Chapter 116: You Are My Most Admired Tactician

For Curry, the temptation to continue playing for Zhang Yu obviously surpassed the attraction of the Knicks to him.

Donny Walsh and D'Antoni looked at each other and smiled wryly.

They knew that the Knicks lost the Curry battle from the start.

D'Antoni looked at the photo of Zhang Yu included in the report, and thought to himself:

"I want to see how far you can lead the Warriors!"

Many celebrities have also expressed their views on this. Most people are not optimistic about Zhang Yu, especially many veteran head coaches. , It's hard to get to where you are today. You, a 26-year-old young man, how can you be the head coach?

This matter was specifically discussed on the TNT program, and Barkley immediately said:

"This is a joke. A rookie head coach and a rookie shooter who can only shoot threes. They are a perfect match. Let's pray for the Warriors."

"Coach Z is a champion coach. I am optimistic that the Warriors under his coach can turn around." O'Neal retorted.

"Shaq, aren't you stupid playing basketball? Look at Rick Pitino and John Calipari, they are both NCAA champion coaches, but after they came to the NBA, they were nothing but jokes, and they could only leave in disgrace. Facts have proved that the NCAA champion coach can't survive in the NBA, let alone a young rookie, he is even younger than his own players!" Barkley taunted him mercilessly.

The fans of the University of Memphis and the University of Louisville who were watching the show were dumbfounded. I am just a melon eater. Why did my house collapse?

Don't stop me, I'm going to kill that flying pig!

If it can rush into the TV screen, I don't know how many people want to beat Barkley.

But none of this has affected the Warriors' operations.

After the draft, it will be the summer league immediately. Larry Riley will gather players for the Warriors to play in the summer league, and Zhang Yu will also need to face his coaching staff.

...

On July 7, Zhang Yu came to the Oracle Center.

Today, he was finally going to see old Nelson.

After buying the team, he didn't take the initiative to contact the old Nelson, and he also specially instructed Larry Riley not to tell him that he is the owner of the Warriors. This made the old Nelson always think that it was Mark Baum who bought the Warriors.

Zhang Yu knew that if he wanted to fully control the Warriors, the first obstacle he faced was Old Nelson.

Since 1988, Nelson Sr. has served as the vice president and head coach of the Warriors. The "Run TMC" combination he formed in the 90s consisted of three outside stars, Mickey Richmond, Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin. As the core, the Warriors once made the Warriors the team with the strongest offensive firepower in the league, and won the Coach of the Year award in 1992.

Although under the coaching of Nelson, the overall performance of the Warriors was not very good, and he also left Golden State.

But in the past 20 years, he spent half of the time as the head coach of the Warriors. He also led the team to create a miracle two years ago. He has a high prestige in the Warriors. Even Chris Cohan treats him very well It is scruples.

Zhang Yu left old Nelson alone for more than a month, just to send him a signal-the Warriors have changed.

He went straight to the meeting room and waited for half an hour. Larry Riley walked in. Behind him was the old Nelson with gray hair and a strong figure.

Zhang Yu stood up to greet him, held Old Nelson's hand, and said enthusiastically:

"Mr. Nelson, I have always regarded you as my idol, you are the master tactician I admire most!"

Zhang Yu's words were not a compliment. In his previous life, he liked old Nelson very much.

The title of "Mad Scientist" is not for nothing. The old Nelson regarded every team he coached as his own laboratory, and invented many tactics such as running and bombing and hacking sharks, which really affected the development of basketball. Really To go back to the source, he is the originator of the small ball era.

Although the old Nelson has no championship in his coaching career, he is the only one who has won the NBA Coach of the Year Award three times, and he is a true legend.

Old Nelson's hand was held by Zhang Yu, and he was caught off guard and replied:

"Oh... hello."

He originally thought that the atmosphere of this meeting would be very depressing, but he didn't expect Zhang Yu to be so enthusiastic.

It's obviously the boss meeting the employees, but it's almost turning into a fan meeting.

Zhang Yu pulled old Nelson to sit down, still talking endlessly:

"Mr. Nelson, the Warriors-Mavericks series was amazing! I don't think anyone can stop that Mavericks team except you. You brought out the full energy of every Warriors player to create a black eight. Miracle, with all due respect, even the Knicks' black eight in 99 is not as good as this time-the Warriors eliminated the MVP!"

The more old Nelson listened, the more confused he became. After the acquisition of the team, it was you who kept not contacting me, and now you are the one who touts me.

You also publicly announced to the media that you would also serve as the head coach of the team and took my job away, but now you look like a normal person, what are you doing?

He interrupted aloud:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Zhang, I don't understand what you mean."

Old Nelson looked at Zhang Yu, and a feeling of absurdity rose in his heart.

This young man who is younger than his son is the new owner of the Warriors?

"Just call me Ronan, Mr. Nelson, I agree with your tactical philosophy very much, and I want to invite you to be the Warriors' basketball development consultant." Zhang Yu said sincerely.

Old Nelson narrowed his eyes, and Zhang Yu added:

"Of course, that requires you to leave the managerial role ... there is a new contract if you want to."

Larry Riley handed over a contract. Old Nelson looked at it. It was clearly written that his position was the basketball development consultant of the Warriors, but his salary was increased by 30% compared with the current contract, and the time was four years.

You know, his current salary is as high as 3 million U.S. dollars a year. As long as he signs this contract, his annual salary will rise to 4 million U.S. dollars, which is also the top salary among all head coaches in the league. Don't have to do the heavy lifting of the head coach.

Old Nelson looked at the smiling Zhang Yu and understood what he meant.

Before Zhang Yu did not contact him, it was to show a firm attitude, that is to suppress his prestige and take back control of the team, including directly declaring to the media that he would also serve as the head coach of the Warriors. This is also the purpose.

And Zhang Yu now invites him to serve as the Warriors' basketball development consultant, and at the same time offers a big contract to take advantage of his connections.

Since he became the head coach of the Bucks in 1976, he has been in the league for 33 years, not counting his career as a player who won 5 championships with the Celtics.