Chapter One Thousand and Six
To be honest, there are a lot of injuries in the Lakers' roster now, Karl Malone began to feel knee discomfort as early as the end of the regular season, and he has been gritting his teeth to fight for the championship; Big Shark O'Neal is an old problem, and his big toe has not fully recovered since he was injured at the beginning of the season; Kobe Bryant sprained his ankle during O'Neal's recuperation, and he has not been well rested until now, and there have always been hidden dangers.
Now that it's time for the final bayonet, Phil doesn't want to have problems with his main players at this time, or the whole season's efforts will be in vain.
Jackson's idea was good, but he ignored Bryant's desire to play. As the conflict between Kobe and O'Neal has deepened in recent seasons, Kobe is now more eager than ever to be the protagonist. From beginning to end, Kobe Bryant thought that he was no worse than O'Neal, he was able to squeeze out Lamar, who had already shown talent, and now he can make O'Neal willing to be his helper!
Although the Lakers have long created a dynasty under the leadership of him and O'Neal, as long as they think of the comments of those outside media, Kobe Bryant is unwilling. This also made Kobe Bryant understand a truth, only the victory he got with his own hands is the most perfect!
So after seeing O'Neal's beautiful performance at the beginning of the second quarter, Kobe's desire to fight became even stronger! He didn't want to pick up people's teeth, let alone be a bystander, and this is not Kobe's character.
Seeing Jackson's refusal of his request to fight, Kobe's face suddenly became gloomy. Based on his previous knowledge of Jackson, Kobe Bryant would not think that Jackson was protecting him. He could only feel that Jackson was deliberately trying to suppress him and diminish his importance with the team.
Jackson didn't know that one of his oversights had planted a deep, deep problem between him and Kobe, and he was still concerned about the situation on the court.
At this time, the Knicks' lead was only 5 points, and the two sides were in a stalemate.
After all, after a game, it is impossible for both sides of the game to maintain the best attack efficiency all the time, and their hand will drop sooner or later.
But even in this situation, Jackson still has no intention of sending Kobe Bryant on the court. This made Kobe Bryant's heart more and more dissatisfied, and his face became colder and colder.
Finally, the red light came on at the end of the first half, and Bryant didn't say hello to anyone, stood up and walked towards the players' tunnel. He didn't have a good face for the fans who applauded him on both sides.
Jackson naturally noticed this, but he still didn't care. He can understand Kobe's feelings, but he also believes that when Kobe understands his painstaking efforts, the problem between the two will definitely be solved. After a few words of encouragement to the players, Jackson walked into the players' tunnel with a large team.
For the Lakers' performance in the first half, Jackson was still very satisfied. Although the team was unable to equalize in the end, he was satisfied that the bench players could hold on to the Knicks' bench bandits for so long.
Jackson believes that when his main players come on the court in the second half, the Lakers' main players who have more rest time will gradually show their strength, not to mention that Jackson still has a card that has not been used until now.
Thinking of having enough chips in his hand, Jackson was very confident in this match. It's just that he still doesn't know that there is a bigger problem waiting for him to solve.
"I hope you can give me an explanation for the game in the second quarter!" As soon as he entered the door of the locker room, Kobe Bryant couldn't help but attack Jackson.
Although the team recovered a lot of points in the second quarter and is now only 5 points behind the Knicks, being pressed to the bench like an inconsequential bystander still made Kobe very dissatisfied and very unhappy.
Jackson frowned, and was clearly very dissatisfied with Kobe's attitude. He doesn't like Kobe, and that's no secret within the Lakers. When the conflict between Kobe Bryant and O'Neal became public, Jackson stood firmly on O'Neal's side, and his decision has not changed until now.
Although he was very dissatisfied, Jackson still suppressed the anger in his heart. After all, if you want the Lakers to win the championship, the two aces in your hand are indispensable. No matter how unwilling he is, Jackson must unite the two of them, and he knows that Kobe Bryant must understand this.
"Kobe, this is a tactical arrangement! I am the coach of the team, you have to listen to me, my words are orders. I will choose to arrange the most suitable person at the most appropriate time, it is my job, I hope you do not interfere!"
Bryant's face sank, and it was clear that the answer Jackson gave him did not satisfy him. He wants to win, and he wants to win even more so when he's in control. Being left unused like he is now, watching his teammates fight on the pitch makes him feel as if he has been abandoned.
