After the 1998-1999 season, the 37-year-old Patrick Ewing officially entered the “peak of his career”.

After winning the second championship in his career, the gorilla who had been on the decline was praised by the New York media again!

In August, Ewing frequently appeared in some talk shows, and with the publicity of the New York media, the title of “the best center in the league” became well-deserved.

The documentary “New York Basketball” produced by MSG during the offseason was very popular.

Unlike the previous review of the glorious years of the 1970s, this documentary mainly starts from 1996 to 1998 when the team won two consecutive championships, and most of the content is original.

Fans can watch the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals from another perspective.

Before Lee completed the buzzer beating counter-attack, he calmly arranged the sideline ball tactics, and the documentary faithfully restored the situation at that time.

New York fans were very excited to watch it.

Even loyal fans sometimes cannot see the details of the game, and documentaries can help fans understand the team better.

On the morning of Sunday, September 5, ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters” program invited local New York sports reporters Mike Luka and Mitchell Abramowitz to participate in the program.

In addition to the host Dick Schaap and the two New York sports reporters, the program team also invited Ewing.

This episode is a special program for the Knicks.

The four people sat in front of the stage and discussed whether the Knicks can achieve three consecutive championships.

The hot topic in the past half month has been the salary issue of the Knicks.

When it comes to salary, Ewing is still not polite:

“There is nothing wrong with players getting high salaries. You know, last year, we won the championship again!”

“No matter how much the league’s bonus is, we deserve it.”

The gorilla’s answer left the two local New York reporters speechless.

High salary and low ability are Ewing’s current situation.

When talking about the championship later, Ewing was also very confident:

“The Knicks currently have no rivals, retain the championship lineup, and with enough bench depth, it is not a problem to complete the three consecutive championships.”

The gorilla took the opportunity to briefly introduce the Knicks’ tactical play.

In summary, each position has a huge advantage, and when combined together, it is a word:

“Win!”

After the show was broadcast, Ewing brought a huge advertising effect!

Many players did not believe in the strength of the Knicks that Ewing boasted about, but what everyone saw was that New York really treated meritorious players well.

Ewing, who was fat and seriously injured, could still get the highest salary in the team in the last years of his career.

This retirement status made many veterans jealous.

Since the freeze period lasted for a month, when it came to September, many teams were still in the trading state.

The Knicks opened training camp in mid-September.

The goal of the new season is naturally to defend the title.

Training earlier will help the players get into better shape.

The shortened season also had a significant impact on Lee.

When he returned to his home in Tarrytown, his talent progress still failed to meet expectations:

[Michael Jordan’s extraordinary core strength] and [Michael Jordan’s extraordinary coordination] turned into gold;

[Anfernee Hardaway’s excellent spring speed] turned into silver, and [Anfernee Hardaway’s excellent explosive power] turned into gold.

Tim Grover believed that Lee’s body had almost reached its limit and did not need to continue to gain weight.

Maintaining the current state was enough to cope with any game.

On the talent panel, the values did not change, which also proved Tim Grover’s conclusion.

Lee looked at [Karl Malone’s extraordinary physique] which was still gold, and suddenly had a bold idea:

“Maybe I haven’t practiced hard enough!”

In contrast, the metaphysical [Tim Duncan’s excellent sense of position] improved the most, from gray to silver.

However, Lee didn’t feel much.

Most of the games in the offseason were bullying.

Apart from being able to predict the position of rebounds more accurately, he didn’t feel anything else.

It is still not an easy task to completely digest these excellent talents.

Lee knows that this requires a lot of high-quality games.

On September 15, at the Tarrytown Training Center, the Knicks players started a simple physical test early in the morning.

Ron Artest looked at everything in the training center curiously.

He came the earliest and had already looked around twice.

Most of the young players are in very good physical condition.

Whether it is Ben Wallace or Rashard Lewis, they can see obvious signs of training.

Kurt Thomas has become stronger.

Obviously, he has also gained weight and polished his muscles during the offseason.

Jeff Van Gundy was relieved when he saw the physical condition of everyone.

