warrior godfather

Chapter 672 Join if you can't beat it
When the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers and successfully defended their title, in faraway Oklahoma City, Durant witnessed the moment at home with his agent Kleiman.

He watched the Warriors receive the championship trophy silently, with envy in his eyes.

As Curry accepted the fmvp trophy from Bill Russell, Durant sighed and turned off the TV.

Seeing this, Kleiman didn't say anything, but silently handed Durant a glass of red wine.

Durant took the wine glass, drank it down, put the glass down, and said very resolutely:

"Rich, I'm going to the Warriors! The Warriors are so powerful, no one is their opponent. I figured it out, since I can't beat them, why not join? If you want to win the championship, you don't need to beat the Warriors, just join the Warriors , all troubles are gone, and I will definitely win the championship!"

Kleiman was stunned. He had persuaded Durant last time, but Durant still wanted to go to the Warriors. He tried to persuade him again:
"Kevin, the Thunder were just eliminated by the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. If you were to join the Warriors on a free transfer at this time, what would the Thunder fans think of you? What would others think of you?"

"My contract with the Thunder has expired, I can go wherever I want, they have no control." Durant was unmoved.

"But they will regard you as a betrayer! Don't forget, the Thunder and the Warriors are not the only ones who have grievances this time. The Western team that fans hate the most is the Warriors. If you switch to the Warriors, your reputation will drop to the bottom in an instant!" Clay Man's voice suddenly raised and became severe.

He is not only Durant's agent, but also Durant's confidant, and he cannot just watch Durant go to the enemy.

But Durant wanted to go to the Warriors, and he was crazy. Regardless of Kleiman's dissuasion, he begged:

"Ricky, I really want to go to the Warriors, help me! I've had enough of the days without a championship, you've seen it all, what scoring ability does Leonard have? In the regular season, he scored 20 points in the regular season, and he can score like this in the finals." More points, if I can play with Curry, no one in the league is our opponent, we can definitely build a dynasty, the greatest dynasty in NBA history!"

He stared at Kleiman closely, his eyes were full of pleading, his expression was sincere, he almost knelt down to Kleiman.

"Hey..." Kleiman sighed, "Kevin, I understand your eagerness to win the championship. You have played in the NBA for nine years, and you really can't wait..."

Durant nodded again and again, and said anxiously:
"That's right, I have to win the championship quickly. I don't want to be like James, who has played for more than ten years without a championship in his hand. He just lost to the Warriors. I can't follow in his footsteps! So I Must go to the Warriors, I really want to play with Curry, we join hands, the world is invincible!"

Clayman paused, and said in a tone that hated iron and steel:
"But have you ever thought about it? The Warriors are invincible now! Leonard's scoring in the finals is almost the same as Curry's, and the defense is top in the league. He still has a three-year contract with the Warriors. Why do the Warriors want to trade? They just need to maintain the status quo. With a lineup, you can rule the league!"

Durant froze.

Kleiman's words were like a sharp dagger, ruthlessly piercing the dream in his heart, and a sense of shame flooded Durant's heart.

He sat there in a daze, his eyes drooping, looking at the ground, with a depressed expression, and murmured:
"Yeah, I want to join forces with Curry, but he doesn't necessarily want to join forces with me. Leonard can attack and defend, and the Warriors can rule the league without me. I'm just wishful thinking..."

Durant's disappointed appearance let Kleiman know that he had made a slip of the tongue. He touched his nose in embarrassment and said:

"Sorry, Kevin, I didn't mean that..."

Durant waved his hands weakly, raised his head, and said with a wry smile:

"It doesn't matter, and only you will say this to me. You really think about me. In fact, I should have figured it out a long time ago. As long as the Warriors win the championship this year, I can't go to the Warriors. If they lose to the Cavaliers, I will Only then did I have a chance, it was because I wanted to go to the Warriors and ignored this..."

Durant's understanding made Kleiman heave a sigh of relief. He thought for a while and comforted:
"Actually, you don't have to go to the Warriors. The new broadcast contract will take effect next season. The salary cap will skyrocket by more than 2000 million US dollars. You can lower your salary and go to other teams. The Heat contacted me, Pat Lai Leigh made a promise, you will be the boss if you go, Wade and Bosh are very happy to assist you, Danny Ainge also called me, the Celtics have a lot of draft picks and young people, as long as you go Yes, the reinforcement will be completed immediately, and he also revealed that the chief assistant coach of the Warriors, Steve Kerr, will serve as the new coach of the Celtics. He is responsible for the Warriors' offense. Quite enough..."

