NBA: Starting with Jokic template

Chapter 58: Disharmony among the big names in the US team?

"Fuck, this dunk, isn't Gasol depressed?"

Barkley covered his eyes, then peeked through a small gap.
"This dunk reminded me of Carter's dunk of death in the 00 Sydney Olympics! Hey LeBron, you and Gasol both play in the NBA, give them some face!"

"Fake..."

Gasol was knocked away by James' sudden dunk and hit the basketball hoop. He felt a little dizzy for a while. His brother Paul pulled him up and patted his butt.

"Be careful!"

"Hey, have a ball!"

After two dunks, Durant thought James had enjoyed himself and reached out to him for the ball just after crossing half court.

But James just glanced at him, ignored Durant's request for the ball again, and stood at the top of the arc, dribbling slowly to find the rhythm.

"What's going on, LeBron? After being defeated by Durant, you are so eager to prove yourself in front of everyone!"

The sharp-eyed Barkley once again noticed that Durant was unable to get the ball, and teased James in a humorous tone.

James lowered his body to dribble the ball, broke through again, held Fernandez with his right hand to limit his defensive position, and rushed to the basket again.

This time he used the same trick, holding his breath and jumping up to dunk over Gasol again.

But Gasol was fully prepared this time. Facing James, who had just dunked over him, he stepped forward with his hands raised high.

Gasol's huge body and long arms were very effective. This time he pressed directly on the ball and hit James in the face.

James fell to the ground instantly, covering his face, unable to recover.

The referee didn't blow the whistle. Gasol grabbed the bouncing basketball and passed it to Navarro, who dribbled to the frontcourt and made a quick stop and shot.

Old K frowned for the first time while watching the game on the sidelines.

"Hey, why does James fall down when he's touched?"

“It doesn’t look like an act.”

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 28:25 and the Spanish team was leading by 3 points.

"Hey LeBron, what are you doing?"

Sitting on the bench, Durant stood in front of James and looked puzzled.

"Why do you keep hitting it yourself and passing the ball?"

"Hey, watch your identity!"

Hearing Durant's complaints, James got angry.
"Who do you think you're talking to, Kevin Durant!"

"Who do you think you're talking to, LeBron James!"

Durant also got angry. He felt confused. He was talking to him nicely and suddenly he went crazy.

"Hey! Hey! Stop making noise!"

When the conflict between the two was about to escalate, Kobe stepped forward and put one hand in front of the two.

"We haven't even won the game yet, and already we're fighting among ourselves? Now we're still behind!"

"That's Spain! Not some small African country. You two should just sit down and clear your mind!"

Kobe patted both men on the back to ease the atmosphere.

Old K also agreed with Kobe's opinion and replaced the "New Wolf King" Kevin Love and "Melo" Carmelo Anthony in the second quarter.

Without the two big players who were inexplicably arguing on the field, the situation on the US team was much better.

Kobe made three consecutive three-pointers, forcing Calderon to step forward to defend.

"Your defense is useless, boy!"

Kobe dribbled past Calderon and faced two Gasols' defense under the basket. Kobe jumped into the air, used the strength of his waist to twist his body when facing the two men, and forced a pull-up shot with his back to the basket.

The ball hit the backboard and bounced into the basket, and Kobe scored a difficult two-pointer! "How incredible! Kobe's shot showed his iron core and abnormal control! Facing the overwhelming defense, Kobe scored one against three! Showing the true qualities of a Mamba!"

Kobe steadied himself after landing, and patted his teammate Paul Gasol on the butt before returning to defense.
"Paul, you can't defend well."

"If you hit another one, I'll definitely defend you."

Gasol smiled.

The ball was given to Kobe to attack, and his efficiency was completely different from that in the NBA. The shorter three-point line made every shot look like a mid-range shot.

Paul passed the ball to Kobe who was looking for the ball in the high post. Kobe put his right hand on the ball and hit it twice behind his back, then began to shake his shoulders. Before Calderon could figure out what was going on, Kobe turned around and leaned back.

The pose is picturesque!
But the ball missed.

"Haha, Calderon didn't even react to Kobe's shot. He didn't even stretch out his hand. It was like zero interference for him, but he still missed the shot."

"Kobe is a player who relies a lot on his touch. If he has a good touch, he can make the ball even if it's blocked. Just like the one-on-three layup just now, if he doesn't have a good touch, he can still miss the open shot."

After all, he is a player who can not only play an abstract performance of 1747, but also a monster performance of 81 points in a single game. Whether Kobe can score depends entirely on his own condition.

Kobe missed two consecutive shots and gave the shooting rights to others.

Spain took advantage of this opportunity to catch up with the score at 6:0.

At present, Spain is better than the United States in the interior.

Paul broke through the paint and made a quick stop and jump shot, slightly widening the score.

Facing Tyson Chandler's defense, Pau Gasol made a direct mid-range jump shot.

In the next round, Gasol Jr. made a low-post hook shot and scored again.

Fernandez missed the three-pointer, Pau Gasol grabbed the frontcourt rebound and scored again on the second attack.

Led by the two Gasols, the Spanish team once again overtook the score after the second quarter, leading by five points 60:55.

During the half-time break, everyone on the U.S. team looked unhappy.

It was not the same as expected before the game.

Although everyone knew that the Spanish team was a tough nut to crack, no one expected that they would be five points behind after halftime.

And this is under the premise that no one is playing on the field and no one is slacking off.

"Everyone, you are all big names and superstars in your respective teams, but I need you to unite now, otherwise we will create another embarrassing result."

Old K was shouting at everyone in the locker room, hoping to get them to concentrate.

"In the second half, I need you to play seriously. Don't stick to the ball, don't be stubborn, shoot when you're open, pass when you're open. Olympic games are decided in one game. There's no time for you to throw tantrums on the court!"

After saying that, Old K glared at James fiercely.

James spread his hands to indicate that he was not sticking to the ball.

Seeing LeBron James being so stubborn, Old K was speechless.

He was a favored child of heaven when he debuted, the little emperor, and he became proud and complacent after hearing too many compliments.

Now he doesn't even listen to me.

You have to know that now he only has two MVPs and no other major honors.

Even in this American team, there is Kobe, a tough guy with one MVP, five championships, and two FMVPs, who is ranked in the top ten in NBA history. There is also Durant, who has one championship and one FMVP, and he won the championship by defeating James head-on.

Neither of these two had a higher historical status than him, and yet they all obeyed his tactics obediently.

If he acts on his own and disobeys instructions again in the second half, he will be kept on the bench and not allowed to play again.

Old K touched his chin and had already made up his mind.

(End of this chapter)