Although Bryant threw the fairy ball many times, the game was inevitably out of his control. He could do everything he could to lock up Grant Hill, but the 2.16m Spaniard Gasol was unstoppable on the inside. At the end of the second quarter, the Grizzlies played a 22-6 shockwave, and the game was basically out of suspense.

In the final fourth quarter, Bryant sat helplessly on the bench and swallowed the bitter fruit of a six-game losing streak. Because by the end of the third quarter, the Grizzlies had a 24-point lead at 79:55. Kobe Bryant doesn't have to play anymore, and this fourth quarter is a paradise for Kobe's new teammates, who can show off their limited talents in the highest basketball halls.

Amid the cheers of the Grizzlies fans at the scene, Kobe Bryant left the court bitterly, gritting his teeth and a hint of blood spilling from the tip of his tongue.

Enough of this taste of failure, this taste of sliding into the abyss.

Silently walking to the door of the visiting team's locker room, he was completely outraged by the jubilant atmosphere of his teammates and the bright Lakers logo newly posted on the door.

He threw his fist in anger, and the door to the maple locker room was smashed with a blow. The exposed Lakers mercenaries lowered their heads and were silent.

Kobe Bryant stood at the door and watched, taking a breath of cold air and a breath of hot air, his rapidly heaving chest proved that he was not calm at this time, but in the face of this group of one-year contract mercenaries who were so strange that they could not even be called teammates, he couldn't say a word, maybe he himself knew that no matter what he said at this time, he was just shouting like a clown, they were not people in the same world.

This is the current Lakers, and he can't believe it. Don't look at Kobe Bryant is only 24 years old, but the 96-97 season began, this is Kobe's 8th season with the Lakers, and in his cognition, the Lakers have always represented glory in the league.

He never thought that one day the Lakers would become this kind of team, and he didn't dare to think that he would take over the banner from Magic!

When was the last time the Lakers didn't make the playoffs?

What is the worst record in Lakers history?

Kobe Bryant didn't dare to think about any of these questions!

After standing upright for half a minute, Bryant finally calmed down, and he walked into the bathroom with a change of clothes, but instead of taking a shower, he took out his phone and dialed a recent call log, Mitchell Kupchak.

Toot beet, the call was quickly connected.

The other end of the phone also seemed to be tired, a thick and magnetic male voice, he was not polite.

"What's wrong, Kobe."

Kobe glanced out of the bathroom and said unhurriedly.

"Mitch, where we are at the moment, I'm sure you're very clear, I don't want to say much, either I'll go, or please give me some teammates who want to win."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time, half a minute, or a full minute, but Kobe waited patiently for a reply, he knew that the person on the other side of the reply would definitely give it. For so many years, he and the person on the other side of the phone have been teachers and friends, and they know each other very well.

After a long time, a rustling middle-aged man's voice sounded.

"Give me a moment and get back to you by tonight."

——

The post-game press conference, the return plane, Kobe Bryant's life is business as usual.

The plane landed, Los Angeles.

A quarter past 2 a.m.

Kobe calmly flipped through his phone and turned it back on.

Tick Tick! A short message.

- Dear Kobe, good news, I have a workable plan. from:Mitch Kupchak.

Bryant replied with just two words - thank you. went home as usual, but this time it was more relaxed, and even the neon lights in the distance looked more kind, and the dark days without hope were too hard.

The perspective spans the entire American continent to the East Coast.

Philadelphia.

After Larry Brown left last year, the 76ers' record plummeted, and they didn't even qualify for the playoffs. This season, although there are a lot of big fish in the free market, the big sharks went to the Bobcats, Webber went to the Heat, and the 76ers got nothing and did not get any reinforcements.

Iverson is still hot, averaging 29.1 points and 8 assists per game, but the rest of the helpers, the aging Mark Jackson, need to be limited to 25 minutes of playing time, let alone expect him to play much.

Kyle Korver, nicknamed "American Jay Chou", is still just a young man, with a thin body, and even his best shooting percentage is only 41%.

Iverson's most powerful helper turned out to be the No. 9 rookie who was just drafted today, Andre Iguodala.

The top spring man small forward produced by the University of Arizona is said to have practiced track and field, can easily jump the 2.10-meter bar, and also won the silver medal in the statewide long jump, and his physical fitness is mouth-watering.

On the court, the fledgling brother has a hand in rebounding and assisting, but his scoring ability is still very immature, and he basically has no ability to score independently, and he is cultivated as Iverson's Pippen in the 76ers.

At present, the 76ers are still having a hard time in the East, with a record of 15 wins and 26 losses, and they are 12th in the East, which is the fourth from the bottom. This is a very difficult achievement for Iverson, who is at his peak.

