On Monday, May 9, 2005, Lee Yo was at the press conference in the morning, and LeBron James was in the afternoon.

Perhaps unwilling to come to Manhattan to become a little transparent, James revealed to the media that his cooperation with his agents, the Goodwin brothers, is over.

This news instantly sparked a violent response, knowing that it only took two years for Goodwin to build an endorsement deal for James with more than 120 million US dollars.

In the world of sports, only golfer Tiger Woods, F1 driver Michael Schumacher, soccer star David Beckham and current NBA player Woo Lee earn more than the rookie at the moment.

As the fifth-highest-paid athlete in the world, James' commercial success naturally depends on the help of the Goodwin brothers.

The cooperation between the two sides can be said to have just begun, and James' decision came as a shock to the Goodwin brothers.

"Enter the playoffs, cut the agent first", the decision of the chosen son was beyond everyone's expectations.

As soon as the news was released, ESPN interviewed Aaron Goodwin for the first time, the well-known agent is still in Cleveland, and his mood has stabilized during the interview:

"I'm shocked by what's happening!"

"We've done everything for LeBron to help him build his image off the field and make him the next icon in sports."

As if not wanting to talk too much, Goodwin pondered for a moment before continuing:

"If what we've done in the last two years has convinced him that he doesn't need an agent anymore, then I think we're doing a pretty good job."

Goodwin, who was interviewed until the start of the evening's game, did not mention the reason for his fire, and LeBron James also kept silent about it.

The people who eat melons have all kinds of speculations for a while, and the popularity of the news has risen rapidly.

At 19:30 that night, half an hour before the start of the game, Michaels also began to gossip about the newly released news on the ABC commentary seat:

"There is no doubt that after entering the league, with the help of agent Goodwin, LeBron James is a success!"

"Hefty endorsement contracts, great coaching staff, talented squads."

"With the support of his hometown fans, James is back in the playoffs this season, does he have a chance to replicate Lee's experience and lead the team to a championship for the second year of his career?"

In the second year of Lee's career, the Knicks defeated the Bulls, ending Michael Jordan's second three-game winning streak.

LeBron James seems to have gotten the same script, with explosive stats, a stellar team record, and the defending champions.

As long as he can beat the Knicks, the Chosen One has a good chance of surpassing Lee Woo in popularity.

In the past few days, football critics have been discussing the possibility of the Cavaliers counterattacking the Knicks, but Hubby Brown is not Barkley's big mouth, and the veteran coach still said truthfully:

"It's hard for LeBron to replicate Lee's experience, when Ewing, the Knicks, was able to hold up the interior defense, and it was a well-balanced team."

"Lee's shooting makes up for the team's offensive shortcomings, and the Cavaliers' offensive space is not a small problem at the moment."

"They were excellent defensively, but they didn't make more than 13 shots from beyond the three-point line during the regular season."

"If I'm not mistaken, during the regular season, Lee averaged 9.5 attempts per game from beyond the three-point line."

"Lee's three-point shot production alone surpassed the entire Cavaliers team, this statistic is terrible!"

"The margin is around 10 points, and the Knicks can even rely on Lee's individual ability to close the margin in a very short period of time, modern basketball has changed, and it is difficult to compete with the defending champions on defense alone."

Hubby Brown spoke unquickly and gave his opinion with a serious expression, and Michaels nodded, changed the subject and continued:

"The fifth MVP trophy of his career, Lee equaled the record set by Michael Jordan at the age of 27."

"This is really an incredible performance, I believe that Lee will surpass Abdul-Jabbar, he is too young, and it is conservatively estimated that Lee will still be a strong contender for MVP in the next five years!"

Hubby Brown seemed to remember another record from Abdul-Jabbar, adding:

"If he stays healthy, Lee should become the all-time leading scorer."

So far in his career, he has scored 19,908 points, and next season, Lee will become the youngest Mr. 20,000 points in NBA history.

The two of them blew violently on the commentary seat, there were too many small records, and the playoffs cloud fans in front of the TV were thrilled to hear it, and Li You was a walking humanoid record.

At the Madison Square Garden Arena, New York fans were particularly excited tonight, and everyone had no opinion on Li You's loan.

The home team's appearance ceremony ignited the atmosphere of the scene, and as the lights of the stadium were extinguished, waves of cheers resounded through the stadium.

On the away team's bench, Howard was still smiling and watching the excitement, and he was very happy to be able to enter the Eastern Conference semifinals.

LeBron James, who had already taken off his training uniform and was straightening the red hairband on his head, didn't show much emotion.

