After defeating the Trail Blazers, the Celtics headed to their next away game.

They came to Chicago, and the Windy City was facing an important choice.

Should we stick with the current lineup and ultimately miss out on a once-in-a-decade draft, or should we find ways to lose, lose all winnable games, and strive for every possible failure, even if it means "degrading sports"?

Also want to win the top two picks in next year's draft?

The Celtics didn't give them much chance to think.

In this game, neither Bird nor Thomas played more than 30 minutes.

Bird was so bored that he made a bet with Louis.

"I'm going to get 10 assists with my back pass."

"What if you can't do it?"

"Whatever you do."

If Bird said he wanted to get 10 assists, Louis would have no doubts. He really wanted the data. Even if he averaged a triple-double, he would still have a chance, but if he had to pass 10 assists with his back, the Bulls' defense would have to stretch far enough to allow him to get 10 assists.

He can do it?

Therefore, Louis decisively made a bet with Bird.

Their bet is $30,000, provided that Louis cannot do anything tactically to affect Bird's assists.

By making such a request, Byrd clearly showed distrust of Louis' character.

Louis was very disappointed and went to Tomjanovich and asked: "How many games has Larry had assists in double figures now?"

"A lot of scenes."

"Of the games in which he scored double figures in assists, which one took the least time?"

"In his rookie season, he once got 10 assists in just 25 minutes."

Hearing this, Louis had no worries anymore. Seeing Bird get 7 assists with back passes, the Celtics led the Bulls by 20 points.

Louis replaced Bird to rest and said: "The game has entered garbage time, I can't let you play anymore."

"Damn it, my playing time is less than 30 minutes!" Bird protested, "You are using your power for personal gain!"

Louis had known he would say this.

At that time, I looked confident.

"You know this is a gamble involving money, but you waste no time to get data, and now you blame me for using power for personal gain? Do you know that your playing time has reached 29 minutes?"

“Less than 30 minutes!”

"Really? But did you know that you had 10 assists in 30 minutes in more than 10 games before?"

Although data does not have an effect every time, once it does, the effect is powerful and can establish a victory.

Bird was so angry that he turned blue: "I don't remember ever getting 10 assists in 30 minutes with a back pass!"

"I don't remember that you made an agreement with me before not to impose any restrictions on playing time." Louis looked like a scoundrel and Bird's lips turned white with anger.

Bird said angrily: "You shameless bastard!"

"Don't you know that when you told me that I couldn't set up any obstacles for you tactically, you were already questioning my character?" How strong Louis' revenge is is fully demonstrated in this matter.

.

Louis looked at Bird's livid expression and pale lips and knew that he had made Bird very angry.

But he wasn't worried at all.

He is a very simple person. Under fair, just and open circumstances, he can communicate and compete with you like a gentleman. However, once you have evil intentions or question his character (this is very serious), in order not to be betrayed by you, he will

Yin, or in order to defend one's dignity, one has to take extraordinary measures.

When Americans say your country has dangerous weapons, your country had better actually have dangerous weapons.

In the same way, when others question your character, if you are too lazy to prove your innocence, then you might as well act like a jerk with questionable character.

Bird didn't say another word to Louis for three days.

But he was willing to admit defeat and borrowed Guy Williams' hand the next day to hand a check for $30,000 to Louis.

What's even more interesting is that their next away game is Bird's hometown of Indiana, so during the flight, Louis kept talking about inviting everyone to dinner.

Of course, he used the check Bird gave him.

"Larry, do you have any recommendations here?"

"Aren't you going to speak?"

"Sore throat?"

"Okay, I get it. You Indiana doesn't have any good food at all. No wonder you've grown up to be so mean and mean like a bastard."

For a while, Bird wanted to talk back.

Once he spoke back, his strategy of deliberately not talking to Louie was ineffective.

The walkers didn't know what they were about to encounter.

The entire Celtics team is in a good mood, Bird is the exception.

He has been disgusted by Louis these past few days and is looking for a damn team to vent his anger on. Now, even if it is his hometown team that appears in front of him, he will not show mercy.

