The rest is just noise

In the last period of the regular season, the Celtics, especially Larry Bird, were in better and better shape.

In the final game, they once again faced the Philadelphia 76ers, their mortal rivals in the East. The Celtics fought hard until the last minute and defeated their opponents 98-94, winning 66 games.

The Celtics once again had the league's best record.

Moreover, based on recent MVP simulations, it is basically certain that Bird will win the regular season MVP this season.

In fact, according to the MVP voting rules, there is no problem in giving him the MVP last season.

He led a 29-win team to 62 wins with the same lineup as before. His personal statistics were also strong at 20+10+5, but the MVP was not given to him.

This season, his team has taken a step further, with equally eye-catching statistics, averaging 23 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists per game.

If he is not the MVP this season, it can only be said that the NBA is a bit discriminatory against white people.

Another thing that makes Boston people happy is that the Detroit Pistons ranked second to last in the league with a record of 21 wins and 61 losses, second only to the new team Dallas Mavericks' 15 wins.

Since the competition for the No. 1 pick involves the two worst teams sending representatives to toss a coin, the probabilities of the penultimate and penultimate teams winning the No. 1 pick are the same. The Pistons winning the penultimate pick means the Celtics will definitely win.

A top-two pick this year.

A team that has won 66 games, has a young lineup, and has two current superstars in Bird and Sampson, or a team that is destined to be a superstar in the future, and now it wants to add an elite rookie.

Teams with ambitions can only curse, why didn't the Stepi rules come sooner?

The Celtics continue to have a bye in the first round of the playoffs, and they have enough time to study their opponents in the next round.

Their semifinal opponents will be between the Bulls and the Knicks.

It is worth mentioning that the two teams that were just added to the Eastern Conference this year, the Bulls and Bucks, both made the playoffs. The Bucks even won 60 games.

Louis mainly focuses on the progress of two teams, one is the Lakers and the other is the 76ers.

Their first-round opponents are the Rockets and Pacers respectively.

Louis' memory of the NBA in the 1980s is very vague. He is certain that the first Finals showdown between the Celtics and Lakers was in 1984.

Logically speaking, the strength of these two teams should make it to the finals every year. How come they didn't meet until 1984?

There must be some problems.

Louie discovered that the Lakers were not as singing and dancing as they seemed.

Kareem Jabbar complains almost every day, mind you, every day. Every day he complains that the team's offensive pace is too fast, that the public opinion in Los Angeles puts too much pressure on him, that it doesn't feel like home here, etc.

In the words of the Los Angeles media: "For Karim, shit in New York State tastes better than hamburgers in California."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has a domineering personality, and the Lakers are used to it, but the bigger crisis lies internally.

Magic has been sidelined for 100 days due to a knee injury. After returning, the spotlight will shine on him, and the Los Angeles media are eager to see the smile on his face become brighter.

But his teammates don't want Magic to steal all the attention as soon as he returns. After all, it's them who work hard to keep the Lakers in their current ranking, not Magic who has been lying in bed for 100 days.

In the first month, the magician said: "Someone is alienating me."

He didn't name anyone, he just mentioned the phenomenon.

Then, after not playing for a long time, he longed for more ball rights to get familiar with the feel of the game, which inevitably led to conflicts with Norm Nixon.

Before he was injured, Nixon was still his good big brother. They shared the ball lovingly and promoted a fast-paced game. Nixon would affectionately call Magic "Little Deer"⑴.

An injury seemed to change everything.

Magic doesn't know why his teammates stayed away from him after he recovered from injury. He doesn't know why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar suddenly doesn't like to play fast. He doesn't know why no one except Cooper is enthusiastic about him anymore.

Of course, it's hard for him to know, because he lives under the lights, he is a perfect superstar, and his sunny smile can purify people's hearts, which Kareem does not have.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had reason to be dissatisfied. He fought tooth and nail to play in five finals games, only to be robbed of the limelight by Magic's 42-point performance.

Nixon had reason to be dissatisfied. He worked hard to maintain the showtime Lakers' fast-paced offense, but no one in the media thought well of him. Everyone was looking forward to Magic's return, but the "little deer" he watched growing up actually wanted him to play the ball.

The power is surrendered to him;

Other teammates have more reason to be dissatisfied. Magic is no different from them. They are all players who sweat profusely on the court. Why is he the darling, but they can only be "premium black/white people"? Why can Magic and Jerry

Bass drank and talked happily, but Bass couldn't even remember their names?

Moreover, it is a taboo for players to get too close to management and even bosses. No one wants the whispers in the locker room and gossip about people above to reach their ears.

The magician did nothing wrong, he just continued to be himself, and then he was isolated.

