The NBA's Absolute Dominance

Chapter 189 Walking Rules
Throughout Miami, Tang Bei's promotional photos are everywhere.

The preseason had been underway for a few days when he traveled to New York and played three preseason games to get to know his new teammates and the lineup.

The roster has changed a lot. Only 5 players remain from last season's championship team. It's not that the management didn't want to keep the original roster, but they simply couldn't afford it because of limited cap space.

Kendall Gill, on the other hand, was quite emotional. Just the season before last, Tang Bei was competing with Larry Johnson for space under the basket, for the core, and for the leadership of the Hornets. Now, Larry Johnson is a player in a completely different league from Tang Bei, and doesn't even have the right to be compared to him.

As for him, he was relegated to being Tang Bei's underling.

Thinking about this made him very depressed, because back then, Tang Bei and Larry Johnson, those two bastards, fought back and forth, and he was the one who suffered the most.

The Hornets traded Tang Bei, then sold him off, leaving him to wander around now.

"Tang, work harder this season, don't slack off, my championship depends on you." He said to Tang Bei as he sat down on the plane back to Miami.

"How many years do you have left on your contract?" Tang Bei asked.

“One year,” Kendall Gill said.

Tang Bei said dejectedly, "Kendall, from what you're saying, you're planning to win the championship here and then run away, right?"

Kendall Gill said helplessly, "What can I do? The Heat will probably extend your contract next year, and there's Glen Rice too. Where's the cap space for me? I want to sign a decent long-term contract next time."

"I have no plans to renew my contract early," Tang Bei said.

"Tch, don't try to fool me. The Heat will definitely give you space anyway. What am I to you?" Kendall Gill said.

Tang Bei nodded and said, "Then you should try your best. Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, Anfernee Hardaway, John Starks, these are all strong opponents for you in the East. Only by defeating them can we make it to the Finals."

"give it to me."

Kendall Gill patted his chest and said.

Tang Bei stared at Kendall Giles from head to toe, feeling that the guy seemed a bit arrogant.

Lewis Shaffer noticed their conversation and, after Kendall Gill walked away, leaned over and whispered in Tang Bei's ear:

"Tang, we don't have a first-round pick next year, so we need to find a way to get one. The best way is to re-sign Kendall Gill and then use him to trade for a first-round pick in 95."

Tang Bei smiled and said, "Then you'd better get him a championship, otherwise he won't agree to a sign-and-trade deal."

"rely on you."

Shafir smiled and added, "After the new season, both his and Willis's contracts will expire. If we win the championship, we probably won't be able to keep them."

Tang Bei nodded. Salary cap space is limited, and none of the stars acquired through trades have long-term contracts, so it's true that they can't be retained.

That's not right either. He thought of Chris Webber, but the Warriors couldn't keep him either.
The Nemurs have not yet returned from China, but they have decided to focus their future investments there and may very well settle down there.

Tangjia Investment belongs to Jiabao. In addition to their investment in Walmart China, the couple has opened a new investment company, preparing to invest in the manufacturing industry, and has purchased villas in Beijing and Shanghai.

Tang Bei has already notified the Heat to cancel his small villa, and he has moved to the Monica Building, into Jia Bao's large apartment.

Jiabao's large single-level apartment is huge, with a kendo hall of over 100 square meters, a gym of over 100 square meters, and two swimming pools, one outdoor and one indoor.

Above the large platform is a huge sky garden, with a helicopter platform in the middle.

After dinner, the two went for a walk in the rooftop garden.

"What a waste. Such a large area could be used to grow vegetables," Tang Bei said with some regret.

“You plant it,” Garbo said.

"Forget it, I don't have the time for that," Tang Bei immediately shook his head.

"By the way, Wet Tiger, when do you want to have a baby?" Jia Bao asked with a smile, bringing up a very serious question.

"I'm not in a hurry, what do you think?"

Tang Bei felt that they were not too old, especially since Jia Bao was only eighteen. It would be better to have children in a few years.

