Golden State, is the abbreviation for California.

Yes, that's right, Golden State doesn't specifically refer to San Francisco, because the Warriors' home stadium is in Oakland, not San Francisco, and it seems uncompelling to call the Oakland Warriors, so they directly use the abbreviation of the state where it is located as a prefix.

The Golden State that Winderhorst is talking about here naturally refers to the Warriors.

This option made James's eyes shine again, and he completely ignored this possibility.

The Warriors' starting small forward Harrison Barnes' rookie contract expires in the summer, and the Warriors can sign any superstar because of Curry's child labor contract and the skyrocketing salary cap in the summer.

And Curry is much easier to handle than Durant, the other party entered the league 6 years later than him, and in terms of seniority, it is not too much to call him Uncle James.

So it's really a perfect option to rival and Durant to go to Los Angeles.

James finally smiled.

Who says that loyal people must only be foolish at critical moments? This didn't make him instantly open his mind and suddenly open up.

He got up from his bed, and Windhorst hurried over to help him.

He reached out and patted Windhorst on the shoulder, then called his hairdresser and asked them to come and fix his hair and beard.

Now that a new retreat has been found, there is no reason to stagnate.

And this year, the Bulls are out for the Ross season, and the Cavaliers may not be the Bulls' opponent in the playoffs.

He is now sick and wants to let go of his hands and feet and fight with the Bulls.

……

March 1 is the league's buyout deadline, and there are several players to watch in the buyout market this year.

The hottest is Joe Johnson of the Nets.

The 34-year-old Johnson is still a starter for the Nets, but his average points per game (11.5 points) and shooting percentage (40.6%) are both new lows since the 03~04 season.

However, the good thing is that he does not have any major injuries, and he is not bought out, but actively buys out to join the championship team.

Another one worth paying attention to is [actor] Vallejo.

When the Cavaliers traded to LeFou, plus Tristan Thompson on the bench, he was waived by the Cavaliers because of salary.

He then joined the Wizards on a two-year contract, but played only 26 games last season due to injury and has only played 31 games so far this season, and the Wizards are also looking to buy him.

Then there is David Lee, Lee was traded to the Celtics and did not get many opportunities, and his condition is relatively average, although the Celtics have a good chance of making the playoffs this season, but he is only 32 years old, and he is likely to seek a buyout.

In addition, Chris Humphries, who once had a 72-day wedding to Kim Kardashian, Ty Lawson, a drinking enthusiast, Kevin Martin, the porcelain ancestor of Jingdezhen, Josh Smith, a full moon scimitar, and so on.

The day after the buyout deadline, when Xu Yong went to the locker room, he saw that Aldridge's position had been vacated.

"He was bought out." Hinrich explained.

Xu Yong nodded, counting Aldridge to the Bulls for less than ten days, and it seems that he has not played yet, role players do not have much status and voice in the NBA.

However, it is expected that he was bought out, because he was not the person the Bulls wanted, and although Jokic played well off the bench, he was immature after all, and there were many players in the buyout market this year, but I don't know who the Bulls will want in the end.

Just thinking about it, Ma Long had already brought in new reinforcements.

It seems that Foreman's side has been ready to make a move for a long time, but it just happened to be at this point in time.

It's just that the people who came in didn't expect Xu Yong at all.

It turned out to be Vallejo.

After a player buyout, it is natural that there will be some hot next home, such as Joe Johnson's hot next home is the Heat.

Bosh hasn't played since a calf strain before the All-Star break, and while the Heat haven't officially announced it, there are already rumors that his injury was caused by a blood clot metastasis, and this recurrence could mean the end of the Dragons' career.

In this case, the remedy that the Heat can do is to sign Joe to supplement the scoring points, and the Heat can not only provide Johnson with the playing time he needs, but even provide starters.

Another example is Vallejo, Vallejo partnered with James as soon as he entered the league, and then James left and he still stayed with the Cavaliers, and he has been in Cleveland for 10 of the 11 seasons in his career.

Now that he's bought out the contract and James is back with the Cavaliers, he's theoretically going to go too.

As a result, who would have thought?

He actually ran to the bull, and now the bull and the knight are still rivals.

Vallejo didn't go directly to his wardrobe after he came in, he talked hard to Malone for a while, and then after letting Malone get busy, he turned his head and greeted Xu Yong and Butler one by one, and finally chatted with Stephenson on the side when he went to the closet to put things.

Xu Yong's impression of Vallejo is basically stuck on his injury and the [actor] he got because of offensive fouls, and now it seems that this guy is still a courtesan.

