Y13 [EN]: Chapter 186

Y13-186 2011 Off-Season

Time flew by, and before they knew it, it was December 6, 2011. After the dramatic CBA [Collective Bargaining Agreement, the agreement between the NBA and its players] agreement, each team began preparing for the season with a renewed sense of urgency, and the Dallas Mavericks were no exception.

Vroom-

Just the fact that the season was starting was a huge relief for Youngjae. He was glad he didn’t have to consider playing in overseas leagues or worry about his hard-earned physique going to waste.

– I’m so glad. If the NBA hadn’t opened, you would have had to go overseas. –

Youngjae couldn’t help but smile at Emily’s cheerful voice on the phone, expressing her relief.

“I am lucky. If that happened, I wouldn’t be in America.”

– Yeah… I would have been a little sad. –

Normally, Emily would have been embarrassed by Youngjae’s teasing and quickly changed the subject, but ever since their visit to the Getty Center, she had become more open in expressing herself. She was still shy, her voice sometimes getting quieter or whispering as if she was telling a secret, but Youngjae always found her endearing and never got bored.

“How’s work going? Wrapping up okay?”

– Of course! From filming to recording the OST [Original Soundtrack], it’s all done. Now we just need to finish the additional filming for The Walking Dead Season 3 Part 1, and then this year’s schedule is over! –

Internally, it had been decided that The Walking Dead Season 3 would be filmed and aired in two parts, Part 1 and Part 2. So, the cast, including Emily, were able to finish filming all of Part 1 and spend personal time with their families and friends at the end of the year.

“I wish you could come before the season starts. Once it does, I’ll be busy with games and won’t be able to spend much time with you.”

– I’m doing my best to adjust my schedule to make that happen. I’ll let you know as soon as I know more, so you just focus on this season. Superstar Youngjae Yune, even more improved than last season! How cool is that? –

Youngjae laughed at Emily’s playful tone and jokingly threatened, “If I become a superstar, you better treat me well!” Then, he ended the call. Before he knew it, Youngjae had arrived at the American Airlines Center, parked his SUV, and walked into the gym.

“Long time no see.”

It was early, and no one else had arrived yet. Youngjae smiled slightly and picked up a ball.

After about 30 minutes, players began to appear one by one. Youngjae greeted them warmly and warmed up with the others. However, even though it had been six days since they started training at the Dallas training center, Youngjae wondered why some players hadn’t come to the gym yet, so he asked Kidd.

“Kidd, why aren’t the other players here yet?”

Youngjae had been coordinating the training schedule with the team’s coaches and trainers since the lockout ended, and he had been training accordingly. However, even after six days, only half of the players were at the training center.

Kidd, Terry, Youngjae, Beaubois, Brewer, Haywood, and Mahinmi were the only seven.

“I don’t know. They must all have their own things to do. The official training camp starts on the 9th, so it’s up to each player to join before then. And free agents are probably worried about their contracts first.”

Kidd’s words made sense. Since the training camp started on the 9th, it was up to the players to come before then. Youngjae said, “I guess so,” expressing a slight dissatisfaction, but he didn’t push the issue.

“Well, except for the FA [Free Agent] players, everyone except Nowitzki and Marion has attended… I wish Parsons, who was drafted this time, would come too. It’s a shame he’s not officially signed yet.”

Caron Butler and Tyson Chandler were meeting with several teams, and J.J. Barea was staying in New York. Peja Stojakovic was considering retirement, and Brian Cardinal and DeShawn Stevenson were also training individually while waiting for offers from each team.

Except for the players mentioned above, Dirk Nowitzki was resting in Germany, and Shawn Marion was resting in the Caribbean. Youngjae was a little disappointed that Nowitzki and Marion hadn’t joined yet, but Kidd saw through Youngjae and tapped him on the back of the head.

“You’re too passionate for your own good.”

“…It’s not like you don’t feel the same way, right?”

“That’s right. I’m also a little disappointed that Nowitzki and Marion haven’t prepared their bodies properly. But it’s not just them. It’s difficult for most players to prepare their bodies in an uncertain situation where it’s unclear whether the season will open or not.”

Youngjae simply nodded, not interrupting Kidd’s explanation.

“It’s not a bad thing to be passionate at a young age. Terry and I wouldn’t be training this early if it weren’t for you. We would have rested well last month, and our bodies wouldn’t be in shape. That’s what I was originally planning to do. However… unlike my expectations, you’re training so hard that I’m also getting in shape.”