Jia Bao said, "I'll be a junior in college next year, and I can easily accumulate enough credits to get my bachelor's degree. Wet Tiger, shall we wait until I get my doctorate before having a baby?"

"it is good."

Tang Bei nodded and asked, "What major are you planning to study?"

Jia Bao smiled and said, "Of course, you should study economics. It's the theoretical foundation of economic management, and you have to learn it."

I own a company and have been practicing for a long time, so there's no need for me to study practical subjects like management; I can just learn them through self-study.

Which university are you planning to apply to next year?

"Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, University of Chicago, and Princeton University are the five best universities in the United States for economics, and also the universities with the most extensive networks."

Then Jiabao told Tang Bei about the unique features of these universities.

MIT has the strongest research and development capabilities and is very powerful in the fields of technology and information consulting.

Harvard alumni span the global political and business spheres, boasting numerous leaders and outstanding resource integration capabilities.

Located in Silicon Valley, Stanford Graduate School of Business boasts core strengths in entrepreneurship, leadership, and a global perspective. It is also a leader in technology, with a 25% entrepreneurship rate among its graduates and 49% concentrated in the technology sector.

The Wharton School of Business is a leader in finance, healthcare, and real estate, and its undergraduate business program is consistently ranked number one in the nation, excluding graduate programs.

In Jia Bao's view, the choice of which university to attend should be based on her needs.

The United States is currently shifting towards finance, with a large amount of capital and elites flowing into the financial sector, while the manufacturing industry is becoming hollowed out.

At the same time, the internet and other technology industries are also taking off.

If you want to develop your career in the United States, you should choose a university that excels in finance and technology.

But now that the Nemur family has decided to expand into China, it is clear that they cannot choose finance and can only choose universities with an advantage in the field of technology.

Her goal is Stanford Graduate School of Business. Whether in the US or China, the future belongs to technology, and her main purpose in applying to Stanford is to build connections in the technology field.

She doesn't need to start her own business; she just needs to invest in alumni who are capable of starting their own businesses.

In addition, these business schools not only accept applications, but also accept invitations and recommendations.

“I plan to go by invitation only. My dad has a master’s degree from Stanford Business School and will help me contact professors there. Once a professor’s nomination is approved, the business school will invite me to study for their doctoral program.”

“So easy?”

“I’ve had my own stock account since I was six, and I started getting involved in the family business when I was nine. Now that I’ve stepped away from the core of the family, I’m taking the lead in managing the family’s multi-billion dollar investments.”

Garbo said, "With my capital and experience in investing in and operating real businesses, and with billions of dollars in assets, no business school in the United States would refuse me, including Stanford."

"Then we can't break up after a year?"

"No, graduate students don't necessarily have to be on campus. I also manage a company, so I'm a part-time graduate student, hehe!"

"That's fine."

"By the way, Mom and Dad have decided to develop their careers in China. We'll go there in the future too, and it's also important to build connections there."

"Haha, as for the domestic market, we'll have to wait and see. Just look how quickly Walmart's investment was approved this time; that's how much influence I have."

"Is this what they call 'direct access to the heavens'?"

"Garbo, your Chinese is getting better and better, you can even use idioms now?"

"You should know my IQ, it's 140, no discounts."

"My 145 isn't discounted either."

"No wonder they're offering discounts."

On October 26th, the league announced a trade.

The Timberwolves traded Alonzo Mourning for the Hornets' starting center Ronnie Sekkali, plus the Heat's unprotected 95 first-round pick and the Hornets' 95 second-round pick.

Ronnie Sekkali's performance has declined again due to injuries, and he is also 30 years old and past his prime, so the Hornets decided to trade him.

Mourning was very dissatisfied with the Timberwolves' tanking and asked to leave the team. The Timberwolves did not want to trade him, but they could not keep him.

The impact of this trade was not significant. Among the 92 rookies, Tang Bei had the greatest influence. Tang Bei's brilliance had already overshadowed O'Neal's, let alone Mourning.