And then he thought of another thing, that is, if he met the Cavaliers in the playoffs, James didn't know what kind of mood he felt when he saw Vallejo, and there was a high probability that he would feel like he was stabbed in the back?

At that time, if Valejo had been on the pitch, the story on the pitch would have been interesting.

……

It's early April, and after more than a month of competition, the season has come to an end.

Although the Bulls' record has dropped from last season, they still occupy the top spot in the East, and it is not a big problem to win 65+ games under normal circumstances.

Another one to watch is the Warriors in the West.

The Warriors' development is not the same history that Xu Yong knows, but it is similar to what he has analyzed before.

After Green's suspension made it difficult to hit the regular season all-time record, the Warriors gave up on that idea early.

Although they are not so exaggerated in terms of results, the team is in good shape.

This also means that they did not spend too much in the regular season, which makes Xu Yong curious about how this Warriors team can perform in the playoffs.

Finally, there's the Lakers.

Bryant had a big season tour, and now the Lakers still have hope of making the playoffs.

This is also unexpected by Xu Yong, because he remembers that the Lakers did not make the playoffs this season in the history of the Lakers, and it can only be said that the management traded Gasol and Reggie Jackson, and the move to sign back Ariza still helped the team, and even Okafor played well under Kobe's adjustment.

And what's even more interesting is that the Bulls play the Lakers at home in the season opener, and the regular season curtain call is an away game against the Lakers.

So even at the end of the season, the attention of fans is full at this stage.

On April 14, the Bulls arrived in Los Angeles for the final game of the season against the Lakers.

The Lakers are battling the Pelicans for the final playoff spot at this point, and they have to win this game to stand a chance.

However, as early as the plane to Los Angeles, Thibodeau had already announced that Xu Yong, Butler and Adams Audio-Technica would not play tonight's game.

This kind of operation is not uncommon at the end of the season, because the ranking has been determined, and the opponent is in the playoffs.

Of course, there is another point, how many fans are now expecting the Lakers to make the playoffs, and Thibodeau does not need to fight them at this time.

Therefore, Xu Yong is also a rare person to wear a suit to watch the game on the sidelines this season.

Although he didn't play, when he sat on the sidelines, he could still feel the difference at Staples Center tonight.

He saw the ace duo of Barkley, O'Neal and Kenny Smith in the live commentary box.

There is also a domestic commentary seat, and Director Zhang, who has not been seen for a long time, also came to the scene.

Including the enthusiasm of the fans at the scene is also unprecedentedly high, if the Lakers lose this game, it will be the curtain call of Kobe's career.

This was on full display at the opening ceremony before the game.

"Now, 18 NBA All-Stars, 4 All-Star Game MVPs, 5 NBA Championships, 2 NBA Finals MVPs, 2007~2008 Season Regular Season MVPs, from Raul Merrion High School to the NBA, let's welcome, 6 feet 6 inches, our forever Black Mamba, No. 24, Kobe Bryant ~ Bryant!!"

When Bryant finally appeared on the court, the cheers were deafening, as if the entire arena was shaking.

From the large LED screen overhead, Xu Yong saw Kobe's serious expression.

Unlike in history, Kobe Bryant's curtain call in history has no pressure on the record at all, but tonight, he needs to bring the team into the playoffs, so Xu Yong doesn't know how he can perform.

But from Kobe's expression, it can be seen that he will definitely give it his all.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were released one after another.

Bulls: Stephenson, Justin Holiday , Ennis, West, Jokic;

Lakers: Reggie Jackson, Kobe, Ariza, Gasol, Okafor.

With the cheers of the fans, Jokic turned the ball back into the Bulls half, and the game officially began.

After Stephenson advanced to the frontcourt, he handed the ball directly to Jokic outside the three-point line at the top of the arc, and Jokic was organizing with the ball.

It's true that Thibodeau wants to be the Lakers, but it's also true that he's working on young players.

Okafor's defensive position was relatively backward, and Jokic raised his hand to throw it when he saw it outside the back three-point line, and his hand fell with a knife.

Xu Yong's eyes were on Kobe Bryant after the opening, but at this time, he couldn't help but look at Jokic and saw the determined look on his face.

Speaking of which, this is Jokic's first start in his rookie career, and he is obviously holding back his energy.

The same is true of Holiday as well.

Looking at the situation of NBA role players from what happened to White Ade, although Holiday stayed on the Bulls' squad, he rarely had the opportunity to play before, that is, Foye was barely squeezed into the end of the rotation after being traded, and now he has a hard-won starting opportunity to cherish naturally.

So when he retreated to the defensive end, he defended Kobe Bryant, and Kobe was very difficult to catch the ball by him.

