stays alone in his old office without any information-age equipment, looking through albums that record the glory of the past, or feeling a daze for an afternoon in the trophy cabinet.

In Marshfield, he also sat in his golf cart all day and wandered around. In the past, the Celtics’ annual rookie training camp and his children’s basketball training camp were held here. At that time, he often ran on both sides. While instructing the little ghosts to train and play, at the same time go to the rookie training camp to show off the Celtics rookies.

   And sitting across from the guy who can eat up a turkey in one breath, Auerbach opened up his conversation, because Auerbach hadn't met such an interesting guy for a long time.

In Auerbach’s eyes, Leon said few words, often expressionless, but not sluggish, his thinking was extremely quick, his observation skills were terrifying, he could deal with any questions the old man asked, and he was cherish the words. No nonsense.

   It’s just that when I talked about basketball, Leon seemed to be silent a lot. Auerbach talked about his past experience in the NBA, but Leon did not say that he seemed completely disinterested.

"Are you not interested in basketball? Then your life is really empty and boring. As a Bostonian, how can you not love basketball and the Celtics? Did you grow up in New England?" Auerbach was a little angry about this. I wanted to show off to this kid, knowing that not everyone in Boston is qualified to sit across from Auerbach and listen to him brag about the past.

   "My mother was hit and killed by a car during the 1986 championship night carnival, and the ambulance was delayed by the parade."

Leon’s answer silenced Auerbach. Although Leon’s consciousness and body were not the same person, they shared the same memory. The sad memory of his mother’s death in a car accident enveloped his consciousness, and Leon knew that. Why, as a Bostonian, he has no interest in basketball. He hates the night where almost all Bostonians are carnival. When the city can’t sleep for the championship, he accepts the fact that his mother died in the cold hospital. Sitting on the cold floor and crying all night.

The awkward silence lasted for a while. Auerbach took a sip of gin and said apologetically: "I'm sorry to hear that, so we have never won a championship since then... …I don’t know if this will make you feel better."

Indeed, Auerbach reached their peak with his Celtics in 1986. Since then, their 30-year good fortune has come to an end. In 86, No. 1 Baias died and was given to Orr. Bach made a heavy blow, and then the team continued to suffer injuries and the superstar was twilight. By 1993, another star, Reggie Lewis, died suddenly, and the Celtics fell into complete darkness, invisible darkness.

Seeing old people like Auerbach have become sentimental from the excitement just now, Leon wanted to use some words to get rid of the inexplicable atmosphere of the conversation, and said: "We should neither indulge in the glory of the past. You can’t get lost in the sorrow you once had. Time flies, the road ahead is long, and there are many things waiting for us to do.”

   Hearing Leon say this, Auerbach immediately responded: "Yes, tomorrow you have to clean the large glass windows on both sides of the stadium. This is what is waiting for you to do."

   "Remember, at eight o'clock in the morning, come over for breakfast first!"

  ……………………

   slept all night at the community management center. Leon slept very soundly, because this afternoon was still quite tired. When dreaming at night, he dreamed of the memory of this body.

   It was before he was 13 years old. Every weekend night, after his mother got off work from the restaurant, he would take him to Boston Garden Plaza to watch the Celtics game.

Leon dreamed that he was in the last row of the noisy arena with his mother. It was noisy and hot. The air conditioner in the arena seemed to be broken. Everyone was sweating. Everyone was shouting. He was tall. Too young to see the situation on the court, a fat uncle sitting next to him put him on his shoulder to let him look.

He could see the Celtics wearing the white jerseys and the team wearing the purple jerseys. A tough game, suffocating and suffocating. At the end of the game, everyone in the field poured into the center. Ang was carried and rushed down together. The joy and joy seemed to overturn the arena.

   Woke up in the middle of the night, Leon found that he was sweaty, and the cubicle he lived in was not ventilated. It was really sultry in the summer night.

   "No wonder it's so hot in the dream... But why are you so happy and excited? I really don't understand..."

  ……………………

   Early the next morning, Leon got up and rode to the arena again, not only to solve his breakfast problem, but also to work for Auerbach. Unconsciously, Auerbach has locked up a high-quality labor force.

   But today, Leon doesn’t need to fight alone anymore. Auerbach’s training team and a group of volunteers have already arrived and began preparations for the official opening of the camp tomorrow. U U Reading www.uukanshu.com

As an old man who was born in 1917 and is now 83 years old, Auerbach certainly can no longer directly train the children in the training camp. He invited his old friend and Celtic champion defender Danny- Anji came to be the actual organizer of the training camp.

   In addition, he also called the Celtics finals mvp, Cedric Maxwell. He is now working as a radio anchor in Weston, and is also free during the offseason to help the old coach with the kids.

There is another less well-known, Greg Kate, who was also a former Celtics player. He is a white insider. He has a mediocre career. He is just a tough defensive champion. This time he was invited by Auerbach. Be the assistant coach of the training camp.

   Three old Celtics players from the 1980s constituted the main body of the coaching bench for this training camp, plus some other staff and volunteers, which made the stadium that was still empty yesterday a lot more lively.

   Leon’s breakfast consisted of two egg-ham sandwiches and a bottle of fresh milk that Auerbach brought him. After eating, he started to work, holding a bucket and a long pole tied with a rag to wipe the glass.

No one cares too much about this handsome cleaner. Everyone is busy arranging the arena. Every year when the training camp opens, famous people from Boston will come to give speeches, and many residents of Marshfield will also come. Take part in this event.

Although fewer people signed up this year than in previous years, there will still be more than a hundred people attending the opening ceremony. Leon also heard from the people around that the current leader of the Boston Celtics will be the one who will be speaking today. Coach, Rick Pitino.

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