June 2, 2006, Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, 105-88. The Milwaukee Bucks eliminated potential rivals Miami Heat 4-1 to march to the Finals for the third time in four years.

For believers who fly, it is a habit to see him excel.

But his performances so far have been incredible.

So far in the playoffs, he has averaged 36 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists per game, and his unsolvable offense, all-round ability to cover offense and defense, coupled with the appropriate help of his teammates, has allowed him to draw the East again.

As for his opponents, it's like a funeral.

Shaquille O'Neal didn't know what else he could do.

He gave up his tactical position, gave up the ball, gave up the dignity of a superstar, and focused on serving his teammates, and the only thing he got was a win over the Bucks in the series? Is this what he wants? Who cares if he wins a game in a best-of-seven series?

The most critical thing is that O'Neal's performance against the Bucks has fallen off a cliff compared to the previous two rounds.

In the first two games of the Eastern Finals, O'Neal averaged 20+10 per game, and the Heat ended in a fiasco, and in the three games after the Eastern Finals, O'Neal's single-game score did not exceed 15 points, and even played a single-game 8-point performance, averaging only 13 points and 10 rebounds per game in the entire series, which is better than Kwame Brown, who calls himself the second center in the East? (Brown's East Final stats are 8+8)

Shaq fell in front of Frye again. Bill Wharton looks fair, but in fact he is digging O'Neal's heart, "I don't believe that some people say that Frye is Shaq's nemesis, but even when Shaq was at his best, they lost to Frye in the regular season without the help of MJ and Rip. It's been years since that match, and two series have been played between them, with Frye taking a landslide lead with an 8-1 record. ”

"Maybe we can start to seriously look into this, why did Frye become Shaq's nemesis?"

Wharton directly crossed the "understanding" stage from questioning the "nemesis theory" and was about to start "verifying".

Wade on the other side wiped the sweat off his face, and the frenetic atmosphere at the Bradley Center made him understand that he missed an opportunity to put himself in the same position as Da Fei by being far ahead of James and Anthony.

In terms of individual performance, he can say that the Heat lost and he didn't lose.

He averaged 34 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in five games against the Bucks, basically doing everything he could.

It's just that Yu Fei is a little more perverted, not only scoring higher than himself, but also scoring double-doubles in assists and rebounds.

This overwhelming data overlay leaves nothing to say.

Wade doesn't think the gap between him and Yu Fei is as big as the data reflects.

In his opinion, he and Yu Fei are only 95 points and 100 points.

There is so much difference in data, there is only one explanation, Yu Fei plays under a more advanced system.

Wade believes that this is something he needs to focus on in the future.

Since you can't beat it, join in.

Then, veterans with broken championship dreams such as Mourning and Payton officially entered the Heartbreak Club.

Faced with the question of whether to retire, Mourning did not give an answer.

Payton, on the other hand, has firmly denied the news that he may retire.

"I'm not going to leave until I win the championship."

What the reporter wants to ask but doesn't dare to ask is, who do you still want to win the championship?

No one on the Heat team is more embarrassed than Payton.

He rejected Yu Fei's recruitment in the summer of 2003 and resolutely joined the Lakers to form a luxurious F4, and then played an ugly performance in the 2004 Finals, being sent away by the Bucks 4-0.

The 2004-05 season went off the rails.

And then again this season, I continued to believe in O'Neal.

He came to Miami with more humility than he did with the Lakers, and even a young man like Wade could reprimand him for his mistakes in the playoffs (against the Bulls in the first round).

He endured it again and again, until now, although it was no longer necessary to endure it, he found that he still couldn't achieve his goal.

When Peyton heard O'Neal say that he had done enough, that the people around him were not helping, that he had had enough of failure, and that he had enough of failure, he had a voice in his heart.

It's important to follow the right people.

The big man who claimed to be "the most dominant man in history" was the right person only a few years ago, and now he is just a Luthor who refuses to accept defeat.

But does he still have a chance to choose the "right person"?

He turned down the offer in 2003, and now that he thinks about it, his failures in the past few years may have been God's punishment for him.

Those who reject God's good intentions will not end well.

"Gary, will you be back here next season?" The media from Miami asked.

Now that he's on the boat, Peyton has no choice.

Although O'Neal is unreliable, Wade proved that he is a superstar who can compete with Yu Fei.

Even though Payton knows Wade may not be a good choice, does he still have a choice?

"I'll be back if they need it." Peyton said.

If Mourning and Payton are new members of the Heartbreak Club, Riley is the club's president.

