I was determined to be bad, but I went straight to the Basketball Hall of Fame

Chapter 578

Paul and Kobe are essentially the same kind of people, they are both hyper-competitive megalomaniacs.

It's just that Kobe is more dominant in comparison. Whether it is his life or playing style, Kobe is more self-confident and public.

Because of his growth experience and his position on the court, Paul seems to be more aggressive and introverted, more united and friendly.

But in fact, this little man of 183 is an out-and-out controlling personality on and off the court, which is also understandable, after all, he is a point guard.

In this way, if two people are paired together, if the team can win and win championships all the time, there will be no problems with each other.

In the first season of cooperation between the two, the two got along very well, because the momentum of the Lakers is very good.

They have been winning in the regular season, and the most important thing is to face the rising Los Angeles Clippers. The Lakers played against the Clippers in the regular season.

Every time, the two stars in the backcourt played, Kobe and Paul used their super personal ability to break up the young Clippers, reflecting the superstar strength of the two.

At that time, the Lakers had the taste of the king of Los Angeles, and Paul and Kobe were also the superstars of Los Angeles.

But in the playoffs, reaching the Western Conference Finals, as the series progressed, the situation changed significantly.

The Lakers showed their old age, especially in the crucial battle of Tianwangshan, where they were defeated by the Clippers at the Staples Center.

The Lakers couldn't even drag the game into the final decisive moment. A crisp defeat caused the balance of the entire series to tilt towards the Clippers.

After the game, there were some disputes between Paul and Kobe, but they were quickly suppressed by the Lakers.

The reason for the dispute is simple. Paul believes that Kobe has no ability to make a final decision at a critical moment, but he still occupies the ball in the final stage.

And Kobe believes that the reason why he is like this is because Paul can't support the team's scoring at critical moments, so he can only force it by himself. Why do you blame me in turn?

The contradiction has already been planted at this moment, and the rest is just waiting, fermenting and growing slowly.

The sixth game was still at the Staples Center. Facing the Clippers' stormy offense, the Lakers were completely powerless to parry.

The most sad thing for the Lakers players is that the last time the two teams met in the playoffs, the Los Angeles Derby, almost all fans supported the Lakers at the Staples Center.

At that time, the Lakers led 3:0 and were dragged to Game [-] by the Clippers. Since then, there have been more and more Clippers fans.

It's just that the Lakers have been the championship for 10 years, and they are still the king of Los Angeles. Although the changes have come, they are very subtle and no one really notices.

Just a few years later, young fans in Los Angeles almost all favored the Clippers. In the sixth game, the red and blue completely overshadowed the purple and gold. The Clippers defeated the desperately resisting Lakers in the sixth game.

For the first time, Lakers players, especially Bryant, felt that Staples Center was no longer their home and that the Los Angeles people were abandoning them.

In the summer, the Lakers experienced a lot of turmoil. Bynum was traded, Iguodala arrived, and many veterans who came here for fame left one after another.

The 2011-2012 season is like a grand dream for the Lakers players and fans, where all the old guys who yearn for the championship are gathered here.

Phil Jackson successfully kneaded them together. The team is very united. Everyone has a common language and strives for a common goal.

Many fans are also looking forward to the fact that the 2012 season belongs to the Lakers, just like the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, the old boys collectively realized their dreams.

But it is a pity that dreams are dreams after all. Under the tide of the new era, they were shattered by the shooting, and the Lakers fell apart.

Without a championship, everything becomes nothing.

This season, the Lakers took a more pragmatic route and invited D'Antoni to build an offensive system.

Iguodala was ushered in at the third position, and McGee and Jordan Hill were added inside. The overall strength of the Lakers has not declined sharply.

On the contrary, from some perspectives, this year's Lakers are more modern than last year and better able to keep up with the trend of the league.

It's a pity that this kind of Lakers is not Kobe's Lakers, not the Lakers with 10 championships in 5 years.

Pragmatic, tough, trendy -- these words have never had anything to do with the Lakers team.

What they want is gorgeousness, what they want is a flashy feeling, what they want is overflowing talent, and what they want is to take the opponent's head in a drunken dream.

Therefore, the Lakers this season feel awkward. From coaches to players to fans, everything feels wrong.