Just looking at the two people in the spotlight in the center of the field, James still showed an envious expression.

Unlike Cleveland, New York has a very large fan base because of the championship, and when the Cavaliers fans are still hungry for the championship, this side has already won hemp.

James experienced the very different basketball vibes in the two cities and understood why so many teams didn't like to play in the playoffs in New York.

The city ignored the "small role", and after the Lakers broke up, they even shouted that no one was the opponent of the Knicks anymore, until injuries and accidents occurred this season.

In the noisy arena, David Stern stood in the middle of the field, looked at Li You beside him, and said with a smile:

"Entered the 180 club for 5 consecutive seasons, the first 35+5+10 player in NBA history!"

"Hit 361 three-pointers in a single season and set a new efficiency record."

"It's hard to tell in detail about Lee's impact on the competition, but it's good that we still have this award."

Taking the trophy from the staff, David Sturt paused and continued:

"Congratulations to Lee, the Most Valuable Player of the 2004~05 regular season, the fifth trophy of his career, let us wish the youngest Mr. 20,000 points in NBA history!"

Hearing David Stern's early loan, Li You also laughed, and after receiving the trophy, the president next to him hugged and greeted:

"Thank you for your blessings, I will reach this record as soon as possible in the new season!"

Seeing Li You lifting the trophy, soon a huge shout sounded in the stadium:

“MVP！ MVP！ MVP！ ”

On the Cavaliers bench, Charlie Ward heard Lee Yoo start thanking the fans, and his heart was not good for a while.

After following his mentor to Cleveland, with the arrival of Eric Snow, Charlie Ward's playing time has been compressed again, and he has now been reduced to a member of the atmosphere group.

While James Dolan and Li You were taking pictures, Van Gundy told the team again:

"Cut down on those stupid turnovers, we can miss, but we have to avoid low-level mistakes to make it easy for the other team to score."

"Believe in your talent, take every opportunity to switch attacks, McGinnis, pay attention to the pace of the game and take care of the big guys."

McGinnis and James partnered in the backcourt tonight, and when they heard the coach's advice, they hurriedly nodded seriously.

The starting front three are still Ira Newbell, Dwight Howard, and Ilgoskas.

As the crowd gathered around Van Gundy, listening carefully to the head coach's setup and the assistant coach's reminders, James was full of motivation and convinced that he was the protagonist.

The players on both sides had a final warm-up, and soon the referee signaled everyone to come to the center of the field, and the DJ began to shout:

“Let's go Knicks！.”

In the cheers, Li You and the Cavaliers briefly bumped fists and returned to the half court to wait for the ball.

Ilgoskas may have been a little nervous and jumped too early, and Gasol took the opportunity to pull the ball into the half.

In the first offensive round, after Lee Youyun passed half court, everyone on the Knicks team had already settled early.

The Cavaliers were clearly prepared, with McGinnis leading the defense and Howard tangling with Kurt Thomas at the free-throw line at the back.

James and Newbell, meanwhile, flanked on the left and right flanks, watching the line and cutting off passes.

At the bottom right of the basket, Ilgoskas huddles next to Gasol.

131 was in place to protect the area defense of the penalty area, Li You stopped, saw the opponent's defensive position, and knew that Van Gundy wanted to control the paint area and properly test the outside projection.

LeBron James's athleticism is not in doubt, Li You did not have a hard pass, waved his hand to Prince first, and motioned for the opponent to go to the bottom right corner to open up the offensive space.

While protecting the ball sideways, Lee Woo beckoned Kurt Thomas to come to the outside of the three-point line to respond.

When the command was in place, the offense was a little stalled, and on the commentary bench, Hubby Brown saw the Cavaliers' defense and praised with a smile:

"In the first round, the Cavaliers won by rebounding to the Bulls, and they did a great job defending the paint.

At the top of the arc, Lee Yo was still sideways to protect the ball, until Prince slipped from right to left and came to the left near the baseline to stand for a time, then beckoned Raja Bale to pick up and hand over the ball.

When Lee Yoo sent a pass and ran to the bottom right corner, the Cavaliers' defense immediately turned into a 32-in-1 defense.

Howard near the free-throw line moved up, McGinnis ran to the bottom corner, and Newbell followed Prince to the line while beckoning Howard to drop off on the other side.

Raga Bale received the pass and immediately gave the ball to Kurt Thomas at the top of the arc.

Prince moved to the free-throw line after completing the off-ball screen, and when receiving the ball, noticing that Howard was not in place in time, he immediately turned and flung the ball to the left wing.

