Summer always goes by quickly, the kids are back to school after the summer vacation, fewer people are basking in the sun on the beach, the hot-bare leagues in California are coming to an end, and the attention of basketball fans around the world is shifting to the NBA, and the new season is about to begin.

On October 7th, Oakland, California, the Golden State Warriors' new season training camp will begin.

Steve Kerr, the new head coach of the Warriors, arrived at the team's training center early and sat alone on the sidelines before the players arrived, thinking over and over what the first day of training camp was going to do.

He had been planning for this day for a long time, and since he agreed to sign with the Warriors in the summer, a series of plans and ideas have been swirling in his mind, like an albatross in the wind, which can't be grounded no matter what.

Of course, many fans or media may not be able to understand his current state, because the Warriors lineup in his hands is too luxurious, and he feels that he should be able to win no matter how he plays in the new season.

The Warriors have received two superstars without touching their core roster structure, which is extremely rare in NBA history.

David Lee's style of attacking strong and defending weak is not suitable for a championship-level strong team, and Harris Barnes is not worth mentioning in front of Durant and James.

Coupled with the Warriors and Clippers' growing backcourt, good interior, and two super forwards, they are super favorites to win the championship in any year in the NBA.

In the words of some fans, "It's just a dog on the bench, and this team can win championships." ”

But Steve Kerr knows that a team might actually be able to tie the dog crown, but the Warriors definitely aren't.

Kerr reached an agreement with the Warriors in June, taking over the reins of Mark Jackson as the new head coach.

Then in August, Durant requested a trade, and the Warriors got Durant, followed James to the west, and brought the talent to the West Coast.

So, Cole didn't expect such a card in his hand at first, a very good hand, and it was not an easy task to play such a good card well.

Because there's LeBron James in that deck.

"Hey Steve! Good morning! You're here so early! ”

Someone shouted at Kerr that it was LeBron James, who was the first to arrive at the training gym.

When it comes to hard work, James has absolutely nothing to say, and the hard training day after day gives him a superhuman physique and stable technique.

James's technique is not flashy, and in the case of low-intensity confrontation or no confrontation, it is even quite ugly, and it is easy to question "Can this person play?" ”

But once he goes to the confrontation, when it comes to the highest intensity of the game, James can still maintain his skills, dribble without losing the ball, and make the layup stable, which is not only his talent, but also inseparable from his self-discipline and hard training day after day.

"Good morning, LeBron, it's nice to see you so early. You were the first to arrive, a good example. ”

"Of course, I'm the king, the king who gets up early!"

King is a nickname and nickname given to James by fans, which is somewhat flattering.

However, James seems to be very popular, often calling himself king, although he has never been crowned.

With that, James went to the locker room to change clothes, and Cole thought he would talk to James later.

In fact, Kerr really didn't expect that James would choose to leave the Cavaliers and join the Warriors.

Because once he joins the Warriors, it means that he has completely given up the path of chasing Jordan.

It can also be seen from public opinion that although there is controversy about James' joining, most of them are relatively mild, there are no heated remarks, and many Cleveland fans do not blame James, and many people even think that James should leave and pursue a championship ring.

What does this mean, it shows that the public's expectations of him have been lowered, just imagine if people's expectations for him are to be the best in history, then his behavior of changing teams and teaming up with Durant will undoubtedly be despised by many people.

If it's an ordinary player, even if it's an All-Star, basically you can join whichever team you like, and the free market is free.

But superstars are different, they are burdened with the expectations of the fans, and some of them are even unreasonable and harsh, because if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight, and if you want to get the ultimate evaluation, you have to create the ultimate achievement.

James joined the Warriors, which means that he voluntarily gave up all these expectations and threw away the weight that weighed on him.

In the summer, Nike still renewed James's contract, but the contract amount did not rise, but it was the same as before, which is enough to show Nike's disappointment in him.

Judging from the situation of public opinion, the voice of criticism of Durant is much louder than the criticism of James, because Durant is younger, and Durant also joined the Warriors who just beat them in the Western Conference finals, isn't this a surrender?

