The Pope of Basketball Community

Manager Ernie Grunfeld is not a procrastination person. After the discussion, he called his assistant immediately, followed the process to draw up a contract, and prepared to sign with the two.

The Knicks can't afford to wait. The summer league will start in early July. If the team's head coach personally leads the team to inspect marginal players and find backup talents for the team, it will become a laughing stock.

There is an unwritten rule that the team's assistant coach is always the one leading the team, who inspects both players and assistant coaches.

The summer league is a place full of "hanging threads". Each team can sign a contract with anyone in the free market, and can invite foreign players to play. They only need to manage food and lodging, and do not have to bear other obligations. In the end, if they do not sign to play in the NBA, the players have no The right to question, if you are injured, you can only admit that you are unlucky.

Some players will participate in the summer leagues in Las Vegas, Orlando, and Long Beach at the same time, just to play more games, show their strength, and pursue a basic salary.

Thibodeau also signed, and his defensive philosophy is very much to Van Gundy's appetite.

As for Boyd, he can only be ruthlessly passed. People who are slow in discussing tactics cannot work together at all. A good assistant is one who dares to share the responsibility for the head coach, what else can he do if he dare not speak?

Three days later, Yang Rui and Thibodeau reported to the general manager's office together and got the contract.

The content is not complicated. They need to participate in the team's daily training, tactical discussions, and go to away games with the team. The contract period is one year.

Unless it is a big-name assistant coach, he will get a high-paying long-term contract as soon as he takes up the job. Such people are usually actively poached by the team.

No matter how good Yang Rui performed in the interview, the salary has to start from a newcomer in the industry. The annual salary before tax is only 150,000 yuan, and Thibodeau is even less than him, 120,000 yuan.

This offer is very fair. Thibodeau couldn't even make it to the 76ers of the bad team and was waived, and Yang Rui was even inexperienced. They have proved themselves, and the management will consider renewing the contract, otherwise it is just a transitional coach.

Thibodeau was very depressed that Yang Rui became the team's first assistant coach by relying on his performance in the interview. Seeing his calm signing when he got the contract, he began to wonder what kind of family he came from.

An annual salary of 100,000 US dollars is an absolute high salary in the United States. Why does he seem to not care?

This is of course because Yang Rui comes from the post-NBA development era. Since 2015, many assistant coaches have an annual salary of one million, and the player contracts are even more outrageous. Now he is not for money, only for a platform.

Yang Rui's mood is just one word - cool!

In his previous life, his parents were gone, he had almost no contact with distant relatives, and he was alone. Back in this era, he didn't have any entanglements, he just wanted to let go of his courage and do a big job.

After signing the contract, Yang Rui got a check, and the team paid 10,000 US dollars in advance, which was the hard work of the summer league. He immediately quit his job at the snack bar and was officially out of poverty.

The Knicks then finalized an assistant coach Billy Sharman, together with the original physical trainer Chris Jogel, formed a new coaching staff.

On July 1, the NBA free market opened, and the Knicks management held a uniform team meeting.

Uniforms, as the name suggests, mean suits, and the uniform team is the coaching staff and management meetings. The manager, Ernie, welcomed the new members first, and then arranged the work for July.

"Jerry Yang, Tom Thibodeau, you will go to the Long Beach Summer League together, a total of five games. Jerry, there is good news. We agreed to the request of the Chinese men's basketball team and played against them in the first game." Ernie looked at Yang Ray laughed.

"Haha, that would be very interesting." Yang Rui realized that his joining had produced a butterfly effect.

Last year, the Chinese men's basketball team came to the United States to train against the Lakers. In Yang Rui's previous life, the Chinese men's basketball team still played against the Lakers this year, and in 1998 they played against the temporarily formed "Magic Star Team".

The so-called star team is actually the legendary point guard "Magic" Johnson and a group of retired old men. Johnson is 39 years old.

It has been 7 years since he was diagnosed with AIDS, and those who don't know his body shape thought it was O'Neill.

Johnson is not even the fattest. One of his teammates is so fat that he is covered in black Michelin tires. The game was broadcast on Chinese TV, and Yang Rui was particularly impressed.

Facing such a group of comrades who are old, weak, sick, disabled, pregnant, and carrying children, the Chinese players have an advantage in athletic ability, and there is no suspense... 88 to 112 losses.

In the past two years, the men's basketball team has been so speechless. This time they are warming up for the upcoming Asian Championships. If there is no deviation in history, they will lose to South Korea in the semi-finals, and finally only get third place and miss the World Championships. The team missed the World Championships for the first time since 1982, and its strength can be imagined.

Yang Rui was very happy. He had never been a coach in his previous life, and he only had the memory of this life as a reference, so he needed some time to buffer. If he played against a strong team in the first game, he would be under a lot of pressure. He would almost want to sleep when he played against the Chinese team. Give him a pillow.

The atmosphere of the meeting was a little weird. Except for Ernie and Van Gundy, everyone was curious about how Yang Rui became the teaching assistant, and he was still the number one teaching assistant in name.

Is it so easy to find a job at an NBA giant?

He is really too young, he seems to be under 23 years old, is he the illegitimate child of the boss and the Chinese?

Glenn Walsh, the fat white assistant manager, asked: "Jerry, you look very optimistic, but you have never played in summer league, do you know how to do it?"

"You know, it's an invitation to free agents to form a temporary team, right?" Yang Rui smiled slightly and looked at Ernie. "Manager, in terms of inviting players, can I propose candidates?"

"Of course, you can discuss with the two Mr. Maguire. They will contact the player or the player's agent to issue an invitation, but there is no guarantee that they will come."

Dick Maguire is a well-known Knicks scout. He is 72 years old this year and still scouts for the Knicks. His assistant is his son Scott Maguire, who inherited his father's business.

"Is there a detailed list of free people?" Yang Rui asked.

"There is a list, but it is not specific. There are only basic information such as player age, height, and weight. Many people have unknown technical characteristics, because most of them have no experience playing in the NBA." Scott replied.

"That's enough. I need a list after the meeting." Yang Rui said relaxedly.

Glenn's first impression of Yang Rui was not very good. He always felt that this young man was too conceited, and said in a cold tone: "Mr. Yang, what do you think the summer league team can achieve? Are you confident in selecting potential players for the team? "

"I don't know." Yang Rui said straightforwardly.

"What?" Glenn frowned.

"Of course I don't know. I haven't even seen a player. I don't know their quality, and I can't tell them tactics. So, I can give an answer after the players are selected."

Glenn wanted to catch Yang Rui's flaws, lead him to talk big, and use it as a handle in the future, but the other party was not fooled at all.

"Mr. Walsh, do you have any questions?" Yang Rui paused for five seconds, then smiled slightly when no one spoke to him. "Leaders, please continue, I obey any arrangement."

Compared with Thibodeau's rigidity, Yang Rui's every move seems chic and confident. Seeing this, the old people in the management team muttered even more in their hearts.

Are today's young people so powerful? He is neither stage frightened nor reckless.

This kid can become an assistant coach, maybe he is really capable.

Will there be any surprises in the summer league this year?

Van Gundy looked at Yang Rui more and more pleasing to his eyes. He participated in the team meeting for the first time that year, and he stuttered a bit when he was excited. He was still 27 years old.

Yang Rui is courageous and dares to take responsibility, which shows that Van Gundy has knowledge and face.

The Knicks retained the core lineup, and the weakest link is precisely the coaching staff. Van Gundy hopes that Yang Rui will perform well and has already signed a contract. Even if it is only for one year, he doesn't want his assistant to be useless, and the matter will be on himself.

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