When you can lead the team to the finals, 30 shots per game, 20 iron strikes, and a shooting rate of only 40% will be considered a lone hero. But when the premise of all this is that leading the team to the finals becomes leading the team to participate in the lottery draw, Iverson's reputation has changed from a lone hero to a cancerous style of play.

In the world of competitive sports, winning in the moment means everything. Even Jordan, a few years after his retirement, will slowly forget about his horrors and turn to the current favorites to think that the current favorites are better and stronger.

Iverson and Kobe are now in the same condition, but compared to Kobe, Iverson also has an unreliable management. No one has ever told Iverson what to do when he enters the league, but what about Kobe, Magic, Kupchak, Logo West, Zen Master, Kobe Bryant has received countless help from his predecessors after entering the league. And Iverson currently has the team's general manager Billy King.

Who is Billy King? I believe that many fans have heard the name of the team, but this name does not represent a good reputation.

Long story short, let's take a look at Billy King's rise to fame and the various snacks of his time as general manager of the Nets.

August 2010

Trade: Sending away Courtney Lee in exchange for Troy Murphy

After the deal was made, Courtney Lee played 81 games with the Rockets in 2010-11, averaging 8.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.3 minutes per game, shooting 40.8 percent from three-point range. Murphy played in just 18 games with the Nets, averaging 3.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in 16 minutes per game while shooting 34.2% from the field.

February 2011

Trade: Sending away Derrick Fepfus, Devin Harris, Troy Murphy, and two future first-round picks (note this is the first first) in exchange for Deron Williams and Brandon Wright

Admittedly, the deal wasn't bad at the time, but if we look back now, it's unacceptable. Faepers averaged 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in 32.6 minutes this season, but Delon who the Nets expected to save the team never showed the performance expected and finally reached a buyout agreement with the team......

March 2012

Deal: Send away Sean Williams, Memet Oku, two unprotected first-round picks (see "first-round picks"?) Don't worry, there's a lot to come) back to Gerald Wallace

The Nets sent two players + two unprotected first-round picks in exchange for Gerald Wallace, who is in his prime in a contract year, and then signed a four-year, $40 million contract with Wallace in the summer of 2013. You know, even if Billy King doesn't make this deal, the Nets can directly sign Wallace in the offseason for 4 years and 40 million. In other words, Billy King traded two players + two unprotected (note, unprotected) first-round picks for a player who played 16 games......

Forgot to tell you that one of these two unprotected first-round picks that the Nets sent to the Trail Blazers turned out to be Damian Lillard?

July 2012

Signing: 4-year 61 million contract extension Brook Lopez, 5-year 100 million extension Deron Williams, 4-year 40 million extension Gerard Wallace

In sports columnist Bill Simmons' 2014 inventory of bad contracts, the above three contracts ranked 21st, 5th, and 2nd. At least Billy King also received some "honors" during his tenure.

July 2012

Deal: Send Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow, DeSean Stevenson, Jordan Williams, a first-round pick, and the power to swap a first-round pick in exchange for Joe Johnson with an annual salary of 23 million

Joe Johnson's unbelievably expensive contract left him unwanted, no team wanted to accept the poisoned contract, and no one wanted to give away draft picks. But Billy King is willing to pay for a first-round pick......

In the 2014 Simmons bad contract inventory, Joe Johnson's contract topped fourth. Wait, that means the Nets occupy three of Simmons' top five spots in the 2014 runaway contract......

July 2013

Trade: Sending out Gerald Wallace, Chris Humphries, Marshon Brooks, Chris Joseph, three — 2014, 2016, 2018 — unprotected first-rounders, swapping the power of the 2017 first-round pick in exchange for Paul Pearce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry and DJ White.

In 2012-13, the Nets were 49-33 and 44-38 in 2013-14...... Well, the Nets' season of overdraft and future gambles is not even as good as the year before......

As a result of this series of operations, the poor Brooklyn Nets will not be able to get their first first-round pick until 2019. Seeing that the Celtics are rushing into the playoffs, while still waiting to get the Nets' draft pick, and the Nets have specially drawn the top pick, Angie is estimated to wake up laughing every day.

The Celtics completed the rebuilding in two years, thanks to Billkin's help. It's like sticking a tube into the Nets and allowing the Celtics to suck the Nets' blood to complete the rebuild. It's no wonder that the Russian boss of the Nets is clamoring to sell the team.

It's such a Billy King, who is now at odds with Iverson every day. Billy King joined the 76ers in '97 and joined Iverson at about the same time, and the two have similar seniority on the team. So Billy King now has the confidence to plot to send Iverson away.

At present, the contradiction between Iverson and the 76ers management has emerged, especially after Larry Brown switched to the Pistons to win the championship, Billy King pointed out at the high-level meeting that it was a wrong decision for everyone to support Iverson to get rid of Brown.

That's when Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak came to the door.