Jackson didn't make a break, and Jokic picked up the defensive rebound and threw it directly to Stephenson, who used his body to knock Ariza away and put the ball in the basket on the fast break.

In retrospect, Bryant still couldn't catch the ball, and Gasol himself hit a shot from the free throw line from mid-range.

Jokic picked up Okafor from the three-point line, broke to the free throw line to attract a pinch and stuffed the ball to Holiday who cut to the baseline, who scored with both hands.

7 to 2.

The Bulls started the game.

Will the Bulls lose to the Lakers if they let three main players?

It's not necessarily true, it's not uncommon in history to let the main team win the opponent's game, because like Holiday and Jokic showed them, this may be the only chance for them to start, or the only chance for others to play, they won't play with you.

The pressure came to the Lakers' side, and Kobe Bryant came directly to the three-point line to hold the ball, and then signaled to pull away to play alone.

Now the fans at the Staples Center began to boil.

Kobe Bryant's performance this season is actually not good, playing the opening game of the Bulls is already one of his few highlights of the season, he played 66 games throughout the season, averaging only 19.5 points per game, shooting 35.8% from the field and 28.5% from three-point range.

And it's rare for him to attack so strongly with the ball in the game, and even less so early to start holding the ball.

Tonight he felt very different.

After his teammates pulled away, Bryant attacked, he changed his direction to the left, and then dribbled with his left hand to break inside.

His dominant hand is his right hand, which is his non-dominant hand, but he is also very capable of doing left-handed kills in the past.

This unconventional approach was starting to work, but after all, he was old, and after breaking through to the basket, he still didn't completely shake off Holiday and could only increase the angle of the shot when he finally shot.

So when the ball is shot, the basketball is like going straight up and down.

But miraculously, the ball went in!

And that's just the beginning.

In the next few rounds, Bryant did it separately: a three-point shot in the right corner to receive a pass from Jackson; 3-pointer at a 45-degree angle on the right side; Cut in along the right baseline to receive Gasol's pass, and scored a trademark backhand layup for 2+1, and finally, he even shook off Holiday and scored a two-handed dunk inside.

In just a few minutes, Bryant scored 13 points in a row.

Xu Yong, who watched all this happen on the bench, had an indescribable magical feeling.

Before he was reborn, he missed the live broadcast of this game because of other things, so that he didn't watch the video later, which is a small pity.

Unexpectedly, after being reborn, he not only had the opportunity to make up for this little regret, but also sat in the VIP seat on the spot, and the sense of impact was very intuitive and strong.

Kobe Bryant should not have entered the white-hot space, because his current ability should not be able to enter, and it can be seen from the parabola of the ball after he shot, the degree of loss of balance in his body after shooting, and even his ability to get rid of it.

So it's an amazing feeling, after all, Holiday gave defensive intensity from the start, and even the ball that dangled, the Bulls went on the help defense, and it was Kobe Bryant who broke through the defense with his trademark turn.

However, the Bulls didn't stop there, Holiday couldn't guard Kobe, but the Lakers didn't stop Jokic either.

Although Okafor's defensive habits have improved over the course of the season, he has obviously not been able to stop Jokic.

In such a game, the Serbian guy used his top ball quotient and hand work to revitalize the Bulls' offense.

Xu Yong was very relieved when he saw it.

Although Thibodeau has used Jokic, he is still far from being reused, and after entering the rotation, he only averages about 15 minutes per game.

Including the signing of Vallejo by the team this time, he is also the person he wants after communicating with Foreman.

In fact, it is not to blame Thibodeau, a defensive coach, it is indeed difficult to look down on a player like Jokic who is strong in offense and weak in defense, especially an interior center, the center is the last and most critical barrier for the team's defense.

But Jokic is only a rookie after all, and there is room for defensive improvement like the opposite Okafor, and more importantly, he can not have stage fright in such a focus and fully show his ability on the offensive end, which may impress Thibodeau.

The two sides were deadlocked in the first quarter, but in the second quarter, the Lakers began to fall behind, because Bryant fell in physical strength under Holiday and his hand dropped significantly.

Here is a drawback to the Lakers' strategy tonight, maybe Kobe Bryant felt good in the first quarter, or maybe tonight may be Kobe's retirement curtain call, basically looking for Kobe Bryant every round.

So Kobe Bryant scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the first quarter, but only scored 6 points on 3-of-12 shooting in the second quarter and 22 points on 9-of-22 shooting in the half.

At halftime, the Bulls also led the Lakers by as many as 12 points, 54-42.

The trend of this game is very similar to the season opener, where Bryant played a good game, but only played a good game.

