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Chapter 304 Epilogue - Seven Years - Part Two

"My era has ended."

"speak nicely."

"What I mean is, I've been thinking about retiring recently and taking my talents to TNT."

During the 13/14 season playoffs.
As one of the five Warriors legends with their own personal exhibition hall at the Qin'an Center, Kwame Brown once had a long, private conversation with Qin Yue.

Although Brown is only 32 years old and his current contract is about to expire.

But after careful consideration, Brown believes he has at least three reasons why he must retire.

“Boss, you’ve always taught me to prioritize loyalty and integrity over everything else,” Brown said. “So, if I can’t re-sign with the Warriors, I’m definitely not going to choose to play for another team.”

"to be honest."

"Boss, you know, the team just built a museum for me, so whether it's out of personal feelings or for my future reputation, I can't possibly choose to play for another team."

"and then?"

then
Of course, it's Brown's awkward situation regarding renewing his contract with the Warriors.

Back in the summer of 2012, the Warriors signed an early contract extension with Stephen Curry.

In the summer of 2013, the Warriors signed Danny Green to a contract extension.

As for this summer
The Warriors' top priority is, of course, to find a way to reach an early contract extension agreement with Jimmy Butler.

In addition, the Warriors will need to discuss an early contract extension with Draymond Green next summer.

Therefore, Brown knew better than anyone else.
With the Warriors' quality rookie contracts decreasing year by year, even if he can rely on his seniority to ask the team for a retirement contract, he is very likely to be kicked out by the team in the future due to his declining performance.

"I am already a Warriors legend," Brown said. "I don't want that to happen to me, and I don't want to make things difficult for the team in the future because of me."

It must be said that Brown's self-awareness surpasses that of the vast majority of people.

Unlike other NBA players.

Since Brown's current honors and legendary status are closely related to the Warriors and Qin Yue, Brown will naturally do everything in his power to protect Qin Yue's image and everything about the Warriors.

Moreover, with the growth of Draymond Green, Brown's playing time this season has inevitably been further reduced.

Therefore, in Brown's view, instead of applying to stay with the team as a meritorious player, it would be better to take this opportunity to bring his talents to TNT, a television station where he can better utilize his strengths.

“Boss, I’ve fought alongside you in the Bay Area for nine seasons, and you know better than anyone what I want most,” Brown said. “Now that I have everything I want, my top priority is naturally to keep this honor that belongs to me.”

Friends come and go, but the championship banner flies high in the wind.

Despite his deep reluctance to part with Brown, Qin Yue ultimately agreed to Brown's suggestion on that sunny afternoon.

That summer, in addition to Brown's decision to retire, Gerald Wallace, who had played for the Warriors for many years, also felt it was time for him to part ways with the team.

"I need to go and secure one last big contract."

Wallace said to Qin Yue during the Warriors' championship parade.

In the NBA, when a team has young players rising to prominence, it is inevitable that some veterans will fall behind.

In the 13/14 season, Butler's strong rise put unprecedented pressure on Wallace, who was about to turn 32.

Although, privately, Wallace had considered accepting the retirement contract offered to him by the Warriors.

But similar to Brown.

For Wallace, a Warriors legend, he also doesn't want to see him make things difficult for the team in the future because of this retirement contract that is bound to become a bad contract.

"My ambitions are no longer compatible with this team."

As he was saying goodbye to Qin Yue, Wallace said the following.

But many years from now.
In reviewing why the Warriors achieved far greater success than other teams of their era, Anthony Lester of the San Francisco Chronicle said: "From Baron Davis to Troy Murphy, and then to Mike Dunleavy, Steve Nash, Kwame Brown, and Gerald Wallace, it's easy to see that the voluntary departure of these veterans not only allowed the Warriors to complete their roster overhaul at the right time, but also ensured that the Warriors wouldn't fall into the trap of relying too much on legacy-driven basketball."

In competitive sports, any dynasty that wants to maintain its dominance in the long term must constantly replace its members.

However, the issue of roster overhaul is precisely the biggest problem that plagues all dynasty teams.

after all
Non-vegetation, ruthless Practice makes perfect?
Moreover, even if a team's management is ruthless enough to purge its star players, they will still find it difficult to consistently earn a good reputation like the Warriors of today.

In response, Lester described it this way in his personal feature article, "No Sacrifice, No Victory": "The Warriors are by no means the most humane team in the league today, but fortunately, they have a group of the most humane players."

For the Warriors, who have just won five consecutive championships, the upcoming summer is destined to be a busy one.

Because, in addition to Brown's retirement, Wallace left the team as a free agent.
Veterans Antawn Jamison and Ray Allen also believe their careers have come to an end.

This makes the Warriors need fresh blood and quality rookie contracts more than ever to fill the gaps in their current roster.

Therefore, at the draft held at the end of June, Qin Yue "recommended" a helmsman for the Warriors who were about to enter the "4.0" era.

