Chapter 289: Chapter 237: Commercial Interests

With the end of the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers’ ’01-’02 season officially came to a close.

The team was on break, and the players could officially start their vacations, but the front office’s work was far from over.

In a villa in the Los Angeles suburbs, Phil Jackson climbed onto his beloved Harley early in the morning. He had just pulled out of the garage when he was swarmed by a mob of reporters.

"Phil, is Shaq really leaving the Lakers?"

"Have the Lakers and Shaq reached an extension? There are media reports saying you offered Shaq a four-year, $90 million contract, and O’Neal’s team rejected it. Is that true?"

"Shaq has made it clear he wants to go to Phoenix. If Phoenix offers the number one pick, would you consider a trade with the Suns?"

A barrage of questions, camera flashes, and video lenses nearly overwhelmed Jackson.

This was Los Angeles. Every move the Lakers made was under the media’s spotlight, to say nothing of a superstar like O’Neal.

Jackson quickly turned his motorcycle around, painstakingly squeezed through the crowd, and returned to the garage.

"Shit!"

He furiously kicked over a pile of junk in the garage, then went back into the villa and headed upstairs.

In the bedroom, a blonde Jeanie Buss was still asleep, her stunning figure on full display.

Jackson was in no mood to appreciate the view. He irritably shook Jeanie Buss awake.

"Jeanie, what’s Jerry’s stance on all this? Can’t you figure it out from what he’s said?" Jackson asked, exasperated.

The Buss family had just held a gathering last night.

Jeanie Buss quickly came to her senses. She gently stroked her lover’s chest to soothe him and said, troubled, "Phil, I really don’t know. Dad just said to let Jim and the others decide. He said it’s a team matter and that they need to grow into their roles."

At this, Jeanie’s voice filled with worry. "Phil, do you really think Dad will hand over management of the team to Jim?"

’She had her eye on that position, too.’

Jackson got up, annoyed. He couldn’t worry about who would take over the Lakers right now. All he cared about was O’Neal’s situation.

Just then, he got a call from Kupchek, asking when he would be at the office. They needed him for a meeting.

Jackson had been heading to the arena anyway.

The Lakers still had a first-round pick, and they needed to decide which rookie to select.

In the post-mortem of their failed season, one crucial problem stood out: the roster wasn’t good enough. When O’Neal and Kobe ran into trouble, there was almost no one who could step up and help them.

They had to reinforce the lineup.

"You should go back home. Jerry’s stance is crucial right now," Jackson urged his girlfriend.

If Old Bass made it clear he wanted to keep O’Neal, they would go all-in on negotiating with him.

O’Neal had expressed a desire to be traded, specifically to the Suns. But in Jackson’s eyes, this was more of a power play directed at the Lakers’ front office—a way to force them to hurry up with an extension and give him a contract he was happy with.

He was already feeling the threat from Kobe and wanted to use a massive contract to solidify his status as the top dog on the Lakers.

That was fine.

In the past, Jackson had relied more on O’Neal in the OK Duo. But with Kobe’s rapid development over the last two years, Jackson knew deep down that if the Lakers wanted to remain championship contenders, they couldn’t afford to lose either of them.

That’s why Jackson was so frustrated and angry. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why O’Neal would say those things at the post-game press conference.

Couldn’t they have just discussed whatever it was in private?

’And what’s this about going to the Suns? What is he thinking? We just lost to them, lost our chance at a three-peat dynasty, and now he wants to be traded there? That’s basically defecting to the enemy. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em?’

Ignoring the reporters, he drove to the arena.

The entire front office team had already gathered in the conference room.

Jerry West wasn’t present. Two months ago, he had officially left the Lakers to take a position in Memphis.

Jackson sat down, glanced at Jim Buss, and then asked what was on the agenda.

Kupchek’s expression was grave. "A little while ago, I got a call from Phoenix," he said. "They asked if we’d be willing to trade this year’s first-round pick."

Jackson froze.

He’d expected the Suns to contact the Lakers, but he never thought they’d be asking about their first-round pick.

’Wait, that’s not right!’

Jackson realized with a jolt. ’The Suns are testing the Lakers’ position.’

Before the trade market officially opened, most discussions revolved around draft picks. And if the Suns wanted to trade for O’Neal, their biggest bargaining chip was that number one pick.

Sure enough, after a moment of thought, the others in the room came to the same conclusion.

"Phil, have you spoken with Perry? What’s his position?" Jim Buss asked, looking directly at Jackson and completely ignoring the topic of why the Suns were asking about their pick.

Perry Rogers was O’Neal’s new agent.

Jackson nodded, then shook his head. "I’ve contacted him, but the bastard is being cagey. He’s waiting for us to make the first move."

Kupchek considered this for a moment, then looked at the group. "So, what kind of contract do you all think is appropriate for Shaq?"

The Lakers’ front office had originally planned to put off dealing with the extension until next year.

But given the circumstances, they had to address it now.

"He’ll only accept a max contract," Jim Buss said grimly.

Everyone in the room knew exactly what O’Neal wanted. He wouldn’t accept anything less than a max contract.

"The key is the length of the contract," Jackson said. "In ’04, Kobe has a player option and will definitely opt out. He’ll want a max extension, too, and the Lakers’ salary cap pressure will be enormous."

