Chapter 392: I Thank You

Los Angeles, Staples Center

Some competitions carry so many expectations that the content of one game is not enough to tell the whole story behind it.

Bryant has waited too long.

Since being drafted by the Lakers in 1996, he has not become the magic hook of the new century with O'Neal as people expected, and the inheritance of "you grow up with me, I see you grow old" has not happened. Excessive power is ugly and hard to look at, it is a sudden rape case as the breaking point, which continues for a whole season of open and secret fighting, and finally ends with O'Neal's exit to achieve Kobe's status as the king of Los Angeles.

But how could Kobe Bryant imagine the weight of the crown at that time? For several years, the Lakers never made it past the first round, and even if Kobe Bryant played a shocking scoring performance that could go toe-to-toe with Yu Fei, the team still couldn't succeed.

He advanced as a retreat, forced the management to move with a trade application, and finally put together a team for him to compete for the championship.

As a result, Bryant can live with the pain of his finger and stay in full attendance so far this season, leaving the Lakers in second place in the West, and he will first have to get his hands on the MVP trophy before competing for a championship.

Although there has been no friction between the Yu Fei camp and the Kobe camp, once there is a conflict of interests, the battle will start.

The main attack of the Yu Fei camp on Kobe Bryant lies in "selfishness" and "inferior Jordan imitator".

Although Kobe Bryant is backed by Nike, in recent years, because James's growth has not been as expected, Yu Fei has the tendency to dominate the rivers and lakes, and Nike's media power is no longer useful.

After seven years of precipitation, Yu Fei's accumulation of many achievements has won him many believers.

Behind Yu Fei is an empire. It's not just about business, it's about all aspects of society.

Therefore, Kobe's camp is at an absolute disadvantage in this public opinion war, making Jordan himself "unbearable".

When McCallum launched an MVP battle in an article published in Sports Illustrated, Jordan came out to talk about Kobe Bryant, who has been on the cusp lately.

Jordan affirmed Kobe's hard work to achieve excellence, and also refuted the argument that Kobe Bryant was just an imitator of himself. He also couldn't understand why the outside world was making such a fuss, why it was treating the "best" players of the post-Jordan era like this?

"Who hasn't shown the way for those who come after him?" Jordan in turn asked, "If I hadn't been influenced by the way David Thompson and some of the other forerunners played, I wouldn't have the style of play that you see, and the same question applies between me and Kobe." It's the inheritance and evolution of basketball, and some people don't understand that because they don't know what respect is at all, they lack respect for history, but I tell you, you have to respect Kobe, he's the best player since 1998. ”

"What about Fry? Isn't he the best? ”

Jordan pursed his lips in his trademark Wang Zhi smile and said with a little contempt, "I don't want to talk about a person who doesn't revere history." ”

Jordan's solidarity gave Bryant a little respite in the battle of public opinion, but the problem is still huge.

As far as the fight for MVP is concerned, there are a few points that are not in Kobe's favor.

The bonus to the team is greater than that of Kobe.

The SuperSonics were the second-to-last in the West last season, and before Marion's arrival, the SuperSonics added Yu Fei, Durant and Kwame Brown compared to last season. So far this season, Durant has averaged 14 points per game on 47 percent shooting.

This is a rookie performance above the standard, but when Kobe's current teammate Jermaine O'Neal had a scolding battle with Kwame Brown, he said in a hurry: "With Frye, even a dog can get better!" ”

Therefore, Yu Fei's impact on the supersonic team to become the top four in the West is far greater than that of Kobe Bryant, who teamed up with Kidd to return the Lakers to the first echelon in the West.

The second is the head-to-head win rate. In the first few meetings of the season, the SuperSonics won all of them. This indirectly made a request to Kobe Bryant tonight, he not only had to win, but also to win beautifully, otherwise, the judges would not ignore his previous losses because he won one game against the SuperSonics.

Finally, there is the story, Yu Fei has the best story, "saving the supersound" is a fairy-tale gimmick, which is more attractive than Kobe's rebirth of half angel and half demon.

The situation is not good, so Kobe Bryant needs to win this game even more.

The Staples Center was packed with spectators that night.

Yu Fei has the impression that every time he comes to Los Angeles to play, it is a similar scene.

The scene was crowded with people, and the front row was full of stars.

Before the warm-up, Yu Fei and Roy came to the midfield to greet the owner of the stadium.

"You don't have any chance tonight."

Hearing Kobe Bryant say this, the sixteen-day-old Komi was moved, and before the opening of the scene, he took a sip of himself, this is Kobe!

"Okay, then please win a little less." Yu Fei's eyes swept Kobe, Kidd and Xiao Ao kindly, "Don't let us lose too badly." ”

Xiao Ao smiled and nodded: "Don't worry, Da Fei, you won't be embarrassed, but your starting center may not be." ”

When Yu Fei returned to the backcourt, he said to the people around him: "I feel that Kobe Bryant is going to be on full fire tonight." ”

"Is this the perception of the fans?" Roy asked.

