warrior godfather

Chapter 380 Does he really want to compete for the championship?

After the red light came on, the audience at the Staples Center presented a scene of ice and fire. The Lakers fans were ecstatic and celebrated the victory of the game, while a few Clippers fans were full of faces. Frustrated, as if he couldn't accept the result in front of him.

On the sidelines, De Nagro also looked at the Clippers players on the field, his face was livid, he shook his head again and again, his lips kept moving, as if he was about to swear in the next second.

This game is not an ordinary regular season. The Clippers and the Lakers are not only rivals in the same city, but also direct competitors for fourth in the West.

Previously, the Lakers' record was 33 wins and 21 losses, and the Clippers' record was 34 wins and 20 losses. The Clippers led the Lakers by 1 game, but after this game, the Lakers' record became 34 wins and 21 losses. tied the Clippers.

Most importantly, tonight is the fourth meeting between the Lakers and the Clippers this season. Previously, the Clippers played against the Lakers with 1 win and 2 losses. The ship has 3 wins and 1 loss, and has an advantage in the relationship between victory and defeat. Although the two teams have the same record, the Lakers overtook the Clippers in the rankings and jumped to the fourth place in the Western Conference.

And in the next games, the Lakers will always take the initiative. As long as they achieve the same record as the Clippers, they will be able to get home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

In this way, the Clippers will be in an extremely unfavorable situation. They will not have the upper hand against the Lakers in the regular season. If they lose their home court advantage in the playoffs, they will probably have a round trip.

However, even if the Clippers finally achieved the fourth place in the Western Conference, the Staples Center will always be the home of the Lakers. The fourth and fifth rankings seem to be the same for the Clippers.

After all, the reason why the NBA has home court advantage is because the league has to take care of the home fans who buy tickets to watch the game, properly tilt towards the home team in whistleblowing, change directions to enhance their strength, make the game more intense, and allow the home fans to return to the home team next time. You can continue to buy tickets to enter the venue.

But in Los Angeles, more than half of the home audience are Lakers fans. No one can tell whether the league will take care of the Clippers or the Lakers, but they have already seen that the Staples Center tonight belongs to the Lakers.

After the game, Kobe made 19 of 11 shots, 3 of 2 three-pointers, 5 of 3 free throws, and scored 31 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists efficiently. He opened his hands and stood in the middle of the court, accepting the worship of the fans.

He fought for 42 minutes today, sweating through his jersey, and his heavy breathing was clearly audible, showing his exhaustion, but as he glanced at the roaring fans, his eyes became brighter and more determined.

Bynum walked to Kobe's side, hugged him heavily, and laughed loudly:
"Kobe, we won!"

Tonight, Bynum was in excellent form. He made 20 of 13 shots and 12 of 10 free throws. He scored 36 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Under such circumstances, he almost beat Griffin and Jordan Jr. with his own strength, integrated offense and defense, and dominated the inside!

Kobe also gave Bynum a backhand hug with a smile on his face, patted him on the back twice, and said:

"Great job Andrew, keep it up, the team needs you to play like this!"

Bynum nodded heavily:
"Of course, we still have to compete for the championship. I will definitely show my best form in the playoffs!"

Kobe was startled slightly, then smiled and said:

"Yeah, we still have to compete for the championship, work hard, Andrew, although we didn't succeed in defending the title, but standing up after falling is what a man should do."

After parting from Bynum, Kobe waved to the fans, found other teammates who were celebrating, and gave them high-fives, hugs, and compliments and encouragement.

As Kobe's career grew longer, he also understood the importance of the team more and more. He learned to trust his teammates, learned to hide his edge, and learned that only by relying on the strength of the team can he compete for the championship.

After O'Neal left, Kobe experienced the most peak and most painful seasons before he realized these principles and practiced them unswervingly, and finally won two more championships.

Now, when the playoffs are about to start, and when he is about to embark on another journey, Kobe's fighting spirit is becoming more and more high. He is deeply discouraged, but he still firmly believes that as long as he is there, as long as the team is united, they will still be a strong team for the championship, and the Lakers will definitely succeed in defending their title, but it is only a year late!

……

When Kobe and his teammates hugged, Paul leaned his hands on his knees and stood in the other half, silently watching Kobe in high spirits.

He swiped left and right, taking a panoramic view of the cheering Lakers fans in the auditorium on both sides, shook his head slightly, then looked down at the Clippers logo at his feet, then turned his head to look at the Clippers bench, and swipe Sighing, he straightened up slowly and walked towards Kobe.

"Congratulations, Kobe, you played a wonderful game." Paul came to Kobe, stretched out his right hand, and said with a smile.

Kobe grinned, held Paul's hand, and shook it hard:
"Chris, you played really well, too."

Paul nodded slightly, turned and left without saying anything else.

He has the demeanor of a loser, but also the dignity of a loser.

Paul returned to the Clippers bench, took a few deep breaths, managed to pull himself together, and clapped hands with his teammates one by one, saying comforting words:

"Hey Caron, you played really well today, what an incredible performance..."

"It's okay, Randy, it's just a loss, and you can win the next game. You played very well today, but you still didn't handle a few shots smartly enough. You have to watch the video carefully when you go back..."

"Nick, you dare to shoot, which is great, but you have to pay attention to the timing of your shots, which determines whether you can become a real scorer in the end. Look at Kobe, his offense is art..."

With Paul's encouragement, the tense expressions of the Clippers players eased a lot. Finally, he came to Griffin and Jordan. Unlike others, they were not at all depressed or lost because of losing. Talking and laughing inside, it seems to be talking about something interesting, and bursts of laughter burst out from time to time.

Paul walked up to the two, frowned slightly, and said:

"Blake, DeAndre, what are you talking about? So happy?"

