One Year Left to Play

Chapter 615: Chapter 189: Even My Grandma Could Lead the Bulls to a Championship (Part 3)

The three of them started wildly imagining how miserable Zhang Hao would be after losing the game, then seeing the Bulls’ super combo of three All-Defensive First Team + two All-NBA First Team players, almost winning Sixth Man of the Year Kukoc, and Ron Harper, who had averaged 20+5+5 for years before joining the Bulls... They couldn’t imagine that Zhang Hao was just casually joking while having lunch at a restaurant they rented.

Kupchek was fine, he knew that if the Logo Man said so, there must be a decision made. Jim Buss, on the other hand, was in a panic: "Aix might leave? What do we do? If we lose a genius like Aix, how am I supposed to compete with Jeanie?"

The Logo Man then smiled: "No worries, we’ll just build the most luxurious team!"

The more dangerous the situation, the more excited the Logo Man seemed!

...

...

"Oh oh... Le Lin remembered, this is Le Lin’s house!"

Zhang Hao, who was unaware of the management trio’s wild speculations, brought a group of people to Hawaii for vacation.

Speaking of vacation, Zhang Hao felt he had rested enough — from the 15th to the 24th, he studied for 10 days, from the 21st to the 25th he studied, took exams, and trained, went to Miami for vacation on the 26th, and now had rested for about half a month; it was time to start training.

Moreover, in Hawaii, you don’t need to spend effort finding places to play. Seaside cities are fun places to stay for half a month to a month if you don’t live there long-term.

Upon arriving in Hawaii, Zhang Hao’s group came to a rather large vacation villa. He initially thought about renting a house with a basketball court, but after Howard Schultz reported that he was bringing his daughter to Hawaii, he immediately mentioned that his daughter had a property in Hawaii... ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Looking at the little girl with "I am a rich woman" written on her face, and then looking at the large villa with a private beach, probably more than ten rooms, and all indoor entertainment facilities one could think of, Zhang Hao was also impressed with Howard Schultz — having a daughter late in life doesn’t mean pampering her like this!

However, it seemed like the little girl hadn’t developed any bad habits, unlike the offspring of nouveau riche.

The only thing Zhang Hao was concerned about was her eating and becoming a big fatty. When he played games in Seattle, he had dinner at the Schultz family, and it was clear her mother was beautiful when she was young, but now she was rather plump...

After exclaiming over the little girl’s extravagance, the group entered the villa.

There was someone who regularly cleaned the house. After deciding to come yesterday afternoon, they notified the housekeeper to clean again. The group went in and chose their rooms directly.

After settling their luggage, Pierce hurriedly found Zhang Hao, who was helping the little girl organize her large boxes of dolls.

"Aix, when are we going to find Barkley?"

Seeing Pierce even more anxious than him, Zhang Hao placed a teddy bear on the sofa and replied, "What’s the rush? Let’s rest today, didn’t you get tired after a 10-hour flight?"

"Oh right, then we’ll go tomorrow?"

"I’m training tomorrow. Want to join?"

"Aren’t we here to camp outside Barkley’s house? Why start training?"

"I’ve rested for half a month, it’s time to start training." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

This calm demeanor made the anxious Pierce go a bit crazy: "Aix, aren’t you worried that Barkley won’t come? We’ve waited years for this star!"

"It’s not up to us. I had my agent check, Barkley genuinely wants to join the Lakers. He rented a house here and plans to stay for at least a month, which shows he’s serious, he’s directly informed the Phoenix Suns he’ll terminate the contract if no trade is reached..."

"Then we should meet him sooner; you’re the main star of the Lakers, show your sincerity!" Pierce seemed like a classic passionate shareholder.

"What if the management doesn’t plan to bring in Barkley?"

This made Pierce pause: "No way? Who would refuse Barkley joining without demanding a pay raise? I checked, his salary next season is only 4.7 million, and some starters now earn that much."

Zhang Hao shrugged: "Who knows, we shouldn’t trouble the management, maybe they have other plans."

As for whether the Logo Man wanted Barkley, it was uncertain. Zhang Hao knew the Logo Man likely wanted another "big guy," but due to many complex reasons... well, Mr. Zhang had offended that "big guy," so whether he would come was uncertain.

Therefore, Zhang had to try his best to remedy the situation.

But he couldn’t disrupt the team. If the team wanted to gamble on another "big guy," of course, he’d support it; a gamble might turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.

They came here as a precautionary measure — in case the Lakers wanted Barkley but couldn’t reach a deal with the Suns over unwillingness to sacrifice the chips.

Since Barkley could opt out, what if it turned out like 20 years later, when management was overly confident and tried to get something for nothing?

Then, it would be up to him to act.

And the timing didn’t have to be rigid. Once rumors started about the Lakers and Suns engaging in deep negotiations, that would be the time to act.

"For now, we wait and see the management’s stance. While we’re here, let’s have fun, and train well. If it comes time to camp out, I’ll take you along."

Just like Zhang Hao said, Pierce now understood it wasn’t the right time to make contact or show goodwill, even though he couldn’t fathom the Lakers having a reason to reject Barkley’s proactive approach...

Listening to Zhang Hao’s calm analysis and observing his composed demeanor, Pierce thought of how he returned to Los Angeles immediately after his exams to console Zhang Hao.

In reality, Zhang Hao, who barely attended classes all year and only studied for a few days after being eliminated from the playoffs, scored A’s in every exam...

The gap between people is truly vast!