The rest is just noise

June 18, 1993

Game 6 of the Finals was held at Madison Square Garden, the home of the New York Knicks.

"Tonight, perhaps for the first time in history, the NBA is the most popular television program in the United States."

"I am indeed more interested in the outcome of this game than "60 Minutes" (60 Nutes(bs)) day after day."

At the game site, NBA commentator Bob Costas and a new analyst, a notorious player who had just chosen to end his basketball career, Celtics star Bill Laimbeer.

Officially speaking, Laimbeer has not retired yet.

His contract has expired, and the Celtics want to keep him. If he doesn't want to stay in Boston, he can go to other teams.

If he wants to continue playing, he can wait until the offseason to talk slowly.

However, Laimbeer suddenly decided to sign a contract with NBA.

He signed a five-year, $4 million contract with NBA. Through the signing of this contract, he indirectly announced that his sports career had come to an end.

There was no farewell, no grand performance like Bird's, and no one except Celtics fans would feel sorry.

Costas smiled knowingly when he heard Laimbeer say that he cared more about the outcome of this game than the most popular TV show of our time ("60 Minutes").

"Bill, who do you think has the advantage in this game between the Knicks and the Trail Blazers?"

If Laimbeer had not signed with NBA, Costas' partner should be Hubie Brown or other senior analysts, but Laimbeer is too special.

The Celtics he represents have many stories with the Knicks.

Laimbeer, who retired from the Celtics, obviously has more room for improvement than his previous life when he retired from the Pistons.

In the Celtics, Laimbeer's dirtiest side, such as vulgar words, ruthless attacks, black feet and dirty hands, were all covered up to the greatest extent by his tough character and competitive personality.

Laimbeer of the Pistons is a devil. When he retired, the entire league was happy.

And what about the Celtics' Laimbeer? You have to admire the literary man's ability to chew on words.

Bob Ryan calls Laimbeer the greatest "intimidator" of all time.

Terrorist/demon, these are just two terms with the same meaning.

This is the difference between a little fool and a big fool.

Due to the influence of the environment in Boston, Laimbeer had more choices after retirement. When NBA offered him this contract, he signed it without saying hello to anyone.

This makes his teammates and friends in Boston feel unappreciated, but this is Laimbeer. He has never said that he is loyal to Boston. For him, Boston is just a place that provides him with a job.

Now that he is old and no longer as competitive as before, and the Celtics are also weakening, it is naturally time to leave.

Coming to the NBA will allow Laimbeer to return to the spotlight. When he heard Costas' question, he gave an answer that satisfied most of the audience: "I watched the Trail Blazers' performance in Game 5, so the answer is obvious.

The Knicks had no chance."

When BS broadcast live Knicks games, the most effective commentary partner was undoubtedly Billy Cunningham and any commentator who could control the field.

Because Cunningham always openly slanders Louis and Knicks on live broadcasts, and then the latter's performance often gives the former a heavy blow, thus creating a program effect.

Ranbir knew what nb wanted him to do, so he immediately got into the role.

"Oh, the Knicks have no chance? Bill, can you be more specific?"

"Actually, judging from the performance in Game 5, there is nothing wrong with the Knicks. It's just that the Trail Blazers' game was too perfect, almost impeccable." Laimbeer transformed into Takumi, "The Knicks' strength is still better than 95% of the players in NBA history.

The championship team is stronger, but the Trail Blazers have become the strongest team I have ever seen."

Costas asked: "Better than the Celtics in the 1980s?"

Since you want to brag, you must have the consciousness to risk yourself.

Ranbir nodded seriously: "Yes."

Hearing this, Costas could only sigh with emotion. Ranbir is a natural analyst and he knows very well what the TV station needs him to do.

Hearing that Laimbeer signed a contract with NBA and officially became a professional analyst, Louis also sighed for a while.

Due to the youth filter, every generation of sports fans believes that the stars of the generation they grew up with are the best.

For Louis, Ranbir belongs to the generation he grew up with.

"I hope that evil dog can say a few human words on stage."

Louis and Tomjanovich talked and joked.

The warm-up for both sides proceeds in an orderly manner.

There are almost no people in the Trail Blazers who show off dunks. Everyone is doing the same thing, which is very consistent with their current state.

Selflessness, even selflessness.

Even Jordan, the ball-handler with the greatest offensive threat in history, gave up the ball to become a shooter and still played brilliantly. This team has indeed reached an extreme point.

Louis is very clear-headed and lets his opponent be as strong as possible.

The pioneer's longboard is indeed better than dredd's big black donkey chicken, but although the longboard is longer, the shortboard has not disappeared.

Their defense remains a problem.