Lee, who also sensed a hole in the opponent's defense, used Gasol's cover on the bottom right of the basket to accelerate the outside of the game.

Prince sent in a cross pass to the right flank, and when he received the ball, Irgoska on the inside and Howard at the top of the arc knew they had made a mistake and tried to save too late.

Raising the ball and shaking, Li You caught the ball in the frame, and the out-of-position Howard did pounce from the side, but the newcomer realized that he had been deceived when he flew into the air.

Li You put the ball with his left hand and moved a step sideways, Howard just landed, grasped the time difference, and made an easy jump shot!

"Huh!" Three-pointers hollow into the net.

Hubby Brown was still praising his opponent just now, and immediately changed his tone:

"Textbook dismantling tactics, it seems that the Knicks are also prepared."

Michaels saw that the Knicks were also in position around the paint after returning to defense, and then added:

"It looks like both sides are going to test each other's outside shots tonight."

“Defense！.”

In the first round, Li You scored easily, which made the New York fans at the scene enthusiastic, and after sitting in their seats, the defensive cheers became louder and louder.

McGinnis saw such a zone defense, and his head was big and he gave the ball to James early on the left wing.

When the latter received the ball, McGinnis ran to the right wing with Li You, and Newbell stopped early in the bottom right corner to open up space.

Because Howard's shooting is really bad, the Cavaliers' pick-and-roll offense is mainly in charge of Ilgoskas.

On the right side, near the baseline, Ilgoskas came to the three-point line early.

Lee woo waved his hand at Prince in the bottom right corner, who immediately moved closer to the paint area, ready to help the defense.

Gasol, who was following the defense, accelerated and retreated when the two launched a block.

With the ball in his left hand, James observed Gasol's movements, got rid of Raja Bale with the help of cover, and after completely attracting the defense, he broke through to the left blocking area and quickly passed the ball to his teammates.

The timing of the pass was perfect, and Raga Bale didn't have time to turn around to help the defense, and Prince pounced upwards while keeping an eye on his opponent's passing path.

With his height advantage, Ilgoskas, who received the ball in the left elbow area, ignored the block and made a solid jump shot.

Van Gundy, who was on the sidelines, was very satisfied with the attack, and gave his players a high-five and called for the players to retreat.

After rushing through the halfcourt, Lee You, who received the ball from the baseline, noticed that the Cavaliers continued the defensive strategy of the previous round, continued to deploy the defense near the free throw line, and quickly gave the ball to Prince on the right wing.

After receiving the ball, Prince gave the ball to Gasol, who was low on the right side and had his back to the ball.

The moment the latter received the ball, James immediately assisted the defense to cut off the passing route near the baseline on the left side.

The Cavaliers switched defensive formations, and Howard also began to move towards the paint to prevent Gasol from throwing the ball into the hands of Raga Bell, who was open on the right wing.

Lee Woo accelerated to the left flank, and Prince took cover and ran to the top of the arc.

Taking advantage of the gap in coverage, Gasol again returned the ball to Lee Yoo on the right flank.

After receiving the ball, he immediately released the ball with his right hand, and Li You broke through in steps, taking advantage of the switch of defense Newbell to slide to the left back, and wrapped the ball behind his back as he went.

Li Youshen, who switched to the left hand, accelerated with his shoulder, and the moment he approached the paint area, several members of the Cavaliers immediately shrank to the basket.

Howard and James tried to close the fence in the paint, and the cleared Raja Bell ran to the bottom right corner.

Lee's pass in the paint area found his teammate with precision, and Kurt Thomas took advantage of the situation to provide a blank screen for Raga Bale.

James tried to make a save, but was delayed, and finally watched Raja Bale make a jumper in the bottom corner on the right side.

In the opening game, Van Gundy hit consecutive three-pointers, and Van Gundy on the sidelines loudly reminded the players to hold steady.

After McGinnis dribbled past half court, he faced the Knicks' shrinking defense and gave the ball early to Newbell, who was back to the ball in the right blocking area.

Immediately after handing the ball, he ran to the right wing to open up space, McGinnis waited to receive the ball, and Ilgoskas also moved to the free throw line.

Taking advantage of his weight, Newbell received the ball with his left hand and continued to play it, taking advantage of Prince's backward step, and immediately turned to the baseline direction.

Ignoring Prince's block, Newbell drifted to the right rear and hit a jumper.

Howard struggled to get into the bottom left of the basket, but the basketball hit the front.

Prince turned around to collect the rebound after landing on the ground, and the Cavaliers did not delay, but echoed each other to quickly retreat.

