「Through all of Monday we were texting back and forth discussing players available, the amount of cap room we had left. Who our staff liked. Who he liked. How excited he was.」那天我們用簡訊來討論還剩多少薪資空間可以簽哪幾位球員。DeAndre Jordan 當時表示很喜歡這種感覺。感到很興奮。」小牛老闆Mark Cuban 無奈表示。
回想前一天晚上所發生的事,Cuban 臉上充滿了失望與挫折,承認在公開場合裡,不想聽到有關於DeAndre Jordan 的相關詞語。
「After all the nonsense coming from an ESPN employee on Twitter, I thought I would provide the events of the day on Tuesday.那些ESPN記者在Twitter胡說八道後,我覺得應該要分享一下禮拜二發生的事。」
甚至還扯Cuban 由於不知道DAJ住處,只能邊開車邊挨家挨戶問地址。「Knew I was in town DAJ知道我在附近。」對於ESPN的報導,Cuban 回應並不非事實,且感到非常氣憤,
「So I flew to Houston and got a room at the galleria, which is just a few minutes from his house. I had my driver take me to his house. It's inside a small gated community but the gate was wide open. So we drove in and I literally walked right up to his door. 我飛到休士頓,並在他住家附近約幾分鐘車程的距離租了房間,我叫我的司機開到他的住家,那裡是一個社區,但大門是開著,於是我們把車開了進去,我就這樣直接地走到他家門口。」
「There was no one home. So I texted him saying that I was there. I know something is up. Let's talk. He texted me that he was on a date. 家裡似乎沒人,所以我傳了簡訊告訴他我在這,且我也知道可能發生了一些事情,可以來聊聊,但他回應說正在和別人約會,我再回說那就好好玩吧,如果有需要的話,也可能帶朋友一塊讓我招帶去達拉斯」過了十幾分鐘,Cuban 認為這樣坐在人家家門口有點不妥,於是無奈的回到旅館,並告訴DAJ好好玩,之後再聊,DAJ簡單回個謝謝。
就在綁架行動Live時,Jeremy Lin 『悄悄地』在twitter 發表首次成為自由球員的決定。
(大部分的球迷都表示沒空,因為都在關注著登登人生.)
Going into my first true free agency as an NBA player this off-season, the one thing that mattered to me the most was finding a team that would be a good fit for me. I wanted to be on a team where I would be able to play freely and truly play the game I love with joy again. That has always been the most important thing to me. After a LOT of prayer and long discussions with family and friends, I wanted to personally let you guys know I'll be joining the Charlotte Hornets.
My journey has never looked the way I (or anyone else) thought it would, but God has always worked things out for my good and I am confident that he will continue to do so. I want to thank Coach Clifford and the Hornets organization for this opportunity - for taking the time to talk to me, understanding my game, and most importantly, making it clear they believe in me. For those of you who have been patiently waiting for news, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for joining me on this journey. To the Lakers organization and the city of Los Angeles, thank you for your support this past season.
I have no idea what is coming next, but I promise I will do everything in my power to contribute to this team and to improve as a player and as a person. Here’s to the next chapter!
『去年沒能留下Jeremy Lin ,老闆Leslie Alexander 差點殺了我。』在加盟記會者上,Daryl Morey 用了誇張的謙虛之禮來迎接Jeremy Lin,還承諾會是球隊所仰賴的核心人物。但過沒多久火箭成功交易來大鬍子James Harden 以後,再又隔年Dwight Howard 加盟,Jeremy Lin 在球隊的地位越來越低,生涯第四個球季結束以後,就被交易到洛杉磯湖人。
並沒有把季後賽為目標的球隊,Jeremy Lin 渡過了難熬的球季,合約走完後,終於在今年暑假成為了真正的自由球員。
從七月一號自由球員開市以來,每天都有令人驚奇的簽約進度,Jeremy Lin 的部分僅只有些傳聞而已,大多以小牛和公牛為主。
誰也想不道,就在DeAndre Jordan 可能要反悔加盟小牛的期間,Jeremy Lin 突然發表決定加入沒有傳聞過的夏洛特黃蜂隊。
在今日簽約發表會上,Jeremy Lin 簡單說明了為何會選擇加入黃蜂的原因。「雖然他們並不是第一支在自由球員市場跟我聯絡的球隊,但卻展現出極大的誠意,讓我有被需要的感覺。」
但我擔心的是情況會和之前所待的金州勇士一樣,由於Jeremy Lin 主要打球的位置,會和球隊核心人物相重疊,鐵定幾乎是沒有擔任先發控球後衛,加上禁區主將Al Jefferson 的進攻風格,並不是Jeremy Lin 所喜歡的擋拆戰術,且在進攻權的比重,也不太可能會比日前不久從拓荒者交易來的Nic Batum 還要多。「I think with our second unit that’s important because he can create shots for others. 我認為這對我們的第二陣容很重要,因為他可以創造其他球員發揮的機會。」總管Rich Cho 接受訪問中透露。
「他之前待的球隊不是對他很不好嗎?」電視裡的新聞正好在撥有關於Jeremy Lin 正式加盟夏洛特黃蜂隊的報導,我媽竟然開口問我。
「我真覺得他這次的決定爛透了。」我說。
或許是因為我太期待Jeremy Lin 可以和Cory Joseph 的處境一樣,既然不能先發只能打替補,那不如待在有實力且更有機會幫助自己的球技再提升的球隊文化和環境,只要實力足夠,總有一天會再有高薪合約自動上門的機會。