NBA: Starting with Jokic template

Chapter 250 Avenger James: I am here to stop you from establishing a dynasty
Inside the Oklahoma City Thunder's practice facility.

Lin Chuan is training day after day.

The basketball kept hitting his right hand at an extremely fast speed, making a loud bang and then returned to his hand.

In the blink of an eye, the ball passed through the ground again and landed in his left hand.

In front of him, there was a trainer holding a cushion to block him and helping Lin Chuan simulate dribbling under confrontation.

“3…2…1! OK!”

Following the trainer's instructions, Lin Chuan stopped his movements, and the basketball in his hand was steadily suspended just below him. Then Lin Chuan held it up and returned it to the trainer.

"Huh...how long has it been?"

"Thank you for your hard work. You practiced for two extra hours. You really worked hard, Lin Chuan."

The trainer answered the question of the person in front of him with admiration on his face.

After all, the previous three rounds of breakthroughs in the Western Conference were relatively easy, but before the finals, Lin Chuan was able to stay calm and composed. After the team's regular training time was over, when everyone else had gone home to rest, he still practiced his weaknesses in the gym.

"It's nothing. Just some extra preparation for the finals. Besides, there are other people here too."

Lin Chuan took the towel handed to him during the training match and put it on his head.

He dragged his heavy steps to a chair at the sidelines and sat down to rest.

The trainer's eyes fell on the other side of the arena.

That was exactly where the other people Lin Chuan mentioned were.

Durant and Curry.

The two were practicing shooting.

The trainer's eyes showed more admiration.

"Hey, the team leader set an example and motivated several team stars. Everyone is really working hard. Even now, they can still train without distraction. It's great, no need to say more!"

"Ha... Huh..."

Lin Chuan took a deep breath, and his jersey rose and fell.

But a quick observation would reveal that his jersey had already been soaked with sweat and stuck to his body.

The sweat on his body gradually condensed into water droplets that continuously dripped onto the ground, creating ripples that spread out.

Looking more closely, I could already see several small puddles of sweat on the ground at my feet.

Anyone could tell at a glance that he had been training for a long time to be in this state.

Even though the challengers from the East in the finals were slightly inferior to their opponents in the West.

But the hard work and steadiness that have long been engraved in his genes still prevent him from slacking off at all.

He had seen too many car rollovers and champagne popping at halftime. The extreme contrast of having victory snatched away right before one's eyes was enough to make him feel terrified, even though he was just a spectator and his feelings were not even one-tenth as good as those who witnessed it on the field.

For him and the entire Thunder team at this moment, they need to be extremely cautious.

Their experience this season is so legendary that it has created the most brilliant and dazzling season in the NBA in many years.

At this moment, they just need to win the championship to put a perfect end to this journey.

But Lin Chuan also knew that in the end, he would need to keep his nerves tighter.

Not to mention, the opponent they will face in the finals is that team.

Durant finished his shooting practice, put a towel over his head and wiped it vigorously a few times to remove the sweat that was pouring down his body. He picked up the iced Gatorade at his feet and drank it all. After making a satisfied sound, he fell into memories.
"I never thought that in our journey to win three consecutive championships, the opponent who stood in our way was the same opponent who won our first championship."

Hearing Durant's sigh, Lin Chuan also set his gaze on the other party's line of sight.

There were two championship flags of the team hanging there, fluttering in the air-conditioned wind above the training hall.

And the first game was the one they won two years ago against the Miami Heat.

"After a lot of twists and turns, the final step of the three consecutive championships was to face our original opponent again. It seems that if you want to build a dynasty, even if you don't do it deliberately, it will inevitably be a bit legendary."

"Yeah... But our chances of winning the championship this time are much better than the first year."

Lin Chuan glanced at Durant and said seriously,
"That's why we can't lose. At this point, there is only one outcome left for us, which is to win and establish a dynasty!"

Durant nodded.

Of course he knew it too.

They had a fantastic season.

The team had 80 wins and 2 losses in the regular season and 0 losses in the playoffs so far.

What the media expects of them now is not simply to win and take three consecutive championships.

Instead, people are wondering whether they can achieve what even the OK Lakers couldn't do, which is to go undefeated in the playoffs and win the championship with an undefeated record.

Only after this can they be considered to have completely and successfully concluded their legendary journey over the past three years.

Durant also knows it well.

That Heat team.

Even if we don't compare them with them, but only compare them with several other teams in the Eastern Conference, the record is still not excellent.

But they still did it, overcoming five levels and defeating six opponents, and defeated the Knicks who defeated them in the seventh game last year and are now No. 1 in the Eastern Conference. After a season, they once again reached the finals.

Faced with such an opponent, no one dares to take it lightly.

The finals have not yet started.

No one knows whether the theme of this season is coronation or revenge.

"Damn, the more I think about it, the more stressed I feel."

Durant scratched his head. The sweat that had been dried by the air conditioner now began to emerge from his forehead again.

"Haha, the dynasty of the new century is about to be established. It would be strange if there is no pressure."

“Maybe I didn’t go through the first two seasons with you guys, so I don’t know how much pressure you are under now.”

Right next to the two of them, Curry also finished his extra training and sat down.

He snapped the braces back onto his teeth and said with some embarrassment.

"It's okay. In a few years, you will be able to feel the pressure Durant is under now."

Lin Chuan smiled faintly, patted Durant on the shoulder, stood up and walked towards the court.

"What are you doing?"

"Since you feel the pressure, practice more. This way you will be more confident."

Lin Chuan picked up the ball and looked at Durant in surprise.
"Why, you want to escape? That's not a good idea."

"Fuck, you're crazy! If you become a coach after you retire, you'll definitely be the same type of coach as Riley!"

