My Name is Kobe Bryant

The third preseason game of the Lakers came to Sacramento, which is also a city located in central California, USA, on the Sacramento River Basin along with Los Angeles. It is the county seat of Sacramento County and the state capital of California.

They have a very domineering team name, but they didn't do well in the NBA. In the 1950-1951 season, he won the NBA championship with the Rochester Royals. After that, the Kings failed to make another breakthrough.

The current star of the Kings is The Rock Mickey Richmond. With a height of 1.96 meters and a weight of 98 kilograms, as a shooting guard, he is full of tendons, but he is unreasonably burly.

"He'll be the best shooting guard in the league besides me." This was a prediction made by Michael Jordan in 1989.

Future Hall of Famer, 6 All-Stars, 5 All-NBA teams. He is equally good in offense and defense, but he has never had a decent team leadership performance. In the past few years, the Kings under his leadership can only struggle on the edge of the playoffs.

In this game, Kobe did not get a chance to match up with Richmond, and the game entered garbage time early under O'Neal's brave performance.

O'Neal, who is getting better and better, dominates the basket. This era is the era when the insiders win the world. Kobe played a little bit, scoring 13 points in 17 minutes.

The Lakers, who have won three consecutive victories, returned to Los Angeles. The Clippers, which have risen in later generations, are still a fish belly. Clippers owner Donald Sterling is stingy, and the team's current highest salary is even Stanley Roberts' $3.25 million.

The entire team is composed of some homeless mercenaries, and their record in the league in recent years is very ridiculous.

Under the flashing lights of the Great Western Forum, Kobe still contributed a wonderful performance. Facing the Clippers' almost undefended bench players. Feeling hot, he took over the game.

In just 21 minutes, he scored 21 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.

"Impeccable." This is the evaluation given by Harris, who has considered replacing Kobe in the starting lineup. It is a waste of such a talented player on the bench, but he is still thinking about which player to replace, and whether there will be problems with the tacit understanding between Kobe and the starting players.

Dr. Bass, who was watching the game from the sidelines, sent Kobe a text message after the game.

"Born to be extraordinary, keep working hard, a future legend."

. . . . . .

The Lakers did not stay long in the warm environment of Los Angeles, and Kobe and his party flew to Minnesota.

Minnesota is already a bit cool in October, and the climate here varies greatly throughout the year. Summer can exceed 46 degrees Celsius, while the lowest temperature in winter can be as low as -22 degrees Celsius.

The Timberwolves joined the league in 1989. Geographically, they made up for the lack of the Lakers leaving Minneapolis. The team stayed at the Hubert Humphrey Zenith Stadium for only one season before moving to its home stadium, the Target Center

"My God, I really don't want to play here." O'Neill was very afraid of the cold, and the cold weather made them shiver after getting off the plane.

"Hey, Shaq. It seems that your fat doesn't generate enough calories for you." Kobe joked. After several games, the two got along very well on and off the court.

"Damn it, I will show the energy of my muscular muscles on the field, not in this world of ice and snow." O'Neal hugged his arms exaggeratedly. The teammates laughed, it seems that the fat man is afraid of the cold.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have accumulated a few good players after years of poor performance. But the bad weather here makes it difficult to retain good players.

Kevin Garnett was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the fifth pick in the first round last year. He became one of the few players who entered the NBA directly from high school, and was also the first player under the age of 20 to be selected in the NBA draft. Selected high school students.

The future Hall of Fame power forward is still sharpening his minions. The data in the first year was not outstanding. In an average of 28 minutes per game, he could only gain 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Kobe knew that this was a common problem for rookies in high school. They were often unaccustomed and performed poorly in the first year. too young for their bodies

The confrontation ability cannot adapt to the intensity of the NBA. Often these talented high school students will not achieve results until the second or third year.

On the back line, they also have this year's No. 4 pick, Stephon Marbury. This point guard from New York has extraordinary talent. Kobe admired him very much in later generations.

The game was still one-sided. Before Garnett grew up, the Timberwolves had nothing to do with O'Neal inside. Harris tried to put Kobe and O'Neal on the court at the same time, and the chemical effect produced surprised him. Kobe's timely pass after the breakthrough always allowed O'Neal to attack the basket very comfortably.

Kobe and Stephon Marbury have faced each other in the game. Marbury's fancy dribbling did not cause any interference to the experienced Kobe, but Kobe's pressing made it difficult for Marbury.

The strength gap between the two sides is obvious, although there is no underdog in the NBA. Matches where the weak defeat the strong also happen from time to time, but when a team has stars like O'Neal and Kobe on the starting and bench to control the rhythm of the game, it is difficult to be surprised.

Kobe continued to increase his playing time in this game. He played 23 minutes and scored 14 points and 7 assists. Three of these seven assists were passed to O'Neal.

After the game, O'Neal secretly asked Harris, "Hey, head. Why don't we try to start Kobe?"

. . . . . .

The last game of the preseason is against the Detroit Pistons.

The Detroit Pistons achieved excellent performance in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1981, the Pistons selected Indiana University's Isiah Thomas with the second pick in the first round. Under Thomas' leadership, they repeatedly defeated the young Jordan. And swept the Lakers 4-0 in the 1989 Finals to win the championship. In 1990, the Pistons defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 4-1 in the Finals and successfully defended their title.

With the aging of the Bad Boys, after the Pistons fell to the bottom, they selected Grant Hill, a very popular small forward.

It is a pity that Alan Houston defected to the New York Knicks this summer. This elegant defender still didn't choose this iron-blooded city.

Before the game, Harris found Kobe in the team locker room.

"Kobe, you start this game. Be good, kid." Silver Fox Harris made a decision. In the last game of the preseason, he decided to let Kobe try to start. It is better to adjust in the preseason than in the regular season.

Finally hit the starting lineup, Kobe smiled. Kobe's starting time was two years earlier than in his previous life.