Basketball starts with breathing

Chapter 361 Of course, I like you too
The story of Kobe and Jackson is enough to write a novel. The conflict between Kobe and O'Neill is well known, but Jackson Jackson has repeatedly supported O'Neal in public to deny Kobe.

The Zen master even asked the management to trade Kobe away many times. The original words of the Zen master are: Kobe is too stubborn to coach.

But the support of the Lakers still allowed Kobe to stay.

As a result, Jackson, who supported O'Neal, had a bad relationship with Kobe.

Jackson looked down on Kobe and felt that Kobe was not suitable to be a leader because of Kobe's character and Kobe's style of play, but Kobe believed that Jackson was unwilling to arrange tactics for him, and even his teammates' running tactics were pitiful.

Between the two, it seems that one must go.

In fact, many people don't know that as early as 1999, Kobe was almost traded away, and it was Zen Master who spoke to keep Kobe at that time.

The fact that Kobe was almost traded as a bargaining chip in 1999 started with O'Neal's tragic playoffs.

Before the start of the 1999-2000 season, the big man O'Neal, who had three dunks in his rookie season, had already begun to call himself the "most dominant player", but this confident big center has never been able to get over the disappointment. Come out of the playoffs.

Before the summer of 1999, O'Neal had been labeled "swept".

Even though O'Neal has the ability to fly into the sky and escape from the ground, he still cannot avoid the fact that he was swept in the first round of the playoffs.

1996-97赛季，奥尼尔来到湖人的第一年，奥尼尔因伤在身表现一般；1997-98赛季，西部决赛被爵士4-0横扫；1998-99赛季，第二轮被马刺4-0横扫。

It wasn't until the end of the 1998-99 season that O'Neal couldn't bear it anymore. He began to become frustrated and dissatisfied with his teammates, mainly Kobe.

What you need to know is that in the summer of 1999, Kobe did not have the strength to compete with O'Neal's separation of powers.

At that stage, whether on the court or in the locker room, O'Neal was the absolute only leader, while Kobe was the one who was left out by other players.

This may be related to Kobe's personality. In the words of the Lakers players at the time: "Kobe doesn't fit in and always likes to be alone, but once it comes to the game, he wants to stand out more than anyone else."

The player leader of the Lakers is O'Neal. Although he has intimidated Kobe before, how could he compromise with Kobe's character?

If Kobe was a dictionary, you would definitely not find the words "compromise" and "make do".

O'Neal repeatedly wanted Kobe to know that he was the leader of the Lakers' players, but Kobe kept ignoring O'Neal's existence, or pretending not to receive O'Neal's signal.

But after being swept in the playoffs many times in a row, O'Neal began to put pressure on the Lakers management, bluntly saying that there is no way to win, and hinting that he does not want to cooperate with Kobe again.

In the eyes of the Lakers at the time, Kobe's weight was far inferior to that of O'Neal. They felt the crisis created by O'Neal, "What if he leaves"?
After that, the Lakers executives spent an annual salary of 800 million to invite the famous coach "Zen Master" Mr. Phil Jackson when he coached the Jordan Bulls, and his coaching team.

At the same time, the Lakers management also had to secretly consider the matter of trading Kobe, because at that time O'Neal was just like James in Lu Yu's previous life. .

当时用科比交易的对象是活塞时期的格兰特-希尔，希尔是1994年第三顺位的选秀球员，在1999-2000赛季开始之前他已经4次完成场均得分20+的数据了。

Later, the "Zen Master" Jackson rejected the deal. He said that Grant Hill was 6 years older than Kobe, and the deal was not worth it.

Later facts proved that it was a relatively correct choice for Zen Master to keep Kobe.

If the Zen master hadn't come to the Lakers to turn the tide, Kobe might have left.

It's just that no one would have thought that after a few years, when the Lakers had to choose between Kobe and O'Neal again, the Zen master chose O'Neal this time.

But this time the Lakers didn't follow his wish.

Instead, Kobe was kept, which also brought the relationship between him and Kobe to a freezing point.

The Suns have won a few games, and the winning streak has reached seven games. Since changing their style of play, they have not lost a game, and Lu Yu's popularity has risen to the highest point.