Durant took the ball that Lin Chuan suddenly passed to him, complained a little, and continued walking towards the court.

On the side, Curry, who had just sat down to rest for a few minutes, followed them into the court and joined their second extra training.

This also made the two of them look at him with higher regard again.

Even though they have already practiced for four hours, they can still continue to practice with them without any complaints.

No one expected that such a small body could contain such unfathomable physical strength.

No wonder he could run the defender to dehydration.

"Kevin, what did Lin Chuan mean just now?" Curry leaned close to Durant and asked him in a low voice.

Durant thought for a moment, recalled the conversation just now, and spoke.

"That is to say, we will continue to win championships. By then, you will also be a player with several consecutive championships on your shoulders, and you will naturally feel the same pressure as us."

Curry suddenly realized.

Then he looked at Lin Chuan with even more admiration.

What kind of magnanimity does this man in front of me have?

Only then can I say these words easily.

Can we win the championship continuously?

You know, in the modern NBA, the most they can do is three consecutive championships.

Even Jordan, currently the greatest player in history, led the Bulls team, which established his status only after two three-peat championships.

If we want more consecutive championships, we have to look back to the earlier era when Russell led the Celtics to eight consecutive championships.

but……

Curry looked at Lin Chuan's back as he tried to shoot.

If he were leading the team, this almost impossible thing might not be impossible.

………………

………………

A few days later.

Oklahoma.

Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The finals officially kicked off.

It was only in the afternoon.

The stadium was already packed with fans flocking to the game.

The level of enthusiasm surprised even Lin Chuan, who was used to it.

He felt that the fans were already very enthusiastic in the previous finals.

It even blocked him on the road and almost made him late.

But this time, he was on the eve of establishing a dynasty.

The enthusiasm of these fans has once again reached a new level.

Lin Chuan was glad that he had the foresight to come to the gym early to do some simple warm-ups and tactical drills.

Otherwise, if you come in at normal time, you will definitely be stuck in traffic and miss the entire first half.

While the players were warming up on the field, on the other side, the media room was packed with countless sports reporters.

Although it was the first game of the finals, the numerous hot spots of the two teams still attracted them and filled the media room early.

Not only the home team, but the media room of the visiting team Miami was also packed.

These reporters swarmed in like sharks smelling blood, waiting for the protagonist to appear.

In the locker room, Lin Chuan sat upright on a chair, closed his eyes and rested.

"Have you changed your clothes?"

At the door, Brooks said to Lin Chuan,

"Let's go, it's time to go for the interview."

The latter nodded, stood up,

"It's time to show them our determination to win the championship."

Inside the media room, reporters held their breath, waiting for the protagonist to arrive.

A figure suddenly appeared at the door and walked towards the stage.

In an instant, countless shutter clicks rang out.

Lin Chuan walked slowly onto the stage with a blank expression on his face.

He sat down in the interview seat and glanced at the reporters in the audience.

After a moment, he cleared his throat, pulled the microphone straight in front of him, lowered his head slightly and said,
"It's time to start."

James placed his hands flat on the table, his expression serious.

"LeBron, this is the third time you have entered the finals in four years since you formed the 'Big Three' lineup, but in the previous two times, you fell at the last step, losing the game with a score of 4:2 and 4:3 respectively."

"And this time, your opponent is the Thunder team that defeated you two years ago and created the first 1:3 comeback in the Finals in history. After losing to them last time, you seemed to be completely captured by them. Even when you met them in the regular season of the next two seasons, the game was very bumpy. They repeatedly broke your losing record and even allowed the opponent's center to score more than points in three quarters."

"I have done some statistics. In the four regular season games in these two seasons, you lost by an average of 34 points per game. Does this difference in points mean that you are two different teams after that finals? You were completely defeated by them, just like the Knicks this year. Anthony personally admitted that the Thunder is the champion this year."

"What do you want to say when we meet again on the finals stage?"

The first question caused the whole audience to be silent.

Everyone had an expression as if they were enjoying the show.

Although everyone knows that there will be many important questions in this pre-match interview.

But no one expected that the first question would be so important, and it threw a question that everyone was curious about and had explosive points to James.

Hearing this, James did not show any emotion.

It was as if the reporter was asking a trivial question, on the same level as "What did you eat this morning?"

He looked at everyone and said calmly,

"I know what you all want to ask. You are all curious about how we will perform when we face our victim again."

James leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest, and looked very relaxed, not feeling any pressure from the question.

"In fact, before we made it to the finals, not many of you reporters thought we could make it this far, defeat the Knicks, who beat us last season and are ranked first in the Eastern Conference this season, and make it to the finals? If anyone has thought about this, please raise your hands."

Having said that, James also began to glance at the reporters in the audience.

The reporters in the audience were very considerate and all raised their hands.

There were also a few awkward laughs that couldn't be suppressed.

James smiled faintly, spread his hands and said,
"Look, since the Eastern Conference Finals, no one has been optimistic about us."

"We were ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference in the regular season. This was the worst year since the team was formed. Many people thought we wouldn't even make it past the second round."

"In the playoffs, we fought our way up to the Eastern Conference Finals, but we lost to the Knicks, the team that beat us last season."

"When no one was optimistic about us, we played to the seventh game, I scored 40 points, avenged them, and entered the finals."

"This time facing the Thunder team that defeated us and made me miss the championship the closest time, I have only one goal."

James' tone became more serious and firm.

"I came here with only one thing to do: revenge, to stop them from establishing a dynasty, and then to fulfill the promise I made when I first joined the Heat, not1, not2, not3..., to establish my own dynasty!"

These words were so powerful that the whole audience fell into silence for a moment.

(End of this chapter)