NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 661: The Real "Not For Sale" (No Protagonist Chapter)
On Friday, June 2009, 6, as the finals came to an end, the Los Angeles Lakers, who lost again, grabbed the headlines in a different way.

Early in the morning, the Los Angeles Times and other local media published the same news. Seeing the content, the onlookers were puzzled. No one expected the Lakers to be able to do anything:
"Kobe Bryant was injured in extra practice after last night's game!"

"Frustrated, angry? Kobe Bryant strained his left calf after practicing late into the night after the Finals."

"The Lakers are hiring a psychologist. Kobe Bryant is in urgent need of psychological counseling after losing consecutive games."

Many media outlets, including the Los Angeles Daily News, gave similar headlines on their front pages, and on Twitter, the number of discussions under the hashtag of trading Kobe soared.

Mamba has become popular across the United States in another way. Even casual fans who only watch the finals have participated in related topics. Trading Kobe seems to have become an inevitable thing.

New York fans are eager to watch the fun and suggest that Mamba be sent to Toronto. San Antonio fans are concerned about Duncan and seem to be calling for the old core to return home.

As for other spectators, they all expressed their unwillingness to let the home team take over. Kobe's performance in the finals was simply a cancer!
The injury news is of course true. At the post-match press conference last night, Kobe repeatedly emphasized "respect" with a dark face, did not deny his poor performance, and finally painted a big pie for the fans:

"I won't miss those shots anymore! God will see my transformation."

After saying this, Kobe left quickly, then ignored Vanessa and his two daughters and continued practicing until late at night.

Originally this was an inspirational story, but the news leaked by the Lakers' internal staff turned this extra practice into a joke:
"Kobe fell to the ground in pain at 1 o'clock and finally left the stadium with our help. The team doctor has confirmed that he has a calf strain and will further determine the injury later."

"."

The news first appeared on Twitter, and sports fans who stayed up late thought it was fake news when they saw the content.

As a result, reports from mainstream media in Los Angeles early in the morning confirmed the authenticity of the news. Except for Kobe's die-hard fans, most Lakers fans complained after reading such news:
"What is Kobe doing?!"

After the game, he practiced hard and injured himself. Many fans, except his own fans, simply couldn't understand why Kobe was so stubborn and even killed himself.
More people treated the news as a joke, believing that Kobe deserved it and made fun of the Mamba's training method.

At 10 a.m., Buss and management gathered at the training center in El Segundo. The finals were over, and they still had a lot of work to do. The future of the team needed to be re-discussed.

The newspaper was brought into the office. Jeanie Buss, who was dressed in jeans and a shirt, glanced at the silent Phil Jackson, took the newspaper and started reading it again.

Rambis was also looking at the old man from KFC. The championship coach had considerable prestige in the team. To decide the future of the team, he naturally had to discuss with the head coach.

Old Bass, who was walking back and forth behind his desk, was in a bad mood and wanted to find some wine to drink. Unfortunately, since he had health problems, there was no alcohol in the office. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He shouted in a defensive tone:
"I knew I shouldn't have given him a seven-year contract! 7? Damn it, how many more times are we going to lose!"

The eldest son couldn't help but look embarrassed when he heard his father complaining. In fact, he agreed to give Kobe a maximum salary and the right to veto trades.

They were bullied when they "forced the palace" before, and now they want to rebuild, but Kobe's contract has become a "stumbling block". Old Buss will not blame himself, and in the end they will have to take the blame.

Most of the staff members kept silent. In fact, from a financial perspective, this season was a success, but the Lakers had higher aspirations and were trying to recreate the Showtime era. Judging only from the results, they undoubtedly lost.

General Manager Kupchak naturally understood his boss's thoughts. He had long seen that Buss regretted his decision, but it was difficult for the current NBA to find a better shooting guard than Mamba, so he had to speak for Kobe:
"It's just an ordinary strain. It won't affect Kobe's body. We should pay more attention to Tim Duncan's thoughts. This loss is a big blow to him!"

"He left the gym very early last night. Maybe the bottle of champagne from Lee irritated him."

Duncan did not send his blessings immediately after the game, but Li You was very generous. After the press conference, he gave the customized two-color Spade A champagne to his old rival.

The black and purple colors represent the Spurs and the Lakers. Li You put a lot of thought into this gift, and the one he gave to Duncan was a large one. In the presence of the media, the two took smiling photos with champagne.

Finally, Li You did not forget to encourage his old rival and sent his sincere blessings:
“Hopefully we’ll meet again in the finals next year”

This scene was recorded by the sports media, and Phil Jackson was also a witness. Thinking of Li You's smiling face, the old man at KFC felt depressed:
"He'll be fine. What we need to discuss is the next contract extension. As for Kobe, it's hard to find a better backcourt player than him."

