Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 469 - 155: Shocking the Alliance, A Common Enemy (5000-word - , begging for subscriptions and monthly votes!)_3

What?

You say that back then, Warriors fans cursed Nash to never win a championship?

"We absolutely never said anything like that! We clearly said at the time that Steve Nash will surely win more than one championship in the future!"

Just as Qin Yue expected.

Fans are indeed the most "capricious" group of people in this world.

It's just...

Until he became a part of the Warriors, Nash still felt...

It seemed he had no choice but to join the Warriors since he couldn't beat them.

After all...

The Warriors defeated the Suns in the Western Conference Finals that year and eventually became the champions.

Indeed, if Nash wasn't already 34 years old and aware that he had little time left, along with Cole's "dull" operations making him see no hope at all...

No matter how eloquent Qin Yue was, Nash likely would have chosen to stay in Phoenix.

Qin Yue knew that Nash needed time to transform and adapt.

But to avoid Nash bearing any psychological burden...

On the day Nash joined, Qin Yue was heard saying on the phone: "Steve, although before you joined, we were indeed champions, past glories are destined to belong only to the past and not the future.

I hope to build the future with you, so I extended the invitation."

Hearing this, Nash laughed on the phone: "I hope I won't regret this choice in the future."

Qin Yue said, "I think you can already think of a great 'epitaph' for your future career."

Nash pondered for a while, then said, "If possible, I wish that 'epitaph' would be: Born for the Championship, Died for the Dream."

An old man and a young man, two MVPs joining forces, had already made the Warriors' rivals feel that this team, which had dominated the league for as long as two years, would not sit idle.

And once this three-way trade was completed.....

Qin Yue, witnessed by team owner Chris Cohan, team general manager Mulin, and accompanied by agent Schwartz, officially signed the extension agreement with the Warriors.

This super-max contract, starting in the 09/10 season and counted towards the Warriors' salary cap...

The starting salary alone exceeds 20 million US dollars, and with the "Bird clause" increase, its total value exceeds 130 million US dollars.

If Qin Yue, signing this "4+1" super max with the Warriors, opts for a player option in the last year of the contract...

Then after a consecutive four-year salary increase, Qin Yue could earn nearly 33 million US dollars in the final year of this contract.

Additionally, during this early extension negotiation, at Qin Yue's strong request, a no-trade clause was also included in the agreement.

And all of this made Chris Cohan feel once again that Qin Yue, this franchise star, was forcing him to quickly sell the team.

Because once Qin Yue's salary starts counting towards the Warriors' salary cap, by then, the luxury tax Cohan would need to pay for this team...

Won't be a matter of just spending some small money like it is now.

Especially when noticing Qin Yue's undeniable expression while demanding the no-trade clause...

In Cohan's view, at that time, Qin Yue wasn't merely demanding a no-trade clause, he was clearly telling himself:

"If you can't afford to play, don't play, there are plenty of people willing to spend."

...

The news of Qin Yue reaching an early extension agreement with the Warriors undoubtedly became the best news Warriors fans received this summer.

In the eyes of Warriors fans, even the previous three-way trade pales in comparison to the significance of Qin Yue signing this five-year long-term deal with the Warriors.

Originally, when renewing, Qin Yue considered signing a "3+1" contract more favorable for his future operations with the Warriors.

But in the Bay Area, Qin Yue already had a sense of belonging.

Qin Yue would never forget the deafening cheers Bay Area fans gave him every time they played at home.

Nor would he forget the scene when leading the Warriors back to Oakland after losing Game Seven this year:

The moment Qin Yue stepped off the plane, he heard the thunderous cheers from the crowd, and the Bay Area fans who came to pick him up kept chanting his name.

In Oakland, Qin Yue had already become a deity.

The recognition by Bay Area fans, and the sense of belonging he was gradually developing, had long made him regard this Warriors team as his own.

And with the no-trade clause in hand...

In the NBA, who says a player must wait for a contract to expire to leave as a free agent?

Qin Yue understood very well that as long as he maintained his dominance on the court and kept up his current level of exposure...

His destiny would inevitably be in his own hands.

...

In mid-July, Qin Yue together with Yao Ming, who had just finished the Supersonic's championship parade a short while ago, returned to their home country and joined the training of the Chinese Men's Basketball Team.

However...

Unlike before, to prepare for the Olympics held at home, this year's training of the Chinese Men's Basketball Team was less of a training camp and more of a special training gathering all the top domestic basketball players together.

At the request of "European Caesar" Yonas, China's outside players, including Zhu Fangyu, Wang Shipeng, Liu Wei, and Sun Yue, had to add a lot of extra three-point practice every day.

The effect of this intense training was immediate.

The statistics in Qin Yue's memory do not lie.

In the historical 2008 Olympics, the Chinese Men's Basketball Team's outside shooters all showcased excellent competitive states.

And as Qin Yue returned home along with Grover and Payton, Grover also developed more detailed special training programs for every Chinese player based on their different characteristics.

As for Payton?

The day Qin Yue returned home, he threw a heavy book of FIBA rules to him.

"Gary, I need you to help me study FIBA's defensive rules.

You know, in FIBA, a player fouls out after five fouls, so I must adopt a different defensive strategy than in the NBA to prepare for the Olympics."

As someone who had been through this, Qin Yue very well knew, because of that damn pride...

This Olympics, besides playing at home, the Chinese Men's Basketball Team had no home court advantage whatsoever.

Therefore, to avoid being threatened with foul trouble during games due to the scale of officiating, Qin Yue needed to prepare in advance.

In Qin Yue's view, Payton was an NBA top defender, and to defend well, one naturally had to master the rules.

It's just...

At a certain moment, Payton felt as if he had already become an "American Traitor."

"The FIBA rules are really numerous, and many are different from the NBA, so in a short time..."

"Gary, I'll pay you five times your salary."

"Actually, on second thought, with my experience, if you give me three days, I can thoroughly understand FIBA's rules."

What's all this about "American Traitor" or not?

Since Payton was Qin Yue's personal defense trainer at the moment, he had to use his experience to help Qin Yue defeat that incredibly evil US Basketball Team!

Any opponent attempting to stop Qin Yue from venting his resentment with an Olympic gold medal would be his, Gary Payton's, enemy!

...

PS: 5000-word chapter, begging for subscriptions and monthly tickets! (Trying to post the second chapter before 24:00)