"What are they shouting?" Adams asked Butler, a little unresponsive.

Butler's expression at this time was very interesting. He smiled and spread his hands to indicate that it had nothing to do with me.

"Who.is.your.dady." West on the side reminded.

Adams then pointed at Butler and laughed, blaming him: "It's all your fault."

At this time, the photographer on the scene was also very knowledgeable and gave the camera to James.

The shouts of the fans at the scene continued. James' expression at this time was very interesting. He pretended not to care, but his eyes rolled up subconsciously to see what was happening. When he finally looked up and saw himself on the big LED screen, he frowned and finally pretended nothing happened.

At this moment, Davis and Irving beside him subconsciously wanted to avoid the camera. After all, this was not a good thing.

This scene is destined to become a classic shot of the season.

Honestly speaking, the behavior of the Bulls fans at the scene was too much, and the photographer's camera was a great disgrace. If it were an ordinary superstar, he would have gone crazy long ago, or at least turned it into motivation to win the game back.

But as Blatt knew, the Bulls were too strong, and this was not something that could be solved by just going berserk.

Moreover, Thibodeau put West on at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and when it came to the main stage, he used James Johnson as power forward.

In the end, the Bulls defeated the Cavaliers 109-97 at home, achieving their 12th consecutive win at the start of the season.

In terms of statistics, Xu Yong made 17 of 28 shots, got his first 40+ of the season, 45 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers.

Butler had 21 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, West had 12 points and 6 rebounds, Adams had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Rose had 9 points and 4 assists.

On the Cavaliers side, James had 23 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. It is worth mentioning that his plus-minus value of +7 was tied with Dellavedova for the highest in the team.

Irving had 21 points and 3 assists, Love had 17 points and 8 rebounds, and Davis had 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks.

"Senior, why do I see you were very happy before the game, but a little unhappy after the game?" On the way to the press conference after the game, Butler couldn't help but turned around and asked.

Xu Yong could only smile awkwardly to indicate that everything was fine.

In fact, he talked a lot with Charlize Theron last night. In addition to the name, they also talked about whether the child should be made public.

The two people agreed on this point and both believed that it should be made public.

Theron hopes that her children will not have any troubles while growing up, and when asked, she couldn't say who her father was;

As for Xu Yong, although the way he couldn't get married was a little unusual for him, he knew that such a thing could not be concealed, it was only a matter of time.

It is better to do it early than to wait for another day, it is better to do it today than to wait for another day.

But in today's situation, 20,000 people shouted "Who.is.your.dady" in unison. Imagine that he sat down after the game and said to the media with a happy face: "I am a father!"

This is not about conveying joy, but about becoming the most lethal trash talk in NBA history.

So how can he be happy?

And he couldn't blame Butler, after all, Butler was just improvising some trash talk at the time.

All we can say is that the root of everything is James. If James hadn't thrown magnesium powder to provoke the Bulls fans on the road, the following incident would not have happened.

Chicago is a city of gangs, and sometimes James is not as smart as Smart.

…

In the basement of a mansion in Cleveland.

An assistant wearing a protective mask threw the glass bottle into the air, and James smashed it directly with a special baseball bat.jpg.

Then, the process repeats itself.

Mike is a good psychologist. After James decided not to accept his treatment anymore, he gave James one last suggestion: to build a "venting room" so that when he has emotions that need to be vented, he should not keep them in his heart, but vent them in this way.

James has been using this from Indiana to Cleveland.

It turns out that this thing is still very useful.

After smashing countless glass bottles, James finally calmed down.

He took off his protective gear, turned around and walked out, then returned to the living room.

Rich Paul and Windhorst had been waiting for him there for a while.

"I watched the game, and I think the Cavaliers will have the upper hand next time they meet," Windhorst said as soon as he saw James.

James didn't say anything. Having fought with Xu Yong for so many years, he knew this old rival better than anyone else.

With Xu Yong in this state, even if the Cavaliers have fully integrated their team, the two sides will at most be evenly matched.

"King, I think the Bulls are now stronger than a normal strong team."