However, there is still some impact, because Mourning requested a trade before his rookie contract was even over, which is not much better than Chris Webber requesting a trade after only one year of playing, and it is a negative impact.

At this point, at the NBA headquarters in New York, after several months of delays, David Stern and a group of executives finally made a decision.

Tang Bei's tornado-style drives to the basket were so lethal that over two seasons, no fewer than fifty players were injured by them.

Of course, none of them are life-threatening injuries, but even minor injuries that can be recovered from in a week or two of rest would greatly disrupt the balance if they occurred during a series.

In the 93 Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls were swept after several of their interior players were injured by Tang Bei's repeated collisions.

In response to this situation, the executives organized a large technical team to thoroughly study Tang Bei's technical maneuvers and found some flaws.

That is, when Tang Bei turned to attack the basket, his turning speed was too fast, which raised suspicion of traveling.

This mainly refers to dribbling and turning to attack the basket. Often, Tang Bei's pivot foot leaves the ground before the ball leaves his hand.

However, the league's rules on traveling are not detailed enough, so Tang Bei's actions do not constitute a true traveling violation.

On October 28, the NBA announced a new rule.

This rule states that if a player is dribbling and their pivot foot leaves the ground before the ball leaves their hand, it constitutes a traveling violation.

Next, Tang Bei began to adapt to the new rules in training.

After several days of training, he realized that this rule would limit his turning speed, directly reducing his power when attacking the basket and indirectly reducing his offensive threat. He felt that this rule would have little impact on other centers, because no other center had his turning speed.

However, in addition to limiting him to some extent, the new rule also restricts the speed of ball-handling and penetration on the perimeter. Relatively speaking, the new rule increases the difficulty of penetration, which is beneficial to perimeter defense, especially to teams like the Heat whose perimeter defense is not very strong.

On the 30th, Tang Bei hosted a banquet for all the domestic reporters who came to interview him.

They didn't invite any reporters from Hong Kong or Taiwan. Hong Kong hasn't even returned to China yet, and Taiwan is not on the same side.

There were as many as 41 mainland reporters, far exceeding the number from last season.

In 93, the country's foreign exchange reserves were only 84 billion US dollars, but in the third quarter of this year they reached 105 billion US dollars, and it is predicted that the whole year will not be less than 130 billion US dollars. This shows that the domestic economy has begun to strengthen, trade has expanded, and exports have increased.

Because of the increase in foreign trade, not only did foreign exchange reserves increase, but the amount of US dollars in private hands also increased, which led to more domestic reporters rushing to Miami to interview him.

CCTV's sports channel 5 is ready and will premiere on New Year's Day, with NBA television broadcasts being a top priority.

In the new season, CCTV will broadcast 60 NBA regular season games live, including 35 games by the Heat, 15 games by the Bulls, and 10 games by other teams.

Moreover, Channel 5 will use its own satellite signal, and the team sent to the United States this time is a five-person interview and camera crew.

Zhang Heli was sent to the United States again as a frontline reporter for CCTV. His work was heavier than before because he now had his own satellite signal, and the camera could switch to him at any time.

After drinking two glasses of wine, he said, "Tang Bei, Channel 5 is about to start airing. It's currently in the trial run phase, and we need programs with high viewership."

What do you mean?

"If you exchange a few million dollars for CCTV, the number of broadcasts for the new season could be even higher, and maybe every Heat game will be broadcast."

Tang Bei shook his head and said, "I did bring back tens of millions of US dollars last time, but CCTV couldn't get their hands on it. It's not like I can just exchange it for CCTV whenever I want; there are foreign exchange policies that regulate it."

Zhang Heli and all the reporters were taken aback. Tens of millions of US dollars?
The average monthly salary in Beijing is only around 500 yuan, or 5,000 to 6,000 yuan a year, or at most 800 to 10 million US dollars. They would have to work for tens of thousands of years to earn that much money.

"This money is no longer money."

"No wonder Tang Bei has so many bodyguards around him. That wealthy businessman from Hong Kong named Wang Defei, whose net worth is tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars, has been kidnapped twice."