Until the death of Jerry Buss this year, a long flashy era belonging to the Lakers came to an end.

Kobe can feel that this league, this team, and even Los Angeles, are becoming more and more strange.

Everyone is talking about the Clippers, everyone is discussing the role of three-pointers, everyone is talking about Curry and Harden, everyone is talking about pick-and-rolls, and everyone is talking about the Clippers' super arena that can accommodate [-] spectators.

Times have changed, but the changes have already begun. When they reach their peak, it often means they start to slide.

It's just that this process is always very long, so long that it always gives people the illusion that they are still climbing.

By the time you feel the weightlessness of falling, it's too late.

The conflict between Kobe and Paul in the Western Conference finals last year has gradually grown in this depressing and unspeakable atmosphere this season.

The death of Jerry Buss left an elder who could comfort Kobe, and the conflict between the two gradually began to intensify.

Near the end of the playoffs, the Clippers slaughtered the Lakers at the Staples Center, which became a fuse for the public conflict between the two.

Paul made no secret of his disappointment at the press conference, although he didn't mention by name that it was Kobe's performance that made the team lose so badly.

But looking at the data, you can see that Paul played very normally tonight, with 22 points, 11 assists and 4 steals, standard star data.

And Kobe made 37 of 10 shots tonight and scored 27 points with a poor shooting percentage. He wasted a lot of shooting opportunities and forced shots.

He tried to turn the tide in the third quarter, trying to use his scoring performance to close the point difference and encourage his teammates to continue chasing points.

But unfortunately, he is not what he was in 05 and 06. The so-called continuous scoring finally turned into a continuous blacksmithing performance.

And gave the Clippers opportunities to counterattack again and again, how could the Clippers waste it.

George and Leonard took turns to perform dunk performances, completely shattering the confidence of the Lakers.

Paul no longer wants to hide his dissatisfaction off the court. During the timeout, he didn't make eye contact with Kobe or high-five Kobe.

And Kobe didn't directly participate in the post-match press conference. When Paul returned from the interview, Kobe had already showered and left the arena, not wanting to have more contact with Paul.

Both of them have very tough personalities, Kobe needless to say, Paul, regardless of his stature, he has a good temper at 183, and he never let people touch his head.

If anyone touches his head, he will be anxious with anyone. From this point, it can be seen that he is definitely a very strong character.

Once two people with strong personalities do not fight each other, the one who gets angry will definitely refuse to obey the other.

Both of them are reasonable. Kobe entered the league with the Lakers. It has been almost 20 years. He has 5 championships, honors, and a historical superstar.

Even if there was a conflict between O'Neal and Kobe, it was O'Neal who left instead of Kobe. What is an outsider like Paul?

But Paul has his advantage, that is, he is young, which is also an important reason why Kobe was able to squeeze O'Neal away.

Just imagine, if Kobe was 32 years old and O'Neal was 25 years old, who would the Lakers keep?
Now the situation is reversed, Kobe is 34 years old, and the decline in state is visible to the naked eye.

It is estimated that in another two to three years, the state will experience a cliff-like landslide.

And Paul is only 27 years old. For a point guard, he is still on the rise.

For at least 5 years in the future, Paul will still be one of the best stars in the league.

Therefore, Paul has the capital to compare with Kobe, and he can make the Lakers his own team.

After the game ended, the conflict between the two sides gradually became public.

Although afterwards, under the mediation of the team owner, the two quickly issued a statement saying that their relationship was very stable.

But neither Jenny Buss nor Jim Buss has the ability to overwhelm both sides.

The so-called persuasion is definitely not just lip service, everyone understands the truth, so do you need to say it?
The key is to see who speaks, whether they have prestige, and whether they have the ability to suppress both sides.

Persuasion by such people has strength and effect.

In the past, the Lakers had such characters, and there were many.

Owner Jerry Buss, head coach Phil Jackson, general manager Jerry West.

Regardless of personal prestige or adjustment ability, they are all first-class.

As a result, the old Bass is dead, Jackson was cleared because of coveting the shares of the Bass family, and Jerry West was also purged and now retires in the Clippers.

There is no one who can speak.

Therefore, the so-called reconciliation between the two parties is just to save face for everyone to see.

Whether the two sides are really reconciled, just look at the record of the Lakers.