Fu Paul's words at this time successfully attracted his attention. As his agent, there was no reason for Fu Paul to suddenly say something praising his opponent.

"So I think besides becoming stronger, we also have to find a way to make them weaker."

James became even more confused when he heard this.

How could he not know what Fu Paul said?

Wasn't it just for this goal that he had been stepping on the ground personally over the past few years?

But Xu Yong is not afraid of this, and this season the Bulls also added two thugs, Johnson and Artest.

Why do you think he didn't get angry in the last moments of last night's game?

After being beaten by Bosh, he is now more wary of these old opponents.

“What I mean is…” Just then, Fu Paul lowered his voice.

…

Time flies, and it is already the end of December.

After two months of competition, the Bulls' record was 19 wins and 1 loss.

It can't be said to be a bit exaggerated, it can only be said to be quite outrageous.

Because the only game they lost was when both Rose and Butler were sidelined due to injuries.

The Trail Blazers who defeated them were praised to the sky by the fans.

Thanks to this god-level performance, the Bulls began to frequently appear on the front pages of major media, and even Sports Illustrated used them on its cover.

Xu Yong stood in the C position, with Butler and Adams beside him, and Thibodeau and Rose behind him.

The new Bulls trio? No, they even have Derrick Rose.

This is the headline on the first line of page one of Sports Illustrated.

Even some role players of the Bulls have started to receive endorsements.

For example, Adams officially endorsed a male enhancement brand, and that brand became a minor hit.

The Bulls' market has truly expanded this season.

Although they have yet to win a season title, they are on their way to becoming the third largest market outside of Los Angeles and New York.

It was also at this time that the first round of voting for the new NBA All-Star season began.

In the Eastern Conference backcourt, one name stands out.

Jimmy Butler has averaged 20 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game so far this season, and his 47.4% shooting percentage is also a career high.

With such performance and the popularity of the Bulls, he surpassed Wade and Irving, and his votes were close to Paul, ranking second among the Eastern Conference backcourt.

He ultimately missed the All-Star Game last year, but with this momentum this year, he has a high probability of becoming an All-Star starter in the Eastern Conference.

Although the season has not ended yet, the performance in the past two months has proved that Butler's [confident] choice in the summer was correct.

…

Chicago.

That day, after finishing the game and knee treatment, Rose returned home.

Although he has changed his playing style, two consecutive years of serious injuries have sequelae, which will require him to rest in some games and will also cause him to feel pain after some games.

Fortunately, the Bulls' record has been improving, which makes it all worthwhile.

However, after returning home, he found that his second brother, Reggie Rose, who also followed him on the Bulls, was somewhat depressed.

"What's wrong?" Ross looked puzzledly at his brother, the one he trusted the most and the most educated brother in the family.

"I think this is a little unfair," Reggie said.

"Unfair?" Ross was a little confused.

"Jimmy Butler is going to be an All-Star starter now, and you never get that chance again. This used to be your team."

Ross was stunned for a moment, not because of what Reggie said, but because of Reggie's attitude.

As early as two years ago, they had accepted the fact that the Bulls were Xu Yong's team.

"Yes, Xu has talent and he deserves it, but why should Jimmy be ranked ahead of you?" Reggie continued.

“He took his chance.”

"That was because you were injured before, but now you've recovered. You should at least be the second-in-command of this team." Reggie said, looking at Rose's knees. He knew how hard his brother had worked to make a comeback.

"Jimmy won that with his own strength." Ross was still very sober.

"Did you see the cover of Sports Illustrated? You weren't even in the first row, and they used words like 'They even have Rose' to describe it, which I think is unfair compared to your efforts," Reggie continued.

Ross took a deep breath. If he didn't think about this topic, he actually didn't care about it. But these words came from the mouth of his most trusted brother, and it was hard for him not to feel moved.

He was once the most promising player in Chicago and the youngest MVP. Now he is just the "sixth man" of the team. The gap is indeed huge.

He looked at Reggie and took a long breath: "There is no fairness or unfairness. The team is winning continuously. I think this is the best situation now."

