"LeBron, have you really decided?" On March 15, 2003, just after the NCAA Crazy March began, the Pacers' arena welcomed a young man, LeBron James, who was about to graduate from high school, from Ohio to Indianapolis, specially found Meng Xu, told Meng Xu some of his thoughts, and asked Meng Xu's opinion, and Meng Xu did not answer him after listening to James's thoughts, but after thinking for a long time, he raised his head and asked James.

"Well, I've thought about it, and although many colleges have contacted me in advance and promised me scholarships, my family's conditions don't allow me to go to the whole college, so I decided to participate in this year's NBA Draft early." James, who was sitting next to Meng Xu, said with a sad face, and after a pause, James continued: "The NCAA league is now investigating my acceptance of Nike and McDonald's sponsorship, so even if I want to play in the NCAA, I'm afraid I won't have a chance now." ”

James was born in a single-parent family, living in the slums since he was a child, James from a poor family is relying on relatives and a football coach's funding, barely completed his low-level studies, because James showed amazing basketball talent when he was a teenager, so after James entered high school, sponsors from all walks of life came one after another, in order to complete his studies, by the way to subsidize the family, James for these sponsorships are also not refused, including Nike and McDonald's, especially Nike, According to the news He Hui got from Nike, Nike has been following James for a long time, and Nike executives also plan to sign James as long as James enters the NBA. And during the period when James was in high school, Nike sent a car to James and a variety of sponsorships, if it weren't for the rules of the American Basketball Association that high school students are not allowed to sign commercial sponsorship contracts, I'm afraid Nike would have included James in its portfolio. However, the NCAA has strict requirements in this regard, and does not allow any player in the NCAA league, and any player who is about to enter the NCAA league, to accept any situation of commercial sponsorship, and commercial contracts, once verified, it will be banned from participating in all NCAA games, so after the NCAA has begun to investigate James' acceptance of Nike's sponsorship, the door of the NCAA has basically been closed to James, and now he has entered the NBA draft in advance. Maybe it's the only option James has to continue his basketball career.

Because James was selected to the All-American High School Team in his sophomore season and was selected as one of the five strongest high school students that year, he was named "KingJames" by the media in his junior season, and the media predicted at the last draft that as long as LeBron James, who graduated from high school, chose to participate in the draft, then he would at least be a rookie with the top three picks. Therefore, even if he entered the draft early as a high school student, James did not have to worry too much about his draft prospects.

"LeBron, I support your decision." Looking at James, who was still a little apprehensive, Meng Xu patted him on the shoulder: "Since you have decided to participate in the draft, why don't you stay and train with us, so that you can familiarize yourself with the rhythm and intensity of the NBA game in advance." ”

"Hmm." After hearing Meng Xu's decision to support him, James's heart finally regained his calm, in fact, James came today, not just to ask Meng Xu for advice, because even if Meng Xu does not support James, it can't change James's decision to enter the NBA, the main reason why James came today is actually to stay in Indiana and train with the Pacers. The high school league has ended, but there is still a long time before the NBA draft, and during this time, James does not want to be idle, so James wants to take advantage of this time to continue to hone and hone his skills, but the confrontation between high school students will not have any improvement on the current James, so James thought of Meng Xu, originally James was a little worried that Meng Xu would reject him before coming, after all, the Pacers are now in the adjustment and sprint stage of the regular season, but I didn't expect it, Before James could open his mouth to bring it up, Meng Xu took the initiative to ask James to stay and train with the Pacers in Indiana.

"I'll go to Larry in a moment, and from tomorrow onwards, you'll train with us, and I'll be there to help you and you can be on the bench when we play against each other."

"Thank you, Meng, thank you." Looking at Meng Xu with a warm smile, James was really moved at this moment, thinking of the McDonald's summer training camp that year, Meng Xu has been guiding himself on the sidelines, and even in the summer offseason, he pulled himself to train together, although Meng Xu said that he just wanted to find a partner, but James knew very well in his heart that Meng Xu was trying to help himself.

"Okay, we just have a game tonight, and I happen to have two tickets in the front row, so I'll give them to you!"

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The Pacers are a team that is extremely lacking in honor, although it has been established for nearly 40 years, but it has only been in the NBA for more than 20 seasons, and in these more than 20 seasons, the Pacers have been a bullying team most of the time, the team's all-time winning rate is less than 50%, and the team's best regular season record is only 58-24 in the 97-98 season, and the Pacers are also the only few teams in the entire league that have not won 60 wins, as for the Pacers' winning streak in the regular season, It was even more miserable, with an eight-game winning streak in the 97-98 season, which was already the longest winning streak in the Pacers' regular season history.

After experiencing a post-All-Star slump, the Pacers have gradually come out of the trough since Meng Xu scored 82 points against the Knicks, after successive victories over the Celtics and the Bucks. On March 2, the Pacers defeated the Warriors 106-100 at home, Meng Xu shot 13 of 24, 3 of 7 3-pointers, and 9 of 12 free throws, scoring 38 points. The Warriors No. 0 Arenas, who impressed Meng Xu, also played very well in this game, shooting 14 of 27 in the game, 6 of 11 3-pointers, and scored 41 points higher than Meng Xu, if it weren't for this kid's outburst in the third quarter, slashing 22 points in a single quarter, the game between the Pacers and the Warriors may be no suspense after the end of the third quarter.

