The 1996 Summer League was a small game that no one cared about, with no television broadcasts, no sideline cameras, no reporters. Even the spectators on the sidelines were mostly team staff, scouting and trying to pick up leaks.

COTTERAMBIS WAS THE COACH OF THE LAKERS SUMMER LEAGUE, AND RAMBIS SPENT MOST OF HIS CAREER WITH THE LAKERS, GOING THROUGH THE SHOWTIME ERA AND WINNING THE 1982, 1985, 1987 AND 1988 NBA CHAMPIONSHIPS.

During his playing career, he was loved by Lakers fans because of his precocious underdog mentality and absolute team player, he was known for his defense and rebounding, and he was also an efficient player on the offensive end, shooting a career-high 59.5 percent, and he was remembered by many in Santa Clara and Los Angeles for his perseverance and willingness to do the dirty work that many players would not do.

Rambis often wears a bushy beard and black, thick-rimmed glasses, so much so that Lakers announcer Chick Hearn nicknamed him "Superman." He eventually retired from the Lakers in 1995, ending his 14-year NBA career. He joined the coaching staff and became an assistant coach of the Lakers.

"Listen, our tactics are simple, give the damn ball to Kobe Bryant, then step aside and defend well, do you understand?" Rambis gave instructions to the Lakers' summer league before the opening time, and he knew that everyone who participated in the summer league except for Kobe Bryant was a bunch of garbage, and he didn't want to deal with them at all. If it weren't for his lack of qualifications, he wouldn't have come to sacrifice his vacation time to lead the team to the Summer League.

Management has issued a notice for him to take care of Kobe Bryant, and Lambis knows that this 17-year-old high school student is the current treasure of the Lakers, and everyone from the owner to the president to the head coach admires this kid very much. He even arranged the starting lineup according to Kobe's requirements, after all, it was just a summer league, and if he didn't play well, he would just replace those people.

Before the game, Bryant had already communicated with Rambis, and Rambis agreed that he would lead Fisher, Bowen, and Ben Wallace to the start. Well, the starting lineup of this Lakers is PG Derrick Fisher, SG Kobe Bryant, SF Bruce Bowen, PF Ben Wallace C, Tyres Knight.

That's right, Bowen and Wallace also came to Kobe Bryant's side a few days ago. It was also a heads-up beating, and Bruce Bowen, who thought he had excellent defensive ability, was beaten by Kobe Bryant in 10 out of 10. And Ben Wallace, who was clumsy, was shaken to the ground by Kobe. The two of them joined Fisher and became Kobe Bryant's younger brothers.

Tyrese Knight was the Bulls' No. 29 pick this year, but the stingy Bulls didn't sign him. So he came to the Lakers' summer league. The height of 2.13 meters is very bluffing, but it has the common problem of a white center, and it is thin.

However, that is also relative to the NBA, and the summer league confrontation is a few levels lower.

"Guys, this game. Do you want to make a big news. "The game is about to start, and the Kobe recruiters are gathered.

"Boss, tell me how to do it, we listen to you." Bruce Bowen first responded, he has been overseas for several years, he has seen a lot of romance, Kobe is his hope to sign with the Lakers, of course he will obey.

"It's all over the court, I'm going to keep an eye on the ball carrier, you're stuck in the passing lane. Get the game up and I'm going to see every one of you run in defence! Kobe Bryant roared in a low voice, the Lakers' lineup is quite strong defensively, and the defense line composed of 3 future best defensive team members, even if the current Bowen and Big Ben are a little immature, is enough to crush the entire summer league.

Fisher looked at Kobe Bryant, who swept his head intentionally or unintentionally, and couldn't help but tremble, and there was still a faint pain in his head.

"No problem!" The old fish judged the situation and immediately gave Kobe a resolute look.

It was Bryant's first official game of his life, and he values it and needs to rely on winning the Summer League title to get his job done.

The current Summer League has 16 teams, and there is no group stage, and it is directly a single-elimination system, and four wins can win the championship.

The first game of the Summer League was against the Detroit Pistons, and their popular fried chicken Grant Hill will certainly not participate in the Summer League, and he has been selected as an All-Star last year after scoring 20.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.9 assists.

Kobe Bryant also knows one of their power forwards, Jerome Williams. Also a rookie this year, the Pistons drafted him with the 26th pick. With a height of 2.06 and a weight of 93KG, he looks very thin.

The game begins, jumping the ball. Tyrese Knight has a height advantage, but his jumping ability is average. The ball was bounced away by the Pistons' black center. Kobe Bryant appeared in front of the opposing guard for the first time.

"Yo, yo boy, what are you going to do?" The black point guard has been in the minor league for many years, and he knows that Kobe Bryant is a popular star for the Lakers, but he doesn't think much of the 17-year-old rookie.