The experience of the past two years has made him mature a lot.

Reggie's expression was a little complicated at this time. He felt his brother's maturity, but still felt that such efforts were not worth it.

"Jimmy Butler's rookie contract will expire next year." At this time, he mentioned a more realistic issue.

"With his current performance, even if the team doesn't want to give it, other teams will offer him a maximum salary contract. Do you think the team will match it? If the salary is matched, will you still be here?"

Ross was silent this time.

The new labor agreement and the severity of the luxury tax penalties are really unaffordable for ordinary bosses.

And the Bulls' operations in the summer have already made it clear that they are trying their best to avoid such a situation.

In fact, if Butler accepted the early contract extension offered by the Bulls, then Lauersdorf might have gritted his teeth and maintained the lineup.

After all, the Bulls' current market is expanding, so it is worth paying tens of millions in luxury taxes.

But Butler did not agree, and more importantly, it was actually the issue of team status that Reggie mentioned.

A sixth man with a super maximum salary is a player who is replaceable and will most likely be replaced.

The more he sacrifices now, the greater the possibility that he will be replaced later.

Reggie stood up and walked to Rose, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Derrick, I don't want you to do anything excessive. I know how you feel about the team, but I think sometimes we need to fight for ourselves."

…

Xu Yong has also become very busy recently. He has participated in media interviews and the media reports on him have increased significantly.

This also includes mainstream media like ESPN, which had previously been extremely hostile to him.

Think again about ESPN's previous report on Xu Yong. Perhaps it was not just a diversion as it seemed.

ESPN is more or less preparing in advance.

After all, James' contract with Nike expires this summer. If Nike really doesn't renew James' contract, there will be a backlash, and ESPN doesn't want to stand on the other side of the torrent.

Not only the media, Xu Yong's frequency of participating in sponsor activities is also increasing.

If everyone was still waiting and watching in the past two seasons because of the uncertain future of the Bulls, this season everyone can see that Xu Yong is likely to become a legend, and everyone wants to get close to him as soon as possible.

Even the league officials began to increase the frequency of his publicity.

Stern also hopes to officially push Xu Yong to the throne before he retires.

The false number one constantly demands respect from others, and then emphasizes his position by wearing a crown on himself; the real number one never has to move himself.

Xu Yongdu began to become too busy and sometimes had to reduce his training time.

Because there are many things here that he can't just choose not to go to if he doesn't want to, and he is no longer an individual.

He somewhat understood what Jordan said: "A lot of people say they'd like to try being Michael Jordan for a day or a week, but I don't think they understand that being me is not fun. You won't envy my lifestyle."

As January came, the Bulls' record began to fluctuate. First, they lost to their old rival, the Thunder, and then lost to the Pelicans a few days later.

Losing to the Thunder is understandable. After all, the Thunder's record has been catching up with the Warriors after Ibaka's comeback. But the Pelicans are different. The Pelicans are now the team where Westbrook is celebrating the statistics.

And although they are still first in the league in terms of record, they lost more games this week than in the past two months.

This forced Xu Yong to turn his attention entirely back to the team.

After the loss to the Pelicans, he took the initiative to watch the game video with Thibodeau in the video room.

It was while watching the video that he began to feel that something was not right.

In some rounds, Butler asked for the ball but Rose didn't give it to him, instead he attacked on his own;

There were some rounds when Rose called the plays but Butler did not run according to the plays.

There seems to be some problems between Rose and Butler.

Because there wasn't much interaction between Rose and Butler, and he was busy with off-court stuff during this time, he didn't notice this.

"Is my arrangement a bit unfair to Rose?" Thibodeau asked Xu Yong after watching the video.

After all, he has watched a lot of videos, and he can see the order of ball possession issues. Rose doesn't like to express himself, so he is expressing his dissatisfaction in this way.

"Tom, you did the right thing. Let me take care of it." Xu Yong said, then stood up and left the recording room.

Thibodeau is right. As a coach, what he needs to do is to find the team's winning formula. The team's record this season has already made it clear.

