no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 287 The championship named Fairy Tale

Barkley's kneeling made him another scene, and the ratings of that TNT program reached a season high.

Some professionals estimate that Barkley's kneeling will bring him nearly 10 million US dollars in income.

But this still cannot change the current situation of the NBA.

Although Xiao Hua continues to make plans during the All-Star Game, this year's All-Star Game will still have the lowest ratings in history.

Even Charlotte, which is hosting this All-Star event, has heard that it wants to give up the right to host this event.

Then, they really got their wish.

Because just before the All-Star Game, North Carolina, where Charlotte is located, passed an anti-gay law in March 2017: allowing the exclusion of gay people in commercial activities.

This controversial HB2 bill refuses to protect LGBT rights and forces transgender people to use toilets that match their [biological gender].

After pressing the North Carolina government to no avail, the league eventually canceled Charlotte's hosting rights and moved it to New Orleans, which was the most suitable venue due to its temporary nature.

This also attracted a burst of attention from the outside world.

With media people kneeling and the All-Star game changing, you will find that the NBA’s most attention-grabbing thing this year is not what happens on the court, but the off-court news.

This also makes fans miss Xu Yong even more.

Xu Yong, on the other hand, had already returned to China.

He was invited by Yao Ming to promote China's campus basketball league.

Yao Ming's reform of domestic basketball is different from his predecessors' reform of the upper levels. He started from the lower levels, that is, the grassroots.

This is a very courageous approach, and its effects will take at least ten or even twenty years to be seen.

Because you have to wait at least until the first or second batch of children you train grow up, and you have to see whether they can fulfill their talents.

But this is something only Yao Ming has the courage and ability to do.

So Xu Yong came back this time not only to fulfill the promise he made to Yao Ming at the wedding, but also to recognize this approach.

In his previous life, he was reborn before he could see the results of Yao Ming's reforms. In this life, he is looking forward to the results.

Xu Yong's appearance naturally triggered a violent response. It can be said that Xu Yong's appearance helped Yao Ming get off to a better start than in history.

Because of Barkley's kneeling, some people at the event also asked about Xu Yong's return to the NBA.

Xu Yong's answer is very straightforward. He is enjoying retirement life now and will not consider returning to the NBA.

This also triggered continued shock in the NBA.

When Xu Yong was playing in the NBA, the NBA was ranked second in global and North American attention, and even surpassed the NFL in North America last year. But now, they have almost fallen to fourth or even fifth. .

After participating in domestic activities, Xu Yong stayed in the country for a while and opened several training camps.

Since we really want to help Yao Ming and the development of domestic basketball, we can't just go through the motions.

But it was at this time that he received a very important piece of news, news related to the Bulls.

Jokic was sent away after the All-Star break.

As Jokic continued to grow, the conflict between him and Thibodeau became increasingly intense.

Because Thibodeau will not let Jokic play the starting five position, and he values ​​Adams very much, the management must make a choice.

The final result was naturally that Jokic was sent away, because it was impossible for the management to give up a coach who had brought five championships to the team for a potential new star.

Moreover, this coach is also Xu Yong’s mentor.

The specific content of this deal is that the Bulls sent Jokic and Joe Johnson and received LaMarcus Aldridge and Tony Allen from the Mavericks.

Jokic's trade value has been fully reflected, because the Mavericks are even willing to pay for him this season's star player, who averaged a double-double of 25.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per game when Leonard was injured for the season. .

However, from a realistic perspective, because Leonard is still recovering from his injury, Aldridge cannot achieve any results. Rather than not getting better or worse, it is better to rebuild from the bottom up, and Chandler is completely out of control at this time. Kitchen arrived just in time to take over.

For the Bulls, it is a foregone conclusion to send Jokic away. If they can exchange him for an All-Star power forward who is still in his prime (32 years old), the deal will not be a loss.

After reading the news, Xu Yong called Jokic and said some blessings to him.

This result is not bad for Jokic, it can even be said to be the best.

Because although Leonard's injury was as serious as in history, the Mavericks management, or Cuban, showed sufficient patience with him, which prevented the farce between them that Xu Yong knew.

This means that Leonard will still be with the Mavericks after his comeback. Then the combination of Jokic + Leonard will be a competitive enough lineup.

And although Jokic is an overseas player, he is white. In a place like Dallas, white people are far more popular than black players.

In March, Xu Yong returned to the United States.

It was at this time that he felt a little uncomfortable.

Playing all year round will make people feel tired, so in the first few months after retirement, he indulged himself and enjoyed that life.

But as time went by, not only was the originally fixed rhythm of life a mess, but a sense of emptiness also began to invade his life.

These are things Xu Yong has never considered but cannot avoid.

When he woke up from bed early one morning, Xu Yong somewhat understood why Jordan wanted to play baseball after retiring.

Compared with liking, fulfilling life may be a more important reason.

Because when something is missing from life, it’s best to fill it with something else.

But unlike Jordan, he does not have a second career that he loves.

His hobby is collecting star cards, which is obviously not enough to fill his life.

It was at this time that he remembered someone.

He went to Los Angeles to meet Kobe Bryant, who also retired.

