During the game, Barkley commented that Kobe Bryant ruined the chemistry of the entire Lakers, and although he scored the highest points in the game, his role could not be compared to Hayes.

One of Hayes' distinguishing characteristics is his smooth ultra-high level of play, he is as steady as a straight line; Kobe Bryant, on the other hand, is a wavy line, he can score 81 points in a single game, but sometimes he can score less than 20 points on close to 30 shots in a game.

Kobe Bryant was a bit of a boss in the game, and he acted alone. This has already upset Lakers head coach Phil Jackson.

"I think Kobe Bryant is a little bit more relaxed, better at reading the game, and trusting his teammates." "I don't deny that Kobe Bryant is a great player, the most offensive guy in the league," Jackson said at a press conference...... But at the same time, we need to balance the inside attack, play more inside and pass the ball more. We've already told him that he can't beat five people alone. He can't be the first choice every offense, and he also needs to play the role of an offensive bait and move the ball aggressively, as he did in the Western Conference Finals. ”

The reporter then asked: "Are you saying that the loss today was because of Kobe?" ”

"I didn't mean that, the main reason the Lakers lost was because the Bobcats were too strong offensively. Kobe Bryant played well, but he had to do more. ”

After the loss, Bryant also admitted that he ruined the triangle offensive tactics in this game.

Bryant said: "He [Jackson] was right. I ruined the team's attacking system. I did it on purpose because I felt we needed to do something because the tactics we were using were not working well and I tried to try to turn things around, but sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. That's good when it works, but when it doesn't, I'm open to all criticism. The Bobcats played beautifully, we couldn't defend against them, and I think that was the main reason for the loss. ”

Whenever Jackson publicly criticized Kobe, Kobe Bryant didn't get angry about it. "First of all, when you've worked with Jackson like I did for so many years, we all know that he's going to be a lot of public critics of the players, and that's his coaching style, and I don't feel bad about that," he said. ”

D'Antoni and Billups are the protagonists today. The Bobcats' tactics completely restrained the Lakers, and Billups had another wonderful performance today after winning the Finals MVP that year.

After D'Antoni praised the players, the reporters turned the microphone at Billups, and one of them asked, "Mr. Billups, you played very well today, are you interested in competing with Hayes for the Finals MVP?" He already has a regular season MVP, and it's time for him to give it to his teammates. ”

It is not difficult to see from the words that the reporter has already decided that the Bobcats will win the championship.

Billups said modestly: "We didn't think about competing for MVP, we just wanted to win the championship, Chuck didn't score a lot today, but his coverage and distribution were just right, and he grabbed a lot of rebounds in the front court, and his role on the court is irreplaceable." ”

The reporter interviewed Hayes again and asked him if he was satisfied with his performance today.

Hayes laughed, "Quite satisfied. Today we easily won the first game of the finals, a good start, how many points, how many shots are tactical arrangements, I just need to do the task assigned by the coach. ”

Hayes said something similar many times, and Bryant listened to it and got a little inspiration.

'Believe in your teammates. Can they do better than me when they're lagging behind? Maybe I'm overconfident. Bryant thought about the way the Lakers played during the regular season. As long as multiple people score double-doubles, the scoring points are more scattered, and it will be much easier to win. On the contrary, he scored a high score, and the game was very intense, and it was not until the end that the winner was decided. He remembered what Jackson had said when he was angry. "If you don't change your style of play and continue to go it alone, we're going to lose this series. You'd better wonder how Hayes plays. ”

Back at the hotel after the game, Bryant went to Jackson's room, and the two had another conversation.

Bryant asked, "Phil, do you think I'm really inferior to Hayes?" ”

Jackson said very seriously: "Your individual ability and talent are stronger than Hayes, his only advantage is basketball IQ, he knows what basketball is better than you." Basketball is a team sport, which is why there are so many tactics. Hayes's starting point has always been to serve the tactics, and he has already conveyed this message to everyone in the interview, and he will do whatever the tactical arrangement requires him to do, and do his best. You're the opposite, you often put aside your tactics and even your teammates are there for you. How did you win Hayes like this? You've averaged 35 points per game, and that's your best season, but who thinks you're better than Jordan except for the young guys who can't play basketball who adore you? Wake up, a lot of people say you're a superstar, but you're the one who hasn't won any MVP trophies other than the All-Star Game MVP! You have a similar style of play with Maddy, and he can't even make the playoffs without Hayes and Yao Ming. If you don't have Gasol and Odom, you will be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs at most. ”

Kobe Bryant smiled bitterly: "If you hit me like this, aren't you afraid that I will lose confidence by what you say?" ”

