In spring, Oregon's weather is warm and dry, as if it was transformed by a chamber of commerce to make up for the humid past.

The air here is fresh, as if it comes from another pre-industrial era.

After the long grey months just passed and were soon back, it seemed like a special gift. It was unimaginable to stay at home on such days.

Louis came to Portland, and today they were going to play a game with the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the Portland Memorial Stadium, people witnessed the team reaching the top three years ago. It was the most important championship in the 1970s, and it was the first season after the league merger.

For Louis, the Portland trip was an extra work, but he enjoyed the trip.

When he saw that the opponent of the Trail Blazers was the Lakers, he suddenly realized that it was not the Trail Blazers who wanted him to reconnaise, but the Lakers.

After all, the Trail Blazers can only be regarded as a mid-sized team in the league, and the Lakers are the Celtics' biggest concern.

Thinking of this, Louis became serious.

He is familiar with the Lakers. Even without Fitch's additional task, he will focus on observing the Lakers' games.

Lakers head coach Westhead inherited the predecessor's fast-paced offense, leaving Magic and Norm Nixon in water.

The only person who is dissatisfied with the Lakers' fast-paced offense is Kareem Jabbar, who likes slow-paced games.

But Jabbar, like Chamberlain, has a young lady's temper.

To put it bluntly, I just like to do things very much, but I don’t like to tell things cleanly.

As G.E.M. said, women like to hint too much. And Jabbar also likes to hint, so everyone can't guess what he wants.

The Magician's smile is purifying the team.

He is a perfect sports star, he will surely take away the spotlight and applause. At this time, everyone likes him, but when everyone is tired of being his foil, it is his real test.

Louis knows this Lakers too well.

Fitch may not believe it, but he knows where the Lakers' fatal hole is.

Unfortunately, he is not the head coach, and, without any surprise, the wheels of history will move in a familiar direction to Louis.

The Celtics will lose to the 76ers in the playoffs, and then the 76ers will play hard with the Lakers for five games, and then be played in the sixth game by the Magicians.

Finally, some of the memories of this era were awakened in Louis's mind.

He had a little prescient idea of ​​a time traveler, but he was useless.

"You're the 'little devil' in Boston?"

Louis looked at the wherever the voice came from, and the man looked very kind.

"Uh...I'm Louis." Louis didn't know how the name "Little Devil" was spread.

Why do you call him a little devil when you meet someone?

Isn't it good to call it "Little Demon"? Although it sounds like a bad guy, "Little Demon" is too imposing.

"I heard Stu mention you." The man smiled, "he said you were the youngest scout he had ever met."

Louis laughed at himself: "I'm increasingly finding that youth is not necessarily a good thing in this industry. There are many people who will despise my advice because of my age."

“Have they paid the price?”

"Not yet," Louis thought, as if the Celtics had not ignored his advice yet, "but it's soon."

At this time, Louis thought of asking the other party's name.

"My name is Larry Weinberg." The other party smiled, "I am the boss of the Trail Blazers."

Louis has met Irving Levine, John Y. Brown, Harry Mandrian, and Sonny Wembley (Knicks boss), but Weinberg is the only one who makes him feel that he is not as majestic as the superior.

He was unexpectedly approachable.

"It's an honor to see you." Louis said solemnly.

"You are here to reconnaissance the Lakers, right?" Even Weinberg knew that Louis could not be here to reconnaissance the Trail Blazers.

Louis did not deny: "That's right."

"Do you mind changing seats?" Weinberg invited Louis to his private room.

Louis didn't mind at all. He didn't expect Weinberg to be so good at his senses. They were not close to each other, and this was the first side.

Weinberg's private rooms are extremely comfortable, with a variety of drinks, videos, heating and air far beyond the interior of the Memorial Stadium.

The box of this condition originated from the Forum Arena in Los Angeles.

Jerry Bass brings a "enjoyment" side to professional sports, and many teams learn and understand.

In tonight's game, the Trail Blazers were pinched by the Lakers from the beginning.

They obviously have two pretty good inside players - Maurice Lucas and Comit Washington. Although they are far inferior to Jabbar in terms of skills, they are both famous dead pig skin hobs. The punch Washington gave Tom Janovic ruined the NBA's image and became a homeless person since then. In just a few years, from the Lakers to the Celtics to the Clippers, now the Trail Blazers are here.

