Champion Rules

Chapter 76, Part 072: Those who should stay will stay, and those who should leave will leave (Please subscribe!)

Miami, Dade County, Florida.

American Airlines Training Center.

Stan Van Gundy's shirt collar was soaked with sweat, and his heavy breathing was particularly clear in the quiet corridor, as if moving his bulky body was extremely difficult for him.

His heavy footsteps finally stopped in front of a dark red door. He glanced at the name "Pat Riley" on the doorplate and wiped the sweat from his brow with a crumpled tissue.

Stan Van Gundy's face was covered in sweat not because of his obesity; a few steps wouldn't have made him this tired.

He was just too nervous.

Since the start of this season, he has been constantly on edge, and every game feels like a doomsday battle for him.

Because he felt that Pat Riley could replace him at any time.

Stan Van Gundy could sense that the perpetually slicked-back South Coast godfather was becoming increasingly controlling of the team this season.

He would argue with himself about some tactical arrangements, and he would often run from the office to the training field to tell himself what to do.

During this period, he even started yelling at Van Gundy from the stands, teaching him how to manage the game.

Van Gundy knew that Riley only needed an opportunity, an excuse, just as the US president only needed some laundry detergent to start a war.

With a simple excuse, he can lose his job.

Therefore, he was always on edge, neurotic, and constantly nagging the players.

Because he didn't want to make any mistakes, and he didn't want to give anyone any leverage over him.

But last night, when Lynch scored 40 points against the Heat once again, and when the Heat lost to the Knicks once again, Stan Van Gundy knew he had made his most serious mistake.

He failed to contain the crown-wearing kid from Europe, and he failed to eliminate potential playoff opponents.

Van Gundy knew that in the end, he would be held responsible for all of this.

Facing this mahogany door that symbolized absolute power, Stan Van Gundy took a deep breath and, after much deliberation, raised his hand to knock on the door.

He never knew that after walking through that door, Riley would find a termination notice under his coffee cup.

"Please come in!" a loud voice came from inside the door.

Stan Van Gundy pushed open the door and found that in the office there was not only Riley, but also a thin young man, who was the team's assistant coach and head of scouting, Eric Spoelstra.

He was handing Riley a USB drive, and who knows what was on it.

Riley didn't even look up or invite him to sit down. Instead, he gave the order: "Gather the whole team for a tactical meeting in twenty minutes. Anyone who is late or absent will be suspended for one game."

"Huh? But what's my schedule for today?"

“My arrangements shall prevail!” Riley interrupted him directly, and finally looked up at his disciple, resting his chin on his hands.

Stan Van Gundy noticed that Riley was wearing his championship ring today, which symbolizes his supreme power.

"understood."

After saying this, Stan Van Gundy left the office, enveloped by a deep sense of despair.

He felt that his time was probably coming to an end.

Twenty minutes later, the entire Heat team appeared in the video screening room on time.

Even Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't dare be late, because Riley would really suspend you; he never joked about that.

Riley stood at the very front of the screening room, and ironically, the person next to him was Spoelstra, while the head coach, Stan Van Gundy, was sitting below.

The video started playing, and O'Neal was exhausted, both physically and mentally. He had no desire to attend any of that bullshit tactics meeting.

If he were a Zen master, after a crushing defeat, he would use the dim lighting in the video screening room to help everyone relax, get a good night's sleep, and forget all the pressure.

But Riley would never do that. When O'Neal discovered that the video being played was actually a replay of yesterday's game, he grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"Damn it, do we really have to watch this now?"

"Shaq, you let Lynch score 40 points on you for the second time in a row. Don't you want to know why?" Pat Riley mercilessly reopened the shark's wounds.

The shark didn't want to argue with him. The idea that Lynch scored 40 points against him was a false premise, because failing to defend Lynch wasn't solely his responsibility.

Pat Riley began analyzing last night's game, repeatedly pointing the finger at Shaq because his lack of aggressive delays gave Lynch too many easy jump shot opportunities.