A young center forward from Serbia, weight unknown, who will chug a Coke if you offer him one.

About ten years later, this player will generally be referred to as "Jokic" or "Joker" in the gaming community. Yes.

This young player is Nikola Jokic, whom Qin Yue doesn't want to miss even if he can't immediately join the NBA.

Because the new collective bargaining agreement has reset the limit on the number of European players that each team can buy out from their current contracts with their parent clubs.

Therefore, even though many teams have realized that the playmaking center will inevitably become the answer in the future.
However, considering that Jokic, whose family is not wealthy at this moment, does not have the ability to pay for his own "redemption" like Pau Gasol did back then.

Before the 2014 NBA Draft, Jokic, who was unable to enter the NBA in time, was still only considered for the early second round of the draft.

In Qin Yue's view, this is undoubtedly the perfect opportunity for the Warriors to use their already worthless first-round draft pick to snag a bargain in this year's draft.

Warriors president Larry Riley was puzzled by this, wondering why the GOAT would gamble the Warriors' first-round draft pick on a young European player whose future in the NBA was still uncertain.

But considering that GOAT has never made a wrong bet so far, Riley finally agreed to GOAT's small bet.

At the end of June that year, at his home in Serbia, Jokic learned that he had been selected by the Golden State Warriors with the 30th overall pick in the first round.

“I was so excited because ever since I started playing basketball, my brothers had told me that ‘Da Qin’ was the best basketball player in the world,” Jokic later recalled. “I remember drinking two liters of Coke that day to celebrate being drafted by the Warriors.”

Of course, no matter how much Qin Yue thinks highly of Jokic.

Jokic won't be able to join the NBA until next season at the earliest.

Therefore, the Warriors, unable to complete their roster overhaul through the draft that summer, still needed to make acquisitions in the free agent market.

On Andre Varejao's advice, the Warriors first signed Drew Gooden in the free agent market.

As a former "CBA teammate" of LeBron James.
This summer, Guden had already considered retiring.

But after receiving Varejao's call, Gooden, who had originally planned to retire, boarded a plane to San Francisco without hesitation.

“You know, my hometown is in Auckland.”

On the day he signed with the Warriors, Gooden said with great pride, "Although the Warriors have moved their home court to San Francisco, every Oaklander will still consider the Warriors their home team, so for me, since I have the opportunity to play for my hometown team, I must seize it."

Gooden joined the Warriors because of his hometown basketball.

A day later, at the strong recommendation of Gooden and Varejao, Mo Williams, nicknamed "Mo the Unpassable," submitted his resume to the Warriors, citing "brotherhood basketball" as his reason.

“You know, Andy and Drew are my brothers. I still have gas in my tank, and I hope to work with my brothers. To be honest, I can’t wait to wear a Warriors jersey.”

Mo Bukchuan, an offensive guard, said on the day he signed with the Warriors that he only needed a veteran's minimum salary to satisfy his appetite.

In addition, to strengthen the team's interior, the Warriors also selected David Lee, who had been LeBron James' teammate for half a season with the Knicks, from among a group of free agents.

Lee, who was waived by the 76ers this summer, now only wants to retire with a championship ring.

Despite the impact of injuries, which have affected Li's individual performance, the Warriors still value his ability to create space and facilitate plays.

On the very day he signed with Li, Li's reason for choosing to play for the Warriors left Qin Yue somewhat speechless.

The reason Lee chose to play for the Warriors was that he believed the excellent educational resources in the Bay Area could provide his children with a high-quality education.

From Guden's hometown basketball.

To Mo Bu Chuan's brotherhood of basketball.

Then there's Li's school district housing and basketball.

Although the reasons why three of LeBron James' former teammates chose to join the Warriors that summer are something that only Qin Yue can truly understand regarding their "LeBron James influence."

But after being reminded by Gooden and others, Qin Yue, who vaguely realized that James would also become a free agent again this summer, couldn't help but wonder about the fate of his former good brother.

"You mean LeBron? Haven't you been following the news? He announced a while ago that he's taking his talents to Los Angeles."

"He joined the Lakers?"

"How could the Lakers possibly want him? And where would the Lakers get the salary cap space?"

"You mean he joined the Clippers?"

"Yes."

In fact, Qin Yue was not unaware of the news.

The news that James decided to bring his talents to the Clippers this summer didn't even make the headlines.

After all, after spending two whole years in that bitterly cold place
Who still remembers this once chosen one? Now a forsaken one?

In this life, the fairy tale known as "The Emperor's New Clothes" has long since ended in New York, a city that has captivated countless people.

Many years from now, only older fans will remember this.
The former LeBron James.
He is a player who, according to the media, was once considered to be on par with the GOAT in terms of talent.

……

P.S.: Epilogue 2 is included! Thank you again to all my readers!
(End of this chapter)