When pride still matters

Chapter 204: Those who abuse oneself
The Lakers walked out of the airport, visiting Milwaukee for the first time this season.

If everything goes well, they will meet each other in the finals next year, and then they can settle their accounts.

Shaquille O'Neal shouted to a baggage handler: "Wait! Wait! That suitcase! Give me that suitcase!"

He got it.

Then, O'Neal walked onto the team bus holding the black box. He pressed a few buttons on the box, put on his headphones, and listened to hip-hop music quietly.

The bus drove for a while, and there were various sounds on the bus. Suddenly, O'Neal took out the headphones from the jack, and the tune of 50 Cent's "PIMP" came from the speakers.

As a song beloved by Lakers players, they can definitely sing along, and most of them know the lyrics by heart.

"I don't know what you've heard about me.

But a bitch can't get a dollar from me."

(I don 't know what you heard about me But a bitch can 't get a dollar out of me)

This song should have started like this, but O'Neal came up with an impromptu rap:
"Kobe is a bitch and everyone can see it

But you'll never see me on TV."

(Kobe, he's a bitch, everybody can see But you'll never catch me on TV)

For O'Neal, this was just an ordinary prank, and he vented his dissatisfaction with Kobe a little bit.

The night before yesterday, O'Neal "kindly" "suggested" to his little brother after the game: "He should become a passer."

The little brother immediately said: "I don't need anyone's advice."

O'Neal was unsurprisingly anxious. "At the beginning of the new season, I hope that things will go on the right path from the beginning. If you don't like it, then you can choose to quit. As long as this is my team, I will Give me my opinion. If you don't like it, then I don't need you."

As if to fight back, Kobe invited ESPN's Jim Gray for an exclusive interview yesterday. In the interview, he fully responded to O'Neal's remarks. Moreover, judging from Gray's recollection, Kobe did not have any love for O'Neal.

This is why O'Neal embarrassed Kobe Bryant on the bus in the name of a prank.

Two burly men stood next to Kobe, who were his bodyguards. They didn't know how to react because Kobe was wearing headphones and couldn't hear O'Neal's impromptu rap.

Compared with these things, the feud between O'Neill and Yu Fei is just a small episode.

Phil Jackson had a lot to worry about.

Before the start of each season, he will establish a season theme for the team.

His most famous season theme is the "Last Dance" in the 1997-98 season. This season, when he saw OK's momentum, he kept saying that it only takes a week to master the triangle offense, but he still hasn't understood his tactical position. Suddenly, Bass doubted his coaching ability, the expectations and pressure from the outside world, and the burden of winning the championship all made it difficult for him to breathe.

Ultimately, the theme Jackson chose for the Lakers this season was "Where the Soul Goes."

He called the team a "soul-searching team," which was, in fact, the title of his next book. What he didn't know was that the subject of the book, although named the team, was actually written about. But they are all content that makes Kobe fans crazy.Now, there are less than two years left before the book comes out. At that time, Kobe will unlock a unique milestone - less than ten years after joining the industry, two colleagues who are closely related to his career have published books criticizing him.

Bradley Center
Two teams that haven't lost a game so far this season meet here, and this is just the weakest thing about them.

Compared with the dramatic background of the game itself, no one cares about the record.

The only Lakers F4 member who came to say hello to Yu Fei was Gary Payton.

As the former King of Seattle, it makes sense to say hello to the Son of Seattle.

"Gary, sooner or later you will regret not joining us." Yu Fei said, "George still hasn't forgiven you for accepting the Lakers' mid-level exception."

"Go to hell!" Payton had no respect for Karl. "What you gave me was also a mid-level exception. So what if I chose the Lakers? They are a Triple Crown dynasty, and you are just a bubble team that got to the top by luck."

If he said that, Yu Fei would be unhappy.

"Indeed, I hope you will have a happy time in this team full of racism and police informants." Yu Fei mocked, "No, you should play here until you retire."

If there was anything special about this match, it was the presence of Christina Hendricks.

However, because Christina is only a little transparent in Hollywood, her appearance did not gain extra attention, and ABC did not even give her a close-up shot.

Tonight is also Bucks starting center Dan Gazulic's first game back.

The Bucks are probably the only team where Gazulic can play in the starting lineup. Although his ability is not outstanding and his technical style is not the kind of big man that Yu Fei likes best, in the big ball era, his existence Big deal for the Bucks.