Griffin shrugged and said with a playful smile:

"It's nothing, DeAndre is telling me a story about him and his little girlfriend..."

"Hey, Blake, what nonsense are you talking about, you are the one talking!" Little Jordan said dissatisfied.

Griffin avoided Jordan's hand grabbing him, and said with a smile:
"Haha, Chris, you don't know how much DeAndre plays, it really opened my eyes..."

Listening to the conversation between the two, Paul frowned more and more tightly. Finally, he couldn't help but shout:
"Blake, have you forgotten? We just lost a game!"

Griffin was taken aback for a moment, and then said in a puzzled way:
"I know, but it's just a loss. It's no big deal, right?"

Paul's eyes widened:
"It's just a loss? We lost this game, but the ranking was overtaken by the Lakers!"

At this time, Little Jordan also interjected with a smile:
"Chris, isn't fifth in the Western Conference not good? This is enough to make the playoffs. I have been in the league for almost four years, and I haven't made a playoff yet!"

Griffin also agreed deeply, nodding again and again:

"Yeah, I lost more games last season than I've ever lost since I started playing basketball. It's already pretty good to be in the playoffs this year. Thanks to you, Chris. Without you, we might still Struggling in the lottery."

"You..." Paul pointed at the two of them. He was speechless for a long time, then put his hand down again, and shook his head dejectedly.

After he came to the Clippers, he focused on the goal of the championship. He thought that his teammates should think the same as him, especially Griffin and Jordan. They are Paul's most valued helpers. The Clippers cannot do without The growth of two people.

But now, their mentality of getting rich and being safe made Paul feel both angry and a sense of powerlessness rising from his heart.

Paul is 27 years old this year, and he is at the peak of his career, but it also means that he does not have much time to waste. The next three to five years are time, which is the best window for him to compete for the championship.

And Griffin and Jordan are still very young, one is 23 years old, the other is 24 years old, and there is still a lot of time to grow. Naturally, they will not take the goal of the championship to heart. The goal pursued by the two.

Now, they have the opportunity to show their abilities on the stage of the playoffs, and big contracts are already beckoning to them. As for the championship, it is of course good to win it, but it doesn't matter if they can't win it. And the age of anxiety.

Paul thought about the differences between him and the two, and felt very troubled in his heart.

He is a very competitive person, he wants to win every game, and he is willing to put in all his efforts for it, but Jordan has been in the Clippers for three years, and losing is commonplace for him Well, losing a few regular season games is just a trivial matter.

Griffin has been with the Clippers for two years. He was reimbursed for his rookie season. He has been losing last season and has been in an environment full of failures.

Paul changed his mind, organized his words, and walked to the player tunnel with the two. Griffin and Jordan also noticed Paul's displeasure, so he stopped joking, but still looked at Paul with a little confusion.

After a while, Paul took a deep breath and finally said:
"Blake, DeAndre, I can understand your feelings. When I entered the playoffs for the first time, I was very excited and didn't have time to take care of other things. Even if I lost a few games, I felt that the future would be long. , there is nothing to care about, just win back in the future..."

He spoke very slowly. After hearing this, Griffin and Jordan nodded again and again. Paul expressed their thoughts. far things.

"But—" Paul dragged his tone a little bit, and said earnestly, "It's different now. I came here not to make it to the playoffs, but to be satisfied. I want to compete for the championship. I believe in your potential. , We are a team with the strength to compete for the championship, otherwise I will not leave the Hornets."

"Think about it, as long as you can win the championship, you will all get big contracts and become stars, and we can also wash away the reputation of a bad team. You have carried this shame for several years. Do you want to continue to carry it? Become a laughing stock in others' mouths?"

Paul persuaded earnestly, with a sincere expression and a sincere tone, but after hearing this, Griffin and Jordan just looked at each other, with expressions of emotion on their faces, but quickly disappeared.

Griffin nodded hesitantly:

"Okay, Chris, we'll try, but you know it won't happen overnight..."

Little Jordan is perfunctory a lot:
"Yeah, Chris, why do you want to go so far, let's talk about the playoffs first, this is already a great breakthrough."

"I..." Paul froze and opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say.

He shut his mouth and walked in front silently, no longer in the mood to persuade him.

Paul can only attribute the lack of desire to win between the two to the fact that their careers are still short. With the Clippers getting better and better and playing more and more playoffs, he believes that Jordan and Griffin must be able to wake up and truly become his right-hand man on the road to the championship.

It's just that Paul doesn't know when that day will come, but he knows that this year's Clippers have no hope of competing for the championship.

He can only settle for the next best thing:

"How about this, don't talk about the championship this year, play hard in the playoffs, go as far as you can, as long as you reach the Western Conference Finals, you are a victory, that's okay, right?"

Hearing this, the two nodded in unison, with smiles on their faces.

"No problem, Chris, I can't wait!" Griffin stroked his biceps.

Little Jordan also smiled honestly:
"I will do a good job in defense and rebounding. As long as you pass the ball to me, I will definitely dunk the ball in!"

"DeAndre, you can talk about the ball, is it a basketball?" Griffin winked at Jordan and said with a smirk.

Little Jordan also smirked and said:

"It should be, otherwise what ball is there? What do you say, Chris?"

Paul looked at the two people who had started to be serious again, heaved a long sigh, and walked forward quickly, leaving the two of them staring at each other.

"Blake, does he really want to compete for the championship? I thought he was just talking casually in front of the media." Jordan whispered.

Griffin shrugged:

"Who knows, we just want to play well anyway, everything else is fake, the contract we got is the most real thing, with our ghost lineup, 5 or 6 guards in a game, how can we compete for the championship ?”

(End of this chapter)