It's no secret that Wei Hui will retire early.
Six consecutive individual championships...
Apart from the Celtics of the early days, only two players in the entire league, Wesley and Cummings, have achieved such a feat.
Having reached the peak of their careers, announcing their retirement plans at this time is neither sudden nor unexpected... Jordan switched to baseball after winning three consecutive championships, while Wei Guo persisted for six consecutive championships before proposing to retire, which shows great patience.
The biggest headache is for the NBA president!
Wei Guo has become the cash cow of this league. If Wei Guo retires, it will be almost impossible to create a superstar like him... Will the NBA repeat the scene of Jordan's retirement?
In the summer of 1993, Jordan suddenly announced his retirement!
Within 24 hours, the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the United States plummeted by 125 points, the stock price of sports brands that partnered with Jordan dropped by 4%, and annual sales decreased by $250 million. Chicago suffered direct losses of up to $1 billion and indirect losses of tens of billions of dollars due to Jordan's retirement that year.
Its destructive power on the financial and sports sectors is comparable to that of a natural disaster.
Wei Guo's influence was no less than Jordan's, but fortunately, Wei Guo announced his retirement plan in advance, giving the league a buffer.
......
The answer to which team Wei Guo will play in his last season is self-evident.
Before the free agency market even opened, all the teams started making preparations. All the teams gave up pursuing Wei Guo, hoping to assemble a strong roster to compete against him. After all, it was Wei Guo's last season, and the NBA commissioner turned a blind eye to this behavior.
After Wei Guo retires, the league will regain its balance.
In the summer of 2007, several more talented players entered the league through the draft.
The number one pick was Oden, whose player model was Wei Guo, which shows that he is a player with exceptional talent. The second pick was Durant, who is a very good player. Wei Guo once praised him, saying that he could become a top 50 player in history, which is a very high evaluation.
Besides these two...
China also has a very talented young man who entered the league through the draft: Da Yi.
After the draft, the free agency market opened. Garnett and Ray Allen joined the Celtics to form the Big Three with Pierce. All three were star players. Their reunion reminded people of the Heat a couple of years ago. Before being traded to the Heat, Kidd was the Nets' star player.
However, after losing to the US for two consecutive years, the Heat announced their disbandment. Wade and O'Neal stayed with the team, but Kidd left the Heat to return to the Nets, Miller retired, and O'Neal lost his peak dominance and began to enjoy the fun of basketball.
The Celtics were the first team to make moves during the offseason!
Fans are all waiting for the second big move...
The second team to make a big move was the Lakers. Pau Gasol's contract expired, making him a free agent... The Lakers successfully signed him, but somehow they traded several role players, including Derek Fisher, along with two first-round draft picks to the Hornets (Pelicans) for Chris Paul.
Paul entered the league in 2005 and averaged 16 points, 7.8 assists and 5 rebounds in his rookie season. Last season, his stats improved again, averaging 17.3 points and 8.9 assists. He is a player around whom a team can be built. Why would the Hornets let him go?
The league should investigate this matter...
However, everyone understood that this was Wei Guo's last season, so the president maintained his attitude and turned a blind eye.
The Lakers have been continuously strengthening their roster. Even without Wei Guo joining, the starting lineup of Kobe, Paul, Gasol, Bynum, and Odom already has the strength to win a championship. Their bench depth is also sufficient, with Turiaf, Ariza, and Walton all being competent role players. This lineup is not afraid of facing the Celtics' Big Three!
even...
Many people believe that if the Lakers had this roster last season, they would definitely have won the championship. Even with Wei Guo leading Randolph, Roy, and Aldridge, they wouldn't have been a match for this Lakers team.
Here's the problem!
Will Wei Guo really go to the Lakers?
Judging from the previous two seasons, Wei Guo always picked weak teams and led them to victory... Now, with the Lakers, Wei Guo's arrival is just icing on the cake. Will he come back?
Or rather...
There is still a mysterious Chinese tycoon who has not yet made a move. This summer, another team will be acquired, and Wei Guo will join that team.
Kobe was even a little tempted. This lineup could definitely compete with Wei Guo. Wei Guo would eventually come to the Lakers. Kobe was one of the few people who knew this secret. He didn't even tell Gasol and Paul. The two of them came to the Lakers in a daze, still dreaming of competing against Wei Guo.
Paul and Wei Guo faced off six times during the regular season!
Paul was deeply impressed by their first encounter. He had never seen such a powerful man before. As is customary in the league, rookies receive special treatment from veterans, and Wei Guo took care of Paul!
First encounter...
Wei Guo volunteered to defend Paul!
After entering the league, Paul became the team's starting point guard. He played well at the beginning of the season. Hearing that Bogut's basketball dream was ruined by Wei Guo, Paul was secretly pleased... However, under Wei Guo's defense, Paul only scored 3 points, 1 assist, 2 rebounds and 7 turnovers. He was benched after playing for more than 20 minutes.
to this end...
Paul even secretly wiped away tears; it was too much of a bullying!
Now with strong teammates like Kobe and Gasol, Paul is eager to get revenge on Wei Guo.
......
With summer drawing to a close, it seems that only Wei Guo remains on the free agent market.
The Lakers suddenly announced...
Wei Guo joined the Lakers with an annual salary of 17 million!
Wei Guo eventually joined the Lakers, but his annual salary was surprising. Stern even wanted to punish the Lakers for only paying Wei Guo such a low salary, less than Kobe's!
In the 2007-08 season, the Lakers had three players with salaries exceeding ten million: Kobe Bryant at 19 million, Pau Gasol at 14 million, and Lamar Odom at 13 million... Even combined, they didn't reach the luxury tax threshold. Only when Wei Guo's salary of 17 million was it barely above the luxury tax threshold, which was unacceptable.
In which year did Wei Guo's salary not reach fifty or sixty million?
Why are there so few this year?! And Wei Guo actually agreed?
Stern was hoping to make a fortune through the luxury tax... but that wish also fell through, and the league is becoming increasingly difficult to control.
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