The Bucks don't expect Gadzuric to defend O'Neal or Duncan, they just want Gazuric to contribute as cannon fodder.

Now, the cannon fodder is back, allowing the Bucks to avoid the embarrassment of continuing to let Pachulia take the starting five position.

After a while, the starting lineup of both sides came on stage.

Bucks aside, the Lakers are star-studded, with Payton, Kobe, Fox, Malone and O'Neal, four future Hall of Fame players.

Yu Fei walked to Fox and said, "I heard from Kobe that all of you have done what he did, but why didn't you teach him how to deal with the aftermath⑴?"

"Stop talking, Fry, I won't be influenced by you."

Fox and Yu Fei are already old rivals.

Ever since Yu Fei was with the Wizards, Phil Jackson would arrange the matchup like this every time he played against the Lakers.

Because of his comprehensive size and defensive ability, Fox is the Lakers' best player to deal with Yu Fei.

Yu Fei's reaction to Fox was just to laugh it off. After all, the opponent was also a veteran who had been in the league for many years. It was impossible to let him break the defense with just one or two trash talk.

The starters from both sides came to their respective opponents, exchanged glances, and the game was ready to begin.

The Lakers won the ball.

Subsequently, the two teams took up positions.

Yu Fei was taken to the weak side of the position by Fox, and the Lakers' offense seemed to be centered around the strong side where Payton, Kobe and O'Neal were.

However, Payton still cannot accept his role in the triangle offense system.

No offensive system weakens the point guard's court presence and responsibility more than the triangle offense.

Jackson only needs his point guard to defend, pass the ball, and shoot open three-pointers.

Such a role is suitable for Derek Fisher, who was pushed to the bench by Payton, but it is completely unsuitable for Gary Payton.

Payton is the kind of player who must have the ball in his hands to make a difference on the offensive end.

Payton habitually raised his hand to let O'Neal come out to pick and roll.

But O'Neal is already in position, and what he needs is a pass.After a second of hesitation, Payton passed the ball.

Later, Mason let go of the high-post Malone and came to double-team. O'Neal intended to demonstrate to Kobe what textbook team basketball was.

So, although O'Neal was in a position that allowed him to go one-on-two, his ball still passed to Malone.

Malone is the player most adaptable to his role in F4. What he does in the Lakers is no different from what he did in the Jazz. They are all about picking and rolling, giving O'Neal space, and shooting opportunities. The only difference is that the Lakers don't need him to play in the low post. .

Malone stood at a 45-degree high position on the left side and took a jump shot unguarded.

0 is better than 2
O'Neal glared at Kobe and returned to defense.

Yu Fei noticed something strange about the Lakers.

Although Kobe Bryant doesn't do anything or speak out for other people, O'Neal is no better. As a four-day old Komi, he has the obligation to help his idol.

Yu Fei dribbled outside the three-point line and called for Gazulic's pick-and-roll.

As always, O'Neal caught up to the paint area and stopped moving.

Yu Fei used tactical gestures to direct Gazulic to run to his sweet spot, then broke through and feinted, forcing the Lakers' defense to shrink, and then passed the ball out.

Gazulic scored a jumper like Malone.

"Some fat pigs just know where to stop and do nothing. No wonder they are not the boss of the team yet." Yu Fei said to O'Neal in a strange way.

Originally, this was just a fight between OK, but now, Yu Fei has crossed paths again. O'Neal decided that he must first calm down the outside before fighting at home, and pointed the finger directly at Yu Fei.

This time Payton handed the ball over quickly, but unfortunately the target of the pass was Kobe.

Kobe wouldn't pass the ball to O'Neal. In an instant, he would hold the ball and attack inside.

And O'Neal had no intention of getting out of the way for him to attack the basket. A group of people crowded under the basket, which was a hellish space for defenders who wanted to score in the penalty area.

Kobe was like a cancer when he took action in the crowd. This was why Yu Fei admired him.

As long as this person is not his teammate, then every shortcoming in him will look shining.

The ball rolled around the basket and fell out.

Gazulic blocked the most important position, but blocking the position was just a preparation to protect the rebound.

In last season's finals, he blocked Duncan countless times, but could not prevent the opponent from averaging 20 rebounds per game.