Kobe took him directly to an arena in the suburbs where many children were training.

Xu Yong also saw the familiar logo on the wall of the arena: the Black Mamba.

After Kobe retired, Kobe registered this trademark.

And his main business now is the Mamba Academy.

Or to put it another way, it is to cultivate rising stars for American basketball.

Last summer, when the Mamba Academy opened, many stars from the United States came to support them. Not only hot new stars like George, but also already famous ones like Irving came, and of course more of them were Devin Booker, Rising stars like Jayson Tatum.

Xu Yong was greatly inspired after reading it.

Before leaving, Kobe and he chatted for a while about the current issues in the league.

"They need a hero, and only you can be that hero." Kobe said seriously.

Xu Yong smiled and did not answer, but when he looked at Kobe, he remembered another thing.

"Are you still using a helicopter?"

"It's very convenient." Kobe nodded, thinking Xu Yong was changing the subject.

"I once read a news report about a helicopter crash. The father and his children survived, leaving only his wife alone."

What Xu Yong said was very inappropriate, and Kobe frowned when he heard it.

However, Xu Yong acted as if he hadn't seen it and just continued to talk: "I don't like to have the steering wheel in other people's hands, especially in the air. When an accident comes, all I can do is wait for death."

"It's as safe as an airplane." Kobe shook his head.

After hearing this, Xu Yong thought of Kobe's character and knew that he couldn't be persuaded.

At this moment, Vanessa sent Gigi over. She was the most like Kobe among all Kobe’s daughters, both in personality and in terms of playing skills.

Kobe saw his daughter coming over and stretched out his hand to hug her and say hello, and then motioned for her to go inside and wait for him.

Xu Yong was about to leave. Before leaving, he said the last thing: "You should pay more attention to safety in the future and don't take risks just to rush for time. After all..."

Xu Yong said and looked inside: "Many times you are not alone in the helicopter."

Kobe looked back and knew that Xu Yong had good intentions. He frowned and gave Xu Yong a hug with a smile: "I will." Xu Yong did not go back to Chicago after leaving Los Angeles, but went directly to Chicago. Tempe.

Just a few days later, Arizona State University announced that Xu Yong will become the team's assistant coach next season, that is, the 2018~2019 season.

Yes, Xu Yong also chose to pursue a career related to basketball, but coaching.

The reason why he chose this was not only to fill a gap in his life, but also to improve his technical and tactical skills.

In fact, in terms of tactical level alone, the NCAA is much better than the NBA.

Those tactics that have been promoted in the NBA, such as Princeton and Triangle tactics, are the same as those popular songs in China such as "The First Lover", "Sad Pacific", "Thousands of Que Songs", "Later" and so on. , all from remakes.

Those songs come from Japan and South Korea, and these tactics come from the NCAA.

Even Cole's favorite "Tornado Tactics" was actually copied from Iowa State University.

So experiencing the NCAA season from a coach's perspective will be a pretty good experience for Xu Yong.

But after the news broke, it immediately triggered a huge response.

The popularity of the NBA has collapsed here. Not only does Xu Yong have no timetable for his return, but he is actually enjoying retirement life more and more?

You must know that the appointment of Xu Yong as coach means that Xu Yong's disappearance from the NBA has been extended from one season to two seasons, or even longer.

Originally, as Kobe Bryant said, Xu Yong was the only one who could save the NBA. Now, the NBA is completely over.

Fans have become increasingly pessimistic about the NBA's prospects, and the NBA's ratings and market value have continued to decline.

Now the bosses are really suffering.

This market capitalization is like the stock market. For ordinary people who have not participated in it, the ups and downs are just some numerical changes. But for investors who hold stocks, it is real money in their pockets. What evaporates is personal assets.

There are already rumors that some owners want to sell the team.

After all, not every owner has owned the team for decades. Many of them only bought the team after the Jordan era or even after Xu Yong appeared.

Just like not everyone bought a house before housing prices rose, many people's idea when encountering this situation is to take action and stop losses in time.

After all, just like no one knows whether housing prices will rise again, no one knows whether Xu Yong, who is getting more and more fun now, will play in the NBA again.

When the time came to April, when Xu Yong began to live in Tempe and started training with the team's new players, NBA data in all aspects finally stopped the downward trend and rebounded slightly.

The playoffs are coming.

After returning to basketball-related careers, Xu Yong subconsciously paid more attention to the NBA, and naturally also paid attention to the prospects of this year's playoffs.

The most popular team at the beginning of this year's season was undoubtedly the Thunder, but with the return of the [vertical jump rule], the Warriors came from behind and became the team with the best record in the league. They finally won 73 wins and successfully Broke the NBA's historical record.

This made Xu Yongdu a little unexpected, but after he read the comments carefully, he discovered that the Warriors had many classic famous scenes this season, such as "Brave not going out of bounds" and "Brave not fouling" (specifically referring to moving screens). foul) etc.

This is the same idea as pushing Westbrook to join the Thunder before the season, setting new records and creating new gimmicks.

The theme of the Western Conference is still the Thunder and the Warriors. Xu Yong paid attention to the Mavericks. Jokic’s season statistics were 18+10+6, but after arriving in the Mavericks, his statistics were 20+10+7. Cuban probably made everyone laugh. .

