"Luke resigned from his position as Lakers head coach!" Duffy said directly when he saw him wake up.

"What?!" Tang Shuai was also awakened suddenly, "The Lakers fired him? Didn't Mickey say he wouldn't consider firing him? Even if it was the previous thing, it shouldn't be."

Walton's coaching ability is worthy of recognition, and Kupchek also knows this, otherwise he would have been fired as early as February.

"No, it's not that the Lakers fired him, it's that he resigned from his position as head coach." Duffy said.

After hearing Duffy's words, Tang Shuai was stunned for a moment, and then understood.

Yes, Walton's words before the transaction deadline should have already looked at his attitude and position, which seems to be an expected result.

"Where is the team's head coach?" Tang Shuai continued.

"The Lakers' official statement has not been issued yet, but according to my speculation, Xiao should lead the team to play a few games first, and then look for a new head coach." Duffy said.

Tang Shuai nodded. The Lakers' performance this season exceeded expectations. Buss Jr. and Kupchek could not give up so quickly. Xiao's resume as a head coach is really not very good. I believe the team will have a new head coach soon.

"I have to get up. There is still training today. Let's go to the team to see the situation first." Tang Shuai said, lifting the quilt and getting up.

"Yes, you still have a game tonight." Duffy reminded.

Tang Shuai nodded. At home tonight, the team will play against the Houston Rockets.

When we arrived at the stadium, compared with the usual noisy scenes, the training hall was obviously much deserted.

Clarkson, Azeri, Barnes, and Brewer are packing things in the locker room. The Lakers have only 14 players, and they can trade these 4. The new players have to pass the physical examination. Including the injured Gasol, there are only 9 people who came to the training hall today, and they can't make up the number of people who are fighting in the entire game.

In fact, let alone the players, the head coach has just resigned, which gives people the feeling that this is already a team that has fallen apart.

"Lance, let's go and see Corey." Tang Shuai saw that not only Walton did not come, but Xiao was not there, so he turned his head and said to Stephenson.

Stephenson nodded, and the two of them walked straight out of the arena and went straight to the locker room.

As soon as I arrived at the door and before I could enter, I heard a familiar voice.

Shuai Tang leaned into the head and looked in. In addition to seeing Brewer, he also saw Walton and Xiao, who were talking to Barnes at the moment.

No wonder I couldn't see them. It turned out that I ran here to say goodbye to Barnes.

He couldn't help but grin, and it might be a good thing to say about Walton's departure.

"Coach Luke, Coach Brian." After Tang Shuai and Stephenson entered, they greeted the two head coaches, and then went to chat with Brewer.

"When it comes to the Mavericks, I hope you can perform better." After patting Barnes on the shoulder at the end, Walton looked back at Tang Shuai, but he wanted to speak but stopped. Finally, he left the locker room with Xiao.

"You are doing your hard work every night. That guy Luke doesn't say hello to you if he leaves." Stephenson couldn't help but mutter in a low voice when he saw Walton leave.

"When people are upset, they don't care about so many details." Tang Shuai waved his hand at him, signaling him not to say this, and then looked at Brewer and said, "Cory, we will miss you. When we arrive in Dallas, we will perform well. Maybe you are like Lance, and we will become teammates again."

"I can do it, you don't need to comfort me. In fact, going to Dallas is also a chance. I am already 31 years old. The next contract is likely to be the last contract in my career." Brewer was able to see it. Perhaps he had been traded more often, and he was a little accustomed to it.

"Let's go, we'll go out, too." Stephenson said.

Tang Shuai nodded, and then sent Brewer to the entrance of the stadium with Stephenson.

They hugged each other, and after seeing Brewer get in the car and leave, they turned back to the stadium.

Xiao was already there, and the remaining 7 team members also stood in a row.

When he saw Shuai Tang and Stephenson coming in, he immediately signaled them to line up.

He glanced at the queue and confirmed that everyone was here, he continued: "I believe everyone should know what happened last night. Some players were traded and Luke chose to leave the team."

The team members looked at each other unconsciously. Although they were talking about each other, they inevitably had some reactions after they really confirmed the news.

"Luke originally planned to say something to everyone before leaving, but he told me that he felt guilty about everyone, so he chose to bury those words in his heart." Xiao continued.