"His wife is richer."

"I heard those two seven-star rubies cost several hundred million dollars."

Envy and jealousy mingled among them, and the crowd began to whisper among themselves.

Zhang Heli then mentioned another matter: David Stern sent a senior vice president to CCTV in the summer to understand the situation, mainly because the NBA felt that the ratings were too low and did not match Tang Bei's current popularity.

But CCTV's ratings are all based on manual statistics, which are collected by making phone calls. How many households in China have telephones now?
Not only is CCTV's ratings data for the NBA definitely not real, but even CCTV's own actual data is absolutely inconsistent with the truth.

Therefore, CCTV will continue to broadcast NAB matches for free in real time, and this situation is likely to continue until a professional viewership statistics company emerges.

Tang Bei chuckled and said, "Our President Stern is shrewd, but he'll still have to keep getting freebies!"

"Haha..." Everyone laughed.

After the meal, Tang Bei said to Zhang Heli, "Director Zhang, please advertise for my factory during the live broadcast. The company bought an advertising space at the home venue."

"OK, no problem."

Zhang Heli happily agreed.

Tang Bei prepared a gift for each reporter, including a $1,000 shopping card and a brand-new Nokia mobile phone.

The $1,000 shopping card alone was worth almost all of these journalists' annual income, making them extremely happy.

Tang Bei prepared two portions for Zhang Heli, who declined at first but then accepted them.

With the new NBA season approaching, various media outlets have released their assessments and predictions for the upcoming season.

Despite significant changes to the Heat's roster, with only five players remaining from their championship lineup and two key players traded away, major media outlets still consider the Heat to be a championship-caliber team.

Besides the Heat, mainstream media believe that the Bulls are another championship-caliber team in the Eastern Conference.

Although the Knicks and Magic are strong teams, most media outlets believe that they are still a step below the Heat and Bulls, and it will be very difficult for them to make it out of the Eastern Conference.

Most media outlets believe that the Rockets and Jazz are Western Conference championship contenders.

The Spurs and Suns are also very strong teams, but most media outlets consider them to be a step below.

Renowned basketball commentator Mav Albert said in a television interview:
"The Heat's roster has undergone significant changes, but the core trio of Tang Bei, Glen Rice, and Avery Johnson remains stable. They've also strengthened their frontcourt with Kevin Willis and their backcourt with Kendall Gill, so their strength has increased rather than decreased."

"Teams like the Bulls, Rockets, and Jazz didn't make any significant additions during the offseason, so I think the Heat have a great chance of defending their championship."

On the 31st, Tang Bei arrived at the Heat's headquarters, where other players and coaches, Billy Cunningham and Lewis Shaffer, and other members of the management team also came. The team held a preseason meeting.

Head coach Kevin Longley said confidently, "Today we'll discuss the situation for the new season, the rosters of our main rivals in the East. Tony..."

Assistant coach Tony Fiorentino nodded and said, "Let's talk about the Bulls first. The Bulls' roster hasn't changed much, mainly the addition of swingman Ron Harper on the perimeter."

Harper was a strong defender, averaging over 20 points and 1.9 steals per game last season, but his current situation is uncertain after his serious injury.

Kevin Longley said, "The Bulls brought in Ron Harper to strengthen their perimeter defense. They can't do anything to us inside, so they have to keep strengthening their perimeter defense."

Assistant coach Alvin Gentry said, "Tang's high-post play can break down the Bulls' perimeter defense, and Ron Harper should only be a substitute, so he should be more disruptive to our bench."

Kevin Longley nodded. Ron Harper couldn't start at point guard, nor could he replace Jordan and Pippen; he could only be a substitute.

He said, "Our current bench is not as good as last season. If we face the Bulls in a series, the Bulls' bench will have a stronger perimeter defense than last season, making it very difficult to play against them. This will further increase the burden on the starters."

Tony Fiorentino added, "Next, let's talk about the Magic. The inside-outside combination of O'Neal and Anfernee Hardaway will definitely be more mature. With Nick Anderson and Cobra Grant, the Magic will definitely be more competitive next season than last season."

