When Larry Bird and his players got off the plane and arrived at Boston Airport, they could feel the cool breeze of the night blowing their necks. It was already May in the www.biquge.info of Boston on the Atlantic coast, and it was still a little cold at night, so Bird put on the woolen jacket he carried with him, followed the team members into the VIP passage, got on the bus that stopped at the door and waited, and went to the hotel where he was going to stay for the past four days.

Sitting on the bus and looking out the window at the night, the sweet past of more than a decade ago is still vivid, this magical and crazy city, Larry Bird is back, but with the posture of an enemy, leading the bad boys from Indiana to challenge the hegemony that the Celtics are gradually building up this season. Just like the Detroit Pistons 17 years ago, they're now back home and waiting for a new opportunity next year.

After arriving at the hotel, the guy at the door took the initiative to carry Bird's luggage, which is not something that every player who drinks away from home can enjoy, especially in Boston. The hotel is not big, located in the north area, clean and tidy. The player saw a black-and-white poster of the 1981 Celtics championship in the elevator, Larry Bird was in the center of the poster, and tens of thousands of fans crowded around the Boston Square Garden arena, surrounded by Bird, who looked calm.

"How does it feel to win the championship?" Jermaine O'Neal, who was standing next to Bird, asked, apparently this is a hotel with a deep basketball atmosphere, and it is estimated that you will see a lot of things related to Larry Bird.

"I don't know, I guess you should ask yourself." Bird said lightly, as calm as he was on the poster.

I got off the elevator and went to the corridor, and sure enough, the corridor was full of things related to the Boston Celtics, posters, photos, and autographs, and it seemed that the owner of this hotel was a crazy Celtic fan, so he would arrange so many things related to the Celtics in the hotel.

Looking at all these familiar things, Bird didn't stop at all, he found his room, asked the little guy to put the things away, gave a tip, and then told the head coach O'Brien that he was going to rest, and asked him to make arrangements for tomorrow's training. With that, Bird closed the door.

"Actually, he can't come...... If it were me, I wouldn't come. Artest couldn't help but say to Stephen Jackson when he saw Bird's appearance.

"No, it's me and I'm definitely coming, there's nothing more exciting than that. Hey, I said Reggie, what would you think if you were asked to go back to Indiana like this in the future? Jackson asked Reggie Miller.

"I can't be a coach, and neither can the general manager!" After saying that, Miller also entered his room.

This isn't the first time Bird has come to Boston as an enemy, and he's led the team to the site at least twice a year after he left to become the head coach of the Pacers. It's just that it's all the regular season, and it's the first time in the playoffs.

Of course, Bird is no longer the coach of the Pacers, and as the general manager of the team, he doesn't necessarily have to come to Boston, but he still chose to come because his heart is open and sincere, he wants to lead the Pacers to defeat the Celtics, defeat the team he has played for all his life, won brilliant honors, and finally squeezed him out.

Bird is very vindictive.

I entered the room and lay on the bed for a while, I didn't feel sleepy, and the time was still a little early. The phone lit up on the side, and it was a text message from Danny Angie, inviting him to have dinner with him in the evening and go to eat Boston lobster.

Bird hesitated, but wrote back and refused, even if he didn't have a direct confrontation on the court, he didn't want to get too close to the opponent's manager before the series began.

After defeating the opponent, you can come over and comfort yourself while drinking, but your heart is so happy that you want to die. Anyway, Bird felt that if he wanted to defeat the Celtics, he would have to go back to Indiana first, and then back to Boston. He doesn't believe that the Celtics have the strength to sweep the Pacers, especially since the Pacers have gone through a hellish ordeal in the semifinals and fell behind 2:3, Bird knows that the Pacers have been reborn and become a different team from the regular season.

From Jermaine O'Neal's words in the elevator, Bird could sense that the Pacer was beginning to reveal a sense of confidence from top to bottom, an expectation of a championship and a great recognition of his own strength.

Although the Pacers have not been able to beat the Celtics in the regular season, the playoffs are completely different from the regular season, the regular season is integration, and the playoffs are often accompanied by growth, and a championship-level team often completes the final evolution in the playoff confrontation of blood and fire. The Eastern Conference semifinals were a springboard that propelled the Pacers closer to the throne.

Looking back on the summer operation, Bird still admires his decision to take Stephen Jackson and replace Brad Miller, and if it weren't for Stephen Jackson's suppression of the Pistons' backcourt in the last two games of the semifinals, as well as the life-saving firepower provided on the offensive end, the Pacers would probably fall in front of the Pistons.

Thinking of tomorrow's game, Bird is even more tossing and turning and unable to sleep, if it was a player, he would have fallen asleep, if it was a coach, he would have slept soundly, but after becoming a manager, he was always prone to insomnia on the night before the game.

Since he couldn't sleep, Bird got up from the bed, took out his phone, thought for a long time, and sent a text message to Angie, "Did Arnold come to Boston, his phone?" ”

Five minutes later, Angie's reply came, giving Bird a phone number, apparently from the hotel. After a moment's hesitation, Bird dialed the phone anyway.

After ringing five times, the phone went through, and Auerbach's hoarse voice came from the other end of the line, looking a little sleepy.

"I'm Larry."

After a second or two of silence, Auerbach's voice came from the other end of the phone, this time much cooler, and said, "You're lost, Larry...... And your walkers. ”

"Can't we talk about anything else?" Bird said helplessly.

"Talk about something? Is this time suitable for reminiscence? I don't think it's better to catch up with the old than to chat and comfort the opponent after defeating the opponent completely. ”

Bird didn't know what to say, so he briefly chatted with Auerbach, and finally he said: "I hope you are in good health, but I advise you not to go to the stadium." ”

Instead of Auerbach's angry counterattack on the other end of the phone, Auerbach's voice was steady and powerful, and he said, "Larry, do you remember Bill Feige?" ”

Feige was Larry Bird's first NBA coach and won a championship with the Celtics in his second year. Feige was the mentor of Bird's career and has always been the ideal coach of the team in Bird's mind, but in the end he left the Celtics because of disagreements with the team, especially with Auerbach, and eventually Auerbach's old subordinate KC Jones became the team's coach.

"Of course, your question is funny."

"I know you remember him, and I know you think he's the best manager for Celtic, even though he's a loser. But I'm telling you, the current Celts, like the Celts led by Bill Feige, are selfless, united, and powerful, and I think you can surely understand what I mean. Even, the current Boston Celtics are more powerful than you and I can imagine, and I don't know how to describe them. So, I want to tell you, don't be too disappointed if you lose the series. In my heart, you will always be the best, child. ”

"Thanks, Arnold, I'm not a kid anymore." Bird finished and hung up the phone.

He somewhat regretted making the call, and Auerbach's words hit him, and if he was still a player, he would have gone on the court tomorrow and scored 50 points to prove Auerbach wrong. But now, he can't, he can only put his hope in the group of boys under him.

The Celtics in 1981 may not be the strongest Celtic in the Bird era, but Bird can remember the taste of that time, and in 1981, the longing and selfless dedication of the champion were more enthusiastic and enthusiastic than the perfect team in 1986. Can a walker do this kind of emotion? (To be continued.) )