Lucas's most famous fight was the boxing with Dawkins in the 1977 Finals, which is for ordinary fans. For today's NBA, Lucas's most famous battle was in the ABA and "Locomotive" Artis Gilmore C. Gilmore is nearly 2.2 meters tall and has excellent athletic ability. He can be called Dwight Howard in the 1970s, but he has a good temper. He was beaten and cared about whether the other party's fist hurts.

These people were actually angered by Lucas, so he chased Lucas and ran all over the field, finally pushing people into a dead end. Lucas had no choice but to retreat. Fighting was not his original intention, but Gilmore had lost his mind at that time, so he became brave and went forward to knock the locomotive over to the ground with two uppercuts, becoming famous in one battle.

The Trail Blazers have these two animals, so they can attack Jay Barr for not being able to fight against this point. Washington is Jay Barr's ex-bodyguard, and it is understandable that it is difficult to attack. Lucas's performance is puzzling.

"Maurice Lucas has no energy," Louis said with a word, "he doesn't seem to want to play at all."

Weinberg smiled and said, "Because Stu did not give him a satisfactory price."

Louis looked at the Trail Blazer's boss and there were many things he didn't know.

"Morris thinks he deserves a salary of 650,000, but we didn't satisfy him." Weinberg didn't seem angry at Lucas who was passively slacking off on the court. "He thought that if he was a big red-haired man, we would be satisfied no matter how much he wanted, because that guy was white and he was black."

"Then..." Louis asked cautiously, "Is this related to skin color?"

"It can't be said that it doesn't matter at all."

Weinberg admitted frankly that skin color can affect players' income.

"I also thought that if Morris was a white man, would we reject him at once?" Weinberg himself had no answer to this matter.

Many white people say that black people are not discriminated against and they make a lot of money beyond their ability.

After the Robinson case, this phenomenon objectively exists. In order to get the players they want, some teams will maliciously raise prices and increase the value of players to get players.

But this kind of thing and this kind of benefit have always belonged to those top players.

If you are a substitute or a small role sitting on the bench and waving a towel, most teams will choose white people who are worse, but cheaper, but more popular with fans.

This is the unspoken rule of contemporary alliances.

Everyone knows the difference in skin tone.

"Actually, if the big red-haired man is still there, we will also meet Morris's requirements." Weinberg meant to excuse himself and the team, "What a pity, luck makes people."

This is exactly one point that Louis is interested in, how the Trail Blazers spent two years to collapse a promising "White Hope" champion.

Louis's wish is to become a godfather like Pat Riley, Auerbach.

To be a godfather, what he has to consider cannot be limited to scouting and coaching. He also has to figure out the composition of the champion team, the most important secret to winning, and the secret of the collapse of the champion team that should have become a dynasty but has not become a dynasty.

It seems that he is close to the secret today.

"Actually, there is no problem with your decision." Louis naturally had to follow Weinberg's words and could not let this kind-hearted boss sing a one-man show.

Weinberg looked at him, wanting to hear what he said.

"Even if the big red-haired man is still there, I can't see the need to leave Morris." Louis pointed out. "He is no longer in his prime. If he gives him a lot of money, it's better to find a way to introduce some younger and more capable insiders. This is entirely due to business ability and has nothing to do with skin color."

Louis's words reached Weinberg's heart.

It seems that this will clear the fact that they are ashamed of their heroes.

"Yes, you're right." He is a good approachable boss, but he is a businessman after all. He cannot pay more than the market price for a commodity that gradually depreciates and cannot bring more profits. "It is worthy of being the 'little devil' that Reed values."

To be fair, Louis did not hate Weinberg's position on this matter at all.

He was not wrong. Their biggest mistake was that they were neither willing to give Lucas a high price nor quickly attacking him, which made it a situation where the latter's transaction value was constantly declining.

This reminded Louis that in the future, he must find someone who doesn’t mind losing money.

It must be the kind of person who values ​​victory very seriously and will not interfere with the team's operations.

He has seen very few bosses at present, so he hasn't met anyone who fully meets the requirements.

What's more, he has Auerbach on his head.

Although his head has turned aside, he still has a long way to go to realize his ambitions.

That night, the Lakers slaughtered the Trail Blazers 24 points.

The Magic scored 19 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, and he made Weinberg covet more than once.
Chapter completed!