Chapter 388:

Grant Hill is undoubtedly a standard American gentleman. He has a good background, has a higher education, can play the piano, is keen on charity, and has a happy family. In August of this year, he had his second daughter. The birth of the child undoubtedly had an impact on Hill’s choice. During the negotiations with the Suns in August, Hill expressed his reluctance to give Fox -Leon played and had the idea of ​​retiring.
The warmth of the family is in stark contrast with the cruelty of the game. Hill has suffered more injuries than honors on the basketball court. He doesn't know how much passion he has left for basketball.
However, in the face of Cole and Leon’s personal visit, Hill still warmly received the two at their home in Dallas. It is November. Hill is wearing a warm gray sweater and cotton slippers at home, while Leon and Cole are both People seem to be a little shameless.
Leon glanced at Hill from head to toe, and he could see that Hill maintained a good body shape, showed no signs of gaining weight, walked steadily and vigorously, and had a good mental state. He was thirty-five years old and had experienced many conflicts Injuries may be fatal for some players, but he still maintains good habits and has not pulled down training.
The three chatted for a while, because this time they came to visit in private, so Cole did not bring any Suns staff. After the meeting, they did not rush to discuss basketball matters, but talked about private topics.
Both Cole and Hill were born in high-end intellectual families. They had excellent homework and sports since childhood. They played in the NCAA, and both played for prestigious schools. One was at Duke and the other was in Arizona. Both are NCAA powerful. In terms of college and basketball, they have endless topics.
In this regard, Leon can't speak anymore. When these two guys played in the NCAA, "Fox Leon" was still gangsters on the streets of the South District of Boston, fighting, drinking, and sucking fans. As for his other half. To be honest, if he had any, he would have gone back to China long ago.
In fact, in terms of knowledge, Leon alone pretends to be three Coles and five hills, but it is not knowledge that makes friends and chats with people, but experience, background, conversation, and mutual impressions. The two of them have nothing to do with each other in their personal experiences. Leon watched them talk about college, thinking that Lao Tzu had also gone to college, but he couldn't remember what college he went to.
He couldn’t speak, he chose to drink. On the wine rack in Hill’s study, Leon saw Sherry. He asked for a glass and drank it on his own. From high school to college, to various trophies and honorary titles won by the NBA-this study is an honor showroom.
Hill and Cole continued to sit on the sofa and talk about the mountains. Leon was watching these messy honors. He really wanted to say to Hill: "Don't you think you are missing a championship ring here? I have three, right away. I can give you one."
In Leon's honor showroom, there are only NBA championship rings and a title of best coach, but this is already the highest honor in basketball.
But Leon still held back. He knew that this would make people feel aggressive. If Hill had taken Leon's championship qualifications, he would have joined the Suns a long time ago, and there is no need to exchange feelings with him now.
Looking around, none of these things aroused Leon’s interest, but soon a photo attracted him. It was placed in a conspicuous position. It was a photo of Hill with his wife and newborn daughter. The date, exactly on the 9th of August this year, is his second daughter Lyle Rose Hill.
In a cozy group photo, Leon picked up the photo and looked at it. At this time, Cole shouted at Leon: "Hey, come and have a chat. What are you looking at?"
Leon put the picture back and said: "A picture, a happy family. I think of my daughter. She was just born in October. She is very young and a little angel."
Hill nodded, and he took the initiative: "Yes, is it your first child?"
Leon said: "Yes, the first one, her name is Mikel, which means miracle. It was Arnold who picked it up for her."
"Arnold, Cardinal? Unimaginable."
"Yes, he is actually very gentle, at least for me."
Leon thought of Auerbach, and his heart was still mixed. The stubborn and proud old man had been asleep in the ground, and could no longer yell at him, nor would he teach himself.
Then, Hill just chatted with Leon. From his daughter, he talked about basketball, his understanding of life, and his pursuit of championships.
Hill was surprised to find that this appearance looked rude. He had played a player in the NBA and the only Iron Fist coach in history turned out to be a sharp-talking, knowledgeable and insightful person.
Perhaps it is because his relationship with the media has always been poor-especially the local media in Boston, and his "birth" is not good, leading to a person's inherent prejudice against him, affecting Hill's view of him, but after some contact, Hill can feel strongly that this is an excellent and trustworthy coach.
Moreover, the Suns also has a very attractive place for Hill, that is, their excellent medical team, and Arizona's dry climate, which is very important to his injured body.
This is why, without signing a contract with the Suns, Hill also rejected other teams because he was worried about whether he could play in other teams.
"One thing I have to tell you the truth, Grant, allow me to call you that. If you come to the Suns, the main content of your job will be defense and you will play as a substitute. But at the same time I can promise that the Suns will not It will become a meat grinder. You should have seen it in the first two games. Our style of play will be the least labor-saving in the league. Moreover, I think you still have a lot of fuel in your tank. After all, you have been locked in a parking lot for several years. ."
Later, Leon was able to joke with Hill, and Hill certainly wouldn't mind such innocuous jokes, and he did have ambitions and unfinished basketball dreams in his heart.
Although he is thirty-five years old, and despite his scars, as long as there is a chance to stand on the highest stage, who will give up?
When Cole and Leon had dinner at Hill’s house in the evening and left with plenty of food and drink, Leon knew that this visit would not be left empty-handed. Hill had made it clear that they would talk to his agent soon. People contact, and then start a formal signing meeting with the sun.
Leon and Cole also immediately ordered the plane back to Phoenix. On the plane, Cole seemed very happy. He asked Leon: "Fox, I feel that you and the past have indeed changed a lot, although you just arrived. I didn't notice it at the time, but now I gradually noticed it."
Through this conversation, not only Hill’s impression of Leon has changed, even Cole has discovered that perhaps he underestimated this guy in the past. This ruthless arrogance, Auerbach's successor, is not a cold-blooded animal as people think.
Leon shrugged: "Everyone will change, so will you, you see you are now a stupid team manager."
"Fu-ck-you, Leon."
……………………
Meeting Hill is just an episode of Leon's work in the Suns~EbookFREE.me~ After returning to Phoenix, Leon is busy preparing for the team's next game.
Leon is a very meticulous and serious coach. He has very high requirements for details, but he is not the kind of paranoid who blindly pursues perfection in details.
In the morning of the match day, Leon called all the players and coaches to hold a video analysis meeting to analyze the situation of the first two games. He used his super memory to extract many details on the field. Especially in the second game against the Lakers, how to defend Kobe.
This is still the regular season. Once in the playoffs, if you encounter the Lakers again, there is no doubt that he will systematically contain Kobe. These ideas and ideas will be exchanged with players from now on.
Finally, he talked about the night game. Tonight they will meet guests from the East at the American Airlines Center, the dark horse of last year, and the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James.
"I'm here to remind everyone that this evening is different for the Clevelands and the Lakers. Just stand farther."