The Pacers live a melancholy life. Since returning to the NBA, they have always been committed to becoming a top team.

However, since they missed the son of Indiana in the 1978 draft, their life has been difficult.

Missed Bird, sent the No. 1 pick to the Trail Blazers in exchange for the No. 3 pick, then spent two months despairing of the No. 3 overall pick, and then sent him to the Celtics. In this year's draft, they won

Steve Stipanovich, hope he can bring changes to the team.

However, this man is not their Mr. Right.

As of today, the Pacers have only won 4 games and are at the bottom of the league.

The good news is that there is so much talent in the 1984 draft that as long as you get the top five picks, you can get the core of the team.

But this good news for the Pacers is bad news in bold letters.

Because their first-round pick in 1984 had already been given to the Portland Trail Blazers, who had had many friendly exchanges in trades.

Louis found that the pioneers were really unkind, and when he saw a sheep, he plucked it hard.

Bird played the game with anger, and Louis freed him.

Thomas played 26 minutes today and he complained a bit, but Louis wanted him to find out who invited everyone to dinner.

Is it him? No, it's Bird.

Although the invitation was in Louis' name, the money was taken from Bird. If you know how stingy and stingy this country bumpkin is, you know how difficult it is to extract $30,000 from him to treat guests to dinner.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have resisted the urge not to scold Louis for three days, but would have shown an attitude of drawing a clear line with Louis.

Against his hometown team, Bird hit a career high.

He scored 50 points and 10 rebounds in a single game, and asked Pacers guard Jerry Hitting like a murderer: "I am the best player in Indiana, is there a problem?"

He asked because Hitting is also from Indiana.

Hitting asked helplessly: "Brother, is it interesting for you to ask this question after you have already scored 50 points?"

"Whether it's interesting or not depends on your answer." Bird said coldly.

Hitting did not give an answer.

The next day, the local media in Indiana gave the answer.

"Is Larry Bird the greatest basketball player Indiana has ever produced? There are two options to this question. Option 1, yes. Option 2, only an idiot would say no."

The victory over the Pacers brought the Celtics' record to 20 wins and 2 losses.

Next, they successively slaughtered the Nuggets and Hawks, reaching 22 wins.

In the rumor mill, Cedric Maxwell's agent, Kim Zayotti, said: "Cedric is unwilling to continue playing as a substitute. He wants to be traded."

These days, players rarely let their agents make decisions on their behalf.

Think about it, Magic wanted to apply for a trade because he didn't like Westhead's system, but the next day, it was Westhead who left. So the fans in Los Angeles regarded him as a devil, and the media no longer favored him.

Although the authority held by NBA coaches is not as great as that of the NCAA, it is basically a consensus that players cannot disobey their coaches.

The nanny-type coach has not yet appeared. Basically, NBA coaches feel good about themselves, treat the players as puzzle pieces, and believe that they are as indispensable as the players.

So Maxwell's doing this will bring him more criticism than he imagined.

Especially when he plays in Boston.

Fans are very tolerant towards white players.

When it comes to black players, they are selfish, do not care about the overall situation, only think about themselves, take money and do nothing, and then the high hat will come to them.

Russell left the fans without saying goodbye in 1969, which made the fans very angry. They spent just a few days forgetting the great achievements of Russell in 11 championships in 13 years. And Cowens, who brought them two championships, because

He lost his fighting spirit and chose to take a leave of absence without pay, and irresponsibly retired midway. He suddenly announced his retirement before the start of the preseason. They are particularly tolerant of white heroes. When their skin color changes, they are criticized endlessly.

There have been constant trade rumors about Maxwell.

Louis wanted a special moment to speak clearly to him.

Now, with his agent proactively publicizing his client's desire to be traded, Louis knew instinctively that there was an opportunity to fix the problem, or make it bigger.

"Rudy, help me call Cedric to the office." Louis smiled.

Tomjanovich went.

If he convinces Maxwell, he will still be a member of the Celtics.

If he doesn't convince Maxwell, maybe he should really consider a trade.

Then he had to convince another guy, a die-hard ten times tougher than Maxwell.
Chapter completed!