"If I say that so that you can understand how to play basketball, it's better than when we were swept by the Bobcats in the Finals. You have to see your teammates in the open space around you, not always feel like the timing is good and I can shoot. Hayes averaged more points per game than you last season, and this season the Bobcats have brought in a lot of new players, and in order to speed up the team's run-in, he can reduce the number of shots he doesn't have much. Have you noticed a habit of Hayes that when the Bobcats switch to a fringe player on the outside, Hayes will go inside, draw the opponent's defensive center of gravity to the inside, and then pass the ball out for players who may not have played at all on other teams? When there is a newcomer on the inside line, he pulls it to the outside line to play. He was always happy to be bait. How do you do that? No matter what tactics your opponent plays, what weaknesses you have, you are always the same style of play. The Lakers' lineup is no worse than the Bobcats, and our bench is even better! Jackson sighed lightly and said with a smile: "I know you want to win and don't want to lose, but in addition to going it alone, there is a better way, you do a good job in the national team, sometimes the star may not have to be the offensive core." Haven't you heard what outsiders say? Kobe Bryant is not alone, and the Lakers are not losing. You have to learn to be bait on the court, play differently, and change your mind while you still have time. ”

Jackson said what Kobe Bryant cares about the most - time!

By the end of Game 1 of the Finals yesterday, the 30-year-old had played 1,118 NBA games in his career. At this age, Michael Jordan played a full 340 fewer games than Kobe.

When Bryant went straight from a high school student to a Los Angeles Lakers professional in 1996, people were amazed by his ability to bounce and his innate passion and basketball talent that a 17-year-old rarely brings.

Jerry West, the Lakers' executive vice president at the time, was amazed by Kobe Bryant's rookie quiz results after they came out, the best test results he had ever seen.

After 13 years and 1,118 games, Kobe Bryant is still one of the best basketball players in the world. It's just that there is a long-standing question that has not been answered: behind those dazzling statistics, how much has Kobe Bryant helped the team?

Since 2002, the Lakers have not won another championship trophy, and as a recognized giant team in the league, such a long wait time has made them and their fans somewhat anxious. Bryant will turn 31 in August this year, and he is like a Ferrari with a good surname, although it is well maintained, it has been driven for too many years.

A side-by-side comparison might shed some light. Kobe Bryant is now more than Michael, who was the same age at the time? Jordan played 340 more games, and apart from helping the Lakers win three straight championships early in his career, he didn't prove himself to be a qualified leader at all. And the window that belongs to Kobe's career is slowly closing over time, his explosiveness and speed are not as good as before, how many years can he be stronger? As he gets older, the championship will get farther and farther away from Kobe.

Not only Kobe, but Gasol, Odom, Butler, Fisher and others are already quite young. Hayes, the leader of the Bobcats, is only 26 years old, and there is a group of young and talented youngsters. The Lakers have only been able to compete with the Bobcats for two years.

"What should I do? I'll listen to you for the next game. Bryant looked at Jackson with a desire to win.

"I'm going to let you play point guard again in the next game, Derrick [Fisher] can't guard Billups, he can only rely on you. In the offense, you have to reduce your shooting, strengthen the breakthrough shot, and focus on the interior of the offense. Lopez is not as good as Paul (Gasol), and Hayes' height is impossible to keep against Andrew (Bynum). Paul pulls to the high post to respond to the attack, Caron holds the ball to cover the attack, Lopez is difficult to prevent Butler after the block, and the Bobcats can only let Hayes defend, at this time it will be much easier for you to break inside or shoot or pass. ”

Bryant nodded. He vowed to calm down and play team basketball.

On June 3, the two sides played the second battle at Time Warner Arena.

The Lakers started by focusing more on the interior and taking advantage of the height advantage on the inside. In this game, the Bobcats provoked Kobe Bryant again, but Kobe Bryant controlled his emotions well, he gave more opportunities to his teammates from the beginning of the game, and even chose to pass the ball when he already had a chance to attack. At the end of the half, Bryant scored only 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting, tightly controlling the number of offenses he had, and it also had an effect. After Bryant's move, several teammates around him gave full play to their strengths, and the Lakers led the Bobcats by five points at halftime.

If a true MVP can make the players around him better, then Kobe's performance today truly shows the demeanor of a leader. Instead of blindly getting bogged down in individual singles like in the previous game, he paid more attention to passing and team-mate coordination at key moments. However, the Bobcats have a more complete roster than the Lakers. Kobe Bryant couldn't have played the whole game as a handler. When Fisher came on, Billups stepped up again, hitting four three-pointers in the third quarter and three breakaways to foul Lakers interior players and scoring 18 points in the quarter to put the Bobcats in the lead.

Kobe Bryant's return to the court didn't help. The Bobcat's offense is too strong. 110 to 102, Bobcats won two in a row!

Billups was once again the key to the Bobcats' victory! He finished with 33 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

(To be continued)