The Whip of the God of Basketball

"Is your foul intentional? You know, this reminds me of McHale's foul on Rambis in the 1984 Finals. The result was similar to today. The Celtics reversed the game. Was it intentional?"

"No, no, I don't know about 1984, I was six years old, I couldn't even watch TV because I didn't have a TV at home... Well, I just thought I needed to stop Kobe and stop him from getting into the paint easily and scoring. , it’s just that he was too fast, I didn’t expect the impact to be so big, I’m sorry.”

"Did coach Leon ask you to do that? Do you know why he lit a cigar at the end of the game?"

"Cigar? I don't know, haha, if that's really cool, no wonder he went back to the locker room so early. He just told me to be tough, that's all."

In the post-game player interviews, Chris Anderson became the focus of many reporters. His flagrant foul inevitably reminded people of the clothesline in 1984. And the Celtics eventually won the game. This foul will undoubtedly be mentioned often in the future and become another legendary story of the Lake-Kay confrontation.

However, Anderson flatly denied the suspicion of intentional fouling and took all the reasons on himself.

But this does not mean that Fox Leon can escape the suspicion of deliberately instructing players to commit flagrant fouls. On the contrary, his behavior of lighting a cigar at the last moment of the game caused him to be bombarded by reporters at the post-match press conference.

"Is it one of your strategies to light a cigar before the game is over?" "Was Anderson's foul ordered by you?" "Did you have many plans prepared before the game, so that's why it's like this? Are you confident enough to rest the main players?" . .

A series of questions came at Leon like a barrage, and Leon seemed quite calm. While denying all suspicions and speculations, he said: "Maybe I didn't know before the game that we could win this game. But when I lit the cigar I knew we were going to win. I know the NBA is a place where miracles happen, but it's not going to happen today, not when the Lakers play the Celtics."

Leon then left Staples Center with the players and left Los Angeles, but the aftermath of this game was far from over.

First, on the morning of the second day after the game, NBA officials held a press conference, and Stern personally announced multiple penalties against the Celtics.

First, the Celtics illegally rested players and were fined $200,000. This is also the largest fine this season. Then, Fox-Leon was fined $10,000 for smoking on the court, and Anderson, who was ejected for a second-degree flagrant foul, was not only fined $15,000 but also suspended for one game.

Regarding such continuous punishments, the local media in Boston, the Boston Tribune, gave the attitude of Bostonians. The headline of the newspaper the next day was "Who-care, we-have-won! (Who cares, we won anyway!" "

If the Celtics had won against another team, perhaps the developed Boston sports media would have had some different voices, but the Lakers that the Celtics defeated were that golden, arrogant rival.

The Celtics defeated them in the most Celtic way, and they also used pure substitutes. It can be said that except for the championship, there is no victory this season that is more exciting and precious than this one.

The Celtics team returned to Boston and was greeted at the airport by many loyal fans, who held banners and slogans as if the Celtics had won the championship. There are many older fans among the fan base. They are all guys who experienced the glory of the Celtics in the 1980s. When watching such a game, they will inevitably think of the iron-blooded Green Legion.

The dark era of more than ten years has left those old fans disappointed but always full of hope. They missed last year's Eastern Conference Finals by a hair. This year's Celtics coaching change has aroused many fans' doubts. They think that Fox-Leon will How can a rookie lead the Celtics to regain their glory? As the season comes to an end, everything slowly disappears in hard wins and team changes. At this moment when the substitute lineup defeated the Lakers, in Boston, the voices supporting Fox-Leon finally overwhelmed the opposition. .

The media who had been constantly criticizing the Celtics' style of play changed their guns and began to criticize the unfairness of the league, the excessive punishment of the Celtics, Stern's discrimination against Boston, including some previous statements. All the old debts have been cleared up. From the Larry Bird clause to the 1997 draft, the Bostonians have rediscovered the feeling of being against the world.

For the people of New England, who are smart and proud, kind and narrow-minded, gentle and rough, a peaceful and stable team is never what they want, and a gorgeous and dazzling team cannot meet their needs. . Only a contradictory team that is united to the point of selfishness, pursues glory but approaches cruelty, and is willing to be the enemy of the world in order to win can ignite the passion of New England immigrants inherited from their ancestors who pioneered the land three hundred years ago. , that kind of irrational, anti-civilizational fanatical emotion.