Charles Barkley had done this, but by then he was late in his career, and everyone was very lenient about veterans chasing championship rings.

But Durant is only 25 years old, why is he so breathless and wants to leave?

These controversies will plague both players and coaches, and the Warriors will face very great pressure in the new season.

If he can't win the championship, it's hard for Kerr to imagine what kind of public opinion attack Durant and James will be, it will be a storm.

Again, Cole will be criticized for having such a lineup, which is definitely not escapable, so such a good hand is not necessarily a good thing for Cole.

Because if you win, the lineup is awesome, and if you lose, your coach is incompetent.

It's just that Cole really didn't expect these two goods to come to the Warriors.

James put on his training jersey and came to the court to start a warm-up session, first doing shooting exercises to find his touch.

Kerr got up and came to the court to help James pick up the ball, James' shooting action was still so awkward and ugly, but the shooting percentage was not bad.

"LeBron, what are your thoughts on the new season?" Cole asked James.

After James decided to join the Warriors, Kerr did not have a deep communication with James.

At that time, Kerr only sent a text message to James, and the two exchanged briefly, and there has been no communication about the new season since then.

This was Kerr's biggest knot in the offseason, as he and James worked together with the Cavaliers for a season and a half, and the results alone were relatively unsuccessful.

Although there was a very good beginning, Kerr used certain means to get James to change to the No. 4 position and take the super auxiliary route, but it didn't last long, and James returned to his old ways.

The loss to the Heat in the playoffs caused James' trust in Kerr to slip, and at the same time, Kerr failed to deal with Kyrie Irving's problems, which led to the collapse of the Cavaliers last season.

In Kerr's view, the root of all this is James' reluctance to put himself in the right position, and it is difficult to try a new style of play that suits him.

If he is still so stubborn and must build a core style of play with himself as the core, then Kerr will have a very, very headache, and the system he has been trying to build will be in vain.

Therefore, he wants to find an opportunity to communicate with James, and it is best to convince James that he can play the No. 4 position and become the ideal super assistant.

In Kerr's mind, if James can play the No. 4 position with peace of mind and be a transit hub, the strength of this Warriors team will definitely be amazing, and his ideal system will definitely be realized.

Especially with his passing system, the Clippers are now going further and further down the other path, and there is a difference between the path that Kerr envisioned before, and Kerr desperately wants to prove himself with the Warriors.

James is undoubtedly key.

"Thoughts? Of course, it's the championship, does it need to be said? I wanted to stand a little further and try a longer three-point shot. ”

"I mean your thoughts, not your wishes. What you think about the team, about the tactics, about the teammates. You should try more ultra-long threes. ”

James took the ball from Kerr, and he was standing two steps away from the three-point line, opening his hand to shoot a three-point shot, his shooting position was steady, his elbow was turned out as always, but the ball hit the rebound and bounced into the basket.

"Whew! Luck! James smiled, and could tell that he was still in a good mood.

Although it was another disappointing season and a difficult decision was made, time always changes everything well.

Of course, James has his own ideas for the new season, and in fact, this summer he has experienced the most painful and torturous thinking of his life, and has completed a spiritual transformation.

"As for the idea of the new season, to be honest Steve, it's not something I should think about, I'm just a player. What you tell me to do, I will do. ”

As he spoke, James took the ball and threw it again, and the ball hollowed into the net, and he threw well.

It can be seen that James has strengthened his three-point shooting training in the summer.

Kerr heard James's words, and couldn't believe his ears, James meant, everything is under the command of the coach?

No, is this still James? How could this be him, he has always asked the coach to match the tactics according to his style of play.

I'm afraid it's not a low profile that has just arrived at a new team, right?

When he first arrived at the Cavaliers, James also said that he could do anything to win.

Later, after fighting, isn't it "completely exposed".

So, Kerr picked up the ball, slapped it, and threw it at James again.