When Lewis Shaffer heard the name Knicks, he thought of Pat Riley and couldn't help but glance at Billy Cunningham beside him.

They approached Pat Riley last season, but Riley was unwilling to leave the Knicks, and he had a five-year contract with the Knicks that hadn't expired, so he couldn't leave.

Pat Riley has been coaching the Knicks for four years now, with only one year left. There's a chance to acquire him next year.

However, Kevin Longley winning the championship makes things difficult. He still has a year left on his contract, and next year he will either have to renew it or change coaches.

At this point, Kevin Longley said, "That's the situation with our main rivals in the East. With our current strength, as long as we don't suffer any major injuries, we will still be the strongest team in the East."

Tony Fiorentino cautioned, "So we need to be careful about injuries. We need to pay attention to rotation from the very beginning of the regular season, and be mindful of the playing time and injury status of our starting lineup."

Kevin Longley nodded. If he successfully defends his title in the new season, he will become a top coach in the NBA, and he won't overwork his starters.

On November 1, 1994, Tang Bei attended the media day dressed in a suit and tie.

As the reigning champions, the Heat's media day attracted a large number of reporters, including over two hundred journalists and cameramen, half of whom were from overseas.

"Tang, which team do you think will be the biggest obstacle for the Miami Heat to defend their title in the new season?" a reporter asked.

Tang Bei thought about it seriously for a moment and said, "Miami Heat."

"what?"

The reporter thought Tang Bei had made a mistake and quickly reminded him, "Tang, I asked about your opponents, who is your strongest opponent?"

Tang Bei nodded and said, "Yes, I'm talking about our strongest opponent."

He then explained, "Our strongest opponent is ourselves. I don't think any team can beat us. The only team that can beat us is ourselves."

"Oh!"

"Clap clap clap..."

The reporters gasped in surprise at Tang Bei's confident answer, followed by enthusiastic applause.

"Tang, do you think the newly introduced walking rules will affect you?" the next reporter asked.

“Of course it will, and it will have a significant impact; it will limit my tornado,” Tang Bei said.

"So Tang, do you think your strength will be weakened because of it?" the reporter pressed.

Tang Bei said, "I've thought about this, but I believe that even if my strength is weakened, I won't find any rivals in this league. In the lower ranks, I'll still be the strongest."

"Severe fear: Our only enemy is ourselves."

"Severe fear: We see no enemy."

"Tang Bei: Even in a low position, I am still the strongest one."

Soon, Tang Bei's words were reported by major media outlets.

In an interview, Magic Johnson spoke about Tang Bei, saying:

"Tang's low-post offensive power has definitely been weakened. His turnaround attack on the basket will not be as fast as before, and his signature move, the tornado, will no longer exist."

"His strength is still very strong, but I believe that in the new season, O'Neal will become a formidable opponent for Don, who has lost the Tornado."

In an interview, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also said: "Tang's performance last season was in a class of its own. He even had a crushing performance against Hakeem Olajuwon in the Finals. Among the four super centers, only he won the championship and the Finals MVP."

However, due to the traveling rule in the new season, I don't think he will have the opportunity to play at a class of his own again. The other three super centers and O'Neal will have a chance to compete with Tang.

When interviewed by the media and asked about this issue, Jordan said, "Let the facts speak for themselves."

"Michael, don't you think Don't think his ability is limited by the traveling rule?" the reporter pressed.

Jordan said, "He was definitely limited in terms of offensive power. If that rule had been in place in the 93 Eastern Conference Finals, we wouldn't have had so many injuries, and Barkley wouldn't have gotten away with that huge win."

The reporter smiled. Michael Jordan's words once again proved that he still harbored resentment over the 93 Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals, even more so than his elimination in the 94 Eastern Conference Finals.

Michael Jordan continued, "But it's hard to say exactly how much their abilities have been limited; we'll have to see how they perform in actual games."

(End of this chapter)