Kleiman recommended to Durant several teams that have salary space and are very interested in Durant.

But Durant only wants to go to a top team that can immediately compete for the championship, not to those mid-range teams, let alone a rebuilding team like the Celtics.

The more he listened, the more impatient he became, interrupting Kleiman's words:

"Is there a better option? I mean the kind of team that I can compete with the Warriors head-on after I join. I don't want to waste a few more years waiting for rookies to grow up, or to partner with stars who are about to retire. "

Kleiman hesitated for a moment, then said:

"Then there are only the Bulls and the Cavaliers. They are top teams, but they have no salary space. If you want to go, you can only sign and change. The Bulls fell in the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Cavaliers lost the Finals. They must all want to strengthen. I will definitely not reject your joining, but Rose and James are the absolute core. If you really join one of the teams, your status will not be as high as in the Thunder. In fact, staying in the Thunder is also a good choice. After all, you Having worked with Russell for so long..."

"No, I will never stay in the Thunder. I can't stand that guy's mistakes and strikes!" Durant flatly refused, "Only the Bulls and Cavaliers, you go talk, they are very strong, I will Any one will do, I don't care about the status of the team, I just want the championship now!"

Durant's decisive attitude made Kleiman understand that his thoughts cannot be changed.

Although Kleiman wants Durant to stay in the Thunder, so that Durant can get the largest contract extension, his reputation will not be damaged, and business development will be smoother, but he is only an agent after all. Durant's agent could only helplessly say:

"Okay, I'll do it right away..."

Seeing Kleiman's ugly face, Durant thought he didn't want to see his tactical status in the new team decline, and comforted him:

"Don't worry, Rich, are you still worried about my scoring ability? What I need now is a good helper. I can't compete with Rose and James as the boss of the team, but the fmvp is not necessarily who it is. At that time, the fans We'll know who's the real boss!"

……

After the championship award ceremony, the Cavaliers' visiting locker room became a champagne bath.

The Warriors celebrated wantonly before stopping, taking a shower and changing the championship T-shirts at the urging of the press officer.

Zhang Yu took Curry, Clay, Leonard, Green, Antetokounmpo, and Bogdan to accept post-match interviews. This will be a long press conference.

Several people were asked questions related to winning the championship, and one of them was somewhat unexpected:

"Stephen, you got seven fmvp votes, the same as last year's finals, Kawhi got the other four votes, what do you think about that?"

Curry was a little surprised. He scored more points than Leonard, and his efficiency was terribly high. His true shooting percentage exceeded 70%, the first in history. Even though there were vacant seats, four votes were taken away.

But the thought quickly passed by, and he replied with a smile:

"I am very happy to be recognized by so many judges. Kawhi also deserves these votes. His performance is very good, but most importantly, we won the championship. This is something to be happy about. fmvp is just an accessory. Compared to the O'Brien Cup, it doesn't matter at all..."

The reporter also asked Leonard this question. Leonard was even more surprised than Curry. He thought that Curry would be unanimously elected fmvp, but he didn't expect that he would get four votes. He was secretly happy, but Leonard also knew that he The role is not as great as these four votes show, and I sincerely replied:
"The fmvp is what Steph deserves, you know, he's our leader, he's unselfish, draws a lot of defense, and still gets that many points, he's doing so well, to be honest, I thought he'd be unanimous I was elected, but I didn't expect that I could get four votes, thank the judges for their recognition..."

Compared to Dennis, who was blinded by interests, Leonard and Curry get along day and night, and they are very self-aware and aware of the gap between themselves and Curry.

When the reporter asked Zhang Yu this question, his answer was neat and tidy:

"The judges can vote for whoever they want. Just like what Stephen said, the championship is the most important thing. FMVP is just an accessory, it's not that important."

A reporter was not reconciled and asked:

"At the end of the third quarter, the Warriors had a 23-point lead, but after the fourth quarter, you still left Stephen Curry on the court and played until the last 5 minutes..."

"Otherwise? This is the finals. Of course I have to ensure a complete victory. If the point difference is not large enough, I will even let Stephen play the entire second half!" Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Yu directly interrupted him.

The reporter was speechless, Zhang Yu answered a few more questions, got up and left, and ended the interview.

A new round of celebration for the Warriors is about to begin. On the bus leaving the Quicken Loans Center and heading to the nightclub, Zhang Yu chatted with Cole beside him and talked about the fmvp vote.

Zhang Yu sneered and said:
"Steph performed so well that Kawhi got four votes. If he hadn't scored 44 points tonight, those judges might really dare to award fmvp to Kawhi!"

(End of this chapter)