The Lakers are a team with a tradition of center, from George McCann to Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and now O'Neal, all of whom belong to the super center.

But starting with the Magic, the league has entered the era of guards, one might even say point guards.

From the Magic to the Smiling Assassin, to the Iron Fist King from the 90s to the 00s, they are all point guards, Jordan as a point guard, and his strength is unique, but he has encountered a stronger Iron Fist King and has not ruled the league for long.

And the Lakers have not yet found their new magician, so they have not been able to regain the championship.

Kobe Bryant is a player he loves a lot, and he is very strong, a real top offensive and defensive one, but this is the era of Iron Fist.

He suddenly thought of this year's draft, thought of LeBron James, who was physically stronger than the Iron Fist King, and couldn't help but turn his head and ask Kupchak, who was sitting next to him: "Mitch, that LeBron James of Cleveland, do you think he has the potential to become a second Magician?" ”

Kupchak thought for a moment and said: "The talent is really strong, the scouts have a very good evaluation, the historical level of talent, as a high point guard, he has good vision and passing, if he can cash in on the talent, it is indeed possible to become a second magician." ”

Jerebus asked eagerly, "What do you think of the switch?" ”

Kupchak was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly whispered: "Jerry, the knight has openly chosen him, what do you mean, who to exchange?" ”

Jerebus was silent for a moment and then said, "It's all right." ”

“……”

Kupchak was stunned.

Jerebus said with some confusion: "We can't beat the Iron Fist without a point guard who can match the Iron Fist King." ”

"Point guard?"

Kupchak understands what the boss means, the Lakers can't beat the SuperSonics, and they only lose one position, that is, the No. 1 position, and they can't beat the Iron Fist King.

But can that high school student, who doesn't look young, with the height of a small forward and the tonnage of a power forward, really grow into a point guard comparable to the Iron Fist King?

Physically, he doesn't doubt that LeBron James is stronger than the Iron Fist King, at least in some ways, but technically?

Of course, that's just a high school student, and of course the technical aspect can't be compared to Tekken, there is no comparison at all.

However, these are two people of different generations, and when high school students grow up, the Iron Fist King is afraid that he will retire, and the Lakers will spend a huge price to dismantle the current lineup, or even rebuild it, is it cost-effective?

"Jerry, when he grows up, the Iron Fist King is old, do we want to rebuild?" He asked cautiously.

"Reconstruction?"

Jerebus shook his head helplessly.

What he wants is not to rebuild, but to be able to compete with the Iron Fist King now, because in a few years, or even another year or two, O'Neill will only be afraid that he will not be useful.

He understands that his mind is very chaotic now, and his thoughts are a little too eager for quick success.

This is where the second quarter begins.

Kupchak didn't care about the court and said: "Jerry, that high school kid may not be able to play, looking at the Bulls' selection of Jay Williams, the performance of his rookie season has proven that he can only barely be regarded as a qualified first-round pick, and is not worth a first-round pick at all." ”

"Then how can we win the supersonic and win the Iron Fist?" Jerebus asked anxiously.

"This? Jerry, it's only G1, and it's their home field, we may not lose this time in the West. Kupchak said.

At this time, the situation on the court has changed somewhat, specifically the Lakers' style of play has changed.

The Big Three came on the court together, and then O'Neal and Karl Malone went to the basket together, no longer pulling out the postman as in the first quarter to avoid O'Neal being trapped.

Phil Jackson let it go, no longer caring about the supersonic's bag on O'Neal, he put the postman in the low position, and he didn't believe that the two supersonic inside lines couldn't do the two supersonic inside lines.

On the outside, he let Kobe Bryant attack with the ball, but he had to use the block to get rid of the Iron Fist King first, and then form an internal and external echo with the two interior lines.

It worked well, and after the start of the second quarter, O'Neal and Postman each scored a goal, and O'Neal also caused a foul on Big Ben, which was a two-and-one, and he made a free throw.

Zhou Quan missed a shot under Kobe's defense, and the Lakers pulled back 5 points at once, 25:32, only 7 points behind.

"Look, Jerry, Bryant blocked the Iron Fist shot, and we'll be able to get it back soon." Kupchak said happily.

Jerry West glanced at Kupchak, are you stupid for me, or when I'm a kid? With such an easy way to get it back on the head of the Iron Fist, will we still be swept by supersonic speeds for three years in a row?

On the court, the supersonic offense, Kobe Bryant's pull on Zhou Quan was too obvious, the fans booed, and the referee blew a defensive foul.

McMillan immediately made a substitution and went to the big book.

One of the purposes of using the meat shield tactics is to gain rest time for Big Ben and Cote Thomas, Big Ben and Cote Thomas can both defend against O'Neal, although they can't bear it, but the two of them go together, plus the help defense, the defensive effect is better than the meat shield.

After Big Ben went up, Cott Thomas pulled it out, and Zhou Quan began to break through with the ball. He still broke through by blocking and dismantling, and Kobe Bryant couldn't prevent it.

Zhou Quan shot 3-of-5 in the next five minutes, causing Kobe Bryant and the postman to make up the defense each with a foul, 4-of-4 free throws, scoring 10 points and dishing out 2 assists.

