Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Storm

An ordinary preseason game, not even a regular season, suddenly caused an uproar in the entire American basketball world.

On October 10, 2007, the Washington Wizards vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game finally ended with a score of 73-91. It wasn't a special scoreline, and in fact not many people paid much attention to these two teams before the game.

Neither team made any exciting big trades in the summer, didn't have many reinforcements, didn't pick a rookie with much attention in the draft, the Wizards also had a Nick Young, and the Cavaliers ...... Didn't they all trade their draft picks?

Compared to the Wizards VS Cavaliers.

The media was visibly more concerned about the Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors game the next day, and the fresh triumvirate formed in the summer drew the attention of the whole country, and everyone was thinking about how powerful this terrifying lineup would be.

Or the Seattle SuperSonics vs. Sacramento Kings game at the same time. It will also be interesting to see how Durant will perform in his first game.

However, because Oden found a knee problem during a physical examination before the start of the season, and then announced that he was out of the season with a bang, the Portland Trail Blazers, who originally had "Oden the Great" and should be the most eye-catching, in addition to causing a heated discussion about the "Portland Center Curse", also faded out of people's vision.

Before the game, no one expected this game to evolve into a legend.

Scored 10 rebounds, 30 assists, 5 blocks, 3 steals and 1 steal, this is the data handed over by Zhang Kong in the first game, the terrifying rebounds made the media exclaim in disbelief, and because Zhang Kong did not play at all in the fourth quarter, everyone thought that Zhang Kong could break the record of 31 rebounds left by Mutombo as an active player.

At the same time, his status as a finalist in the second round, who was traded by two teams in a row just after entering the NBA, also shocked the media.

"At the end of the second round? This should be the champion! NBA columnist Bill Ingram wrote an ironic story about this, in which he argued that the general managers of all teams around the league were blind and deaf to such a player.

"Is he the end of the second round? Jordan deserves to be defeated! ESPN, on the other hand, quoted Barkley's blurted out remarks on the match commentary, with a large photo of Jamison in the air below.

The article does not comment on Barkley's remarks that Jordan will lose the election, but also believes that the position at the end of the second round is really not in line with Zhang Kong's strength. (Baidu search: with dreams, the fastest update)

We have our own Russell! Compared to other newspapers, the Cleveland Post wrote about the game in a very proud tone, and claimed that Zhang Kong was Bill Russell II, and we don't care about Auden the Great, because we already have our own Russell.

"The Cavaliers Are Threatening the League" USA Today used a very frightening title, and the article believes that the Cavaliers already have a LeBron James who can be said to be the top three at the small forward position, and also acquired the most underrated rookie in history through a trade. With such a lineup, the Cavaliers' goal for the new season can only be a championship, and all teams aiming for a championship should be careful of the threat of the Cavaliers.

What is our management doing? The Dallas team newspaper expressed its dissatisfaction with the management with a questioning article, knowing that the second-round final-round pick that was selected by Zhang Kong originally belonged to them, but was dumped by the Mavericks management to Orlando. Without this deal, the international column of Zhang Kong and Nowitzki would have had a good chance of dominating the entire league.

Of course, when it comes to satirizing their own management, the Dallas team newspaper didn't forget to satirize the Orlando Magic by the way, because they did the same stupid thing as the Mavericks management.

On the other side of the ocean, the name Zhang Kong is even more outrageous, and there are discussions about Zhang Kong and the preseason game everywhere on the Internet, especially after many fans climbed over the wall and landed on the official website of the Cavaliers and confirmed Zhang Kong's nationality, it was even more popular.

'The Great' has become the exclusive name of Zhang Kong by domestic fans, which obviously stole the nickname of Auden the Great, and finally did not fall on Yi Jianlian's shoulder, but on Zhang Kong's head.

ESPN columnist Bill Simmons expressed his doubts about Zhang Kong in his column, arguing that the league does not lack the kind of players who break out and then quickly degenerate into mediocrity, and the performance of a game does not explain the problem, especially in the preseason, every NBA team in the preseason is based on practice, and the defensive intensity and game intensity cannot be compared with the regular season. Zhang Kong's strength will only be determined after the test of the regular season and the playoffs.

This kind of rhetoric is also very marketable, and the vast majority of NBA 'experts' believe that it is just one game and does not explain the real problem.

But now, Zhang Kong is unaware of this.