If they gave O’Neal a contract that was too long, the Lakers’ salary cap would be locked up for years to come.

With that, Jackson turned to another person at the table. "Earvin, what do you think?"

Magic Johnson was still a minority owner of the Lakers.

With Old Bass deliberately staying silent, Johnson’s opinion carried a lot of weight.

Seeing all eyes on him, Johnson steeled himself and said, "Look, while we’re discussing how to keep Shaq, shouldn’t we also consider the worst-case scenario? I’m not saying we shouldn’t keep him. Keeping him is simple: a max contract, and then it’s just a question of the number of years."

At this critical juncture, could they really try to lowball him? O’Neal would fly into a rage and demand a trade on the spot.

So from Johnson’s perspective, what kind of contract to give O’Neal wasn’t the real debate. The core issue was whether they should even keep him at all.

"We failed this year. Maybe we should do some serious soul-searching," Johnson added, seemingly out of nowhere.

Jackson frowned. He understood the subtext in Johnson’s words.

’Soul-searching about what? Obviously, about whether the O’Neal and Kobe duo can still bring championships to the Lakers.’

’Or, to put it another way, are there other options?’

’Especially with the conflict between O’Neal and Kobe getting worse.’

’O’Neal is great, but if he’s not the right fit for the Lakers, then a decision has to be made, no matter how difficult.’

Seeing the silence, Johnson cursed inwardly. ’What’s with the act? Do I have to be the one to spell it out?’ He cleared his throat and continued, "That big man from China... what do you guys think of him?"

Jackson rubbed his temples in frustration.

’Are we really starting to consider trading O’Neal?’

He suddenly felt a pang of regret. That combine in Chicago at the end of April... what was he thinking? He’d been so confident with O’Neal on the roster that he hadn’t even gone to personally scout Yao Ming.

But back then, Jackson never would have dreamed that after a single playoff run, O’Neal would be thinking about leaving the Lakers.

Kupchek hesitated. "The guy has a ton of potential," he said, "but he’s a bit frail."

Frail, meaning he might not be strong enough for the physical game.

They were afraid he’d turn into the next Bradley.

He looked over at Jackson as he spoke.

Jackson was the one with the most say on whether Yao Ming was a good fit for the Lakers.

Seeing all eyes on him, Jackson folded his arms and sank into thought.

The Lakers hadn’t attended the Chicago workout, but with all the media coverage, Jackson had certainly paid attention and done his research on Yao Ming.

In Jackson’s view, Yao Ming was a player with very clear strengths and weaknesses.

His strengths were obvious: astonishing height, coupled with a flexibility that belied his size. He wasn’t some raw high school kid, either. He had already dominated the CBA before entering the NBA, so his skills were relatively polished. He also had a decent mid-range jumper, wasn’t afraid of contact when attacking the basket, and had a solid finishing ability.

His weaknesses were, of course, physical. He had a short wingspan and a light frame. It was hard to say if he could adapt to the higher intensity of the NBA.

’But on second thought, he’s actually a pretty good fit for Kobe.’

’Not just in terms of skills, but in other ways too.’

’For one, he’s a rookie. He won’t be obsessed with being the top dog like O’Neal is.’

’That way, at least Kobe would stop making a fuss.’

’And as a rookie, Yao Ming would surely be willing to do the dirty work to complement Kobe.’

’Getting O’Neal to play a supporting role to Kobe is damn near impossible.’

’Most importantly, they could capitalize on his rookie contract. The Lakers would immediately have enough cap space to reinforce the roster while still maintaining their championship competitiveness.’

’On top of all that, Yao Ming came with the enormous market of China, and Los Angeles had a huge Chinese population. The commercial value was immense.’

A chilling thought struck Jackson. ’Could that be why Old Bass is being so ambiguous?’

At first, Jackson had assumed Old Bass was just falling back on his old habit of favoring guards, which was why he seemed to prefer Kobe.

But now that he thought about it, Old Bass’s ambiguity might be because he had his eye on Yao Ming’s commercial value.

It was true that Old Bass loved basketball, but he was still a businessman—and a notoriously frugal one at that.

Jackson looked up at Johnson again.

’For Johnson to bring this up now... it’s hard to believe that’s not the reason. After all, he’s a minority owner too. An increase in the Lakers’ market value benefits him directly.’

’These bastards!’

Jackson cursed under his breath, then said in a heavy tone, "I think before we go down that road, we should first clarify Shaq’s position. We can start by giving him an offer and see what he’s really thinking."

Just make an offer. If O’Neal isn’t satisfied, then his intentions will be crystal clear: he’s dead set on leaving.

It wouldn’t be too late to consider a trade at that point.

But after a moment’s hesitation, Jackson added, "Of course, I think we should also start gathering intel on this Yao and do some serious research."

Prepare for both possibilities, so we’re not caught flat-footed.

The men exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

Jim Buss added, "That’s right. We need to prepare in advance. After all, we’ll still have to deal with his original team and the Chinese Basketball Association."

At this, he gave a wry smile, unable to fathom why they had to get the Chinese Basketball Association’s approval for Yao Ming to play in the NBA.