However, Kobe Bryant also knows very well that this is not a good time to fall out with Jackson, everyone has sacrificed a lot for the championship this year, and the most important thing is that Kobe does not want to lose to Lamar's bastard.
"I hope you're right! I just want to win, and if you can't bring it to me, I'll fight for it in my own way!"
Once Kobe Bryant's so-called method is used, the result will definitely be to ask the Lakers' management to choose one of the two. When he had a conflict with Lamar back then, Kobe Bryant did just that, either trade him or trade Lamar!
With the same cold face, Jackson replied coldly: "This is my business!"
Bryant's attitude has already made Jackson angry. He decided not to explain anything anymore, and he was the boss of this team anyway until he left the Lakers' position, and his authority does not allow anyone to challenge him, even if this person is Kobe Bryant, whom Lakers management considers to be the cornerstone of the future of the team.
In fact, it's no wonder that Kobe Bryant was angry, Jackson had already arranged to send Kobe Bryant on the court with five minutes left in the second quarter, but Jackson saw that the situation on the court was good, and the momentum of chasing points was very strong, and finally gave up the original idea and insisted on playing the bench lineup, and the result was naturally that Kobe, who felt deceived, was really angry.
Although the two of them spoke in a very low voice and did not let the other players hear, they knew from their faces that the communication between the two people must not be pleasant. This also cast a shadow over the otherwise very good mood of the other players.
In the history of the NBA, there has never been a precedent for a team that has been at odds with the coach and has infighting to win the championship.
The Lakers players are preoccupied, none of them are stupid, and with a little thought, they can guess what happened between head coach Jackson and Kobe Bryant, the core of the team. After all, situations like this have happened in the regular season, and the contradictions within the Lakers have long been known.
However, Kobe Bryant was pressed to the bench for an entire quarter of the game and did not get a second of playing time, which had never happened before, so it is no wonder that Kobe Bryant was angry.
But most players agree that there is nothing wrong with head coach Jackson's approach, after all, Jackson is the team's head coach. As a player, you can question the manager's tactical arrangements and express your dissatisfaction with the lack of guaranteed playing time, but it is a bit too much to argue openly with the head coach like Kobe.
For a while, every player in the locker room was preoccupied, worried and gloating. Jackson and Kobe Bryant were already in trouble, and neither of them said a word during this break.
Jackson was laying out the tactical arrangements for the second half, and Kobe Bryant was sitting on the side with a black face. It wasn't until Jackson announced his squad for the second half that his face changed slightly.
At half-time, both teams were back on the field.
Lamar Odom, who had been pressed by Van Gundy on the bench throughout the second quarter, was finally released.
Lamar felt a little different from the usual black lama who often jumped from dimension to dimension, as if he was thinking about something, and with every step, what Van Gundy had said to him in the locker room just now was repeated.
"Lamar, whether we can beat the Los Angeles Lakers in this game, you are the key! ”
"Score is the task I gave you, and everyone else will help you. Your mission is to tear through your opponent's defenses and score as many points as possible!"
Lamar didn't know if he was fooled by Coach Anzai like Sakuragi Hanamichi, but he was very sure of one thing, and at the moment his heart was very excited, very excited!
Since the Knicks disappointed fans in the previous two seasons, his position on the team has been weakened a lot.
Although Lamar still won a lot of accolades at the end of the regular season this season, it was not what he wanted the most. As long as Lamar doesn't bring the championship back to New York, those voices that question him will never disappear, and he will always be the uncrowned king of New York.
Now the opportunity to prove himself is in front of him, Lamar has to prove his strength to the fans watching the game in New York, to prove his strength to the Knicks' management, to prove that he can, to prove that James Dolan's decision was not wrong, and to prove that he is the only leader who will lead the New York Knicks to the throne.
Turning his head to look at Kobe, the two of them seemed to have a good heart, and each other's sharp eyes collided with sparks in the air.
In order to form the current star lineup, it can be said that there are very few old players left in the current Lakers team who once created a dynasty together, and only a few people remain. And among the remaining people, except for the little fish Fisher and the veteran Fox who are the same year as Kobe, everyone else is firmly on O'Neal's side. 2k reading web