Now, under the leadership of LeBron, he wants to pick a suitable apartment around the Quick Loan Arena. The apartment where Zhang Kong used to live

Zhang Kong originally wanted to ask Ilgoskas for help, after all, in the Cavaliers, he had the best relationship with Ilgoskas. But when James heard about it, he immediately patted his chest and responded

If before the Wizards vs Cavaliers game, in LeBron James's view, Zhang Kong was just a rookie with a lot of potential, with the potential to become a top defensive interior lineman. So now, in LeBron James's view, Zhang Kong is the best helper to help him win the championship, his defense on the inside, the protection of backcourt rebounds, and the scramble for frontcourt rebounds. It completely stabilized the Cavaliers' interior defense, and built the Cavaliers' restricted area into an extremely strong fortress that could not be violated by anyone.

This game completely changed James' attitude towards Zhang Kong, from the original rookie to almost equal to him.

Over the years, James has only led the Cavaliers to the playoffs in just three seasons, and although they lost to the current champion Pistons in the second round, the team's performance has given James hope of winning the championship and full of confidence.

Especially after beating the Pistons for the first time last season to reach the Finals, LeBron James also said with confidence: "I'm here for the O'Brien Cup." ”

But the old spurs taught him a memorable lesson, the Spurs' troika system worked perfectly and completely clamped down on the Cavaliers' offensive and defensive system, in front of the troika, in front of Duncan, he seemed so powerless, and finally couldn't even ask for a victory.

In that series, the Cavaliers were swept 4-0 by the Spurs, becoming the eighth team to be swept by an opponent in the Finals since the NBA began. Since then, it has been nailed to the pillar of shame in history for countless people to ridicule.

This game also made LeBron James understand. He needs a helper, and no one in this world can win a championship alone. Historically, the basketball emperor Chamberlain and the basketball god Michael Jordan were both outstanding and became the first person in the NBA early. However, Chamberlain was held back by the Celtics until he moved to the Lakers and changed his style of play to transform himself into a team player like Russell rather than a scoring machine, at which point he got the championship he dreamed of.

And Jordan was blocked by the Pistons from the Finals three times in a row, until the team selected his best helper Scott Pippen and partnered with Granger to finally get what he wanted, and the wonderful taste of a championship. Then the trade came the inside and outside defensive gate and the top rebounding master 'Flower Bug' Rodman, which gave the Bulls the capital to defend the title.

From then on, from man to God, it can no longer be stopped.

And he, LeBron James, he also needs a helper. At least a weighty, all-star-caliber helper.

After the 06-07 season, the media criticized James, believing that he was not tough enough, lacked leadership temperament, and was easily lost at critical moments and unable to play tough battles.

But James felt that he was so wronged.

Looking at the Cavaliers' lineup, Ilgoskas is quite strong, but he is too old and has been plagued by injuries. Drew Gooden is not bad defensively but lacks offensive strength, Vallejo, who is still recovering from injury, is also unable to attack, and steal king Larry Hughes is a nerve knife. Daniel Gibson is doing well, but he's just a good starter, and he doesn't have that ability to be a strong helper.

As for the group of substitutes, many of them can't even get into the rotation lineup, what kind of help can such a player give him?

Looking at the whole Cavaliers team, James was dazed to find that there were no teammates who could help him at critical moments?

This situation left James dazed and angry, and he even moved the idea of threatening management with a trade to strengthen the team. Just like Kobe Bryant did. Especially in the summer, when he learned that the Celtics formed a big three lineup, he was even more dazed and a little panicked.

The Pistons' blocking, he has already broken through, is he still going to overwhelm the Celtics in the East? Those three people are combined together, as long as they play at a normal level, James also feels that he wants to bring such a Cavaliers team to the finals, which is really unlikely!

He even thought of a transfer, to a team that had a chance of winning the title, for example...... Heat. If it's the Heat, his backcourt combination with Wade will tear the league apart. It's just that James doesn't want to be called a thigh-hugging and a coward, and he knows that once he does this, those media will definitely not hesitate to put these names on his head.

The media is such a nasty bunch of guys.

And at this time, Zhang Kong's arrival gave him hope.

Perhaps, there is no need for a transfer, just a vacancies......

In this case, James's attitude towards Zhang Kong has changed significantly.

"No, LeBron, this apartment is too expensive." Sitting in James's BMW, Zhang Kong frowned and said helplessly: "LeBron, you know that my salary is only a little bit a year, and the rent of the apartment here is so expensive......"

Zhang Kong spread his hands and put on a helpless expression. James did show him a lot of good houses, and LeBron, who lived in Cleveland for five years, naturally found the best ones, and the single-family villas also had their own pools and basketball courts. But for Zhang Kong, the rent was too expensive.

"Oh, Sora, I don't think you have to worry too much about rent." James smiled and shook his head: "Have you read the nearest newspaper?" ”