At halftime, Xu Yong got up and high-fived Jokic, and then pulled Holiday to say words of encouragement.

Holiday hasn't had much of a chance in three years with the Bulls, but tonight he deserves credit for his first-half performance.

No stage fright is an important factor in whether a player can play well, and Holiday proved one thing: the Holiday family does not raise idlers.

As for the outcome or defeat, Xu Yong knew that Kobe Bryant wanted to win, but if the main force didn't play, he would let the substitute win, and Kobe didn't want it.

Half-time came back and the game continued.

Kobe Bryant is still the main offense of the Lakers, but he shot a three-point three-point no-stick as soon as he came up, causing a stirring on the scene.

But just when Xu Yong felt that Kobe Bryant was going to stop there, Kobe suddenly began to explode again.

He walked at that not-so-fast pace, as if chasing his younger self, and continued to hit the inside line, scoring with pull-up layups and turnaround layups.

After Holiday was jealous of his breakthrough and the defense stepped back half a step, he hit two more three-pointers in a row from the outside.

This puts the Staples Center in a boil again.

Xu Yong couldn't help but reach out and applaud Kobe.

Maybe the three non-sticks just now awakened the memory in the depths of Kobe's mind.

The two sides were tied heading into the fourth quarter.

Bryant scored another 15 points in the third quarter and now has 37 points in the third quarter, which is more than twice as many points per game as he averaged this season.

The two sides were still deadlocked in the fourth quarter, and with 7 minutes left in the game, the two sides changed their main forces and entered the final decisive stage.

This segment became Jokic's performance moment.

He first faked the attack, turned around and crushed Okafor to score under the basket, and then received Stephenson's crotch pass to score 2+1 on Okafor, and then he directly blocked Okafor on the defensive end, and then returned the favor by assisting Stephenson to hit a three-point chase in the fast break.

Okafor is averaging 17.5 points, 7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game this season while shooting 50.8 percent from the field, making him a favorite to be the rookie of the season.

But Jokic's performance in the past few rounds directly blew up Okafor.

Even the photographer on the scene gave Jokic a shot, and the big LED screen also showed Jokic's performance tonight, and he has scored 21 points, which is the most scoring player for the Bulls.

In contrast to his performance, Bryant's offense was inaccurate when he returned.

This is Kobe Bryant's current strength, and his performance can no longer be stable.

By the time the game entered the final three minutes, the score was 94-84 and the Bulls had re-established a double-digit lead.

At this time, Bryant's stats were 17-of-42 shooting, 45 points.

The Lakers were forced to call a timeout, and time was running out for them.

Xu Yong got up directly this time and gave Jokic a big hug, and tonight is destined to be the masterpiece of Jokic's rookie season.

As for Kobe, when he "ruined" Jordan's curtain call on the All-Star game, Jordan was not angry because of this.

For people like them, the greatest respect has always been to give it their all.

"Nikola Jokic, are you going to ruin Kobe's curtain call?" On the commentary seat, O'Neill couldn't help but ask.

Perhaps hearing the voice of this old friend with many grievances, after returning from a timeout, Bryant used a breakaway jump to shake Jokic and Holiday at the same time, and then scored a defensive layup.

Then, on the next round, he broke to the free throw line and forced a mid-range shot against Holiday defense.

His back-to-back scoring sparked the Lakers' morale, and after Jackson made a steal, he passed the ball to Kobe Bryant in the fast break, and Bryant scored again with a side layup and a high toss.

Xu Yong was shocked at this time.

Theoretically, Kobe's age and ability at this period can't support him to attack so much throughout the game, you must know that Kobe has now shot more than 40 balls, and he only shot 46 times in the game when he scored 81 points, and it is now at the end of the fourth quarter.

But Bryant's performance continued.

He dribbled across half court and played "Kobe!" in the full court. Bryant! He took advantage of Gasol's cover and then suddenly accelerated through between the two defenders, into the sweet spot on the right elbow, and hit the mid-range dry shot against Ennis, who was helping the defense.

He returned from a timeout and scored eight points on consecutive jumpers, quickly climbing his personal score to 53 points.

By this time, the Lakers had chased the margin to 92-96, and with one minute left in the game, the margin was only four points.

Then the scene that made Xu Yong feel the most incredible, and he couldn't help but get up from the bench appeared.

Kobe Bryant and Gasol did it again, this time he didn't go straight to the basket, but dribbled to the right three-point line, and a stop-and-go shooting feint shook West's center of gravity, followed by a three-point shot.

"Huh!"

The three-pointer goes up and down.

The Staples Center was in complete boiling.