This time, Wang Ba looked at the mung bean and looked at it. In Billy King's bald head, of course, he thinks that if the Lakers want to exchange for Iverson, the first chip must be Kobe. Bryant was a true Philadelphia, not only born in Philadelphia, but also attended Raul Merrion High School in Philadelphia in high school. At that time, Kobe Bryant was also a hero in the hearts of the people of Philadelphia. To bring the hero back to Philadelphia, although fans will still have some regrets about Iverson's departure, it will be much less controversial.

Billy King slapped the door of his shiny brain, and almost jumped out of his chair at the news. Uncontrollably, he covered the microphone and said excitedly to the assistant.

"It's the Lakers' call, the Lakers, oh buy ga, we may have to put Kobe Bryant on the 76ers' No. 8."

The assistant general manager also looked incredulous, but he was still more cautious, knowing that his boss had a habit of dreaming, and only considered the best results before every transaction.

It's not 96 years now, AI and Kobe, one used to be the No. 13 show and the other was the champion show, but for now, Kobe's trade value is better than Iverson's. In the simplest comparison, Kobe Bryant is 25 years old, while Iverson is 28 years old. The sports arena has always been the domain of young people.

After a few moments of Billikin's dream of owning Kobe, Kupchak immediately broke his dream coldly.

"Sorry, our chip isn't Kobe."

Billy King and his assistant stared at each other.

"They say their chips aren't Kobe."

The assistant had a sure expression.

Billikin's face darkened for a moment, and he felt as if his IQ had been insulted.

The other end of the phone was silent, and Mr. Ku also felt a trace of embarrassment, and immediately changed the topic.

"It's not Kobe, but we also have quite sincere chips. We traded a starting center who averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds per game and two future first-round lottery picks for ......"

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Billikin.

"The 12+10 stats are really good, but I'm sorry, who is your starting center?"

Mr. Ku said worriedly.

"Chris Meme."

Billy Kin searched his shiny head for information about this man, and then turned to the assistant and asked.

"Is it Chris Mime, who played as a substitute for five years with the Cavaliers?"

To be able to sit in this position, the assistant certainly has his own ability, he knows all the players in the current service well, and immediately corrected when he heard the words.

To be precise, Chris Mim was drafted into the league by the Bulls with the seventh pick in 00, and then traded directly to the Cavaliers, played with the Cavaliers for four years, as a backup for the Lithuanian center, and signed with Boston for free in the fifth year, and his statistics in the previous year were 6 points and 5 rebounds, which is a good role player. The current 12+10 data may have a reason for the increase in ball possession. ”

After listening to the assistant's analysis, Billy King nodded in understanding.

Two future first-round picks, although Iverson and Kobe Bryant will reduce the value of these two picks, but the Lakers are the first team to be able to produce two first-round picks.

Since Iverson is now widely regarded as a difficult player to get along with and possess the ball, his trade value is not too high. Most fatally, Larry Brown's departure exposed Iverson's habit of often absent from training and disobedience. The lack of professionalism is the most worrying for other management.

Iverson has always been an inspirational representative, but in fact, he is a very lazy player, and he has a fight with the fat man, often finding various interfaces to miss training and leave the team for no reason.

Even if Billikin is a jerk, he still knows that the current strength of the team can only be rebuilt, and a few more first-round picks is always good.

Billy King has tried to trade Iverson a few times before, but other teams are willing to trade an average All-Star caliber player at most. The Pistons want to use Billups, the Wizards want to use Francis for a one-on-one exchange, and the Nuggets are the most excessive, and they are only willing to play the Brazilian Nei.

"These profiteers who take advantage of the fire to rob." Billikin cursed inwardly, and then began to test with Kupchak.

The deal was quickly finalized, and the Lakers took out three other starters as chips in addition to two first-round picks and Kris Mim in order to get Iverson.

They are 11+6 point guards, 13+5+3 small forwards, 12+8 big forwards, as for the name, even Hu Qingniu can't be called.

These players are only used to match the salary, anyway, Kupchak opened a grocery store, except for Kobe, other players are at the mercy of Billykin.

As soon as the deal happened, fans on both sides were confused, Kobe and Iverson are the most controversial and individual stars in recent years, and their fans also don't deal with each other, often arguing about their favorite stars on various occasions.

But the most shocking thing was Hu Qingniu, when he saw a news reminder popping up on his mobile phone on the sofa, he was still stunned for a while.

Oh my God, Iverson teamed up with Kobe, which he didn't even think about. Moreover, is it really good for two big independent bs to play together.

Hu Qingniu thought about the cooperation between the two for a while, and couldn't help but have a headache. He doesn't need to check the data to know that Iverson and Kobe Bryant are definitely the two most used people this year, and they may both hold the ball for the longest time. Can these two people work together?

Lakers general manager Kupchak has always been reliable, how did he make such a deal this time?