Louis noticed this unique phenomenon. This phenomenon will never appear in the Celtics. Moreover, most teams will not have this phenomenon. Only young superstars in strong teams in big cities like Los Angeles,

Only then will it arouse the most elusive negative energy deep in the human heart: jealousy.

If it is a conflict of interest, if it is a dispute of words, there are ways to resolve it.

But if others are simply jealous of you and unhappy with everything you get, it will be difficult to solve it.

There is no reason for some people's malice. They can't compare to your greatness, not enough talent, and are mediocre. Therefore, your eye-catching style and dazzling talents will be the reason why others hate you.

Louis believes that this kind of thing that can be seen but cannot be touched will destroy the Lakers.

What he didn't expect was that the destruction would come so violently.

The defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, ranked third in the Western Conference, met the Houston Rockets in the first round with only 40 wins.

Although Moses Malone's style is physically offensive, which Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hates, there is a considerable gap in paper strength between the two teams, and the series should end with the Lakers crushing it.

However, the Lakers had no chemical reaction, and their great best-of-three first-round game gave the Rockets a chance to create a miracle.

Especially the last minute of Game 3 of the first round.

Magic's performance will keep him under criticism all summer long.

86 to 86

The two sides were tied, and there were 5 seconds left in the Lakers' attack time. The ball was as hot as a soldering iron, until Magic got it, and he shot a three-pointer that he was not good at. As a result, he didn't touch it.

Fifteen seconds later, Rockets guard Mike Dunleavy hit a three-pointer to give Houston the lead forever in the series.

They killed the defending champion!

"We won the championship last year and every team is chasing us this year," Magic said after the game. "There are a lot of things to be thankful for, but now I'm frustrated."

The week before losing the series, Magic publicly complained about teammates' jealousy of his popularity.

Louis reveled in this period of observation.

He will not turn in this observation report, and the team does not need him to record how the Lakers defeated.

He recorded the fall of the defending champion out of pure curiosity, or in other words, he wanted to find out what caused the fall of these great teams.

In 1977, Portland defended the dignity of basketball and made the frivolous 76ers suffer a bitter pill. They were as popular as the defenders of the basketball world. The ratings of that finals were the highest in history at the time.

The following year, in order to defend his championship, Walton followed the team doctor's advice and continued to inject painkillers when his foot was injured, which ultimately led to a big mistake. Although he was elected as the MVP that season, he suffered an irreparable serious injury.

The relationship with the team broke down and he left the Trail Blazers that summer, causing a perfect team to collapse in an instant.

When Seattle won the championship in 1979, FMVP Dennis Johnson immediately signed a large contract extension. His contract was jealous of the entire team. In less than a year, the conflicts within the team deteriorated to the point of being irreconcilable, and the Sonics could only

Can send him to Phoenix.

Last year, he witnessed Magic lead the team to win the sixth game without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. History remembers his 42 points, but forgets that his teammate Jamal Wilkes also had 37+10

Wonderful performance.

It is this kind of "forgetting" intentionally or unintentionally that leads to the jealousy of the entire Lakers team.

Then, although the magician continued to be himself, just like last year, everyone thought he was cute last year, but this year, everyone thought he was hateful.

Louis had no intention of whitewashing the Magic. In the final game, he made 2 of 11 shots and his free throw percentage was less than 50%. His performance was an important reason why the Lakers lost the game. Later fans only knew that Moses Malone was in this series.

Gamely averaged 31 points and 18 rebounds per game to annihilate the Lakers and beat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but little did he know that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also averaged 26.7 points and 16 rebounds per game.

Malone indeed suppressed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in terms of statistics.

But Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was not the reason the Lakers lost.

Judging from the content of the game, Lakers head coach Paul Westhead should be responsible for the defeat. He deliberately played a slow-paced game with the Rockets, advocated physical combat, and took away Magic's ball rights and caused him to miss the forward at the fourth position.

, as if teasing him: Didn’t you play the fifth position and lead the team to win the championship last year? It wouldn’t be too difficult for you to play the fourth position, right?

This is the reason why the Magic performed poorly in the series. Last year in the finals, he just jumped the ball like a center. This time he fought inside all the time and was unable to control the ball. His touch was dismal and his average field goal percentage was only 38%.

But he also tried his best to grab at least 12 rebounds in every game and averaged 7 assists per game in limited possessions.

He tried his best.

The magician has received the most exposure and will naturally receive the most criticism, so Westhead's major strategic mistakes will inevitably be selectively forgotten, which means that even they themselves may not think of where the problem lies.

Will the Lakers have bigger problems in the new season?

Louis is looking forward to it. As for now, he has to focus on the upcoming semi-finals.

⑴Another nickname for the magician.