Kidd and Terry also hadn’t planned to get in shape early. They thought the lockout would be prolonged, and they wanted to take personal time, reflecting on the past when they had been so focused on basketball that they had neglected their personal lives. That’s why they were planning to spend time resting and doing light training, but their minds changed while watching Youngjae.

‘It’s better to be prepared to play right away, whenever the season starts.’

Youngjae was preparing his body in advance, saying that they didn’t know when the season would start. He told Kidd and Terry that if the season didn’t start within this season, he would have to go to an overseas league, and if it did open within this season, they should get in shape no matter what.

Kidd and Terry also decided to do more intense training than they had planned because of Youngjae’s professionalism, or rather, his dedication to basketball like a crazy person, willing to give up part of his life to focus on basketball.

“I know. It’s not that I think the captain and Marion aren’t professional.”

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you this. Your passion is good, and I think we should learn from it. But I don’t think you should judge other players based on your own standards. It’s true that the players who are here are working hard, but it doesn’t mean that the players who aren’t here aren’t working hard. Especially when you get older and have a family, rest may be more important than training.”

Youngjae nodded at Kidd’s words and then smiled slightly, jokingly trying to lighten the mood.

“I still have a lot of energy because I’m young. Even though Emily comes and spends a lot of time with me. But looking at you, I can see that rest is important when you get older…”

Thwack!

“Ouch!!”

Kidd landed a playful punch on Youngjae’s side, and Youngjae grabbed his side, making a noise as if he was suffocating.

“You’re making a fuss over a light hit!”

“Ugh, how is that light! I almost suffocated!”

“That’s what happens when you joke about age every time. Even if I’m compared to young guys, I’m not lacking, you know?”

Kidd took a deep breath and tensed his upper body, and Youngjae clapped for Kidd, saying, “Oh~.”

“I was joking earlier, but now that I see you, you’ll be even better than last season. I’ll be in trouble if your body gets heavy already. We have to get another championship ring this season.”

Kidd scolded Youngjae in an absurd tone.

“Why are you talking about winning another championship already? We barely got one when we were about to retire, and you’re already greedy even though you got one at twenty? Some people barely get one after 17 years.”

“It may just be my opinion, but the season is a failure if you don’t win the championship. I don’t think there’s any point in playing the season if you don’t aim to win.”

That was one of the reasons why Youngjae didn’t want to go to a tanking team [a team intentionally losing to secure a higher draft pick]. It was meaningless if the goal wasn’t for the team to win and win the championship. From the team’s perspective, tanking was sometimes necessary to plan for the future and for long-term plans, but Youngjae absolutely hated it. Some players want to get paid more even if they go to a tanking team, but Youngjae wanted to be on a winning team even if he got paid less.

It wasn’t like Youngjae was rich. But he believed that there was definitely value beyond money, and for Youngjae, the value beyond money was the team’s victory and the championship. For Youngjae, money was good to have, but it wasn’t a higher priority than career and honor. And anyway, if the team won the championship and he contributed to it, the money would follow.

“Championship… good. Yeah, championship is good! It would be a little empty if I didn’t have a ring on each of my ten fingers before I retire.”

Kidd said with a shrug and picked up the ball again. It was time for training again after the break.

December 11th. Two days after the FA market opened. Cuban and Nelson were meeting in the office again, drinking coffee and discussing the current situation.

“With Parsons joining the team the day before yesterday, the roster has been filled to 10 spots. Unfortunately, Caron Butler has completed his contract with the LA Clippers. Tyson Chandler is being continuously persuaded by our team’s players, and J.J. Barea is prioritizing our team. Barea will likely sign with our team if we offer him a salary that is somewhat higher than last year.”

“Ha… we ended up missing Butler.”

Cuban liked Caron Butler very much. He was the most sorry to see Butler go among the players whose contracts expired this season, and he gave Butler a lot of consideration throughout the season.

“It couldn’t be helped. Butler is 32 years old, and his serious injury history last year was a major obstacle to the contract. Not only me, but also the Dallas medical staff, coaching staff, etc… all officials judged that he would not be able to show All-Star-level skills in the future, and the fact that he had few seasons in his career where he played more than 75 games played a major role. We ultimately concluded that 4 years and 32M [million] for him was a high-risk gamble, so we couldn’t match the Clippers’ contract. If it wasn’t the Clippers, other teams would have thought of around 5~6M per year, similar to us.”