Since leaving Los Angeles, Riley has earned himself a reputation as a tactical innovator, and it was he who introduced muscle basketball and laid the foundation for the dark basketball of the century, but as a coach who influenced the NBA for many years, he left the Lakers with a championship of 0.

There are many who say that Riley can only return to the reins if he believes the team can win the championship.

When the Heat lost the playoffs last June, Riley went public that he might be more involved in team affairs.

This has sparked wild speculation.

Riley began to lay the groundwork for his comeback, and he got Stan Van Gundy's favorites Eddie Jones, sharpshooter Damon Jones, Kenyon Doolin and Rasol Butler out of Miami. In their place were Payton, Williams, Walker, and James Posey. The Heat of players who have traded new guns for old guns have gone into "win now" mode.

Moreover, the Heat only let Van Gundy leave the coaching position and did not cancel his contract.

Van Gundy's contract didn't expire until the summer of 2008, which allowed the Heat to limit what he could do after he left the team — and as a staff member who was still under contract, he couldn't speak ill of the Heat under Riley.

After all this deliberate work, Riley finally brought his team to the Eastern Conference Finals, but another nightmare awaited him.

The Heat were out tonight, and at the end of the game, Riley remembered that night a few years ago.

At that time, the Wizards broke out in the "he said he was going to trade me" incident, and Jordan will be put on the shelves, which triggered a crazy rush from multiple teams.

Riley was willing to offer the entire Heat team in exchange for Yu Fei.

But Eddie Jones, the only trade-worthy Heat player at the time, was at the No. 2 spot like Richard Hamilton and couldn't free Jordan from the No. 3 spot. Jordan turned him down and nearly made a deal with the Suns, and then for unknown reasons the deal didn't happen — or rather, delayed for months.

Riley only felt lost at the time, he knew that Yu Fei had the potential to be a superstar.

That loss was like a seed falling into his heart, and now, as the heat was swept away by Yu Fei, that seed sprouted.

He knew what he was missing.

That night, after an interview, Riley met Yu Fei as he walked through the locker room.

The young god was fashionably dressed, not at all like the god of basketball who had just destroyed a city's basketball dreams.

Instead, it's like a hipster getting ready to party.

Riley suddenly remembered an incident he had done in the past, when his Knicks lost to the Bulls in the playoffs for the first time, he had someone hand Jordan a note that said something like "Congratulations on winning, but we're going to @¥#¥ in the future."

Now it seems, it's funny.

His Knicks have been hampered ever since, never breaking through Jordan, even if they were lucky enough to wait for Jordan to have a baseball vacation, they defeated the Bulls without Jordan, but unfortunately met the unanimous Hakeem Olajuwon in the Finals.

"Congratulations." Riley said at the end of the game, "You did a great job. ”

The big fly off the field is not as arrogant as on the field.

"Dwayne is not bad either." Yu Fei said, "If it were me, I would establish him as the core of the team from next season, and in addition, I would trade that pig to the Clippers, which is a punishment for him, can you believe that he only averaged 13 points per game against us?" ”

Riley was also disappointed with O'Neal's performance, and he knew that O'Neill was no longer the person he once was.

Yu Fei was right, they needed to shoot this pig as soon as possible, but they couldn't show it too obviously.

However, Riley is extremely concerned about the current situation and future of Fei.

"We're going to put Dwayne at the core, but thanks to you, Dwayne's future in Miami isn't certain."

Yu Fei asked, "What does this have to do with me?" ”

"Like you," Riley said lightly, "Dwayne is also inclined to sign us for a 2+1 contract extension. ”

As the initiator of the second contract extension, Yu Fei expressed his gratification: "Oh, I am glad that he has made a decision to be responsible for his future. ”

In fact, the intention of the top players to sign short contracts is very clear, and that is to threaten the team: if you can't be responsible for my career in the next two years, then don't expect me to be responsible for you.

Labor and management are originally cooperative relations, there is no superiority and subordination, if you can't think about me, then why should I be loyal to the team?

Yu Fei's contract renewal brought another way of thinking to all players.

Its aftermath is rapidly spreading throughout the Union.

When he retires, it will be part of shaping his place in history (1).

"Really? What does your future hold? Riley asked. If you win again, will you leave Milwaukee next year? ”

(1) I have always had a violent theory, "decision" will not only not become a black spot after Lao Zhang's retirement, but will become a blowing point after everyone follows suit, which is the cornerstone of his top three in history. However, now it has basically developed to this extent, do you say that people are at the peak of the group? No, it's called "player empowerment".

(End of chapter)