On the Knicks' final offensive possession, when Marbury and Lynch executed that incredible play, Shaq was so angry he could practically grind his teeth to dust.

Seeing his own confusion on the field made him feel even more ashamed.

Riley roared again, "Shaq, look at this defensive positioning! If you had blocked Lynch's path earlier, this could have been avoided. But you stupidly tried to steal the ball! There are no media here, so let's be blunt. Lynch came for you. He can only score so many points over you. You're his weak point. He's absolutely right. You're not a shark, you're a pigeon!"

The game replay wasn't paused; it went to the part where the Heat rushed to shoot a three-pointer after that play.

If this shot goes in, the Heat will still have a theoretical chance.

But Eddie Jones, wearing the All-Star crown, chose to pass the ball again in the final moments, and Damon Jones, who was completely unprepared, hastily took the shot but missed.

The enraged shark yelled, "What about this round?! Damn it, I gave it my all, but I didn't get any support at the last moment! Eddie, you had a chance, why did you pass the ball?"

Eddie Jones, caught in the crossfire, looked completely bewildered: "Shaq, Damon has a better chance."

"Don't make excuses. I knew what kind of person you were back in Los Angeles. In 1997, Kobe took four airballs in five minutes during the playoffs, but I never blamed him. You know why? Because back then, only he dared to take those shots!"
Eddie, after all these years, how come you're still the same? All-Star player doesn't even have a shot on the ball?
Do you know why we won three consecutive championships after leaving you? Because we fucking had guts!

Eddie Jones grumbled helplessly, "Ha, that's why you can't beat Lynch."

"what?"

"That's why you can't beat Lynch! The entire Knicks team believes in their ace, while our ace only blames his teammates for the loss!"

"Enough! This isn't just one person's failure; it's a disgrace to our entire defense system!" Pat Riley steadied the situation.

As the argument ended, the projector fan became exceptionally loud, and the image on the screen froze precisely on the moment Lynch raised his arms in celebration of victory. The number 20 jersey pierced the hearts of every Heat player in the dark video room.

Eddie Jones stared at the number 20, recalling Stephon Marbury's transformative change this season, and a muttered comment ignited the crowd once again.

“If my teammate were Lynch, he definitely wouldn’t say that.” “Damn it, you bastard!”

O'Neal sprang up instantly, the 300-pound behemoth attempting to flip over the seat, but Haslem reacted quickly and grabbed him around the waist, amidst a cacophony of shouts and attempts to stop him.

Pat Riley watched all this calmly and lightly brought the cigar to his lips.

That's how the NBA is, and that's true for any team. You can't expect a team to be united and friendly from the very beginning. Even the Showtime Lakers had undercurrents in their locker room.

The Heat's championship window has indeed opened, but they still have a lot to do.

Riley scanned the recording room, seemingly assessing the value of each person.

Van Gundy, Jones, Shaq, Wade.
Those who are meant to stay will stay, and those who are meant to leave will leave.
-
Back in New York, Lynch was unaware that his name had caused a commotion in the Heat's video screening room.

I had no idea that the Heat had a fan of theirs.

He continues to aim for victory and to further develop his potential.

Last night he scored 41 points, while Shark scored 29 points. His score was a full 12 points higher than Shark's, and he successfully won the reward.

After acquiring Shaquille O'Neal's hook shot, Lynch gained greater confidence in developing his low-post skills.

Shaq's hook shot is his most common way of scoring, since even he can't get a dunk opportunity every possession.

However, highlight reels often obscure the true playing style of most star players.

Just by watching highlights, you might mistakenly think that some high-flying guys are good defenders, some rough guys have outstanding skills, and some star players have all-around skills.

Highlights often differ greatly from the actual match content.

Shaquille O'Neal, a guy whose highlight reels consist mainly of dunks and dunks over other players, actually had a historically excellent touch around the rim.