After losing to the Clippers, the Lakers have 5 games left in the regular season.

In these five games, the Lakers had 2 wins and 3 losses, which led to their regular season record being finally surpassed by the Nuggets and came to the fifth place in the Western Conference.

Although there is not much difference between fourth and fifth, they still play the Nuggets anyway, and the Clippers in the second round, but after all, there is one less home court advantage.

Moreover, the Nuggets are quite strong this year, and the Lakers may really overturn in the first round.

At this point, the playoff spots for the East and West leagues have been announced.

With a record of 62 wins and 20 losses, the Clippers successfully won the first place in the Western Conference and the first place in the league.

Ranked second is the Oklahoma City Thunder with 59 wins and 23 losses, and the third is the Spurs with 56 wins and 26 losses.

Fourth to sixth are the Nuggets, Lakers, Grizzlies, Warriors and Jazz.

Among them, the Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, and Grizzlies have very small wins.

The Grizzlies ranked sixth, but got 54 wins and 28 losses, ranking third in the Eastern Conference.

Because in the East, there are only two really strong teams, the Heat with 58 wins and 24 losses, and the Cavaliers with 56 wins and 26 losses.

Although the following Knicks had a regular season record of 53 wins and 29 losses, Stoudemire was reimbursed for the season, resulting in the Knicks missing a corner in the lineup.

Relying on Anthony alone cannot compete with the Heat's Galacticos and the Cleveland Twins.

After the regular season ended, Min Congda sighed deeply as he looked at the regular season record and the playoff matchup table.

In the past two days, the Lakers have lost one after another, and the conflict between Kobe and Paul is raging in Los Angeles. Min Congda feels a little bitter.

He didn't understand that he just played a small trick on the Lakers, and they fell out internally.

Once the playoffs are eliminated, Kobe and Paul may have to leave one of them.

At that time, the life of the Bass family in the Lakers will definitely not be easy.

Looking at the messy scene of the Lakers, how could Min Congda not be envious.

He can be described as "a lot of clever tricks" for the Clippers, and he racked his brains and didn't know how many bad ideas he thought of.

It has been four years, and there is no movement in the team, and the players have no conflicts.

Before Mike Malone put Harden on the bench to be the sixth man, Min Congda thought how could there be some disturbance?

As a result, Harden actually enjoyed it, playing as a substitute was very happy!
He is very satisfied with his sixth man role.

Look at this guy, this promising!

Not to mention Curry, he doesn't have any competitiveness off the court, and he doesn't care whether he is the boss or not.

After training all day, he was laughing and laughing, and he was out of shape. How could he look like a team leader?

The other young players, like George, Leonard, Davis, etc., are not motivated.

Don't you want to be the boss of the team?Want to be number one on your team?Do whatever the coach tells you to do.

What about the vigor and fighting spirit of the young players?

One by one at a young age, there is no motivation to strive for the first place.

I just want to play well, and I don't want to fight for honor and status for myself.

Don't want the data? Don't want to get the MVP?All-stars don't want to enter?One round, two rounds, isn't it important?

Why are they all willing to play well for the championship?

With Min Congda's lower than average intelligence, he naturally couldn't understand that he himself was the initiator of everything.

And he is the real boss of this team, which is different from other teams.

What's more, these young people are basically in the Clippers when they first entered the league. Everyone grew up together and have a deep relationship.

Some bad habits of many players are actually cultivated by some old players or a bad team atmosphere after entering the league.

Think about it, they are all young people in their early 20s or even less than [-] years old. They have a lot of money all of a sudden, and they are with many people of similar age. It is not easy to be affected by the environment.

In this regard, the Clippers, under Min Congda's absolute authority, can be regarded as having a clean and upright atmosphere. Everyone will play for fun and will not bring unhealthy tendencies into the team.

During the period between the regular season and the playoffs, the Clippers took a final rest and then determined the 12-man roster for the playoffs.

Curry, Harden, Randolph, Gasol Jr., George, Leonard, Butler, Dragic, Milicic, Bonner, Livingston plus Anthony Davis.

PJ-Tucker, Ricky Davis and Bazemore did not make the list.

It's not that they didn't play well enough in the regular season, it's that the Clippers can play too many people.

(End of this chapter)