After Xu Yong left the office, he returned to the villa. He was not in a hurry to deal with it because the problem between the two was indeed a bit tricky.

The reason why he told Thibodeau to come was because communication between players is always better than that between coaches. If the coach comes forward, it will easily exacerbate the problem.

After thinking for a while, he called Butler from next door.

"Senior, why aren't you asleep yet so late?" Butler asked with concern after entering the room. It was already past eleven o'clock in the evening.

"Jimmy, sit down first." Xu Yong gestured, then opened a cigar and gave him one, then lit one for himself.

Butler did not light it, but put it back on the table. Although cigars are not good for lungs, he does not have this hobby.

"Is there any problem between you and Derek?" After Butler sat down, Xu Yong asked directly. Given his relationship with Butler, there was no need to beat around the bush.

"No, we have no problems off the court." Butler shook his head, "But you know me, senior. I am not a person who likes to back down. He did not follow the tactics required by the coach, and I also responded."

Xu Yong looked at Butler and said nothing.

Butler felt a little uncomfortable being looked at.

"Senior, I'm sorry, what I did was not rational." He finally apologized.

"Jimmy, you are a player who can become a team leader. You need to learn how to deal with such problems correctly." Xu Yong spoke at this time.

Butler was stunned for a moment, then looked at Xu Yong and nodded vigorously.

"It's getting late today. Go back and have some rest. I'll take care of the rest of the problems." Xu Yong said as he stood up.

After Butler left, he stood at the window with a cigar and blew a smoke ring.

Butler has struggled all the way to his career, but because of him, after entering the NBA, he has gone from a role player to a rotation player and then to an organizational core. It can be said that he has had a smooth journey, so it is not surprising that he would deal with this problem in this way.

And Butler quickly realized that this approach would not solve the problem.

So the key to the problem still lies with Ross.

He recalled the contract extension issue Butler discussed with him during the offseason.

If Butler really renews his contract with a maximum salary by then, excluding Adams, the salaries of their four starters will fill the salary cap.

From his perspective, he definitely wants to last two years, and by 2016 when the salary cap explodes, these won't be a problem anymore.

But the bosses consider the issue from a different perspective than the players, and the tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars spent on luxury taxes all come out of their pockets.

He didn't have much contact with Lauensdorf, but the latter was obviously not the type of boss like Cuban or Ballmer.

And the key is that Rose is not indispensable now, and there is no Rose in the Bulls' iron triangle.

It wouldn't be surprising if the Bulls traded Rose one day.

So if he put himself in Rose's shoes, he could understand why Rose did what he did.

Perform well and fight for a position in the team, or at least increase your trading value. Even if you are really traded, it means a position in the new team.

People will think about themselves, and they need to think about themselves.

He took another drag on his cigar.

After standing at the window for a while, he turned back to his seat, put out his cigar, and made a decision.

The next day, Xu Yong invited Ross to have dinner at his manor.

"Is your ankle okay?" Xu Yong asked Ross with concern while eating.

"My ankle is fine, but my knee still has some reaction sometimes." Ross forced a smile. In fact, he could more or less guess why Xu Yong invited him to dinner at this time.

"In a sense, you have contributed a pair of knees and a pair of ankles to the team." Xu Yong sighed.

In fact, if he were the boss, the current problem would be very simple to solve. He just needs to make some contract renewal promises to Rose. After all, Rose's maximum salary will expire in the summer of 2017.

Rose's comeback this season proved that he can still play, and the key is that Rose was once a totem player of the team. Keeping him will also make the team appear more humane and win more support from fans.

But unfortunately he is not.

When Ross heard this, he was filled with emotion, let down his guard, and looked at Xu Yong with a different look.

"Thinking back to the time when we defeated the Cavaliers together and then defeated the Heat Big Three to win the championship, it feels like it was just yesterday," Xu Yong continued with emotion.

Ross's expression became complicated when he heard this, and he finally said with a wry smile: "If only I had listened to your advice earlier."

If he had listened to Xu Yong earlier, he would not have been hurt. Even if Xu Yong had grown to his current position, he would still be Xu Yong's best helper.

