The Whip of the God of Basketball

The sun is shining brightly in Los Angeles in June, and the tourist season here has entered. Santa Barbara Beach is filled with tourists coming from all over the world for vacation. There are wealthy people from South America, middle-class families from Oregon, family travelers from East Asia, and couples from other parts of California. In short, summer is the most beautiful season here. After all, everyone loves Los Angeles and the City of Angels.

It’s just that life was not easy for the Los Angeles Lakers who participated in the Finals. On June 9, the Lakers team returned from the cloudy Boston to the sunny Los Angeles. However, with a big score of 0:2 behind, they could not shine no matter what. . After losing to the Celtics by a big score in the first game, Shaquille O'Neal broke out completely in the second game, scoring 44 points in a single game. However, they still couldn't match the Celtics' super overall style of play. The Lakers had no chance at the North Shore Garden and were suppressed from start to finish. In the end, they lost Game 2 of the Finals 79:87.

Trailing 0:2 in the finals, only the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers in NBA history have ever achieved a major comeback. Jackson also said in an interview on the 9th that the Lakers still have a chance, "Now we are back in Los Angeles. , To be honest, I hope we can go to Boston again, after all, we haven’t won a victory there yet.” In fact, the Lakers have not won at the North Shore Garden for three consecutive years, since Fox Leon arrived After Celtic.

There are two good news for the Lakers. One is that they returned to their home court, and the other is that in the second game, the Celtics' main small forward and core player Paul Pierce sprained his right ankle and is likely to be injured. Missed the third game. The bad news is that there are conflicts within the Lakers team regarding the starting lineup.

In the second game, Phil Jackson still insisted on using the starting lineup of the Four Kings, but Gary Payton's performance was still poor. Except for some bright spots at the beginning of the first game, he was eliminated at other times. The opponent Arenas was completely overwhelmed, his offense had no outside shooting, his defense couldn't keep up with Arenas' pace, and even trash talk couldn't affect his opponent - Arenas didn't care about him at all.

Even in the second game, Payton only went through the motions at the beginning and the beginning of the second half. Once the rotation started, he might not be able to come up for a long time. Even so, Payton still occupied a considerable amount of playing time. Some Lakers won three consecutive championships. Members of the period began to complain that such a non-contributing player should not be given so much playing time.

Three feet of ice does not last a day. Payton did not show his due value and strength throughout the regular season. In comparison, Malone has gained the respect of everyone. His strength on the court and his attitude off the court are worthy of a man. A former superstar and MVP-level player. Such a contradiction broke out at this time, which really made Phil Jackson feel crazy.

He spent an entire season trying to balance the relationship between the players, but in the end he was still unable to suppress the outbreak of conflicts. What gave him more headaches was not only this, but also the relationship between Kobe and O'Neal. After the second game, there was almost no communication between the two, whether in front of the media or back in the hotel or in Los Angeles. Making Jackson extremely worried.

But Jackson himself is in trouble, because this year will be Jackson's last contract year with the Lakers. Jackson can be sure that regardless of whether the Lakers can win the championship this year, he will most likely leave the Lakers. This couldn't help but remind him of the ending of the legend in 1998. It was also full of contradictions, and it was also the end of the world. In the end, Michael Jordan's magical performance brought everything to a perfect end.

So Michael Jordan is the god of basketball, Kobe Bryant wants to be such a god, Phil Jackson also hopes that he is such a god, but judging from the current situation, Kobe is far from it.

The next day, June 10, was the match day. For the fans in Los Angeles, they still had hope. Even if they were 0:3 behind, they would still support their team and fight until the last moment of the last game. At Staples Center, the tickets for this game were sold out early, and fans lined up at the door early to wait for the chance to enter. Compared with fans in Boston, fans in Los Angeles are less fanatical and more enjoyable. The result of the game is important, but they enjoy the process of the game even more.

So people in Boston do whatever it takes, and people in Los Angeles love Show-time.

At six o'clock, there was still more than an hour before the start of the game. The Lakers players had finished warming up. Everyone was encouraging each other in the locker room. Jackson laid out the tactics a little. He no longer had the time to prepare for the game in detail. , everything depends on the performance of these old guys.

But when he was about to go on the court, O'Neal invited Jackson to the bathroom, which was a suitable place to chat about some private issues. He was also accompanied by Fox and Derek Fisher, three veterans of the three consecutive championships.

"I think it's better to let Derek and Rick start. They are more familiar with my style of play and more adaptable to the triangle offense, so that they can maximize their performance." O'Neal stood in the small toilet like a mountain of meat. Huge and suffocating, it seemed to fill the entire space. And his words also made Jackson feel oppressed.

"What do you mean, Shaq, come and teach me how to coach?" Jackson asked, glaring at O'Neal. He could not tolerate his coach's authority being challenged.

"This way we still have a chance to win. We just want to win and put forward some opinions." Rick Fox interjected, he is always quick to talk. He started in the first game, but was quickly replaced by the younger Devin George.

"I don't need you to teach me how to win, don't forget that I taught you how to win!" Jackson felt angry, and at the same time, the bad situation in the past few days made him say some things that he would not normally say.

"But we're in jeopardy now." Fisher said softly, looking like he was reluctantly pulled into O'Neal's group.

This kind of pressure does not make sense. O'Neal can't keep blocking Jackson from coming out of the toilet. In the end, Jackson still insisted on his starting lineup, F4 plus Devin George. For Jackson, the compromise for the players will be The biggest failure of a coach is that it makes the players feel that they can play according to their own wishes instead of listening to the coach's arrangements.

However, Jackson soon heard bad news. Half an hour before the start of the game, the Celtics issued an announcement indicating that Paul Pierce would appear in the starting lineup for the third game.

After spraining his ankle in the fourth quarter of the second game, relevant reports have been indicating that Pierce is likely to miss the third game or even the fourth game. This is undoubtedly a great benefit to the Lakers, and it also encourages the Lakers to a certain extent. morale.

However, as the game approached, Pierce was able to participate in the game again. Jackson began to suspect that this was simply a smoke bomb by the Celtics.

Before the game started, Fox-Leon was interviewed by reporters on the sidelines and was asked why Pierce appeared in the start of the third game and whether there was any problem with his ankle.

"I don't know, but Pierce said he must play, so I had no choice but to let him play." Leon's answer was extremely unprincipled, and it seemed that he did not consider Jackson's feelings at all. I don’t know what Jackson would think when he heard his explanation.