On March 4, the Pacers hosted the Jazz, lost Karl Malone's Jazz, and this season was completely reduced to a fish belly, leaving only Stockton still struggling to support, and this game lost suspense after halftime, 78-106, the Pacers beat the Jazz by 28 points at home, Meng Xu only played 20 minutes, and scored 31 points.

In the subsequent games, the Pacers defeated the Heat, the Cavaliers, and the Hornets twice, after this wave of consecutive wins, the Pacers also quietly achieved the longest 9 consecutive wins of the season, and the 9 consecutive wins also broke the Pacers' record for the longest winning streak in history, and in these 9 games, Meng Xu won 30+ in 9 consecutive games.

Relying on a wave of 9 consecutive wins, after adding the only rival Nets and losing to the Raptors, Lakers, and Spurs in a row, the Pacers are 3 wins ahead of the Nets and firmly in first place in the East, while only half a win away from the league's first Mavericks. At the same time, in the competition for the scoring list, Maddie and Iverson gradually flattened after several consecutive crazy games, while Meng Xu relied on 9 consecutive games of 30+ to surpass Iverson again, and the difference between Maddie and Maddie gradually narrowed to less than 1 point. Now Maddie is ahead of Meng Xu by 0.7 points, Meng Xu is ahead of Iverson by 0.2 points, and all three of them are averaging more than 32 points per game, and when there are 20 games left in the regular season this season, Meng Xu, Maddy, and Iverson have also entered a white-hot state of competition for the scoring title. At the same time, for the first time this season, there are 3 players who average more than 32 points per game, which is also the first time in the history of the NBA, which is even the Jordan era and the ancient era have never appeared in the prosperous era, so although this season's scoring champion competition has not yet been decided, and there has been no 35+, or even 40+ fierce people per game, but because the competition for the scoring champion this season is far more intense than before, many media have now reached a consensus that this season's scoring champion, It will be the most valuable scoring title in NBA history.

In February's Player of the Year selection, whether it is Maddy, who averaged 37 points, 7 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game, leading the Magic to 10-2 losses and jumping from eighth in the East to fifth in the East, or Nowitzki, who averaged 26.5 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists per game, leading the Mavericks to the first place in the league with 11 wins and 1 losses, both of them were indisputably elected, and his performance was the best in the entire league in terms of team record and personal data. But there are still many people who lament Meng Xu, 82 points per game, an average of 28.5 points per game, 8.5 rebounds, and 7 assists, but the Pacers only won 7 games in February, not only lost the first position in the league, but even the first position in the East became precarious, and Meng Xu, as the boss of the team, naturally could not escape responsibility, if it weren't for the 82 points in a single game, Meng Xu would definitely be a street rat in the mouths of all the media now.

And after entering March, the Pacers' performance made everyone feel a little incredible, in February, the Pacers, who were still a little shaky and looked like they were going to collapse at any time, suddenly became extremely violent, after winning all six games starting in March, the Pacers have quietly achieved a nine-game winning streak, and if the Pacers can beat the Magic at home tonight, then the Pacers' 10-game winning streak will surpass the Mavericks and become the longest winning streak of the season.

9 consecutive wins, or even 10 consecutive wins, is nothing for most teams in the NBA, 18 of the existing 29 teams in the NBA league have achieved more than 15 consecutive wins, the Bucks have won 20 in a row, and the Lakers have won a terrifying 33 in a row, but for the Pacers, Grizzlies, and Hornets, the longest winning streak in team history is only 8 games, or even 7 games, 10 consecutive wins are enough for them to be proud for a long time, so the Pacers and Magic tonight's game, Before it even started, it was already a game that the whole of Indiana was watching closely.

On the afternoon of March 15th, the Magic, who was a guest, has taken the lead in coming to the Banker's Life Arena and began to conduct pre-game adaptation training, although the overall record of the Magic this season is relatively average, and before that, it was only 34-29, far inferior to the 48-14 Pacers, so the matchup between the Pacers and the Magic cannot be called a strong dialogue, but due to the fierce competition between Maddie and Meng Xu on the scoring list, the direct confrontation between the two today has also become the biggest highlight of all the games in this round.

"Meng is one of the best players in the league and we have a really good relationship, but the game is the game, the friendship is the friendship, and I will not show mercy in tonight's game."

"We're fifth in the East right now, just one win away from the Celtics ahead of us, so in order to have home court advantage in the playoffs, we have to win this game today. Meng is a great player and he is the biggest favorite for MVP this season, so we will do everything we can to stop him! ”

Before the start of the game, the Magic, who had won four consecutive victories, both the leading player Maddy and the head coach Doug Rivers showed a strong desire to win, especially the team's star Maddy, Maddy completed the transformation from superstar to superstar this season, and has now become a superstar with a strength of 96, which is no worse than Kobe Bryant and Iverson. But as one of the East Messi Meng, who was once touted by Larry Bird, after seeing that Meng Xu has gradually thrown himself away from him in terms of team honor and personal achievements, Maddie has been holding his breath while being full of envy, wanting to compete with Meng Xu, and tonight's game is a very good time.

Today's game, whether it is for the Pacers or for the Magic, is a game that cannot be abandoned, the Pacers want to continue their winning streak, and at the same time overtake the Mavericks, and regain the league's No. 1 record, and the Magic also want to go further on the record rankings, fortunately have home-court advantage in the playoffs, so in this game, the Pacers and the Magic are bound to go all out to try to beat their opponents. But most of the media, and those neutral fans, are not so concerned about the outcome of today's game, and the only thing they care about is who can come out on top in the head-to-head matchup between Maddie and Meng Xu, the two top two super scorers on the scoring charts.