Yu Fei joked: "He is the strongest player in the post-Jordan era, do you think he will accept his MVP season being swept by the main contenders?" ”

"That," Marion asked, "who was the strongest player in the Frye era?" ”

Yu Fei and Roy both looked at Marion with burning eyes.

"What's wrong?" Marion asked.

Yu Fei said: "Rashad should have been traded earlier." ”

"Indeed." Roy nodded, "The deal happened too late. ”

Is there really anyone in this world who doesn't like Sean Marion? He is the best all-rounder on the wing, all-round in attack and defense, does not steal the limelight, does dirty work and is tired on his shoulders, and has a very sweet mouth, although he is ugly, but with these advantages, he fully deserves a Charles Barkley law (1).

(1) "He is handsome, if you have a net worth of hundreds of millions, you are also handsome." —Charles Buckley.

After the warm-up, the DJ introduced the two starters.

The SuperSonics have a relatively fixed starter, and the Lakers have established the most suitable starting lineup for them after the trade.

Kidd, Kobe, Wharton, O'Og and Jeff Foster.

The only thing they can adjust is to replace Forster when Bynum returns from injury.

The biggest surprise for the Lakers in that trade was that Xiao Ao played well at the No. 4 position after losing weight, averaging 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks per game in several games for the Lakers, and he made Lakers fans forget the pain of losing Odom in the shortest possible time.

Compared to Odom, the only problem for Xiao Ao is durability.

In the opening jump shot, Foster won the ball for the Lakers.

Roy followed the pre-game deployment and let Kidd go to cover Kobe, but he didn't expect Kidd's open three-point opening.

"Do you still let him vote?" Roy asked Yu Fei.

Yu Fei said: "My suggestion is not to give a big vacancy. ”

Kidd during the Nets period was indeed not accurate, but this person is by no means the kind of person who eats his old book and eats to death, and when he gets older, he also knows that he must have a certain outside projection threat in order to play his organizational talents. In the past few years, Kidd's outside shooting percentage has steadily increased, and it is not suitable to be empty as before.

Roy, who was thrown into a three-pointer by Kidd, wanted to get back on the court and attack with the ball.

Today, Kidd's lateral speed has decreased, and his defense is not as tough as it used to be, but it is more cunning.

Roy's breakaway fell into the Lakers' trap, and Wharton suddenly appeared and teamed up with Kidd to force Roy's turnover.

The Lakers switched from defense to offense, Kidd shot the ball vigorously, looked at the three ways, and Yu Fei quickly ran back to the front court and blocked directly in front of Kidd.

But Kidd had no intention of going head-to-head with Yu Fei and quickly found Kobe Bryant, who hit a jumper.

5 to 0

The biggest difference between this 08 Lakers team and the 08 Lakers team with Pau Gasol is that the pivot point of the triangle offense has shifted from the inside to the outside.

In terms of organizational ability, no matter how strong Dajia's ability to respond as an interior line is not comparable to a point guard master like Kidd. The current Lakers are a bit like the Bulls' second dynasty, but the problem is that they don't have the likes of Luke Longley on the inside.

Junior Ao and Foster, plus the injured Bynum, this frontcourt depth is not inferior to that of any team.

The Lakers' problem now is the No. 3 spot, and Luke Wharton is not a championship-caliber No. 3 starter. But how can there be a perfect team in the world?

Yu Fei just wanted to ask, but saw Kwame Brown confidently leaning on Xiao Ao.

Judging from the current position, Brown is the center, and Ao Jr. is the power forward, which is a misalignment.

But is this really misplaced? Outwardly, these two are comparable in size.

Yu Fei decided to watch another round.

Roy then lobs the ball to Brown.

This is a pure grievance game, Xiao Ao may also paddle and prevent Brown, he is afraid that he will use all the strength to maintain the sword at night.

It's impossible to score

Yu Fei only watched for a second and knew that Brown was going to be bad, so he threw himself under the basket and prepared to grab an offensive rebound.

When he first entered the NBA, Brown was still a bit like Chris Webb, but after years of transformation into a blue-collar insider, the spirituality of high school has long disappeared.

"Bang!"

Such a shot is certainly impossible to hit, but .

O and Brown stared wide-eyed as a figure of No. 44 swept through the air, only to see the man stretch out his long arms and rebound the ball a little.

The ball was back in Brown's hands.

Brown yelled, squeezed Ao away, and scored under the basket.

"Do you really think you can guard against me?" Brown shook his fist and shouted, "I just want Da Fei to pick up a rebound!" ”

"Thank you."

Yu Fei rolled his eyes and slipped away.

(End of chapter)