Even if several veterans are in poor physical condition, they will probably survive if they increase the rotation at the beginning of the season.

Although Oakley is not as fat as Ewing, the old guy has obviously rested and has a layer of fat on his belly.

Considering that the finals will not end until the end of June, it is understandable that the veterans do not train.

“Look at my beautiful muscles. I swear, I will get back to my form in the new season!”

Larry Johnson lost a little weight and shouted loudly after completing the physical test, showing the results of his boxing training during the offseason .

Alan Houston has not changed much either.

He just maintained his figure during the offseason and rested and relaxed most of the time:

“It seems that everyone had a good offseason. To be honest, the rest time is still too short. We will start training camp in 2 and a half months!”

Lee had just finished the physical test and could only shrug his shoulders when he heard Alan Houston’s words.

Jeff Van Gundy was under great pressure and started the training camp in advance to urge the veterans to actively recover:

“Considering that there are still some preseason games in October, it is reasonable to gather at this time!”

As the core player of the team, Lee naturally expressed his support for Jeff Van Gundy.

The gorilla failed to lose weight during the entire shortened season.

It is not reliable to expect the players to train consciously.

Ewing was in a very good mood.

Although the team doctor shook his head after the examination, the gorilla did not care.

Seeing his energetic teammates, he kept joking loudly:

“I know everyone can maintain a good state. We must keep winning in the new season!”

Oakley, who was in a particularly good mood, was also grinning.

This season, there is another new rookie carrying a bag.

The big man who was picked at the end of the second round this year does not look like he can survive in the league.

The old guy decided to squeeze this new rookie this year.

After Ben Wallace saw Artest, the two began to glare at each other.

Toni Kukoc doesn’t seem to adapt to the atmosphere of the Knicks.

He is still unable to confirm his position in the team, and he looks a little dull.

Everyone in the training hall is bragging and chatting non-stop.

Although the offseason is short, everyone has no objection due to the desire for three consecutive championships.

The Knicks are the first team in the league to start training camp.

Everyone sacrifices their vacation time, naturally wanting to get into shape early!

Jeff Van Gundy took a look at the physical test data and was generally satisfied.

The players in their prime years have not relaxed, which is the biggest guarantee for the Knicks to hit the three consecutive championships in the new season!

“Two and a half months of rest time is really too little for us!”

“The finals end at the end of June, which means we have one month less rest than some teams.”

“But if you want to succeed, you have to be more strict with yourself.”

“I hope everyone can gradually find the feeling of the game in the preseason. In the new season, we have to establish an advantage at the beginning.”

“Let’s look at the long-term. We want to win another championship. This year, in addition to paying attention to the opponents in the East, the coaching staff will also collect more information about the Western teams.”

“I hope everyone can take every video class seriously. Remember, we have to play for each other!”

Jeff Van Gundy began to talk endlessly and sent chicken soup.

Artest was excited to hear it.

He also watched the Knicks documentary during the offseason.

Playing for his hometown really makes him feel more at home.

Assistant coach Thibodeau is very satisfied with Artest’s positive attitude.

In his rookie season, he plans to hone this newbie.

In the first year, the coaching staff positioned Artest as a defensive tool.

Rashard Lewis also seemed very excited.

Assistant coach Don Chaney has communicated with him that he will have more playing time in the new season.

The Knicks hope that he can become a finishing point.

It is enough to be good at defense.

On offense, he must be able to open up space for the team.

The most important thing is to hit those open three-pointers!

Although he still doesn’t know how much playing time he can get, Lewis is also full of motivation.

New York is indeed not short of money.

For a big contract, he will work hard in the new season.

Noticing the expressions of the crowd, Jeff Van Gundy also completely relaxed.

Although the veterans began to decline again, as long as the fighting spirit of the young players is well utilized, the team’s performance will not be bad.

The Knicks took the lead in opening the training camp, and soon the Lakers followed suit.

As a champion coach, Phil Jackson completely controlled the team after coming to the Lakers.

Although O’Neal was a little dissatisfied, out of his desire for the championship and his trust in Phil Jackson, the shark did not complain at all.