It is estimated that this year's All-Star ticket king is in the bag again.

And seeing the offensive frenzy of the Suns, fans hope that Lu Yu can lead the Western Conference to play such an offense during the All-Star Game, which will also make the All-Star Game more attractive.

Because there have been more dunks by Lu Yu recently, many fans hope that Lu Yu will participate in the dunk contest.

Lu Yu has also received a lot of advertising endorsements. If he has money, he does not earn for nothing. His current advertising endorsement fee is much higher than his salary. Counting various endorsements, he only relies on the income related to the NBA , have already ranked in the top ten of the league.

Not to mention other income, Tencent's market value is growing rapidly, plus Lu Ji Restaurant, Bulls, media companies, brokerage companies, and many miscellaneous investments, Lu Yu can no longer calculate how much assets he has.

Recently, Snoopy is in contact with Marion. Although it is not a big surprise, he is still a high-quality player.

It happened that Marion was planning to change his agent, so Lu Yu took care of it directly.

At the same time, the Lakers after losing to the Suns are already in chaos.

After losing to the Suns, the Lakers lost to the 76ers and the Raptors, the two Eastern underdogs. Although Kobe can get good data every game, the team just can't win.

Phil Jackson believes that Kobe's wild shots are the key to the Lakers' loss.

On the surface, Kobe's statistics are good, but in fact, his efficiency is outrageously low. Kobe is not suitable to be a team leader at all.

But Kobe said, I don't shoot, and others don't shoot, what should I do with the ball in the end?

They don't shoot, I must be the one who finishes the shot. As for why the efficiency is low, it's not because you don't have any tactics at all. The players on the court are like watching a movie. Watching me play alone, every opponent I meet, They can double-team me wantonly.

Strangely, none of the Lakers players spoke.

They didn't support anyone, they just watched Kobe and Zen master fight infighting there.

How to put it, what they both said makes sense. Jackson did not arrange tactics, but Kobe was indeed unique.

Immediately after they met the Celtics in an away game, Kobe made 56 of 12 shots and hit 44 irons angrily, creating a historical record for a single player in a single game.

This is the real blacksmith.

Kobe didn't care anymore, and he never returned to the career of a blacksmith.

In the past, with O'Neal, he couldn't make any shots at all. Originally, O'Neal left. In order for the team to win, he thought about linking up the teams at first, but in the end he found that the team was like this, so he simply played by himself.

It's just that this is a vicious circle. The more you play in this situation, the easier it is to hit the iron.

After all, he felt very discouraged regardless of his mentality or the opponent's defense.

But he is also a person who refuses to admit defeat, so the harder he is, the more he casts.

Phil Jackson knew that he would definitely be fired, so he spoke more boldly in the interview: "Kobe is a cancer. I suggest that the management trade Kobe out. The Lakers need to be completely rebuilt, otherwise there is absolutely no hope."

Lu Yu, who was far away in Phoenix, was delighted when he heard it.

"Hey Kobe, Phoenix's door is always open for you."

Lu Yu directly invited Kobe.

In Lu Yu's previous life, Kobe had one person, one city, and spent 20 seasons with the Lakers. It was rare for him to leave Los Angeles. Lu Yu suddenly became interested.

But the Lakers are not stupid, they know who to choose between the coach and Kobe.

If Kobe is really traded, wouldn't it be a wrong decision to slap them in the face and trade O'Neal away in the summer?
In fact, they have already regretted it.

With O'Neal, the Lakers are a playoff-level team, but with Kobe, they go straight to the lottery, okay?

On December 12, the Lakers announced that Zen Master Jackson was dismissed from get out of class, and the Lakers invited Rudy Tomjanovich as the team's head coach.

That's right, the head coach whose brains were punched out.

On December 1977, 12, the Lakers played against the Rockets, and there was a physical conflict on the court.Tomjanovich, who was still a player at the time, ran forward to persuade him to fight, but was misunderstood by Kermit Washington and punched him hard in the face. and face fractures, and the back of the skull was fractured from hitting the ground during the fall.

Tomjanovich underwent plastic surgery and recuperation, and it took five months to return to the court, while Kermit was suspended for 60 games, which was a severe punishment unprecedented in the NBA at the time.