In the East, the Raptors directly won first place. Antetokounmpo has replaced DeRozan as the core of the team, or it can be said that he has replaced James as the villain in the East.

The Cavaliers' performance is still strong and they are ranked second.

Celtic ranked third.

The Bulls, the old club that Xu Yong paid most attention to, ended up winning one less game than those who believed in the numbers and ranked fifth.

The Bulls suddenly struggled without Xu Yong at the beginning of the season. After the [vertical jump rule] returned, their offensive firepower was obviously insufficient and they fell out of the playoffs.

The record has improved since Aldridge joined, but the hole they dug was too big.

This position is a bit embarrassing, because starting from the first round, they have played from the bottom to the top. In the second round, they have to face the strongest Raptors team in the Eastern Conference, with a high probability of stopping in the conference semifinals.

This was quickly reflected in the first round. Joel fouled him and Embiid made the Bulls very passive on the defensive end. They fell behind 1-2 with a big score.

But just when fans thought the Bulls were about to stop and the outside world was lamenting that "Butler is no more than the next Pippen," Butler began to play explosively.

他先是在G4中砍下43分率队逆转扳平大比分，紧接着连续砍下30+，率队4比2完成以下克上。

Then in the second round, the Bulls met the Raptors. From the first game of the two sides, Butler grabbed DeRozan and beat him. DeRozan was helpless defensively, and the offense was also sluggish. The Bulls also Take the initiative from the beginning.

As for Antetokounmpo, his shooting has never improved, and the Bulls have defended against him in a zone defense.

Because DeRozan is in poor offensive condition, the Raptors' offensive problems are very obvious.

4-1, an unexpected start, and an ending that no one had ever imagined, Butler led the Bulls to crush the Raptors.

He used practical actions to close the loop on the trash talk of the year: You couldn't beat the Eastern Conference before Xu Yong retired, and you still couldn't beat the Eastern Conference after Xu Yong retired (because I'm still here).

This is also since Xu Yong retired, the NBA finally began to have some topics worthy of fans' attention.

The Bulls faced the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. When the outside world and even Xu Yong thought Butler was going to lead the team to the finals, the Bulls lost.

With a big score of 2 to 4, the Bulls played very tenaciously, but they could not withstand the Cavaliers' overall strength, especially their huge inside advantage. Davis has fully grown up this season.

The Cavaliers' opponent in the Finals is the Thunder, the opponent the Warriors lost to in the Western Conference Finals.

That's right, the 73-win Warriors finally finished second in the Western Conference!

This was also unexpected by Xu Yong.

If it were a version without the [vertical jump rule], he felt the Thunder had a good chance of winning, but if it were that version, the Warriors wouldn't be able to win 73 games.

But now in this small-ball version, the Warriors have a good chance of winning, not to mention they have the support of the league behind them.

As a result, the Thunder won, and winning was completely the script of the hot-blooded series.

开局0比1，扳回一城1比2，再扳一城2比3，杜兰特5场场均41分，属于是完全燃烧自己了。

Then in the last two games, Westbrook went crazy.

Not only did he hit his best breakthrough, but he was also extremely accurate in zombie jump shots and three-pointers. He completely explained what it means to play based on emotion. No one can stop him when he goes crazy.

Xu Yong also felt incredible when watching it. After all, in the history he knew, Westbrook was the man who [guarded] Durant.

But if you look closely, many things are actually different.

Westbrook has been a big brother. Although his statistics are good, his perspective on the game is completely different. When he is in good condition, one or two outbursts are normal.

There is also Harden. Harden's feeding ability has really evolved a lot over the years. It can be said that the performance of Durant and Westbrook is completely inseparable from his super assistant.

It can be said that although these three brothers are still the same three brothers, they are much more mature than they were many years ago. They are no longer hot-blooded teenagers, but they are really determined to do something big and become famous.

But this is very interesting. The Cavaliers finally made it out of the Eastern Conference in the second year after James left, but James failed to break out of the Western Conference in his second year with the Warriors.

Sure enough, the most fearful thing about everything in the world is comparison.

The conference finals on both sides were fierce, but in the finals, the situation became clearer.

From the first game, the Thunder showed significantly greater strength than the Cavaliers.

After the last five games, the Thunder defeated the Cavaliers 4-1 and successfully won the second NBA championship in team history.

Will the Bulls perform better than the Cavaliers in the Finals? perhaps.

Can the Bulls defeat the Thunder and win the championship? Obviously not.

Fans also discovered at this time that there seemed to be many strong teams in the East, but without Xu Yong, these Eastern teams would not be able to compete with the Western teams in the finals.

During the award ceremony, Durant faced the camera with tears in his eyes, choked up several times, and was speechless while holding the microphone.

From entering the league in 2007 to now, he has played in the league for 11 years.

His 11 years with the Thunder eventually earned him the highest honor as a player.

Harden and Westbrook, including Ibaka, also had red eyes.

The things they were unable to accomplish back then and the regrets they had had were all made up for in this year.

This is a fairy tale ending.

(End of this chapter)