Chapter 1064 1063. The Inheritance of the Two Evil Spirits, Part 1

"The fuse of the Sonics' doomsday: The host needs to beat the Sonics by more than 20 points in the next game against the Sonics. For every point less, 3,000 superstar points will be deducted. Mission reward: Gary Payton's defensive training card."

This mission came very suddenly. Liu Mang didn't expect such a mission, and the mission reward... just happened to be something Liu Mang wanted to improve his defense!

After Liu Mang returned home, he searched the Internet for news about the Sonics, wanting to know why the Sonics had reached their doomsday.

It was easy to find out, it was almost like a gossip magazine, but Liu Mang didn't pay much attention to the Sonics, and these news really didn't appear in the basketball section, but in a section similar to gossip.

Barry Ackley, the owner of the Sonics, is interested in selling the Sonics.

The owner of the Supersonics is dissatisfied with the fact that the team has no hope of winning the championship after investing a lot of money, mainly because the team has been losing money every year. This season, Francis has a salary of more than 15 million, Ray Allen has a salary of 14 million, Lewis has a salary of 9 million, and there are several middle-class and above middle-class contracts such as Earl Watson, Damir Wilkins, Robert Swift, Danny Fortson, etc., which means they have fallen into the "middle-class trap". The Supersonics' salary is as high as more than 81 million, and they have to pay a luxury tax of almost 17 million US dollars, which is an investment of nearly 100 million US dollars.

Last season, the Supersonics' annual income plus two rounds of playoffs, tickets and live broadcasts totaled 76 million US dollars. Last season, the Supersonics lost 12 million including luxury taxes. This season's playoff performance is not expected to be much better, and may be even worse. Playing against the Suns, Mavericks, and Lakers, the Supersonics do not have much hope of winning, and the loss is definitely greater than last season.

This is something that Barry Ackerley, who is short of funds, can no longer afford, even though he loves basketball.

Barry Ackerley is similar to Hawks owner Steven Price, both of whom are "abandoned" by their families. Originally, Price, like Barry Ackerley, had to sell the team in the end, and spent more than he earned every year. In the end, he sold the team and lived a carefree life with hundreds of millions of dollars.

The change of owner of the NBA team is not the point. The point is that Howard Schultz, the operating executive of Starbucks, who is interested in buying the Supersonics, does not want an NBA team.

Howard Schultz wants to form an ice hockey team in Seattle, and the NHL has agreed to the application of the Seattle Preparatory Committee headed by Howard Schultz.

But in Seattle, where every inch of land is valuable, it is too difficult to apply for land in the city to build a new ice hockey arena. Even if Howard Schultz has a net worth of 1 billion, he cannot support the funds needed for a new team. From applying for land to building a team, to reserving funds for the new team's first few years of 100% loss... Adding them together, 1 billion US dollars is not enough. Not everyone is like Jordan, who can still get more than 100 million dollars in shoe profits every year after retirement.

However, there is always a way. Clayton Bennett, a big boss in the Seattle bar industry with a net worth of 600 million US dollars, wants to buy an NBA team, but the Supersonics want to sell the arena and the team together. After buying the Supersonics, which is worth 450 million US dollars, he can't afford it.

It just so happens that Oklahoma wants an NBA team, but the Hornets have moved to the West. The 15 teams in the West have reached the limit, and the NBA has no intention of adding more teams in the country.

So the three parties negotiated, the Oklahoma City government and local investors jointly contributed 80% to help Clayton Bennett build a new arena, Clayton Bennett and Howard Schultz bought the Supersonics together, Clayton Bennett wanted the team, Howard Schultz wanted the arena, anyway, Howard Schultz would have to wait until at least 2007 or 2008 to build an ice hockey team, so there was no rush.

NBA teams at this time were not as attractive as when the market value of NBA teams skyrocketed ten years later, and there were only these two rich people who wanted to buy the Supersonics, which was losing money every year.

The owner of the Supersonics can only sell the team now. If the team has the hope of defeating a strong team and winning the championship, he will of course choose not to sell it. If he can make it to the finals and barely break even, he can hold on for another year and perhaps find another buyer who is willing to keep the Supersonics in Seattle.