Tomjanovich later recalled thinking that the scoreboard hanging above the court fell on his head.

This punch made Tomjanovich have 5 operations, the tear gland was removed by surgery, and he almost died in the hospital.

Tomjanovich later asked his doctor why his mouth felt so salty after being punched, and the answer turned out to be: "You were tasting your own brain!"

Washington also paid a huge price for this, and suspensions and fines are expected.

But a black man beat a white man. In that era when racial discrimination was still serious, Washington would be condemned by people wherever he went.

Even when his wife gave birth in the hospital, even the doctors were unwilling to serve them.

After just a few seasons, Washington announced his retirement in 1982.

As a coach, Tomjanovich likes to give the team's number one star ample opportunities to perform. Olajuwon and Francis can play to the extreme when they play under him. Therefore, after he enters Los Angeles, in theory Kobe will get the chance to perform to the fullest.

On the same day, the Suns came to Chicago to prepare for the Christmas game.

The media predicts the outcome is one-sided, and they are all optimistic about the Suns.

The reason is simple. Lu Yu is very familiar with the Bulls. Although the Bulls have changed a lot of players, Lu Yu really knows Cartwright's tactics very well.

After Lu Yu came to Chicago, he asked his former teammates to have dinner together, and by the way called Wang Zhizhi.

The Bulls ranked second in the Eastern Conference this season and were overwhelmed by the Heat, but the Bulls' management is already very satisfied with such a record.

Mainly because Lu Yu was very satisfied.

The team's twin stars, Hamilton and Wang Zhizhi, are a perfect combination. Both of them have shots, and they don't occupy the ball. They play smoothly.

Moreover, Wang Zhizhi is now averaging 19.8 points and 12.3 rebounds per game, and it is very likely that he will be selected for the All-Star Game for the first time.

After Lu Yu had a party with his former teammates, he went on a secret date with Jessica again.

Jessica is now based in Chicago and lives in Lu Yu's previous house.

Revisiting the old place, the two fell in love all night, but it didn't affect Lu Yu's performance in the Christmas battle at all.

After all, Lu Yu has the method of breathing, and what he is least afraid of is physical exercise.

In the Christmas game, Lu Yu scored 61 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, breaking his own triple-double scoring record again. The Suns also defeated the Bulls 127-116.

Many people exclaimed that they have seen a player with a triple-double, but they have never seen a triple-double while scoring 60+ points. It is simply too scary.

Wang Zhizhi also performed well, and he performed exceptionally well in this game.

Scored 32 points and 11 rebounds.

Of course, the main reason is that Haslem is most afraid of defending such players, and Lu Yu did not take the initiative to defend Wang Zhizhi. After all, he is a fellow.

People realize that this Suns team is likely to really win the championship.

Because the Suns have never encountered top teams in the league before, but the Bulls are different. This Bulls is already one of the strongest teams in the East, but they are still rubbed on the ground by the Suns all the way.

The reason is that Lu Yu is too strong.

No one can guard against him.

After the game, Wang Zhizhi asked Lu Yu: "I heard you will participate in the dunk contest?"

"Maybe, I haven't thought about it either."

Lu Yu smiled.

He has no shortage of honors now, and the title of slam dunk king is not very attractive to him.

For him, the primary goal of this season is the championship, and by the way, he can win the FMVP, the MVP in the regular season, and the scoring champion. As for other honors, he doesn't really want to.

Lu Yu left the court and returned to the locker room.

The arena at the United Center in Chicago was full of MVP sounds, and all the fans stood up and shouted "MVP! MVP!..."

This is the best compliment to Lu Yu for his three seasons with the Bulls.

Lu Yu walked to the sidelines, suddenly collapsed onto the technical stage, pointed to the floor, and shouted to the fans: "This is my horse!"

Say what others say, so that others have nothing to say.

Lu Yu never tires of such things this season.

After doing this, Lu Yu walked to the Bulls bench and hugged Cartwright.

"I wish you were still in the Bulls. See, so many Bulls fans still like you. Of course, I like you too."

"I don't like you."

Lu Yu pretended to be disgusted.

There was a burst of laughter from the sidelines.

No matter the time, it's a good memory here, isn't it?

(End of this chapter)