On the defensive end, Kobe Bryant made two more steals and blocked the postman once in the defense.

He led the team to a 14-to-2 attack wave, and at the halfway point of the second quarter, at 27:44, the SuperSonics led by 17 points.

"Mitch, is this what you mean by pulling it back?" Jerebus glared at Kupchak angrily.

Kupchak was embarrassed and said, "Jerry, the Iron Fist King's attack is too inexplicable. ”

"Try to find a way to trade the sign in the knight's hand, you can try."

After a few seasons, Jerry Bass has understood that he can't do the Iron Fist King with the OK combination, O'Neal's weight is too big, and he is old, and there will be no chance in the past two years, the OK combination will be useless, and if you don't want to rebuild, you have to rebuild, it's better to take the initiative.

"OK, I'll contact the knight."

The boss asked again, and Kupchak could only nod.

To trade the Cavaliers' No. 1 pick, with LeBron James's talent, the evaluation and expectations of him from the outside, the trade value is very large, and you can only trade one of the OK combinations.

O'Neal stayed, traded Kobe, and could still play both inside and outside.

Trading O'Neal can form a guard line combination of Kobe + LeBron James, which is also feasible once high school students can play the performance they expect.

However, everything is just an expectation, can high school students really cash in on their talents? Can the Lakers really get a second Magic?

Once the trade goes through, the Lakers won't be able to compete for a championship for the next few seasons.

But if he can really trade, he is also willing, because the OK combination really can't beat the Iron Fist King, or Kobe Bryant really can't beat the Iron Fist King.

On the court, O'Neal then broke out, and the Postman's mid-range shot also began to exert force, chasing the difference to 11 points at the end of the second quarter.

But the game didn't get out of Zhou's control, and the Lakers had one more postman, which wasn't enough to beat him on his home court.

For him, no matter how strong the Lakers' interior line is, as long as he can control the opposing ball-handler while playing his own offense, it is enough to win.

When Kobe Bryant starts to attack with the ball, it means that he can really reap the win.

In the third quarter, the Lakers still relied on the strong advantage of the interior to chase points, but they were never able to narrow the difference to single digits.

The supersonic interior is nothing on the offensive end, but the defensive end is really strong, and although O'Neal and Karl Malone are constantly scoring, they are not playing too efficiently and have a huge physical exertion.

Another reason is that Zhou Quan steals Kobe Bryant 5 times in the third quarter, blocks twice, and grabbed the ball in one of the two blocks, and these 6 successful defenses alone are 12 times in and out.

After three quarters, the Lakers trailed by 14 points.

In the last quarter, the Lakers' two major interior lines had little physical strength left, and Zhou Quan scored 18 points in a single quarter, leading the team to defeat the Lakers of the Big Three in one fell swoop and winning the G1 battle at home.

He scored 66 points, 3 rebounds, 11 assists, 9 steals and 6 blocks, and played his fifth 60+ in the playoffs.

O'Neal scored 35 points, Postman 18 points, Kobe Bryant 13 points, and the Big Three teamed up to score 66 points, the same score as Zhou Quan, but in terms of shooting percentage, Zhou Quan was 56.5%, and the average shooting rate of the Big Three was only 42.4%.

O'Neal shot 58.5 percent from the field, but the Postman only had 38.5 percent and Kobe Bryant had 31.3 percent.

After winning the G1 game, the SuperSonics continued to make a strong effort, winning the G2 game again, and then losing the G3 game away from Los Angeles.

But the SuperSonics still played steadily, won the G4 game, and then returned to the home court to win the G5 game, defeating the Lakers 4-1.

Although the Lakers lost, they were not swept, which can be regarded as an improvement.

In the Eastern finals, the Nets swept the digital team, and the series played more beautifully than the superSonics.

However, in the finals, the Nets were swept by the supersonic again, and the supersonic completed four consecutive championships and won the championship for the seventh time, while Zhou Quan won the eighth championship and won the eighth FMVP.

In the Western Finals and the Finals, Zhou Quan played an average of 54 points and 11.5 assists and 41 points and 16 assists per game.

After winning the championship this time, the Seattle media gave Zhou Quan a new nickname, from the god of point guard to the god of basketball.

Some U.S. media recognize the nickname, but most don't recognize it for some reasons.

For American basketball fans, contrary to the media, most people generally believe that Tekken is enough to be called the god of basketball.

Outside of the United States, the recognition of the god of basketball is universal, and most of the media and almost all basketball fans believe that Tekken is the god of basketball.

After the Finals, the Lakers management contacted the Cavaliers management and asked to trade their No. 1 pick, the chips were delicious, either O'Neal or Kobe, they could choose.

“NO！ O'Neal is old, Kobe Bryant can't beat the Iron Fist King, what are we trading for? We want LeBron, he has infinite possibilities, we want him, we want him. ”

But when the knight boss heard it, he refused, very simply.

On June 28, Zhou Quan's family had already returned to China to prepare for the listing of Jazz.

