Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

The Big Three's presence bloated their salary space, and at this time, the restricted free agent Andrew Bynum began to receive outside offers.

This was Jim Buss's prized possession, but Marc Gasol's rise made Bynum quite awkward.

Last season had already proven that the twin tower strategy was ineffective against the Supersonics, but Bynum was clearly outperformed by Pau Gasol in the Triangle Offense, and Phil Jackson had plans to push Artest to the power forward position in the following season, which left even less room for Bynum on the Lakers.

That's when the Warriors Team offered Bynum a 4-year, $50 million contract.

The Lakers could match it, but at the cost of the luxury tax becoming a devastating beast in the new season.

But the Lakers had no choice.

They kept Bynum not because the team needed him but because they couldn't give up such a valuable asset.

To let Bynum go, with the Lakers' salary space, was to have no chance of making any big moves in the free market; keeping Bynum would indeed bring a heavy financial burden, but as one of the NBA's most promising young players under 25, he could fetch a high price on the trade market in the future.

In the end, it was Old Buss who made the decision, and the Lakers chose to match the offer.

Thus, the Lakers' top six for the new season were basically set, with the remaining spots needing to be filled through the only available mid-level exception and minimum salary contracts.

This public-perceived Evil Empire had become an existence similar to the 08 Celtics.

Supersonics were strong, but they didn't have that many positions available; after the union of Fei and Zhan Ke, the Lakers had become the promised land for veterans.

A host of veterans in free agency saw the Lakers give their mid-level exception to Mike Bibby, who was desperate for a championship and willing to accept a backup role, and then sign Eddie House for a minimum salary along with Big Z, who had followed James to Los Angeles.

After the Lakers' tactical maneuvers, ESPN's roaring king Stephen A. Smith jokingly said, "Why do we have to spend half a year deciding who wins the championship? I think we can skip these steps and just let the Supersonics and Lakers play 81 games against each other. Whoever gets to 41 wins first is the champion of the new season."

The Lakers escalated the arms race step by step with solid operations to a surprising level.

And that's when the Supersonics made their move.

Jermaine O'Neal, who had an arrangement with Fei, did not primarily aim to ride the Supersonics' express to championship but to secure a retirement contract.

However, after much back and forth, no one was willing to offer him a substantial retirement contract.

So, he turned to the Supersonics.

The Supersonics were willing to sign him using their mid-level exception on the condition that he accepted a backup role. Little O had long lost the ego of a star; if he couldn't get a big contract, then why not settle for a ring on the bench?

"I feel I can contribute on the court," Little O said, "but if you guys think I need to sit on the sideline, then I'll cheer for my teammates."

"So, you accept this role?"

"Why not?"

The Lakers' and Miami Heat's antics made the free agency period full of shocks, making the Supersonics' signing of Little O seem so natural and smooth.

"The Seattle Times" commented on Little O's signing: "In the end, the loyal Jermaine O'Neal has come to serve under The Chosen One."

That day, Yu Fei tweeted, "From now on, my team has Michael, Jordan, and O'Neal. How long do you think it will take me to blow up the locker room?"

Kwame Brown quickly commented on the tweet, "I have something to say but I'm not sure if I should... "

PS: Combined two updates into one, I'm too lazy to split the chapter.