Xu Yong smiled and raised the glass in his hand.

There are more medicines in the world than alcohol, but there is no medicine for regret.

"Derek." After putting down the wine glass, Xu Yong looked at Ross and his tone changed.

"When the Cleveland Big Four formed a team, the whole league was worried, but I was not worried, because I knew that just like the F4 of the Lakers, no matter how they handled it, the ball possession problem would always accompany them.

When a team has a problem with the ball, that is when it starts to fall. Only when everyone performs their duties can they play well. I think even we have experienced this ourselves. "

When he finished speaking, Xu Yong looked straight at Ross.

Ross lowered his head and nodded after a long moment.

Xu Yong did not say it very directly, but he knew that he made sacrifices in the season when he won the MVP. The ownership of the FMVP in the end actually explained the problem. If Xu Yong wanted to compete, the MVP might not be his.

"You should know me. I always think that the team is the most important. If it is really necessary, I can give up some shooting rights. I just want that championship. You know we have failed for two consecutive years." Xu Yong's eyes did not move.

"No, that won't work." Ross looked up at Xu Yong and shook his head, his eyes full of guilt. Xu Yong had already made sacrifices back then, and now he was asked to make sacrifices again. He would really feel guilty for the rest of his life.

"I'm sorry, Xu, I'm a little selfish." His eyes changed from guilt to apologetic. It was okay for him to consider himself, but he was sorry for Xu Yong. You know, Xu Yong had always supported him after he joined the Bulls, no matter before or after he was injured.

"Derrick." Xu Yong called Ross's name again, but his tone was softened. "'The collapse of a dynasty begins from within.' Moreover, we have not yet proven ourselves. If we go through this now, only our opponents will be happy."

"I understand. I'll talk to Jimmy." Ross's expression was serious.

Xu Yong nodded when he heard this, and then clinked glasses with Rose: "Everything is for the championship."

After finishing his meal and seeing Ross off, Xu Yong also let out a long sigh of relief.

The problem seems to have been solved without causing any major commotion.

Looking back at what he did back then, it now seems that he had a long-term vision.

If he and Rose had competed for the MVP back then, this problem would have been unsolvable.

And the reason why he used soft tactics instead of hard tactics was based on this point. After all, as he said, he and Rose had struggled together for many years.

…

After a struggling week, the Bulls quickly adjusted back to their form. They defeated strong teams such as the Mavericks, Raptors, and Hawks in succession, and soon started a new winning streak.

At this time, some people have begun to think about a problem.

In the latest episode of TNT, Barkley and Kenny Smith formally raised this issue.

"Are the Bulls going to challenge the Bulls' 72-win regular season record?"

This is the first time in many years that a team has been able to achieve this goal.

What’s even more interesting is that it’s the Bulls.

What’s even more interesting is that the Bulls still have the second-best regular season record in history (69 wins).

Chicago Bulls. Breaking team records is a record.

In fact, when the superstars were choosing a team, they would think twice when they saw the Bulls, because Jordan had accomplished so much in Chicago, not only the six championships, but also a lot of records.

It was like a pile of rammed earth, impossible to shake.

But now, Xu Yong is leading the new Bulls team and is going to loosen up the soil.

The discussion of this topic has also made the Bulls continue to be the most popular team in the league and the team that has long dominated the first place in the team strength list.

Even the Warriors team next door, which had a brilliant record, were completely overshadowed.

…

Cleveland.

“Snap! Snap!”

James was smashing glass bottles in the venting room again.

And this time, he smashed it for a little longer than usual.

When Fu Paul's plan worked, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep.

But just one week later, the situation changed radically.

The Bulls are now at the peak of their powers.

Even media outlets like ESPN came over to give him some praise.

Nike also hinted that he must win the championship this season, otherwise the cooperation will likely end.

"What a bunch of snobs!"

He was so angry that he threw the baseball bat against the wall and left the venting room in a huff.

When he returned to the living room, he saw that Fu Paul was also in a bad mood.