His dismissiveness had bad consequences, and Bryant looked at the point guard who didn't have his center of gravity down. Straight to the front of the step, clean steal!

"Fack, thug! He's beaten up! His shout didn't win the referee's decision, and the referee clearly saw that it was a clean tackle.

Kobe Bryant didn't stop after grabbing the ball, striding forward, leaving the other players present with only the arrogant back hanging on the basket.

"Defend, don't be stunned! The race has just begun! Bryant jumped off the basket with his chin slightly raised, as if the slam dunk after the steal was not worth mentioning.

Damn, what kind of monster boss am I with, will I never have a bright future? Fisher thought so, but shouted "Good ball!" Defend! Defend! That Bruce, watch your position! ”

Kobe Bryant looked at Fisher, who reacted immediately, and couldn't help but be proud of his leadership, this distracted kid is making rapid progress, is there any need to open up more to him next?

The game in the first quarter entered a one-sided situation, Kobe Bryant stared at the ball-handling guard, whether it was a point guard or a split without the help of teammates, it was difficult to dribble through the half, Kobe contributed steals many times, as long as there were steals, the next thing was Kobe's chic aerial performance.

And Fisher is staring at another guard, his first-round pick body has taken advantage of these second-tier players, Bruce Bowen covers the opponent's small forward, he is experienced, and the opponent can't shoot, Ben Wallace sweeps around, and the pinching and rebounding bring plenty of energy to the Lakers. Pistons summer league coach Alvin Gentry repeatedly called a timeout, but he couldn't stabilize the team.

Damn, Kobe Bryant, I know, that brilliant high school student. But where did the Lakers get these players with such strong defense? Shouldn't they be in the NBA?

Rambis looked at the Lakers under the leadership of Kobe Bryant in surprise, biting the opponent like a pack of wolves, and was a little dazed. A team with such defensive ability, even if the NBA can play excellent results, is the opponent too vegetable, or can Kobe Bryant lead a bunch of garbage and be supernatural?

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Pistons pulled the center to the midcourt to respond to the ball, and Tyrese Knight was slow and couldn't perform the defense around the front, so the ball smoothly transitioned to the half court under the center's response. But the Lakers' positional defense was like an iron bucket, and Bryant asked his teammates to slow down the pace and stop pressing, and began a man-to-man positional battle, and the Pistons couldn't score smoothly at all.

Can't break through, can't shoot in, the air cut is broken, and the three-point iron. The Pistons' offense, which has reduced turnovers, is just as incapable of finding a way, as if every opposing player is being guarded to death.

The Lakers' offense that fell into the position was completely Kobe's personal performance, and the old fish handed the ball to Kobe Bryant like a hot hand after half the court. Then he crossed his waist and watched Kobe Bryant insult the Pistons' opposing players one by one.

With the help of a three-point jumper after blocking and passing, Kobe Bryant broke down the Pistons' defensive line with only two plays. Alvin Gentry kept tweaking his defensive staff, but none of them could interfere with Kobe in the slightest.

Fisher looked at the desperate eyes of the Pistons players and remembered himself when he was training with Kobe, and couldn't help but shudder.

Half time, halftime. Kobe Bryant and Rambis were boosting morale together.

'Guys, we played well in the first half. Next, tear them up, and a lot of scouts will be on the sidelines to keep track of your performance. ”

Ben Wallace, Bruce Bowen, and Tyrese Knight are all a little enthusiastic. Playing such a wonderful situation must have given them another point to their hopes of staying in the NBA. And all this was brought by their boss, Kobe Bryant. They know that without Kobe, they will be full of ugliness on the court without independent offensive ability, but with such a sharp knife to cut through the defense, they have a lot of room to perform both offense and defense.

The break ended and the whistle blew for the start of the second half.

As soon as Kobe Bryant held the ball, the two Pistons came up. Kobe smiled, I want your bag. Bryant's way of handling the bag is simple, either to shoot before the bag is formed, and if there are no good chances, Bryant's court vision is enough for him to distribute the ball to open players.

The third quarter became Kobe's organizational performance, with scalpel-like straight plugs to Bowen and Fisher in the bottom corner. They made a lot of threes in the open space. When the bag was clamped on the inside line, Kobe Bryant threw the ball into the sky again. Ben Wallace and Tyrese Snight had a performance of the dunk.

7 assists in a single quarter is Kobe's answer to the Pistons. The Lakers' offense flowed smoothly, and both the position and the fast break made Rambis, who was on the sidelines, think of a man.

Isn't it the same with Johnson, the Magic of the SHOWTIME period, who blows up the opponent and then leads the whole team, the difference between them is that Kobe Bryant takes offense as his first choice, while Magic passes the ball.

At the end of the third quarter, the game lost its suspense. Kobe Bryant didn't play, and the final score was fixed at the Lakers' 97-61 Pistons. Bryant played an all-around performance of 37 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals, 1 block and 3 turnovers.