"I don't think he'll leave Los Angeles. As long as he stays healthy, we still have a great chance to reach the Finals again."

Phil Jackson seemed very confident when talking about the team's record. After Duncan joined the team, he didn't have to worry about the regular season at all thanks to his stable performance.

67 wins are the best proof that after running-in, the Lakers are the only team in the Western Conference and other teams can hardly be their opponents.

Although the regular season record was good, Buss's thoughts were quite different from before. He no longer believed that Kobe was a superstar. After hearing several people speak well of Mamba, he hesitated for a moment and tried to ask:
"Can we convince Kobe? We can send him to the city he wants to go to"

In the office, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. They didn't expect that old Buss really wanted to trade, but this was a difficult matter to handle. Once the trade failed, it might tear apart the relationship between the player and the team.

When Jenny Buss saw that Phil Jackson did not respond, she knew that her boyfriend had the same idea in his mind, but she was very supportive of Kobe, which was a guarantee of box office success:
"Why not give Kobe some more time? This is their second year together. When he partnered with Shaq, it took a long time to win the championship."

"It's hard for us to get a better player. Fans will buy tickets for Kobe. If we release trade information, our season ticket sales will be greatly affected."

Many staff members breathed a sigh of relief. The trade was a torment to them. Kobe also has many extreme fans. If the Mamba is really sent away, many people will stop buying season tickets.
No one likes to lose, because losing too many times will also form a team culture. When old Buss took over the Lakers, he was deeply impressed by Jerry West, who was numb to losing.

As if he didn't want the Lakers to become the background of the times again, Buss still didn't give up. He looked at everyone and asked in a deep voice:

"I remember he wanted to go to Chicago? Go talk to him."

The gray-haired Kupchak was confused for a moment. Who would he talk to? This matter would definitely fall on his head. Even if the trade happened, if the performance declined next season, he would be the one to bear the blame.

"I don't want to give out a trade veto again. I didn't spend $8000 million to have them laugh at the Lakers."

Hearing Buss's complaint, Kupchak nodded reluctantly. He was determined to take the blame. No one tried to dissuade him. Phil Jackson also agreed to the deal. After a brief exchange, everyone got up and left.

After leaving the office, Kupchak breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to make this call. After Rambis caught up with him, he was silent for a while, and then he suggested:
"You can call Pelinka first to have a chat. At least don't let the news leak out. Kobe will most likely not accept the trade."

"Phil, what do you want to say?"

Kupchak nodded, then stopped the old man from KFC who wanted to leave. He couldn't help but recall the situation of this year's finals. Phil Jackson whispered helplessly:

"I wouldn't say Kobe is uncoachable, but in my opinion, he can't lead a team properly."

"He is not a young Michael Jordan. His talent cannot sustain a confrontation with Lee. If our goal is not the championship, the Lakers can still win 60 games next season."

"."

Hearing these whispers, Kupchak gave up, waved to the two, and left alone. After returning to the office, he hesitated for a moment and called Pelinka. While waiting, he couldn't help but whispered secretly:

"Dude, don't blame me!" On Monday, June 6th, after a weekend of fermentation, Mamba has completely become a joke. Some basketball commentators even dug up the "details" of his previous remarks, and Kobe was hit in the face by a boomerang.

The finals are over and the TNT-related programs came to an end this Thursday. In order to leave a deep impression on the fans, the trio invited O'Neal, who had posted 20 tweets in the last day, that night.

The old Shark has been doing a lot of things recently. If it weren't for O'Neal, the game would probably have to be replayed tonight. The big mouth would be dead.
When his little brother lost the game, O'Neal stopped pretending and appeared in the Atlanta studio in a gray suit. He faced the camera with a bright smile. If you didn't know him, you would think he had won the championship again.

Ernie Johnson, who was sitting in the middle, was amused and confused when he saw the old Shark's performance. It turned out that the "reconciliation" was all an act:
"Shaq, we noticed you were reviewing the games over the weekend. What do you think caused the Lakers to be swept again?"

O'Neal smiled again at the camera, and then analyzed in a serious tone with his deep voice:
"I witnessed Game 4 on the spot. The Lakers collapsed and lost their confidence. The game plan was disrupted from the beginning of the game. Lee completely controlled the game."

Charles Barkley, who was sitting on the far left, interrupted O'Neal before he could finish his words:

"Man, I know you're talking about Kobe, but I don't think that's the main reason the Lakers lost!"

"When he partnered with you, he also led the team to win the championship. You didn't achieve success in the early stages of your cooperation."

When he heard "leading the team", the old shark suddenly became unhappy and the smile on his face disappeared. Without waiting for the big mouth to finish, he immediately turned around and interrupted loudly:

"Listen, I'm the MVP. I won the Finals MVP in the series we won!"