This emotion for basketball was first tapped by Auerbach. Now, Auerbach is staying at the Woodmont Club in Washington to play bridge. He has been running to the club for three days in a row. As he grows older, the scope of his life shrinks, and this has become the last backyard of his life - and of course the North Shore Garden Arena, if they can reach the conference finals again.

After eating a simple breakfast, Auerbach began to kill time at the card table. During this period, Rob Eads kept trying to remind Auerbach to read the morning newspaper and see what Fox-Leon did yesterday. What great achievements have been made.

But the old man was very happy. Eze tried to interrupt several times to stir up the topic, but Auerbach didn't give him a chance. It wasn't until lunch time that Eze found a chance to say to Auerbach: "Andy M." Leone's side should have resolved it, Leon seems to have negotiated terms with him, but I don't know what they are... Anyway, Miller seems to be using his media relations to discredit Leon and the Celtics."

Auerbach was speechless. He picked up a piece of Mapo Tofu with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth. This was lunch from the China Doll Restaurant. After chewing the rice, Auerbach said: "My skill with chopsticks has improved again, and I can pick tofu... That kid Leon is very good at using chopsticks, as if he knew how to use them when he was born, and I don't How come I see him eating Chinese food? Anyway, he keeps saying that Chinese food in the United States is not delicious...Huh, it seems like he has been in China."

Eze heard that there was something in Auerbach's words, so he did not answer the question and brought the topic to yesterday's game. He said: "Fox was fined again, and so were the Celtics, and then Chris Anderson was suspended. Already..."

Eze thought Auerbach would ask what happened, but he didn't expect Auerbach just nodded and continued to use chopsticks to pick up mapo tofu.

Eze finally couldn't help it anymore, and he said bluntly: "Yesterday, the Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers with a pure bench lineup! In Staples! And Fox-Leon lit a cigar in the final stage of the game, I was watching the live TV broadcast, and the faces of the Lakers fans turned green! Even the referee was speechless, and the Celtics players were stunned. You didn’t know that the TV station cut the camera to Leon looks so majestic when he crosses his legs and lights a cigar! It is said that Stern was also present, I really want to see his expression."

Eze talked a lot excitedly, but Auerbach still didn't react. He stared at Eze, as if to say, "I've never seen anything before, so I don't need you to tell me this."

At this point, Ezz finally gave up and just ate his meal and prepared for the afternoon bridge game. Auerbach had already finished eating. He wiped his mouth and said, "I'm a little tired. I need to go back to the lounge to rest for a while. We'll start again at two in the afternoon."

After that, he left the chess and card room. As soon as he went out, he called the club attendant over, pushed him and said: "Quickly, bring me all the newspapers from yesterday and today! Also, bring me the newspapers from the lounge. Turn on the TV for me and tune it to the NBA pay-per-view channel. Yesterday’s game between the Celtics and the Lakers... Do you have a video? It’s better to have a video... No? Damn it, hold on tight, kid!"

After saying that, Auerbach entered the lounge impatiently. While waiting for the waiter to find a newspaper, he walked around the lounge excitedly. And when he saw the detailed report of yesterday's game and the photo of Fox Leone lighting a cigar at the Lakers' home court, he even flushed with excitement, and then burst out laughing.

He read the words in those reports over and over again, imagining the scene at that time. He wished he could be there for the game that night, and then accompanied Leon to light a cigar together.

After closing the newspaper, Auerbach stopped smiling, took out an unfinished cigar, lit it, and started smoking gently in the lounge. His mind and body were relaxed. For nearly a month, he did not listen to news related to Leon, nor did he pay attention to the Celtics, because he was waiting, waiting to see whether Leon could pass the obstacles he set. The test, the almost harsh and cruel test, the murderous test, is enough to make a new coach lose confidence in the basketball world forever.

He had to do this. He didn't have the patience, time, or the cost to train the next Bill Russell, Tom Hainsohn, or KC Jones. He could only use this method to give birth to the next version of himself.

At least so far, Fox-Leon is on the road to becoming another Auerbach, but Auerbach doesn't know what he is really thinking.