Originally, Butler was reluctant to go to a rebuilding team. But the Clippers were a young team and were actively moving to acquire Chris Paul. After Stern’s rejection of the deal between the LA Lakers and the New Orleans Hornets, the Clippers were the most active in enticing the big-name Chris Paul. In addition, they offered a much higher salary than other teams, so it must have been quite tempting for Butler.

“What’s the situation with Chandler?”

“We offered a little more money, 52 million for 4 years, but Jeff Schwartz said that the New York Knicks offered 56 million for 4 years and rejected the contract.”

Donnie Nelson was carefully negotiating with Chandler’s agent, Jeff Schwartz. He thought he could sign Chandler because the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets seemed to be backing off, but an unexpected dark horse appeared.

“New York? They shouldn’t have any salary cap space, right?”

Cuban frowned. New York already had Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, who were at their maximum contract values, and Chauncey Billups, who also had a high salary. Naturally, there was no salary available for Chandler’s salary.

“They said they are willing to amnesty [waive a player and remove his salary from the team’s salary cap, with certain restrictions] Chauncey Billups and do a sign-and-trade with us. Then it’s definitely possible.”

Cuban looked perplexed by the sudden change in the situation, which was different from the report from yesterday. He didn’t think that New York would offer the maximum amount he had said, 56M for 4 years, but Cuban soon slammed the table lightly with his palm with a determined expression.

“Match it. Offer Schwartz the same amount as the Knicks. Tyson Chandler is the only answer in the current situation. It definitely feels like an overpay, but it can’t be helped.”

Nene had already completed his contract, and it was not easy to find an alternative because this FA market was short. Thanks to this, overpays were rampant everywhere. Some even complained about why they had a lockout if this was going to happen. It was contradictory that the team owners took the lead under the pretext of financial deficits, but then continued to overpay after the CBA agreement.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

★Thank you to those who pre-ordered, recommended, commented, and gave coupons!!

★Thank you to 4h, Johahuni, and Sosimjjijil Inferior Man for the support coupons!! I will work harder ^^.

＠Haywood actually interviewed that he wanted the team members to get together and practice. At that time, some players were late to join, and there were too many FA players. But the problem is that if you only look at the interview, Haywood should have done well, but if you look at Haywood in the 11-12 season, lol.

＠In reality, Kidd and Terry also got in shape late, so they struggled in the beginning of the 11-12 season. Youngjae was training like crazy, so Kidd and Terry followed suit. In particular, if the difference between Terry and Youngjae is too great, his record and playing time will be reduced, lol.

Ultra10/// Hehe, Chandler and Barea are players optimized for Dallas, so we had to catch them.

H0h, Heojeop/// Thank you for looking at it favorably. I was writing a sports novel and these parts didn’t come out. I felt sorry that it was just passing too easily like a game, so I wrote it. Because the main character is Youngjae, I can’t write too much, lol.

Ahyoehaenghae, Sarajil Soul, Financial, Jeoldanigo, Eunseolya, Omarion/// Thank you for the comments. It’s Monday now. Have a great week ~~

Goimosp/// Thank you for enjoying it. I wrote it after reading the actual situation, interviews, and autobiography ^^. Like any company CEO, the owner and general manager seem to make difficult decisions between gambling and safety. If they succeed, they become a famous general manager, and if they fail, they become a failed general manager…

Anguqwhdk/// I’m sorry that I couldn’t solve it in a fun way. I wanted to express not only the agony of a simple manager, but also why the team missed this player and why they had to catch this player.

Brilliant Legacy/// At this time, Cuban’s wealth decreased, and as luxury taxes were strengthened, Cuban’s head, who had been reinforcing his power with money, became complicated, lol. I was going to amnesty Haywood, but I decided to use him more.

Gangjail, AㅏIngyeoreopda/// Chandler is a sincere, smart, and good player. It’s a shame that he is underestimated because he lacks offensive power and star quality. Amare is a luxury player even at the minimum. Rondo is what;;;

Yabes/// Hmm, Hakeem School mainly teaches post-ups. So, among the swingmen, LeBron, Kobe, and Carmelo seem to have learned it. Youngjae’s physical condition is not good enough to focus on post-ups. I’ll find another good teacher.