Li You, who received the ball, chased the opponent's butt and rushed through the halfcourt, and without waiting for the Cavaliers to complete the alignment, the top position of the arc immediately launched a block with Gasol, who stopped.

After slowing down, he suddenly made a sudden stop, and Li You, who was holding the ball in his right hand, dribbled behind his back and moved sideways.

McGinnis struggled to squeeze through after being delayed, and Ilgoskas saw Li You dodge the defensive three-point line to raise his center of gravity, and subconsciously moved to delay.

When the two were about to close in, Lee Woo suddenly pushed the ball and changed direction, and McGinnis just chased after the defense, but lost the defensive position again.

With a solid cover, Lee You, who re-fished the ball with his right hand, squeezed past Ilgoskas and went straight to the basket in the middle.

Howard at the bottom left of the basket had just retreated and had not yet gained a foothold, and he had no time to help defend at all, watching Li You rush up in three strides and then hold the ball with his right hand, grab ahead of the retreating Ilgoskas, and throw the ball to the basket.

The curled shot flew just past Ilgoskas' left arm and crashed into the basket to the cheers of the fans.

At 2:8, shouts resounded through the arena, and Van Gundy reminded the players to hold their feet again.

Suddenly switching to a man-to-man defense, Lee Woo led the defense and delayed McGinnis's advancement.

Seeing the change in defensive formation, James beckoned Newbell to move cross-cutting to the line, and he accelerated to the bottom right corner and slipped across the baseline from right to left.

When Newbell came to the right wing, Howard's off-ball cover on the left side near the baseline allowed James to temporarily escape the pursuit of Raga Bell.

On the left side, James failed to receive the pass at the first time and had to move laterally again.

McGinnis was interfered with by Lee You, and when the card failed, he immediately turned around to change to his right hand and sent the ball to James, who was close to the free throw line.

When the latter received the ball, Raja Bale had already chased the defense, and James released the ball with his right hand and broke through the defensive middle.

At the moment when the Knicks' defense contracted, James, who came to the front of the basket, pushed past Raja Bell and threw it with his right hand with one hand.

On the commentary bench, Michaels saw James crash into Raga Bell, and immediately said with a smile:

'Maybe manager D'Antoni will miss Artest and Hill at this point.'

"The Cavaliers are very strong on the flank, and obviously Coach Van Gundy intends to respond in the paint zone."

McGinnis, who retreated, echoed loudly, and at the top of the arc, Li You and Gasol launched a block and moved the ball laterally with their left hand, which was quickly assisted by James.

Out early, Raga Bale received the ball in the bottom left corner, Howard rotated in time, pounced on the first time, and James immediately returned to the defense.

The basketball returned to the outside of the three-point line, Li You stayed away from the basket to catch the ball, re-threw the ball to Gasol near the free throw line, shook his body to the left and ran backwards to cut in.

Ilgoskas' defensive attention was attracted by Li You, and he couldn't pay attention and could only watch Gasol throw the ball to the top right of the basket.

When the ball arrived, Li You, who jumped high, stretched out his right arm when he came to the air, grabbed the ball steadily, hovered for a short time, and smashed the ball into the basket!

“Wow！”

The cheers resumed, and McGinnis, who chased down the basket, was a little helpless, and the opponent's offense was more patient than they thought.

The Cavaliers' offense was simple and rough, and it was James on the right wing and Ilgoskas blocking again.

Raga Bale bypassed, Gasol retreated to the defense, and with the ball in his right hand, James forced the basket to attract the bag back to Sen and pass to his teammate who followed up in the middle.

Ilgoskas made a layup, and the Cavaliers continued to respond.

As the match progressed, both sides showed extremely high shooting percentages.

Relying on his physical advantage, James can always squeeze into the paint area, or force the basket, or attract the defense to give the ball to the inside.

This time, Howard ate the cake at the bottom right of the basket and scored in the semifinals for the first time in his career.

Looking back, Howard and James failed to cooperate, and after the double cover on the line, Li You, who was holding the ball in his right hand, came to the right wing to get rid of the defense and burst to the basket.

James failed to shrink in time, and Howard couldn't draw under the basket, so he had no choice but to pull the foul and send Li You a free throw.

The Cavaliers attacked, with a simple block on the left wing, and McGinnis assisted on Ilgoskas' long two-point jumper.

Quickly serve the baseline ball, hit the double cover on the line again, and Li You, who moved sideways with the ball in his left hand, suffered a big delay from Howard.

Without waiting for McGinnis, who was chasing behind him, to complete the bag, Li You forcibly accelerated during the march, snatched half of his body from Howard's side, leaned over to accelerate and sent a through ball.