Barry Ackley is a second-generation rich man born and raised in Seattle. He has loved basketball since he was a child, but he cannot play in the NBA due to his physical fitness. So after his family invested money, he bought the team. It has been 18 years so far.

But now, it has to be sold.

After reading a few reports, Liu Mang realized that he had to be the last straw that broke the camel's back, so that the team that was supposed to move away would definitely move away.

If the Sonics really made it to the Western Conference Finals or the Finals, the owner of the Sonics might not sell it.

In addition, Liu Mang also saw the news that the owner of the Sonics and the Sonics players came to Atlanta together.

Tomorrow's game, the owner of the Sonics will also come to the scene to watch the game, wanting to give himself a little despair, or feel more comfortable after winning, to see if there is motivation to hold on for another year.

Seeing this news, as a basketball player, Liu Mang was quite sad.

But since it's like this, Liu Mang thinks that he might as well give them a hard one, and make the owner determined to sell the team instead of a long pain.

If they don't sell, the Sonics owner's operational ability is just so-so, who will choose the future Thunder's big three?

And if they don't beat this team to collapse and make their new owner have no hope for this team's lineup, the SuperSonics will not break up the team and won't mess with Oden. It's such a big deal. Where to go?

If the three young men were not together and were abused, how could Durant make the most difficult choice?

Everything is for justice!

"I'm so caring." Liu Mang found a reason to smooth over his sentimental mentality.

…

On the SuperSonics side, the role players are fine and they will be the same no matter where they play, but Ray Allen, Francis, and Lewis are all obsessed with staying in Seattle.

Lewis is still thinking about renewing his contract with the Sonics and wants to stay in Seattle, a highly developed city.

It was the first time that Francis had a lineup that suited him so well, and he was reluctant to leave. Ray Allen had the same idea when Francis passed the ball to him.

But they came to Atlanta to watch the Hawks game on the 28th, and they came with their boss.

Rumors that the team was changing owners and cities had already spread wildly in Seattle since December, and of course they knew about it.

The three core members of the Sonics all want to get the boss to change his mind. They must at least help the boss buy time and achieve better results this season, so that the boss can spend more time to find a new owner who is willing to let the Sonics stay in Seattle.

The Eagles, as the strongest team in the league, and the three core members of the SuperSonics, all regard defeating the Eagles as the key opponent to "continue their lives"! By defeating the Hawks, the Sonics' heavy mentality of being continuously abused by strong teams this season is likely to be alleviated, and they will have more motivation and confidence to play the next game.

And it's not just the three of them. Although the role players go to play wherever they go, they definitely want to stay in one city longer.

Ray Allen and Francis convened a player meeting with their teammates to fight for the next game!

…

…

On the morning of the 30th, as before, Liu Mang sent the little Lolita, who was preparing for the 21-day winter vacation, to a place where she was learning to paint, and then came to the arena.

Teammates arrived very early today. When Liu Mang arrived, McGrady and Prince had already started practicing defense.

Liu Mang also joined in. He mainly practiced basic skills such as lateral movement, around pick-and-rolls, and small steps. In defense, in addition to physical fitness, talent, and awareness, the focus is on basic skills.

By nine-thirty, all the teammates were due.

At around ten o'clock, the coaching staff came.

What was unexpected was that the most advanced thing was not the team meeting, but the 15-minute full-court match between two groups.

Moreover, Stockton and Malone changed jerseys!

"Hey, Carl, John, are you preparing to make a comeback?" Liu Mang teased.

Stockton rolled his eyes at Liu Mang: "Today Karl and I are here to teach you what a real pick-and-roll is! Carlos is gone, and you have forgotten all about pick-and-rolls!"

"Ding... The inheritance path of Shuangsha has begun. Will the host start the peak training mode?"

I originally planned to finish writing this short plot, but I was really sleepy. I fell asleep just now after lying down for a while. I will continue tomorrow. Today is exactly 12,000, no less.

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