After hitting the three-point shot, Kobe Bryant turned his head and saw Xu Yong who got up, directly reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and then continued to retreat.

Xu Yong couldn't help but smile and shake his head.

He felt like a real god was watching this game tonight, and then gave Kobe a magical touch, and then Kobe Bryant used the skills he had honed step by step for twenty years to complete those finishes.

After the timeout, the Bulls arranged a strong offensive tactic under Jokic's basket, but the Lakers chose to shrink, and Jokic distributed the ball, but Holiday from the outside couldn't hit the three-pointer.

The rebound was taken by Gasol and protected in his arms, and then handed the ball to Kobe Bryant after confirming that the Bulls had given up the grab.

Everyone in the room has already stood up.

Now the Lakers have a chance to make the game, and Kobe Bryant has a chance to take the team to the playoffs in his own retirement season.

Kobe Bryant arrived in the frontcourt, and the cheers of the scene had already sounded.

Because Kobe Bryant has regained his touch, Holiday didn't dare to go too far forward with this ball defense, and Gasol's blocking and dismantling came again.

Bryant followed Gasol's pick-and-roll to the right again.

Holiday tried to squeeze through, but Gasol held him back.

At this moment, there may only be that sentence in his heart: Go and vote for Kobe! Go hit that lore ball, just like you, like we've done time and time again! Go get it done!

Bryant hit high on the right, he came to a sharp stop, and West pounced.

Bryant rode directly against West and shot an arrow from mid-range.

His eyes were full of determination.

West interfered, but couldn't stop Kobe from making the shot.

The fans held their breath.

"Huh!"

When a crisp sound of entering the network was heard, the Staples Center was completely boiling, and the cheers lasted for a long time.

The Bulls called a timeout, and Bryant raised his hands into fists to meet the onslaught of his teammates.

"He did it! And he did it again! O'Neill also shouted excitedly in the commentary seat.

Xu Yong looked at the scene in front of him at this time, and spread his hands helplessly.

It was the first time he had stood up for someone else's performance, and perhaps for the last time: "What can i say? ”

What else could he say?

At this time, the LED screen once again gave Kobe Bryant's play in this game, shooting 22 of 50 and scoring 58 points.

Although there were ups and downs, there was no more perfect performance for a veteran who is about to retire.

And Xu Yong also realized in hindsight that although the opponent has changed, it seems that Kobe Bryant can still score his 60 points as in history.

At the Bulls' final timeout, Thibodeau arranged for Stephenson to play the killer shot.

At this time, no matter how strong the inside line is, no matter how good it is, just like Jokic in the last round, it is too easy to be trapped, so it can only be done on the outside.

Stephenson and Jokic blocked and passed the ball to Jokic, who then returned the ball to Stephenson, and the two have played together since the trade deadline, and they are both players who are willing to share the ball, and they have a good chemistry with each other.

But Stephenson couldn't hit the shot, because the moment he did, Bryant came out of the diagonal side and struggled to interfere with his shot.

The years have left too much in Kobe, he no longer jumps as high and runs as fast, but the only thing that hasn't been taken away is his positivity, both offensive and defensive.

This is also where Kobe Bryant and Jordan are similar, even at the end of his career, it is absolutely impossible to let him defend like everyone else, or sacrifice defense in exchange for offense.

Stephenson ultimately missed the shot, and Gasol grabbed the rebound and quickly handed the ball to Kobe Bryant, as the Bulls had less than 24 seconds left and the Bulls had to choose a tactical foul.

Bryant was sent to the free-throw line.

The scene has already begun to sound the familiar MVP shouts.

And in the face of that shout, Kobe adjusted his breathing and hit the first free throw.

His score came to 59.

The second penalty was also missed.

The scene continued to give Kobe Bryant's statistics for tonight: 22 of 50 shots, 6 of 21 three-point shots, 10 of 11 free throws, 60 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.

Jokic's final three-pointer at the top of the arc also missed the basket, and Gasol took the rebound and threw it directly to Jackson in front of him, and Jackson sealed the victory with a fast-break dunk.

At 101-96, the Lakers finally completed a comeback to defeat the Bulls, and they also managed to enter the playoffs as the eighth place in the West.

At the end of the game, Kobe Bryant's face finally showed a smile.

But what surprised Xu Yongdu was that Kobe, who should have been very tired at this time, stood there steadily and waved to the fans.

He suddenly felt that if there was a game in basketball called [Fairy Tale], then it would be in front of him.

It's Kobe's regular season finale, but it's not his last, and he has his last playoff game in his life.

The result doesn't matter anymore, because to take the Lakers to the playoffs in such a way is already a more perfect ending than history.

(End of chapter)