"The Lakers have always been my team, I've been the best on that team, you can look up any statistic, I'm ahead of every Laker player."

"Kobe still hasn't learned how to lead a team, that's why he keeps losing!"

When it comes to the championship, Charles Barkley can only stare, while Kenny Smith on the side smiles and follows the old shark's words and asks with a smile:
"Shaq, I think a lot of fans watching on TV want to hear how you led that Lakers team. You were the only team that made Lee taste defeat."

Speaking of his championship, O'Neal's mouth almost stretched to the back of his head, and forgot about "brotherhood" for a moment, and once again shared his championship experience:

"A lot of people forget how strong Lee was at that time. He completely dominated the perimeter and could beat us just by pick-and-roll."

"Phil and I had no solution at the time. Even if I lost weight, I still couldn't defend Lee. In my opinion, Lee in the finals was like God possessed. He could do anything."

Charles Barkley pouted and interrupted again:

"You wanna say you defeated God? Come on! I don't want to hear that"

O'Neal, who was interrupted, glared at his opponent, then spoke vividly about his leadership:

"I can't defeat God by myself! So that season, I changed the way I lead the team!"

"We all know that in the NBA, there is only one leader on a team. I know my teammates and I know Kobe's desire to be the leader."

"I was in control of the Lakers at the time. In order to defeat Lee, I knew the team needed an outside defender, and Kobe was the best candidate. He worked very hard on the training ground, and I just had to stimulate his desire."

"A qualified leader will not claim to be the best. I will say to Kobe after the game, 'I scored 30 points. What did you contribute to the team?'"

"Leading Kobe in this way and teaching him how to play the right basketball is my leadership. I know how to motivate my teammates."

After saying this, O'Neal seemed to be still not satisfied, and continued with a big grin:
"Tim Duncan obviously didn't get it. He needs to make Kobe realize who's the boss. Only then will they have a chance to succeed."

The three of them looked at the old shark who was shaking his head, and they all grinned for a moment. It was obvious that O'Neal was belittling his little brother again. Ernie Johnson quickly took over the conversation and said in coordination with the director:
"With an average of 43.5 points per game, Lee broke his own record for scoring average in the Finals, and with 55 points, he also broke the record for the largest point difference in Finals history!"

"Facing a player like Lee, I don't think we can win the game just by leadership."

4场比赛，李佑场均出场36.8分钟，贡献43.5分7.8篮板10.3助攻2.0抢断1.3盖帽1.8失误；

With a shooting percentage of 64.5%, a three-point shooting percentage of 55.0%, and a free throw shooting percentage of 93.8%, Excel has already exceeded the mark with an average of 22.5 shots per game.

When the director showed the data, he didn't make any comparison. The gap is too big. Kobe's average of 22.8 points and 37.1% shooting percentage is like a joke compared to Li You.
As if remembering the finals of that year, O'Neal restrained his smile, looked at the technical statistics in his hand, and said seriously:

"You're right, Ernie! You can't defeat God with leadership alone!"

"When Lee averages 40+ points per game, as a team leader, you have to respond. You can't back down when the team needs you to average 40 points per game."

"I don't think I beat Lee, I was just luckier, that was the best free throw series of my career, and I was lucky to finish the response."

"My little brother doesn't seem to realize the gap between himself and Lee. He is just an ordinary All-Star, while Lee is the GOAT in basketball history. He should assist Duncan. This is his chance."

Charles Barkley on the other side laughed. When the show airs, they will definitely face complaints from fans again, but this is the effect he expects, and he took this opportunity to add fuel to the fire:

"I'm not interested in how hard Kobe works in practice. Does he work himself to the point of getting injured? I don't care about that at all."

"If the Lakers' goal is to win the championship, I will choose to send Kobe away!"

"."

The four people in the studio didn't take this seriously, because Kobe had the right to veto a trade and was the box office guarantee for the Lakers, and no one believed that old Buss wanted to send his core player away.

Kobe, who is recovering from an injury in Los Angeles, naturally would not watch the show attended by the old shark. Pelinka is not only his agent, but also his good friend. He looked constipated these two days, which made Mamba upset.

That is, after the show was broadcast, Kobe suddenly received a call. He thought it was about the draft at the end of the month, but when Pelinka's voice came out, Mamba was stunned:
"Kobe, do you want to leave Los Angeles? Listen man, my advice is to stay. We all know this is your team. I just want to hear your true thoughts."

"They want to trade me? Fuck! I gave everything for this team!"

"."

The furious Kobe felt that he was humiliated again. He yelled into the phone without listening to what his agent said next. In the end, he threw the phone aside.

Furious, Mamba began to destroy everything around him. When Vanessa showed up, Kobe sat on the ground:

"Why are they doing this? I'm not leaving"

(End of this chapter)