Straight up Kurt Thomas's two-handed dunk helped the Knicks continue to score points.

The Cavaliers continued to pass the ball, James and Ilgoskas failed to block and pick, Raga Bale squeezed through, and Gasol completed the pinch shot.

Ilgoskas, who received the ball at the top of the arc, could only complete the hand-to-hand exchange with McGinnis again and reorganize the attack.

Shortly before 24 seconds, McGinnis hit a jumper from beyond the three-point line, and the poor offensive selection allowed Lee to pick up a long rebound, and Newbell immediately drew a tactical foul.

Positional attack, Li You's breakthrough on the right flank again attracted the bag, and Prince hit a jumper in the bottom right corner.

Unable to play a transition offense, James took a hand-to-hand pass from Ilgoskas and missed a jumper from the free throw line.

In the semi-conversion attack, Li You, who was led by the defense, came to the left flank and immediately gave the ball to Gasol, who was back to the ball in the blocking area.

As Li You cut to the basket without the ball, once again attracting the attention of the opponent's defense, Gasol, who turned to attack with the frame, suddenly put the ball with his right hand.

The upper line broke through and dribbled two big strides, quickly turned to the direction of the baseline, and while switching to the left hand, Gasol came to the bottom left of the basket to hit the board and put the basket to win.

The game went smoothly, James once again responded with a strong basket, and it was difficult for the Knicks to widen the difference for a while.

Apart from the official timeout, the coaching staff of both sides let the game develop and did not ask for a timeout.

The Cavaliers, who have played chicken blood, keep delaying and don't give Lee You a chance to attack easily from beyond the three-point line.

The Knicks were getting smaller and smaller, and James had to start jumping shots to help stabilize the team.

With 1:42 left in the first quarter, Ilgoskas dropped the ball and the Cavaliers missed for the first time.

Gasol, who completed the steal, strode across the half court with a meteor dribble.

"Oh!"

Amid the exclamations of the fans, Gasol dodribbled behind his back to dodge McGinnis, who was trying to make a steal.

Rushing across the halfway line, Gasol, who held the ball in his left hand, took advantage of the situation to give the ball to Li You on the left flank.

McGinnis was too late to make a pounce, so he watched Li You stop and switch to a jumper shot from outside the three-point line in the middle of the offense!

"Huh!" Three-pointers hollow into the net.

At 19:26, the difference came to 7 points.

Both sides went into free throws, and Howard, who was scrambling for rebounds, drew a foul from Kurt Thomas and went to the free throw line.

Unexpectedly hit both free throws, and watching the margin narrowed again, Hubby Brown commented with a smile:

"Van Gundy was probably the coach who knew Lee the best in the league, and apart from a few rounds of leaky defense, the Cavaliers played very well in the first quarter."

Michaels was also surprised that LeBron and Ilgoskas were both on a jumper shot, which also surprised him:

"It looks like this game is going to be a tug-of-war, and if LeBron can continue his offensive form, I believe the Cavaliers have a chance to get an away win."

The Knicks rotated, with Lee Yo being replaced by Fisher and the Cavaliers replacing Howard, who had two fouls, with Gooden.

Back on the bench, Lee Woo had just sat in his seat when he saw the Cavaliers change their defensive strategy to man marking, no longer delaying the pack.

Van Gundy and Thibodeau did tune the Cavaliers' defense well, and Ewing on the side also sighed in a low voice:

"It looks like they've moved the Knicks' defensive strategy from the past to the Cavaliers."

"We used to dunk in the block, but now they're covering you on two wings outside the three-point line."

Hearing Ewing's whisper, Li You just raised his eyebrows and said indifferently:

"They're going to be the first to make mistakes, and all we have to do is be patient."

Newbell and Prince made free throws, saw James arc top single, just one step past the three-point line, suddenly stopped, and the jump shot went in again, and there were boos for a while.

In the final moments, Gasol caused a foul on Gooden under the basket, and Van Gundy on the sidelines clapped his hands with some regret.

At 25:31, the first quarter ended, and the Knicks lost their previous fast-paced offense and only led by 6 points.

Lee Woo was 5-of-7, 2-of-3 from beyond the three-point line, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line to finish with 14 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists.

James was 5-of-7 from the field and shot from inside to outside to score 10 points.

On the commentary seat, after seeing the technical statistics, Hubby Brown couldn't help but sigh again:

"Worthy of being a champion coach, Coach Van Gundy seems to have found the key to winning!"

“.”

(End of chapter)