Tang Shuai nodded, remembering the look that Walton looked at him before leaving, and leaving the team with voluntary resignation. There was really nothing to say about the rest.

"The new teammates have not completed the physical examination yet, and they will come to the team to report tomorrow, so in the game tonight, we only have 9 people playing, and..." Xiao said as he looked at Tang Shuai and Stephenson, "We only have 4 outside teams left now."

Tang Shuai turned around and looked at Stephenson, Anthony Brown, Batum, and he had only 4 people, and 4 people played 3 positions, and it was no wonder that Xiao deliberately emphasized that this was really a big test.

"Our opponent tonight is Houston, and we have been playing fast-paced teams. We don't have enough players to rotate, so the first and most important thing we have to do in tonight's game is to reduce the pace of the game." Xiao then began to talk about the evening game. Although his on-site command ability is not very good, he seems to have done a good job in the overall situation.

"In the morning, we focus on basic training, and in the afternoon I will ask the Defenders to play training matches with us. All we have to do is to lower the pace." Xiao then announced today's training plan.

The remaining 9 players can't play the whole game. It seems that it can be found to find the Defenders to make up the number, but the training effect is definitely not as good as the team's confrontation, so Xiao is also a helpless move.

Although NBDL players are all capable, they are still much weaker than NBA players. It is obvious during the game, especially the tacit understanding formed between Lakers players, which does not have much effect as expected.

However, after the game ended, the defenders players pulled the Lakers players to sign and take photos, which became the most common thing that happened.

Xiao didn't stop him, but just shook his head helplessly. It seemed that his first Lakers head coach game this season was destined to be a battle of sadness.

On the evening of February 20, US time, on the first day after the trading deadline, the Lakers were at home and faced the challenge of the Offseton Rockets.

The Lakers bench was particularly spacious tonight. Although it was not the same scene where Thackeray was lying on the bench alone, it still made people feel strange when there were five positions in vain.

Xiao Xiao asked the players to arrange tactics early. From his repeated tactics, he could see that he was unsure and a little nervous when playing this game as an acting head coach.

On the Rockets side, D'Antoni sat firmly on the coach's seat with his legs crossed and watched the Rockets players warm up on the court. Compared with Xiao, he was indescribable to relax and comfortable.

Unlike the Lakers, the Rockets maintained a good competitive state in January and February, with a record of 29 wins and 11 losses before the All-Star Game, ranking fourth in the West.

D'Antoni coached the Lakers for two seasons from 2012 to 2014. He is obviously familiar with the Staples Center, but he also hates it.

He coached the new "4" with the Lakers, but ended up in a bleak end. In the season when Howard left, he led the team to only 27 wins.

No one could have expected that the Lakers would be able to play only 17 wins in the future. 27 wins at that time were an unprecedented tragic situation. D'Antoni became a scapegoat and was swept out by Kupchek, so he was unhappy.

Now, after hiding his strength for a few years, he has become the head coach of the Rockets again, and has led the team to play the best record in recent years. It can be said that it is a completely winner-like attitude to return to Los Angeles, facing the Lakers, which only 9 people play. As he said in an interview before the game: "We will win this game. Although I have coached in this city for two years, unfortunately, now I am standing opposite to this city." It can be expected that he will make Lakers players feel uncomfortable tonight.

With the last three minutes left before the start of the game, the lineups of both sides were given on the large LED screen on the scene.

On the Lakers, Bynum became the team's starting No. 5 position, Noel topped No. 4 position, Batum was the small forward, and Tang Shuai and Stephenson were the partner in the backcourt.

From this platoon of troops, we can see Xiao's helplessness. Perhaps in the game, he had to push Landry to the third position and play for a while.

On the Rockets' side, Beverly and Gordon are in the backcourt, Harden is in the small forward position, and Ryan Anderson and Capela are in the inside.

The Rockets had a very good record before the All-Star Game, but they also made a small deal before the trading deadline. They packed Ariza + Sam Decker and traded the Kings' small forward. The star player Rudy Gay, who was once selected by the Rockets with the 8th pick, upgraded the team's small forward position.

Somewhat similar to the Lakers is that although Rudy Gay arrived at the scene today, he had not passed the team's physical examination yet, so he could only sit on the sidelines in a suit and tie in this game. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!