David Aldridge had a unusual call last night. It was from a man he's been tryin to get for a long time. After tryin to reach him for 2 consecutive seasons, looking up for him in various Sacramento bars and holes, gyms, bordels and decent places like that, a call in the middle of the night by KingsGM ZLOVRO was rather then schoking. The voice was stuttering and couple of bleeches could have been heard as well.
Is that...(bleech)..David? - voice said
Yes it is, is that you Z? - said mister Aldridge
How do you knnn..ow? - asked Zlovro
I have your number, don't you remember? - said David with a smile
I guesss so - Zlovro
Geez, what's the time...4AM? - said David
Who cares? - Zlovro replied
What are you...-
Oh shut up and listen - Zlovro interupted
Ok
Get your ass in Arco tommorow at 7:30...- said Zlovro
Tommorow? You mean today? It's 4AM - David
Yes, today, sorry.
No problem, ok, i'll be there - David
Phone hang up and David had a hard to fall asleep again. After some time he finally manage to do so and the next day he showed up, as KingsGM said, at 7:30 at Arco Arena. He found Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Tom Chambers, Kings latest trio in a lobby and had a nice greetings and a brief chat with them until Zlovro finally showed up, half an hour later, around 8:00 pm. He led them to a bar inside the gym where Q & A was supposed to be done. And it did.
What's up folks? Nice company.
What's up D? said Magic with a smile
Yo, David my man!
Hi - said Chambers kindly.
You wanna beer?
No, no thank you. Last time i had a beer with you, i woked up in New Orleans 2 days later and my wife called a cops. I'll pass this time.
Ok - said Zlovro
So, where to start? How's rookie life in Sac town guys? - asked David
Oh, it's great, everything's fine. I like it really. - said Zeke
Everything's fine with me as well - said Tom
Better ask them how's life on the court - Zlovro tossed
Silence.
Ok...- said David - Zeke...25ppg, 9apg, those a hellava numbers for a rookie. I'm really impressed. How do you feel so far about your first games as a pro?
Oh, it's been great so far. I'm just playin my game. I knew that i could play at this level. I just didn't expect to be soo good right off the start. But so far i really have no problems with adjustments. I hope that will continue.
You and Magic are one of the leagues most intimidating duos, even now - said DA
It's really awesome to play with Magic. He has so many solutions and trick in his bag. I'm trully amazed. We're definitely looking forward to our future. I would say sky is the limit.
And what about Tom Chambers? - asked DA
He's still learning, no doubt. But you can see the talent is there. He is going to be a great, great player in this league, i'm positive.
Magic, how are you satisfied so far?
Well, obvioulsy, we aren't winning as we thought we would have, but as our coach said, we're build for the future. And Isiah, Tom and myself, we definitely have a great future. We already have a great relatinoship off and on the court. But, we also have to start winning this season as well. We started the season on a sore note, but i belive we'll be better down the road.
Tom, how do you feel about your season so far?
Well, it's been tough. We're 6 games under .50 and i was injured for some time, but as Magic said, i belive there are great things to come for this team.
Country boy speaks! - yelled Zlovro. Chambers laughed.
....the price for you - DA continued - was rather high. 5 first rn picks and league is wondering do you worth that much?
Well, i can't talk about that. I'm not GM. The pressure is certanly high and i belive i'll prove many critics wrong. It's a great challenge and i'm looking forward to it. I just have to work hard.
And now, let me get to Mister Zlovro...I'll ask you same thing. After rebuilding for couple of seasons and stockpilling picks, you all of a sudden decided to trade almost all of your assets for a unproven rookie which makes your deal and plan very queastinable. How do you feel now about that deal?
Well, lets settle this once for all. There were many issues about this trade. People are all over me, sayin this and that, whatever. But i belive i would do the same all over again. It's a risk no doubt about it. But after tryin to get some inside help for our backourt it all came down to this. Belive me, there was no way i could have gotten some inside talent for a lower price. We've been talking to Hawks about Caroll, Clippers about Mahorne, Knicks over Lambeer and Bird, Nugget's Gminski and Williams, you name it. I tried everything. At the end i just went nuts and said, what the ****, i want Chambers or someone like that and i'll pay whatever it takes.
Was the price too high?
Probably, probably. But i had no choice and didn't want to see all those teams doing fine so at the end i end up with some mediocre picks and getting nothing in return. As i said, it's a risk. Plus, this couple of up and coming drafts won't solve our biggest needs, and that's our frontcourt.
So far, majority of these teams are doing not so good....
Well yeah, but it's a young season. Some of them wil probably go up. I mean, CelticsGM is a terrible GM, we all know that, but he always finds a way a to win some ball games with the trash he has on his team. He'll never be a serious ball club, but not a lotto bound either. Bucks will probably do better as well. I would say the same about my Kings as well. And speaking of Celtics, i was at his home last month, in Boston. He invited me to supper and some fine austrian beer. We had a dinner and everything was fine until he started to talk about some guy named Xavier Laporte that he drafted as 56th pick in the 4th round. He talked about him for like 2 straight hours, how his defense turned from D- to C in just one TC and stuff like that so i just had to drank one beer after another cause otherwise i wouldn't have survived the whole night. Eventualy, i fainted and fall asleep. When i woke up, he was still talking the same stuff, this time about some guy named McPerry Stevenson, or something like that, i can't recall it.
Ok, we get the point. What about your team?
What about them?
4-10?
Well, this wasn't supposed to be breakout season anyway. But, to be honest, i felt we'd do better, and i'm still hoping for. PreTC they looked ok, but after TC Lamar showed up in our practice room in a wheelchair, and it's hard to play in a wheelchair you know? Couple of other guys are in pretty much in the same shape.
Why did you trade your pick then?
Well first, i don't think that pick is going to be something you know? I belive we'll do better. Around 40 wins or something like that. Second, i just wanted to get rid of that. I was sick about all the gossips about me tanking and all that shit. You know the Commish is after me all the time. I was in the bar down town LA one other night, and who did i meet in mens toilet? Commish man! Of all the people!
What did he say?
We didn't talk much. He said something like "What our you doing here you drunk? Get your DC in!". I didn't even finish my piss, and he was already gone. I haven't seen him since then.
Haha..cool story. Anyway, that's it, i have no more questions. Zlovro, Tom, Isiah, Magic, i wish you very succesfull season and a great future as well!
Thanks man, same to you
Same
Thank you
Wait man! Have a drink!
No thank you, i really got to leave, thanks anyway!
Shit! This is the last time i called you, you got it? - Zlovro yelled at him when DA was already in front of the door.