The Knicks need to first base themselves on their own defense, and then exploit the defensive loopholes of the Trail Blazers' positional battle to open up a breakthrough. There will be sufficient pressure on both ends of the offense and defense. Problems will arise on the offensive end that seems to be untargetable.

In order to ensure a good outcome for this game, MSG's operations department also invited the Knicks' lucky goddess Mariah Carey to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner".

This is Kelly's seventh time singing for the Knicks. The Knicks have won the previous six times.

Moreover, those six wins all occurred in the playoffs.

After the national anthem ended, both sides began to make final preparations before the start of the game.

The Trail Blazers are: Thomas, Jordan, Robinson, Barkley, Sabonis.

But the Knicks had a big problem here. Stockton and Kemp were both placed on the bench, and their replacements were Rauf and Stevens.

"Coach Lu, why are you playing Stevens? Can that white guy play? Does he have the ability?"

Spike Lee in the front row was scared when he saw this lineup. Since his seat was very close to the Knicks dugout, Louie could hear it if he spoke loudly.

What Li didn't expect was that Louis, who had always been talking and laughing with him, turned around with a cold and serious face: "Shut your fucking mouth!"

Li immediately stopped the layman's behavior of guiding the expert.

He was a douchebag, and he didn't get angry when he was scolded. He actually turned around and asked Louis' wife: "Monica, coach Lu hasn't had any rest these days, okay?"

"No, he rested very well." Lorraine replied.

"So angry, it looks like he has nowhere to vent his anger." Li decided not to say anything to Louis tonight to avoid being scolded.

At the beginning of the game, Ewing won the jump ball, ran to the frontcourt and blocked Sabonis outside the paint area at a 45-degree angle on the right side, trying to get the ball and hit him with his back.

In less than a second, the Blazers' help came.

Although Ewing's post-up play was formulaic, Sabonis couldn't remember his formula and could only passively receive the move.

Once the opponent passively accepts the move rather than reacting to the move, Ewing's offensive efficiency is often very high.

So this defensive move comes at just the right time.

The person who appeared next to Ewing was Clifford Robinson. After this person, the Blazers showed an invincible appearance.

Robinson's playing style is very similar to Rasheed Wallace, but he is different from the Roaring God. He will not challenge the referee, nor is he addicted to eating T-shirts.

He is more like a version with optimized personality and lighter body.

Judging from the on-the-spot effect, Rasheed Wallace, who likes to cause trouble, looks more like an inferior product.

Ewing was blocked by Robinson and could not pass the ball to Stevens, who was in the open position. At the same time, he could not find the position of other teammates, so he could only make a random shot based on his feeling.

"boom!"

"What was that attack you just made?" Louis asked.

Ewing had nothing to say, so he shouted "mine" and returned to defense as quickly as possible.

His full-speed return to defense was of little use, and the Blazers' counterattack was like this.

Jordan grabbed the rebound and made a long pass to Thomas.

In less than four seconds, the counterattack ended, 2-0.

"Isiah's straight-line speed is still a little slower than when he was young."

Those who didn’t know better thought that the relationship between Ranbir and Thomas was very good.

Regarding this behavior of boasting about his old teammates, Costas could only chime in with a few words.

After Thomas scored a counterattack, he did not rush back.

He stayed in the frontcourt and pressed Rauf alone.

Thomas's pressing force was not strong, and he mainly focused on harassing and slowing down the advancement speed.

Moreover, for a shooter like Rauf, giving him more energy can affect his shooting accuracy.

It took Rauf seven seconds to advance to the frontcourt and pass to Wilson.

Wilson turned to face Jordan and made the same choice as Ewing.

They all want to beat their opponents.

But the difficulty level for him to beat Jordan is not on the same level as the difficulty level for Ewing to beat Sabonis.

Wilson tried to go left to break through Jordan's defense, but this move was predicted by the opponent.

Jordan moved quickly laterally, first locked Wilson's offensive line, and then moved up close to attack.

Wilson did not expect that Jordan would dare to defend like this on the road, and the ball in his hand was cut off.

This time, if it were a non-star player, there would be a certain probability of being called for a foul.

But veteran referees generally won't call it, because this is a steal that makes perfect use of the hand-heg.

Wilson's dribble was intercepted, and the Knicks' offensive round ended again.

Jordan rushed to the frontcourt at a speed that no one could catch and completed a dunk, 4-0.

"Defense should have been the Knicks' strength, but since the beginning, the Trail Blazers have used better defense to cause the Knicks to suffer continuous setbacks on the offensive end." Costas said, "Patrick and Benj don't seem to have found their form yet."

Laimbeer responded: "That's what I said, the Trail Blazers are impeccable!"

(I hope your book coins are ready)