"Then according to my arrangement, you still have to play at the power forward position in the new season, and you want you to give the ball control to Lillard and Kevin Durant to shoot first. You have to focus on two very important things, one is to respond, and the other is to defend, what do you think? ”

Kerr deliberately revealed his tactics to James, even to test James' attitude.

James received the ball from Kerr, and he was already 45 degrees to the left, a step outside the three-point line.

Aiming at the basket, James made another three-point shot, still in a not very good-looking shooting posture, but very steady.

However, the ball was still shot, and it can be seen that James has a good shooting hand today.

After hitting again, James didn't answer Kerr's question head-on, but asked rhetorically, "Steve, how do you feel about my new shooting position?" ”

Kerr muttered to himself, new shooting stance? Is this the new shooting stance? It didn't feel the difference, it was still as stiff and ugly as before.

"Oh, yes, you can see that you've made some adjustments, and the effect seems to be still... Not bad. Cole thought about it, and it seemed that there was a slight difference from the past.

"Yes, I've changed my stance. I used to shoot head-on, but now I shoot sideways, so that my shot will be straighter, less valgus, and a little bit faster. Also, I used to shoot at the top of the jump, but now I shoot on the ascent, faster and farther! ”

Saying that, James received the ball from Kerr and made a quick three-point shot!

"Bang", the goal did not score......

"Phew, this ball feels a little bit worse."

Then, James made several more shots in quick succession, all of which were long-range three-pointers, and the shooting percentage was quite good.

James was sweating slightly, and after warming up, he said to Cole: "I've done a lot of targeted training this summer. I strengthened my three-point shot, lost some weight a bit, I got a tactical coach to teach me tactics, and I went to Olajuwon's training class to train my low footwork, in short... I'm willing to do anything for a win and a championship. As long as we can win the championship, I'm completely at your disposal. You let me play the number four position, the number five position, it's okay, no problem. ”

"Steve, there's no way back." James finally added.

Cole listened, and his heart was very touched, and he thought that James might really realize that he had to change.

Just like the previous basketball emperor, Wilt Chamberlain, after moving to the Philadelphia 76ers in 1966, Chamberlain began to transform from his previous scoring style of playing every game.

He began to pass the ball and began to assist his teammates, which eventually helped Chamberlain defeat the Boston Celtics in 1967, ending the Green Army's eight-game winning streak and winning the precious championship.

At that time, the team Chamberlain left was the Warriors, and now that James is coming to the Warriors, his change may also be to end the Clippers dynasty.

About half an hour later, the rest of the Warriors also came to the training hall, Durant, Lillard, Bogut, Thompson, Green......

Everyone came early, and it was clear that the Warriors players were full of hope and confidence for the new season.

Last season, they reached the Western Conference Finals as sixth in the West, and there are two strong players in the offseason, the Clippers and the championship in the new season!

The first training session is extremely important for Kerr to set the tone and lay a good foundation for the whole season.

He replaced Mark Jackson as the team's head coach, and the Warriors' young players were a little unconvinced, because Jackson led the team to a very good record.

Kerr had to show that he was different from Jackson and play well in the regular season to convince the crowd.

So, after rallying the players, Kerr gave a brief speech:

"I came to Oakland, to the Golden State Warriors to do only three things, win, win, win! I know what's going on in your hearts and who our worst enemy is this season. I'm going to say it bluntly here, our enemy is the Los Angeles Clippers. I coached there and single-handedly built their attacking system and we were successful, but my philosophy wasn't fully implemented and I was abandoned. Why do we need to win, why do we need to succeed, why do we need to win the championship? We win and win, and the world doesn't change much, the mountains are still the same mountains, the sea is still the same sea, and the sun still rises in the east as usual. What really changed was ourselves, our hearts, we proved ourselves, and from then on we stood on the earth with our heads held high and said to our opponents, our juniors, 'We've been here, we've climbed, we've been to the top.' ’”

"From today onwards, I will put this slogan in the training hall, in the locker room, in the gym, 'There is no way back, only victory and progress.'"

(End of chapter)