Tony Battie had arrived in Los Angeles.
The tower-like man was true to his word. He had negotiated a buyout of his contract. With only half a year left on it, the Hawks gave him a token sum of 500,000 USD, which he happily accepted.
He then sought out Larry Bird.
Indiana wasn't short on power forwards, but out of respect for Tony Battie's loyalty, Larry Bird gave him a one-year, 1.2-million-USD contract.
All in all, Tony Battie still took a loss of over a million dollars. His original salary for this final year was 4.4 million. Having already been paid for a few months, he had two or three million remaining. Now, all told, he was only getting 1.7 million.
But Tony Battie was happy.
He just couldn't stand James. He was determined to join Su Xi, win a championship with him, and then taunt Cleveland's Little King: 'You can stay in that godforsaken backwater and go fuck yourself.'
Tony Battie made no secret of his hatred for the Cavaliers and James.
