861: 286: Off-season “Defending Champion” (Request for monthly tickets!) 861: 286: Off-season “Defending Champion” (Request for monthly tickets!) Not long ago, the media was saying that the ’01 Lakers were the most dominant team in playoff history.
But now, their evaluation has turned into: “They are powerful enough to even bring out the best Roger!”
Roger’s prediction came true; almost all the media said this the day after the finals ended.
Perhaps these media outlets really wanted to praise the strength of the Lakers’ Big3, just as people always said that Charles Barkley in 1993 brought out the best Jordan.
Undoubtedly, this is a recognition of the “Flying Pig” Jazz rather than a mockery.
But Shaq, Kobe, and Hill felt humiliated by this kind of “praise.”
The three of them together are only able to bring out the best Roger?
What’s the point in that!
Jerry Buss also felt humiliated; he spent the most money, maintained three max-salary players, but only got a Western Conference Championship.
It’s like when many die-hard fans are willing to spend thousands of US dollars just to buy Paul Pierce’s legendary yellow shorts from last year — it’s simply not worth that much.
Although financially, he still made a huge profit this season, but what about next season?
How is he going to convince those fans to continue paying the highest ticket prices in the league to watch the games of three losers?
And next season, Kobe, Hill, and Shaq’s salaries are going to rise, which will continue to increase the operating costs of the Lakers.
The costs are increasing, but there’s a risk of revenue decreasing.
A strong sense of crisis made Jerry Buss somewhat regretful.
He could be impulsive on women, calling however many to parties in one night without a problem, maybe just a little strain on the waist.
But impulsive spending on star players can really lead to painful consequences.
This is a lesson for him; multi-star teams are far from the beautiful fantasy people imagine.
Jerry Buss didn’t know this was a trap that countless other team owners would fall into later.
After all, humans never learn from lessons.
Jerry Buss was hesitating about whether to continue keeping this lineup.
It seems like a pity.
Objectively speaking, this year the Lakers’ Big3 indeed brought out the best Roger, and indeed came close to victory.
If you take a closer look, you’ll see how hard it was for the Hawks to win: Roger had to average 42 points per game, with excellent performances from shooters like Jeff Hornacek, Michael Reed, and Pierce and Pippen not slacking off.
Meeting all these conditions, the Hawks could win the game.
Even then, every game of the six-game series was decided at the last moment.
This is a different concept from last season’s direct 4-0 sweep.
Stick it out for another year, try again, and the Lakers might really have a chance.
But what if they fail again next season?
By then, the Big3 will become completely unattractive and may even impact their trade value.
It’s hard to let go of the lineup, yet fear of reduced revenue makes keeping it daunting.
Usually, such “two-bottles-of-poison” dilemmas are left to the head coach.
But now, Jerry Buss also has to make a choice between two bottles of poison.
Jerry Buss is likely going to be trapped by this all summer, but the same concerns about max salaries also exist for the champion Atlanta Hawks.
After the finals, the Hawks’ top priority was preparing for the championship parade and handling Ben Wallace’s contract renewal.
Although the finals have just ended, offseason rumors have already started flying around.
According to current media reports, several teams are willing to offer Big Ben a max contract.
These include the Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, among others.
Big Ben might not be able to limit Shaq in personal stats, but causing Shaq’s team to lose two consecutive finals already demonstrates his value.
Big Ben is just a pure defensive player, so he hasn’t reached the point of being snatched up by the entire league.
But for Big Ben, attracting just a few teams is considered a success.
Can a daysigned-to-nothing landing a max contract expect anything more?
Bruce Bowen’s contract is also up, and although he isn’t likely to get a max deal like Big Ben, many teams have offered him quite enticing deals.
In the eyes of many teams, Bruce Bowen’s talent was wasted by the Hawks.
He’s already 30, but there is still talent to be unearthed.
Bowen is an excellent defensive master and a reliable three-point responder, but that’s not all he is.
In the few opportunities he’s had to show it, people found that Bowen’s sneaky moves are vicious enough to rank well even among the “Detroit Bad Boys” of the ’80s.
But for some reason, Bowen didn’t often attack opponents during his time with the Hawks; most of the time, he just defended squarely.
It’s as if Lenny Wilkens or Roger forbade Bowen from doing so for some laughable sense of honor.
In the eyes of many teams, underutilizing Bowen’s talent is a waste of resources.
Just think, if Bowen had “accidentally” injured Grant Hill’s ankle in Game 1 of the finals, would they have needed to fight all the way to Game 6?
So, whether it’s Bowen’s defensive abilities or his sneaky moves, he is very popular in the free agency market.
This is professional basketball; champion players toast with champagne while dreaming of big contracts, while countless eager teams in the free market wonder which piece of the championship puzzle can be used for themselves.