Instead, he actively performed in training and supported Phil Jackson.

O’Neal, who has always been lazy, has started to train well.

Even if the training camp assembled too early, no one on the Lakers dared to complain.

Kobe was completely brainwashed by Tim Grover’s “White Hot Space” theory.

He spent almost the entire offseason in the training hall and polished his physical condition very well.

He wanted to kill all the teams after the training camp started, but after the morning training session, Phil Jackson asked the players to start boring basic training in the afternoon:

“Running – catching the ball – passing the ball.”

There was no high-sounding triangle offense.

After the boring training, Phil Jackson led everyone to stretch and finally did a relaxing meditation.

Kobe was uncomfortable, and O’Neal was also full of question marks.

Only veteran Harper seemed to have gotten used to Phil Jackson’s tricks and seemed very calm during the whole day’s training.

After the training session ended in the evening, Phil Jackson did not let everyone go home, but asked Harper to treat everyone!

It was also from this day that the Lakers started the team building training mode.

The New York media began to report on Jeff Van Gundy’s chicken blood training camp, and the Los Angeles media did not lag behind and praised Phil Jackson’s unique training method.

The two major markets began to compete with each other, and neither side seemed to take the other team seriously.

On the evening of September 19, Lee attended Jimmy Fallon’s birthday party.

Having established a firm foothold in Saturday night, Jimmy Fallon’s popularity has skyrocketed with his outstanding talent.

He specially asked the party company to arrange a single-family villa so that everyone could have fun.

A lot of NBC staff came, and Tina Fey also made it to the top of the Saturday night show.

After drinking, she also joined the crowd.

For private happy parties, Lee usually invites Connelly, who is in a depressed mood, to come out and have fun.

The cold and beautiful girl has her own aura, but after a few drinks, she basically forgets some of her troubles.

“Believe me, you will be successful in Hollywood again. Don’t forget to thank me after you win the Oscar!”

Connelly, who was twisting her body to the music, laughed when she heard Lee’s words, and whispered in his ear:

“Don’t expect too much from women in Hollywood!”

Lee just raised his eyebrows and let her lean on him and sway.

Lee would routinely care about every girl he knew.

Tina Fey, who was drunk, kept complaining that Ler was a passionate seed.

Then she turned around and started complaining that Jimmy Fallon was the most unromantic man.

Amid the music and Tina Fey’s complaints, everyone started to laugh.

Jimmy Fallon didn’t care, but took the opportunity to pull his drunk partner to sing.

There are always endless parties in New York.

The advertising effect brought by Ewing also made some veterans who wanted to realize their dreams contact General Manager Grunfeld through their agents.

But the Knicks didn’t need an atmosphere group at this time.

Jeff Van Gundy’s goal was a big man of the meat shield type.

The remaining two spots were finally vacated.

Grunfeld planned to see the situation before and after the All-Star Game and then make the final reinforcement for the Knicks.

On the morning of September 24, after repeated confirmation, the team doctor believed that Ewing would need at least two months of recovery and would not be able to officially return to the team until early December.

Jeff Van Gundy patted the gorilla on the shoulder and comforted him briefly, but Ewing did not care about the issue of returning from injury:

“After this contract is over, it’s time to retire. Compared with other people’s careers, I’m already very lucky.”

The gorilla felt that it was difficult for him to maintain his figure with self-discipline, and his desire for the championship was gradually fading.

This offseason was considered to be hurt by alcohol and sex, but Ewing knew that this was just the beginning.

He really liked another ball game.

Since joining the Knicks in 1989, Jeff Van Gundy has witnessed most of Ewing’s career.

Hearing the gorilla’s words, the bald young coach was filled with emotion:

“Pat, keep working hard! Three consecutive championships, that’s the same achievement as Michael Jordan!”

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[A/N: I would like to explain again that because it does not involve the game, the content is indeed watery, but it is really uncomfortable not to write about these, so I will mark it in advance.

Our protagonist will not be a pure basketball player, nor will he be a training robot.]

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By the way, don’t forget to throw power stones and leave a review to motivate me 🙂

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep