Chapter Summaries

After the Celtics were swept by the Knicks, Lin Qi reviewed the season and the players’ performances, while Paul Gaston ordered Rick Pitino’s departure. Lin Qi closed the review and turned his attention to preparing for the draft.

• The Celtics finished 60-22 but were swept 3-0 by the seventh-seeded Knicks in the first round.
• Paul Gaston told Lin Qi that Pitino had to leave, and ordered the coach to resign for health reasons.
• Lin Qi reviewed the team’s season statistics and assessed the performances of Gary Payton, Eddie Jones, Robert Horry, Kevin Garnett, Dikembe Mutombo, and Chauncey Billups.
• Lin Qi closed the review and began preparing for the upcoming draft.

After Matt Damon rallied Boston fans and filed for a temporary injunction, Gaston’s effort to buy back Celtics shares faced a court delay that threatened his June 30 tax and loan deadlines. His partners refused to sign the restructuring documents, leaving Gaston at risk of financial ruin.

• Gaston submitted a restructuring and buyback proposal after the Celtics’ playoff sweep, hoping to complete it before a June 30 deadline and avoid $28 million in back taxes.
• Matt Damon publicized Gaston’s plan and rallied protesters outside FleetCenter, then led minority shareholders in filing a petition for a temporary injunction.
• David Miller warned Gaston that the injunction could suspend the restructuring past June 30, triggering tax penalties and costly terms on a $40 million bridge loan.
• Paul Dupee refused to sign the restructuring documents after Damon’s lawyers named him and Alan Cohen as defendants.
• Alan Cohen also withheld his signature until a fairness opinion was issued, leaving Gaston without his partners’ support.

Lin Qi explained to Paul Gaston how Matt Damon's public campaign and the Celtics' financial troubles had undermined Gaston's restructuring deadline and reduced the team's realizable value. Gaston asked what Lin Qi intended to do, and Lin Qi produced another document.

• Gaston angrily watched Matt Damon accuse him on television of stripping the Celtics and its local minority shareholders of value, then demanded to know why Damon was targeting him.
• Lin Qi told Gaston that Damon had turned the complex restructuring into a story Boston residents could understand, and warned that public opposition could derail the deal before the June 30 deadline.
• Lin Qi listed the Celtics' debts, weak revenues, Rick Pitino's contract, Kevin Garnett's unresolved extension, IRS tax exposure, shareholder litigation, and the partners preparing to abandon Gaston.
• Lin Qi showed Gaston an estimate that the Celtics' liquidation value was only $70 million to $80 million, and the CFO's silence confirmed the financial assessment.
• Gaston asked whether Lin Qi had come only to deliver a bankruptcy notice, and Lin Qi took out a second document.

Lin Qi offered Gaston $120 million in cash for the Celtics, presenting the sale as a way to escape his financial and public-relations troubles. Gaston asked for the price and received Lin Qi’s offer, leaving the deal poised for negotiation.

• Lin Qi told Gaston that he could secure more than $100 million in cash before the June 30 deadline.
• Lin Qi laid out Gaston’s choice between risking further legal and financial trouble or selling the team to a Boston-backed consortium.
• Lin Qi explained that Auerbach, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg, and Celtics legends would lend the consortium public legitimacy while its financial backers stayed out of sight.
• Gaston asked who was funding the purchase, and Lin Qi said he had connected the money to the public-facing consortium.
• Gaston demanded the price, and Lin Qi offered $120 million in cash.

Lin Qi negotiated with Gaston to buy the Celtics as the team faced financial and legal crises. They reached a preliminary agreement for an all-cash purchase, with formal ownership-transfer procedures still to come.

• Lin Qi offered Gaston $120 million in cash and promised the consortium would handle shareholder settlements, legal costs, and his exit from the restructuring plan.
• After Gaston rejected the offer, Lin Qi raised it to $150 million and used the team’s public scandals and financial troubles to counter Gaston’s demands for $220 million and then $200 million.
• Gaston agreed to sell for $180 million in cash before June 30, provided the consortium took over shareholder claims and helped quiet Matt Damon and Auerbach.
• Lin Qi and Gaston signed a binding exclusive framework negotiation agreement, and agreed to notify the NBA of their intent to transfer ownership the following morning.

Lin Qi planned to win Boston’s support for the Celtics takeover by offering small stakes to the team’s legends and reserving one percent for Auerbach the Cardinal. After Lin Qi promised the new owner would restore the Celtics’ dignity, Auerbach agreed to publicly support the deal.

• Leaving Gaston’s office after drafting the takeover agreement, Lin Qi planned to give tiny shares to Celtics legends and a larger stake to Auerbach the Cardinal.
• Lin Qi met Auerbach the Cardinal at a private club and presented his business plan and strategy for shaping public opinion.
• Auerbach questioned whose money backed Lin Qi and refused to support a buyer who might treat the Celtics as a financial toy.
• Lin Qi said the backer would respect the team and warned that Matt Damon and other Hollywood actors might otherwise dominate the takeover story.
• Lin Qi promised the Celtics would regain their backbone, and Auerbach agreed to carry the banner for the deal.

Lin Qi celebrated with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Mark Wahlberg after buying the Celtics for $180 million and giving each of them a symbolic stake with special privileges. With Auerbach’s approval secured, the group prepared to announce the takeover and planned to remove Rick Pitino before the next season.

• Lin Qi told Damon, Affleck, and Wahlberg that he had bought the Celtics for $180 million in cash.
• Lin Qi gave each actor a 0.01 percent stake and outlined the VIP privileges attached to their ownership.
• Damon asked whether Auerbach had approved the deal, and Lin Qi confirmed that Auerbach had signed.
• Damon said he would have his lawyer attend the joint announcement and present it as Boston fans taking back their team.
• Lin Qi told Affleck that he would fire Rick Pitino before the new season and direct the Celtics’ decisions himself.

Lin Qi orchestrated the Celtics' ownership transfer through a discreet consortium while public figures rallied support and the NBA accelerated its approval. The league signed off, and Lin Qi officially became the Celtics' owner without the public learning his identity.

• Lawyers, banks, and NBA examiners rushed to complete the acquisition while Paul Gaston withdrew his restructuring proposals and Matt Damon dropped his injunction request.
• Dupee and Cohen signed letters supporting the deal after receiving their exit payments.
• Auerbach, Damon, and other Boston figures presented a united front at a press conference, where Auerbach said the new owners had promised not to let the Celtics disgrace themselves again.
• The NBA expedited its reviews and unanimously approved the ownership transfer in less than two months.
• Lin Qi received David Stern's final approval notice and became the Celtics' owner, while the public continued to believe an unnamed financier stood behind the deal.

Lin Qi exploited Jerry Krause’s resentment and desire to rebuild the Bulls to negotiate a major trade. Boston acquired Ron Harper and four unprotected Bulls first-round picks, while sending Chicago Tracy McGrady, Ron Mercer, and Tony Delk.

• Lin Qi reviewed the Bulls’ impending breakup after their third straight championship and recognized Jerry Krause’s frustration at being overlooked.
• Lin Qi called Jerry Krause and persuaded him that trading away pieces of the old team would let him build a new Bulls dynasty.
• Lin Qi demanded Ron Harper and Chicago’s unprotected first-round picks in 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005 in exchange for Tracy McGrady and Ron Mercer.
• Lin Qi and Jerry Krause agreed to include Tony Delk to balance salaries.
• Boston sent Tracy McGrady, Ron Mercer, and Tony Delk to Chicago for Ron Harper and the four unprotected first-round picks.

Lin Qi secretly traded for Boston’s tenth pick to draft Paul Pierce while making the Celtics appear focused on Dirk Nowitzki. The deal was filed, and Lin Qi waited to see whether Pierce would fall to Boston on draft night.

• Boston and Detroit agreed to trade the tenth pick for Derek Anderson, Boston’s twenty-fifth pick, two future second-round picks, and cash.
• Lin Qi kept Boston’s interest in Paul Pierce secret and avoided inviting him for a workout.
• Lin Qi publicly staged a high-profile workout for Dirk Nowitzki and let reports suggest Boston planned to draft him.
• Detroit’s executives believed Boston was targeting Nowitzki, and the Pistons finalized the trade framework with Lin Qi.
• Lin Qi checked the trade terms, secured Boston’s tenth pick, and hoped Paul Pierce would fall to him.

On draft night, Lin Qi watched Boston’s plan to trade up for the tenth pick unfold as Dirk Nowitzki went to Milwaukee, leaving Paul Pierce available. The Celtics selected Pierce tenth, and he left the stage furious at the teams that had passed on him.

• Boston traded Derek Anderson, the twenty-fifth pick, two future second-round picks, and cash to Detroit for the tenth pick.
• The first eight teams selected Michael Olowokandi, Mike Bibby, Raef LaFrentz, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Robert Traylor, Jason Williams, and Larry Hughes, while Pierce remained unselected.
• Dallas chose Robert Traylor sixth, and Milwaukee selected Dirk Nowitzki ninth after a swap with Dallas.
• Lin Qi submitted Paul Pierce’s name for Boston’s tenth pick without considering a backup.
• Paul Pierce joined the Celtics, remembered the teams that passed on him, and stepped onto the stage with a burning desire for revenge.

Lin Qi offered Dominique Wilkins a veteran-minimum contract to join the Celtics after the lockout and help lead their young players toward a championship. Wilkins agreed to consider it and prepared to fly with Lin Qi to Atlanta to meet his former teammate Doc Rivers, Boston’s planned rookie head coach.

• The Celtics traded Walter McCarty, a second-round pick, and cash for the 31st pick, then selected Rashard Lewis.
• Lin Qi met Wilkins near Logan Airport and offered him a veteran-minimum contract to join Boston after the lockout.
• Wilkins objected to the low salary, but Lin Qi persuaded him by emphasizing Boston’s championship goal and showing him the projected roster.
• Lin Qi revealed that Doc Rivers would be the Celtics’ head coach and explained that he wanted Wilkins to help Rivers command the team.
• Wilkins accepted Lin Qi’s invitation to fly to Atlanta and meet Rivers, asking when their flight left.

Lin Qi offered Doc Rivers the Boston Celtics head coaching job, arguing that the team needed a coach its players could trust after losing confidence in Pitino. Rivers took the contract for his lawyer to review and planned to address the team’s need to listen to one another at the next day’s press conference.

• Doc Rivers met Lin Qi and Dominique Wilkins at an Atlanta steakhouse and learned that Lin wanted him to coach the Boston Celtics.
• Rivers objected that he had no NBA coaching experience and would be blamed if the sixty-win team failed.
• Lin showed Rivers a tape from the Celtics’ playoff loss and explained that the players no longer trusted Pitino or his control of the team.
• Wilkins promised to join the Celtics and support Rivers in the locker room, while Lin pledged to take responsibility if the plan failed.
• Rivers took the contract for his lawyer to review, said he would terminate his Turner Sports contract, and outlined his message for the press conference.
• Rivers asked Lin not to reveal his name before the next day, and Wilkins said he was tempted by the offer.

Lin Qi introduced Doc Rivers as Boston’s new coach, and Rivers addressed doubts about his inexperience by promising to rebuild the Celtics’ trust and team culture. The players then traveled to a private Cape Cod gathering, where Gary Payton spotted Rivers waiting on the pier and reacted with anger.

• Lin Qi heard Doc Rivers agree to attend the ten o’clock press conference at FleetCenter.
• Doc Rivers told reporters that he would rebuild the Celtics’ culture of trust rather than teach star players basic skills.
• Lin Qi arranged a private players’ gathering at an aging seaside motel on Cape Cod to avoid tampering and training-camp investigations.
• Gary Payton stepped off the bus, saw Doc Rivers leaning against the pier railing, and muttered, “Fuck.”

The Celtics’ new players and staff gathered for dinner, where Doc Rivers faced Gary Payton’s challenge and Dominique Wilkins advised rookie Paul Pierce to earn respect through his play. As an August storm trapped the group at the coastal motel, Ben Wallace urged the nervous Rashard Lewis to eat, and the rival players relaxed together.

• Gary Payton challenged Doc Rivers, who warned him he would expose his mistakes during film sessions if he freelanced or lost his man.
• Kevin Garnett arrived noisily, while Paul Pierce brooded over being picked tenth and Rashard Lewis felt out of place among the established players.
• Ron Harper and Gary Payton exchanged insults and laughed after recognizing their old rivalry.
• Dominique Wilkins told Paul Pierce that draft position would not matter in the playoffs and that he had to earn respect on the court.
• Ben Wallace set a plate of meat and water in front of the nervous Rashard Lewis and told him to eat.
• An August storm battered the motel as the players joked, shared food, and settled into the gathering.

As the NBA lockout approached, Doc Rivers and Lin Qi gave the Celtics individualized training and health plans, insisting the team stay prepared and pursue only a championship. The players accepted the challenge with laughter, while the league’s arenas faced closure in four days.

• Doc Rivers distributed customized folders and videotapes, explaining that the lockout rules made them suggestions rather than mandatory orders.
• Gary Payton challenged the team physician’s ankle and conditioning instructions, then signed the acknowledgment form.
• Kevin Garnett listened to Rivers’s personal training advice on a Walkman, while Paul Pierce and Rashard Lewis reviewed their own tailored plans.
• Rivers warned the players not to waste the lockout, and Lin Qi reminded them of their playoff sweep by the New York Knicks and declared the championship their only goal.
• Rivers revealed a blank tape he planned to use to record the team’s mistakes, prompting Payton, Harper, Garnett, and Dikembe Mutombo to laugh together.
• The Celtics faced the July 1 lockout, when NBA arenas would close.

The NBA lockout began after owners reacted to soaring player salaries, with Kevin Garnett’s publicly touted $126 million asking price helping push them toward a new maximum-salary rule. Garnett’s agent, Eric Fleisher, had delayed negotiations in pursuit of a bigger deal, but the new limits left Garnett able to sign for at most $71 million over six years.

• David Stern announced the start of the NBA lockout on July 1, 1998, cutting off public communication between teams and players.
• Eric Fleisher used the media to promote a $126 million demand for Kevin Garnett, while Paul Gaston refused to approve the Celtics’ proposed deal.
• Fleisher expected Garnett to become a free agent and receive an even larger offer, but his demands alarmed owners and helped prompt them to reopen collective bargaining.
• The owners’ draft agreement introduced maximum salaries based on players’ years of service, limiting players with six or fewer years to 25% of the salary cap.
• The new maximum-salary formula capped Garnett’s potential contract at $71 million over six years, $55 million below Fleisher’s public demand.

After the lockout erased Kevin Garnett’s expected $126 million deal, Andrew Miller helped him see that Eric Fleisher had put his own prestige ahead of Garnett’s interests. Garnett fired Fleisher and chose Miller as his agent, while Lin Qi saw the decision as an opening to secure Garnett’s future with the Celtics.

• Fleisher focused on the owners’ negotiations and the loss of his reputation, leaving Garnett without reassurance about the money he had lost.
• Andrew Miller visited Garnett, spent several days with him, and explained how Fleisher’s gamble had risked Garnett’s financial security without asking his consent.
• Garnett remembered Lin Qi’s question about whether those around him wanted to use or protect his talent, then called Fleisher and dismissed him.
• Garnett appointed Andrew Miller as his agent because he trusted him as a brother rather than a professional looking to exploit him.
• Lin Qi read the news of Garnett’s decision and recognized an opportunity to keep the Celtics’ cornerstone with the team, then resolved to calm Garnett’s anxiety.

Lin Qi reassured Andrew Miller that the Celtics would offer Kevin Garnett the longest, highest max contract allowed and build the team around him. During the lockout, Miller arranged lucrative opportunities for Garnett with Lin Qi’s backing, strengthening Garnett’s trust in Boston as the Celtics quietly prepared for the future.

• Lin Qi called Andrew Miller and promised the Celtics would offer Kevin Garnett a six-year, $71 million max contract when play resumed.
• Miller told Lin Qi that Garnett had resented Boston after the previous management delayed his contract, and Lin Qi explained that Paul Gaston had been in charge then.
• Lin Qi asked Miller to tell Garnett that Boston’s doors were open and that the team would treat him as its future.
• During the lockout, Miller arranged a Hollywood cameo and a streetwear endorsement for Garnett through Lin Qi’s network.
• Garnett earned money and gained national exposure during the lockout, while Miller helped him feel that Boston genuinely saw him as its franchise cornerstone.

During the NBA lockout, Lin Qi traveled to Livorno to watch Brad Miller, an undrafted big man playing in Italy, and decided Miller’s passing and shooting made him a valuable prospect. After the game, Lin Qi approached Miller and praised his skills, leaving Miller asking which team Lin Qi represented.

• Lin Qi went to Livorno during the lockout to scout Brad Miller, whom NBA teams had passed over in the 1998 draft.
• Lin Qi watched Miller struggle with his mobility but showcase high-post passing and midrange shooting in a warm-up game.
• Lin Qi followed Miller into the gym’s passageway and praised his passing and talent.
• Miller said NBA general managers did not want him, and Lin Qi told him they were blind.
• Miller asked Lin Qi which team he scouted for.