On November 2, 2004, the new NBA season, the 04-05 season, officially began!

The new season has a new atmosphere, and this season has changed a lot compared to the previous season.

First of all, the number of divisions has increased from four to six, the number of teams has changed from odd to even, and the most basic format of the NBA that has not changed for a long time has been completely broken this season.

The increase in the number of divisions has only changed the appearance and has had little impact on the overall structure of the league, as the new O'Neal Hornets, an Eastern team under the old format, have "moved west" this season and its place has been replaced by the new signing Charlotte Bobcats.

Since the end of the Bulls dynasty, the NBA has always maintained a pattern of "strong in the West and weak in the East", with far more strong teams in the West than in the East, just like last season, when measured by the regular season record, there were four teams that failed to make the playoffs, and all of them made the playoffs in the East. Now, the westward migration of the Hornets has weakened the overall strength of the east.

Of course, what can really affect the league is the transfer of superstars, the big shark O'Neal came to the east, how much he can contribute to the change of this pattern, people still don't know, but some people have seen a certain trend of being strong in the east, but in the eyes of Sun Zhuo, a future person, the pattern of being strong in the west and weak in the east will not be changed in another ten years.

At the start of the new season, the NBA also conducted a survey to ask the general managers of the NBA's 30 teams to choose who is the best player in each position.

First of all, who is the best playmaking guard in the NBA right now?

The first place, Kidd of the Nets, received 78.6 percent of the vote, and the second place, Nash, of the Suns, 9.5 percent, tied for third place, Cassell of the Timberwolves and Marbury of the Knicks.

Who is the best shooting guard in the NBA right now?

All the votes went to Kobe Bryant of the Lakers!

Who is the best small forward in the NBA right now?

The first place is Maddie, who has just joined the Rockets, with 52.4 percent of the votes, Maddie is also a swingman at the front, and he is an unprecedented player who has been selected for a team in different positions, and is indeed eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The second place is Garnett of the Timberwolves, who won the regular season MVP last season, and he also ranks in the power forward, and the third place is Stojakovic of the Kings.

It is worth mentioning that Sun Zhuo also got votes on small forward, James also had it, and Pierce of the Celtics also had it, maybe because everyone gave Kobe Bryant to the point guard, but Maddie's strength could not be ignored, so he had to let Maddie appear in the small forward.

Even if Maddie is counted as a shooting guard, for now, in the hearts of these general managers, Sun Zhuo is by no means the best small forward in the league at the moment, and Stojakovic has more votes than him.

The best power forward in the NBA, there is no suspense, just defeated by Sun Zhuo at the Athens Olympics, Tim Duncan of the Spurs.

At present, the best center in the NBA, 95.2% of the votes are given to O'Neal of the Heat, and the second place is Duncan, Yao Ming did not get a vote, it seems that in the eyes of these general managers, Yao Ming's strength on the court is not as good as O'Neal.

After voting for such different positions, you can know at a glance who is the strongest in each position in the 2004 NBA.

……

Staples Center, the Lakers for the new season are ready to start playing the first game, and the Lakers' starting lineup today is, point guard Chaki Atkins, scoring guard Kobe, small forward Caron Butler, power forward Lamar Odom, and center Chris Mime.

Sun Zhuo took the first break in the regular season.

Kobe Bryant once asked rookie Wu Jacic to bring a message to Sun Zhuo, saying that he was willing to try with Sun Zhuo to see who had stronger leadership, and the purpose was also to make Sun Zhuo more obedient to Kobe's leadership status, Sun Zhuo said, let you play Kobe Bryant in the first two games, because Sun Zhuo can understand the mood that Kobe Bryant released from the cage, the first day without O'Neal, Kobe Bryant must be very cool, Sun Zhuo does not want to affect Kobe's experience of dominating power because of his existence.

Yesterday, Sun Zhuo told Kobe: "You'd better score 82 points in the first game, so that you can shock me." ”

Kobe laughed and said, "Are you crazy? Is this going for me to challenge Chamberlain's 100 points? Besides, I'm not just going to score, I'm a leader, I'm omnipotent, you know? ”

These words also reflect Kobe's mentality this season.

Kobe Bryant's first season after O'Neal left, and he didn't soar like Wei Shao left Durant, Kobe Bryant and Wei Shao have different mentality, Wei Shao can't wait to prove himself, and even brush the score board to cause a sensation.

And Kobe Bryant and Wei Shao are facing a different situation, first of all, Kobe's scoring ability is beyond doubt, which can be seen from the 30 team managers who gave all the votes of SG to Kobe, everyone knows that Kobe can score, he doesn't need to cut 60+ after O'Neal leaves, although he also wants to release it in this way.

But now there is another problem, that is, the media and the public, since the X invasion last season, Kobe's image has plummeted, O'Neal left the Lakers, and they all said that Kobe Bryant forced him away, not you forced him away, why did you announce that you were a free agent? With O'Neal here, Kobe Bryant will definitely not renew his contract.

Moreover, Phil Jackson, the former mentor, said in the book "The Last Season" that Kobe Bryant was "unteachable".

Now, everyone is accusing Kobe Bryant of being selfish, and Kobe Bryant can't stand this kind of accusation, so this season, he not only wants to prove that he is strong personally, but also wants to prove that he is selfless and omnipotent!

Sun Zhuo knew that Kobe Bryant in his previous life was in the 04-05 season, with the highest score in a single game, and none of them broke 50 points, which is not what Kobe Bryant should look like who has just left the big shark, so he told Kobe Bryant last night, you get 80 points, I like to see you like that, but Kobe Bryant is not happy.

Now Kobe and Sun Zhuo are engaged in a "leader" contest, Kobe Bryant can only completely win Sun Zhuo by cutting 60+, 70+, and 80+ in a single game, if he wants to perform in an all-round way, hehe, Sun Zhuo may not lose to Kobe.

"Today is the first game of the Lakers' new season, against the Denver Nuggets, I have to still classify the Nuggets' star Carmelo Anthony as a rookie, and I am not worried about the Lakers' opponent in this game. Although the Lakers are the defending champions, the core of OK has been dispersed, and this season, in my opinion, has lost the championship contention, but I still believe they can make the playoffs. ”

"I'm on the same page, and I'm especially curious about how the two new leaders, Kobe Bryant and Sun, will change this season. Will Kobe Bryant be able to show leadership after leaving Shaq? How far can he take this Lakers team? Then there's Ericson, who was stunning last season, helping China to the World Championship in Athens in August and even beating the American Dream Six team of Tim Duncan and AI......"

"Hey, don't call them dream teams, they're nightmares, they did terrible in Athens, they just sucked!"

"Well, Son is a player with a lot of potential, anyway, and I'm very curious to see how far he can improve this year."

Before the start of the game, the two commentators on the scene had a heated discussion.

At the beginning of the game, Kobe Bryant, wearing the No. 8 jersey, slowly walked onto the court, he looked up at the sky above the arena, the sky above the arena was closed, but he seemed to be able to clearly see the bright sky outside the arena.

"I'm finally leaving you, Shaq."