The same thing happened again. Gadzuric had a better position, but was completely unable to move and could only watch the rebound that was so close at hand fall.

Then, his body was pushed away by O'Neal, and the rebound was caught by the latter. In less than a second, the Shark hung on the basket.

If the NBA hadn't strengthened the rim to a strength that was difficult to destroy manually, people would really worry about the rim being damaged by O'Neal.

O'Neal stepped on the floor hard, showing off his power like a narcissist, as if he wanted to tell the Bucks that he was a higher-level monster than Duncan.

Yu Fei still wants to sanction O'Neal by naming him.

The Lakers' strategy for this was to mobilize other personnel to help O'Neal defend the pick-and-roll. This time, Payton chose to leave Sprewell open and suddenly came to double-team.

Yu Fei ignored the double-team caused by the pick-and-roll. Instead, he took a step towards the strong side of the defense, stopped suddenly, seized the gap in the double-team and started forward. He successfully broke through the defense and dribbled to a position one step inside the free throw line for a throw. Score.

O'Neal still just stood in the paint and watched.

"Why are you risking your reputation and ruining your reputation by joining such garbage?"

Yu Fei asked Peyton heartily.

Payton became angry when he heard this: "Cut the fucking nonsense!"

How can we make fans 20 years later understand how much of a loss Payton's joining the Lakers' F4 will be for him?

This is not a "call for help"-style team-up like James brought his talents to Miami, nor is it a Durant-style "surrender".Both were despised, but they were still superstars.

However, Payton, who was an All-Star last season and still averaged 20 points, 8 assists and 2 steals per game, accepted the Lakers' mid-level exception in the offseason just for the championship.This kind of behavior, looking at the NBA in the next 20 years, can only be compared to DeMarcus Cousins ​​joining the Warriors in the summer of 2018.

You know, the addition of Cousins ​​​​has truly made the Warriors a "cosmic warrior."

Before the start of the 2018-19 season, everyone thought the outcome was doomed.However, Cousins ​​suffered a serious injury at the time, encountered an insulting offer from the Pelicans, and was ignored in the free market. In the end, he chose to join the Warriors at a low salary out of anger.Compared with Payton's behavior, which is clearly high-level but insists on living up to his worth and does nothing for the championship, the former is obviously more acceptable.

Therefore, when Yu Fei brought this up, Payton's weakness was hit.

The famous vulgar trash talker in NBA history directly called Yu Fei on the pick-and-roll, "You fucking think you can point fingers at me after you win the championship. Let me fucking tell you, I gave you the trophy back then, and I will teach you tonight." Be a human being!”

What Payton meant back then was only three years ago, but when he said it, it felt like he was from another world.

Indeed, three years can change everything.

Payton ignores the triangle offense.

Now he is not the Lakers' F4, but the famous glove Payton.

He spewed unbearable trash and wanted to destroy Yu Fei.

But this is no longer his time.

Yu Fei sold the flaw, and Payton thought he had succeeded, so he suddenly stopped and shot a jumper.

As a result, Yu Fei reacted easily, gave the opponent a bloody block, and caught up with the ball to form a defensive counterattack.

In anger, Payton wanted to retaliate, but was knocked to the ground by Yu Fei in the backcourt and was called for a foul. At that time, Yu Fei's offensive action was already in progress, and Payton's foul was just given to him. Just a 2+1.

"BOOM!!!"

Yu Fei dunked and scored.

"As a half Seattleite, I still have some respect for you." Yu Fei looked at Payton on the ground indifferently, "If you continue to bark at me like a mad dog, I will skin you. You idiot!"

⑴ "Shaq did it too" is "essence extraction", not the original words.The original words are this: "Kobe told us (Eagle County Police) what other teammates would do in this situation. Kobe said he should do what O'Neal did. Kobe said Shaq would pay women to give them whatever Don't even say that. He said Shaq already paid $100 million for this situation⑵."

⑵ This reminds me of Zhou Qi's classic "I'm not ready". In fact, Zhou Qi didn't say this. He just said that the coach had no plan to let him play before the game.But that’s exactly what it means. We fans know how to extract the best from it.

PS: Qidian now supports illustrations, which I think is a good thing for those of us who write sports articles.But I don't have the energy to illustrate every chapter... I just try my best.

(End of this chapter)