After acquiring his hook hand talent, Lin Qi only needs to practice diligently. Even if he only reaches half of his level, it will be enough to use it as a regular weapon.

Lynch has no aversion to training. When a player knows that there is still a lot of potential he has yet to realize, he will definitely be very willing to work hard.

The joy of having just acquired the Shark Hook talent hadn't even faded when the system started giving Lin Qi more benefits.

Even though you're 32 and not as popular as younger people, you can't give up on your All-Star dream! As long as you keep running, anything is possible!

[New goal: To become a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team.]

[Reward: 60 talent points.]

This is almost yet another task where talent points are given away for free due to "age mismatch".

Players who are 32 years old may indeed face the problem of declining popularity. Regardless of gender, their charm will decline significantly after the age of 30.

At 18, some people are nicknamed "Little Emperor," exuding an air of dominance. But after 30, their nicknames gradually turn into all sorts of random things like Zhang Jizhong, Zhang Jike, and Zhang Shaohan.

This is due to a decline in attractiveness.

But for Lynch, his popularity is at its peak.

Considering that Yao Ming had consistently been the top vote-getter for the All-Star Game in the Chinese market every year, it was a foregone conclusion that Lin Qi would be an All-Star.

These 60 talent points are practically free.

Since purchasing Korver's shooting talent at the mall, Lynch has now accumulated 86 talent points again.

With these 60 points, there are only 54 points left before the next talent purchase.

This is enough to give Lynch another new talent in a short period of time.

With so many untapped talents, Lin Qi felt he didn't even have enough time to train.

The Knicks maintained a good record for the remainder of January.

Especially after Grant Hill returned in mid-January, the team went on a winning streak.

In early February, the league announced the voting results for the All-Star starters.

As expected, Lynch became the All-Star vote leader in his rookie season. His experience of leading the Chinese team to win the Olympic gold medal in 2004 had already made him more popular than Yao Ming in China. Lynch also had a large number of votes in Europe, and he was extremely popular in North America.

The final starting five for the Eastern Conference All-Star team are AI, James, Anthony, Lynch, and Shaq.

God knows why James was counted as a guard in the voting, but considering that the Eastern Conference frontcourt has four popular monsters—Carter, Anthony, Grant Hill, and Lynch—if James is not counted as a guard, he is destined to lose his chance to start in the All-Star Game.

During the All-Star Game, all the media outlets were speculating about what kind of dramatic conflict Lynch would have with Shaq.

However, things were peaceful in Denver. Lynch did not provoke him, and Shaq only participated in the game with a playful attitude.

He actually made friends at the All-Star Game – Lynch got along very well with the more outspoken Anthony, and they basically hung out together every day.

Lynch's only complaint was about Gilbert Arenas, the All-Star backup guard who took 11 shots in just 14 minutes of playing time, shooting the team's lowest percentage at 27%.

In comparison, AI, who played 32 minutes, only took 13 shots, while Lynch and Arenas, who played 26 minutes, had the same number of shots.

Although winning or losing doesn't matter in the All-Star Game, this stage belongs to everyone.

Gilbert Arenas, however, tried to monopolize the stage, keeping the ball in his hands whenever he was on the court, which angered some star players.

James was very unhappy, but he just nodded and said in front of the camera: "I feel good about my first All-Star appearance, even though I don't have many opportunities to shoot."

Grant Hill, who returned to the All-Star team, simply said kindly, "Gilbert just wanted to perform, which is normal."

But Lynch and Anthony were outspoken, both wearing sunglasses in front of the camera: "Those who do not follow the rules will be punished."

These two young men seemed to be managing order in the east.

But Gilbert Arenas clearly doesn't want to be judged by young people.

"Washington has officially declared war on Detroit and New York."

The unruly general responded in this way.

(Thanks to the generous donors Fenglingyueyingzongyuanershao, Yixizerodwo, Shanzhuiguodu, and others for their generous donations!)
(End of this chapter)