"That's because you don't know how to relax. Haven't you heard? With Ah Gan around, coaching is the easiest job. Just give the ball to Ah Gan, trust him, and everything will be fine."
"Of course I've heard of Danny; everyone dreams of coaching him. But...he's 37 years old after all."
"Ah Gan's 37 isn't the same as a regular player's 37. Go ahead and use him, Rudy. Anyway, if your performance isn't good, you won't stay here long."
Tomjanovich was momentarily speechless, as An Ji spoke bluntly, without hiding his coldness.
In his own words, if one day the team needed him to sacrifice himself for a championship, he would sell himself without hesitation—just like what Stu-Inman did back in the day.
After hanging up the phone, Tomjanovich realized what he needed to do, and that night he slept very soundly.
The next day was the first training day and also the Las Vegas Radiance Team's first public appearance. The team arranged an open practice and media interviews.
The training and media meetup were arranged at the newly completed Cox Arena at UNLV (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) this year.
This is a medium-sized indoor comprehensive arena jointly built by Cox Communications and UNLV, capable of accommodating 2,800-3,100 people. It's used for hosting women's basketball games and relatively less important men's basketball games, as well as other activities like concerts, lectures, and boxing matches.
Anyway, if you pay the rent, the arena builders are happy to let you use it.
For a popular team like Las Vegas Radiance, the arena owners simply let you use it for a season free of charge as an advertisement for the arena and Cox Communications.
Because if you don't let the Radiance Team use it, there are plenty of arenas willing to accommodate them; there are many sports venues in Las Vegas.
The Radiance Team's first training day would absolutely be that day's sports media headline. Numerous reporters would come for shooting and interviews.
The name 'Cox' would be mentioned repeatedly in the news, and the company couldn't wish for better advertising effects.
As the head coach, Tomjanovich left early; he didn't want to be late on the first day.
With two assistant coaches, he drove to Cox Arena, only to find the parking lot almost full.
"Xie Te, it's only the first training day; is it really this exaggerated? It's so early, and so many people are here?"
Just after getting out of the car and walking to the arena, Tomjanovich was already surrounded by waiting reporters.
With cameras and questions flying around, luckily, Old Tang was well-experienced, politely declining interviews and saying everything would be addressed after the training.
He knew that with a new team and a new coach, he needed to be cautious in his words, maintain a unified stance inside and out, and not say anything reckless that could come back to embarrass him.
Together with the assistant coaches, after changing clothes in the locker room, Tomjanovich found the veteran Terry Porter in his uniform, sitting on the bench with a gloomy face.
For a veteran, he surprisingly arrived so early.
This guy Porter always had a gloomy face when he was young, and as he got older, his expression became even more somber.
Approaching with concern, Tomjanovich asked, "Hey Porter! You came early today, ready to start training! It's always good for veterans to set an example."
Porter slowly turned to Tomjanovich and said, "Coach, I've been training for an hour and a half already. Just taking a break."
"What? Why did you come so early?"
"Ah Gan helped me rent a house next door to his, woke me up early to train."
"…Oh, oh…that—you all are really diligent, no wonder...you win so many championships..."