That night, in the NBA draft, the Cavaliers did not hesitate to draft LeBron Jamme.

Cavaliers owner Gilbert excitedly said in an interview with the media: "We chose the future, I believe LeBron is the future of the NBA, he is the next Magic, maybe even the next Iron Fist King, we believe in his future." For his sake, I didn't even hesitate to refuse the OK combo. ”

His last words were transmitted throughout the United States through the television media, and were also heard by O'Neal and Kobe.

Because of his words, the Lakers almost collapsed because of this, and O'Neal and Kobe Bryant successively took the initiative to ask for a trade from the management.

The Lakers management was in a mess, and owner Jerry Buss personally stepped forward to take the two to their homes and appease them before settling the matter.

This is also why O'Neal and Kobe Bryant don't want to leave the metropolis of Los Angeles, otherwise it is useless to appease them.

On July 2, Gary Payton announced that he would join the Lakers as a free agent with a base salary, and the Lakers made up the Big Four.

And Zhou Quan's family is in the Shanghai Stock Exchange at this time, waiting for Jazz to be listed.

On July 6, Jazz was successfully listed.

Jazz's total share capital is 4.6 billion shares, with 1.5 billion shares in circulation, an issue price of 15.5 yuan, raising 23.25 billion yuan, and the closing price on the issue day reached 27.2 yuan, an increase of almost double, and the total market value reached 125 billion yuan.

After obtaining more than 20 billion funds, Jazz began to increase the crackdown on Starbucks, where Starbucks stores are nearby, there must be Jazz stores, and the price is lower and the quality is better.

Starbucks persisted for two years, with losses of more than billions of yuan, and finally couldn't bear it anymore and began to withdraw from the Chinese market.

In the past two years, Zhou Quan continued to dominate the NBA league, and in 2005, he won four consecutive championships to six consecutive championships, and won ten championships in 12 seasons in his career.

After six consecutive championships and ten championships, even the American media had to recognize the title of the god of basketball.

But Zhou Quan's era in the NBA is not over, after the decline in the strength of the big book, he has remained at the peak for a long time, still relying on his strong personal strength, carrying the supersonic to win the championship for 060708 consecutive years, breaking the 8 consecutive championships of the Lord of the Rings, creating an unprecedented 9 consecutive championships, leading the supersonic to win 12 championships, 13 individual championships, and achieving the dignity of the real basketball god.

From entering the NBA league in 91 to 2008, not counting the two seasons of retirement, Zhou Quan won 13 championships, 11 MVPs, 13 FMVPs, 4 AMVPs, 14 double-first-team teams, 11 scoring champions, 14 assist champions, 14 steal champions, and 5 DPOYs in 15 seasons.

With countless honors, he dominated the 90s and 00s, and before he retired, he had already achieved the status of the first person in the history of the NBA league.

In the international basketball world, he teamed up with Da Yao Dazhi in 04 and led the team to win the Olympic championship again, and won the World Championship again in 06.

After the 2008 finals, Zhou Quan has reached the age of 36, the eldest son Zhou Yuan is 8 years old, the second son Zhou Yuan is 5 years old, and the twin eldest daughter Zhou Qing and second daughter Zhou Yan are two years old.

He feels that he is still in good shape, he is very energetic, his physical strength is still at his peak, and it will not be a problem to play for another ten years.

However, several younger brothers and sisters have already returned to China, the children are all older, and the eldest son Zhou Yuan has followed his grandparents back to the capital to study in primary school two years ago, so he decided to retire and return to China to start another development.

On June 15, 2008, after careful consideration, he announced his retirement.

The news sent shockwaves through the news, but no one could change his decision.

Stern personally contacted Zhou Quan and pleaded with him to play another farewell season, but he declined.

On June 25, at the Seattle Center Gymnasium, Zhou Quan's farewell ceremony was held.

Countless NBA stars and celebrities attended his farewell ceremony, the average ticket price was twice as high as the Finals, and it was broadcast live on nearly 200 large and small TV stations around the world, and more than 600 media reporters were present.

David Stern, Supersonic boss Ballmer, Lord of the Rings Russell, Jordan, the four super centers, Kobe, Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Wharton, Reggie Miller, Ben Wallace, Smiling Assassin, Joe Dumas, Da Yao Dazhi Bus, Schramf, etc., are all present.

In front of the live TV broadcast of hundreds of millions of people around the world, Zhou Quan came to a farewell speech: "Ladies and gentlemen, friends, from the NCAA to the NBA, until today, I have gained everything with your support in 20 years.

The Iron Fist era has been going on for too long, two eras, two whole generations, and I think it's time for a change, and I don't want the children who are born now to continue to watch an old man in his forties and fifties in the future......"

"Haha......"

The scene burst into laughter, and many people burst into tears.

And then they couldn't control their tears at all, because they were the generation that watched the Tekken fights grow old, and the generation that grew up watching the Tekken fights. And from today onwards, they will only be able to watch the Iron Fist King fight from the match footage.

"Goodbye, NBA! Goodbye, friends! Zhou Quan waved his hand to say his final goodbye.

End of book

(End of chapter)