Rich Paul had previously vowed that the Bulls would be in big trouble, but now people are starting to talk about breaking the historical record!

What makes him even more annoyed is that the Cavaliers have not been able to get enough teamwork during the season, especially Irving, who seems unwilling to be just a striker.

This also led to the Cavaliers' ups and downs despite a good record. Not to mention catching up with the Bulls, they are still suppressed by the Pacers in terms of record.

"King, I think in order to solve the problem of running-in, you can choose to rest for a while." Fu Paul then began to give advice.

James's face still didn't improve.

"Let Kyrie realize his ability to lead a team, let him know that the Cavaliers can't do without you, I think he will change his mind."

Hearing this, James's expression improved a little.

But he was also a little worried. What if the team performed better without him?

Then he will be the one who will be embarrassed!

"I've looked at the schedule. The team's schedule will be very difficult in the next period of time, and it also includes the second match with the Bulls. After about 8 games, the schedule will become easier again."

James smiled at this moment. This was indeed a perfect solution. It would make those people feel that “you really need me”, and then all problems would no longer be problems. [Note 22]

"What you said before about weakening the Bulls..." After his mood improved, James brought up what Rich Paul had said before.

"I will increase my efforts, and their problems will not suddenly disappear." Fu Paul said with certainty.

James nodded in satisfaction at this.

Everything that goes up must come down. With their two-pronged approach, this season may not be dominated by the Bulls!

…

Chicago.

The day before the game against the Cavaliers, Rose returned home after training.

"The results of the second round of voting are out, and Jimmy is still second. If he really starts, his position in the team will be secured." Reggie looked at the happy Rose and couldn't help but remind him again.

Recently, Rose has been content with the role assigned to him by the team. If he continues to play like this, Rose may really leave Chicago.

"Reggie, I have already promised Xu. This is necessary for the championship. The team is on a winning streak now, isn't it? They have started discussing whether we can break the 72-win mark." The team is back on track, and Rose is in a very happy mood.

"People will remember the 72-win Bulls team with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Danny Rodman, but who will remember Ron Harper?" Reggie couldn't help but ask.

"I'm very happy now. I truly feel that winning makes me happier than improving my statistics. As for the future, who can say for sure?" Rose replied with a smile.

Reggie sighed, his brother was too naive.

If Lauersdorf had that kind of courage, the Bulls' second three consecutive championships would not have been so difficult.

"And I know Xu." Seeing Reggie's reaction, Ross put away his smile and suddenly changed his tone to a serious one.

Reggie looked at Ross suspiciously.

"He is a person who pays special attention to the team. He is communicating with me in a soft way now. If I insist, he will use a tough way for the team. If it really comes to that, I may leave Chicago before the end of this season." Rose said with a wry smile. After the meal, he not only knew Xu Yong's attitude, but also knew his own [position] through Xu Yong's hints.

Reggie was stunned. He wanted to say it was impossible, but when he thought about it carefully, was it really impossible?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh again.

Although Xu Yong was very good to their family, his own interests were involved after all.

Seeing his brother's reaction, Ross suddenly recalled what he had heard during dinner at Xu Yong's house: "If we go through this now, the only ones who will be happy are our opponents."

He thought about it and realized that at the beginning of the season, Reggie didn't consider these things, but he seemed to have been mentioning them recently?

"Reggie, have you been close to anyone lately?"

"Why do you ask that suddenly?"

"I know you are thinking about me, but don't you think that my insistence on doing those things will harm the current team?" Rose suddenly asked.

Reggie frowned at first, thinking that his brother had misunderstood him, but after thinking about it carefully, it seemed to be true.

There was silence in the room for a while. Reggie thought about it carefully and remembered that a friend had indeed mentioned this matter to him twice.

He had the same idea as Ross, thinking that the other party was considering them, so he didn't think much about it.

But what Ross said did seem a little wrong.

"That person, I remember he seemed to be a friend of Rich Paul." Reggie spoke after a long time.

Rich Paul, also known as Rich Paul.

The two looked at each other and seemed to understand something.

They are being used as guns.