warrior godfather

Chapter 699 Conspiracy Theorists

Westbrook left a deep impression on the judges with his performance as a god in the battle with the Nuggets near the time of the mvp voting.

In addition to Kobe, there are many commentators, retired celebrities, and active players tweeting on the Internet to lament Westbrook's shocking performance in this game.

However, Zhang Yu still did not give up. The Warriors' opponents in the last two games were the Pelicans and the Lakers. Curry couldn't make a triple-double, but if he really wanted to do it, he couldn't run 60+.

Moreover, the current record of the Warriors is 68 wins and 12 losses. After winning these two games, they can reach the threshold of 70 wins. Coupled with Curry's high-scoring performance, they may not necessarily lose to the Thunder.

Curry scoring points will not affect the Warriors' preparation for the playoffs. Zhang Yu has arranged for Curry to rest at least 5 games before. He clocks in three quarters in many games, and there is no physical problem.

In fact, the depth of the Warriors' strong lineup this season makes every player not have to bear too much load.

After a season, no one even missed the game due to injury. Only Olynyk and Dinwiddie took a week off due to the flu, but it did not have any impact on the Warriors. Instead, it gave Brogdon and Looney a chance to play and exercise .

The playing time of the four major stars is also well controlled, the most is Leonard with 35.8 minutes, and the playing time of the other three players is less than 34 minutes.

When the Warriors led by a big score, Zhang Yu replaced the other three main players in the fourth quarter, letting Leonard lead the bench for a while to consolidate the lead, and at the same time let Leonard brush up the data.

After the All-Star break, Riley began quietly contacting other teams to sell Leonard.

The reason why he didn't release the news in advance is because the trade deadline has not yet expired, and the media are staring at the transfer market, which is easy to leak out, which may cause turmoil within the team and affect the Warriors' championship prospects.

But after the All-Star Game, people's attention shifted to the playoffs and the championship, and no one paid any attention to the closed trading market.

Riley did it very covertly again. Within the range designated by Zhang Yu, he contacted familiar managers in person to achieve the ultimate in secrecy.

In order to cooperate with Riley, Zhang Yu naturally had to give Leonard more opportunities to perform and let potential trading partners test and inspect the goods.

This is why Leonard's data is almost the same as Curry's.

However, this also caused Curry's data to drop a lot, which is quite unfavorable for the competition for mvp.

ESPN and other media used Leonard's outstanding performance as evidence before, pointing out that the Warriors' record is not due to Curry, but to the Warriors' entire team. At least Leonard's role is no less than that of Curry.

Even though Curry scored 40+ in three consecutive games and led the team to win, he was in the limelight for a while, and the media insisted on this matter.

Many commentators even claimed that if Zhang Yu gave the ball to Leonard, he would be able to score 40+ in three consecutive games. If you don’t believe me, you can try to rest Curry. Anyway, the Warriors lead the league’s second-ranked Rockets by 13 games. The position of one has been stabilized.

Zhang Yu also knew that this kind of rhetoric would affect the selection of the judges, so he was determined to make a big news, to suppress the influence of Westbrook's 50+ triple-double, and let Curry find his feeling and enter the playoffs in the best state.

The Pelicans and Lakers are the two best victims.

But just when Zhang Yu was about to take action, he received a call from Mark Tatum:

"Ronan, I heard a piece of news. Nike spent a lot of money and exerted a lot of influence on the judges. In this MVP selection, it is difficult for Stephen to take advantage."

Zhang Yu said in surprise:
"With 106 judges, how many people can Nike buy? Are they not afraid of being poked out if they miss?"

Mark Tatum said:
"Nike has been operating in the sports industry for many years. Who would dare to reveal it? And even if it was revealed, who would believe it? They won't leave evidence. In the past five years, Stephen has won four MVPs. Nike only needs to put this matter aside. If they come out, no one will believe that they can influence the mvp vote, but they will say that this is nothing, and those who believe it are conspiracy theorists."

Zhang Yu frowned and said:
"Since Nike has let Stephen win 4 mvp, why is it making a move now? Why didn't they suppress Stephen earlier?"

"They want to suppress it!" Mark Tatum sneered, "But Nike is not omnipotent. MVP is different from fmvp. There are too many voters, and the risk of interference is too great, and Stephen's performance in the past few years has been too good. , In the selection of MVP, no one is his opponent, and Nike dare not take it lightly."

"That is to say, Westbrook's data this season is too horrible. He had hoped to get the mvp, so Nike took the risk to intervene. In the past five years, Nike's players have only won one mvp, and they can't bear it anymore."

"The most important thing is that Nike will never allow Stephen to win three consecutive MVPs. This is something that Jordan has not done, and your defending posture is so obvious. If Stephen gets three consecutive MVPs + three consecutive championships, Under Armour. How much development will it usher in?"

"Let's put it this way, if there is no Westbrook, even if Nike and Adidas join forces to help Harden build momentum, they will not let Stephen get the mvp. They have no way to retreat this time."

Zhang Yu felt the difficulty of this matter, pondered for a while, and said:
"I originally planned to let Stephen brush up the data in the last two games, try to get 50+, or even 60+, and see if I can suppress Westbrook's 50+ triple-double. Now it seems that I think it is a bit simple... ..."

Mark Tatum advised:
"Ronan, I don't recommend Stephen to fight for the mvp anymore. Nike is like a red-eyed wolf. It is determined to win the mvp. You also know that there is no fixed standard for the selection of the mvp. Westbrook's data is so Luxury, Nike will definitely not let this opportunity to snipe Stephen's three consecutive MVPs slip away. No matter what tricks you use, they have countermeasures. Our top priority now is to increase the league's revenue in China. When things are done, Stephen wants to win the mvp, isn't it easy?"

Zhang Yu nodded:
"Then I'll avoid the edge this time, but you made a mistake. Stephen won the mvp by himself, and there is no need to rely on other means to get it!"

Mark Tatum was taken aback for a moment, then praised:

"Haha, good! When the time comes, I guarantee that the selection of MVP will not be disturbed by other factors!"

……

Zhang Yu followed Mark Tatum's advice, and Curry did not play in the next two games.

But the Warriors still easily defeated the Pelicans and the Lakers, with a record of 70 wins and 12 losses.

However, the media did not stop Curry's campaign for mvp.

Although Curry has very little hope of competing for mvp, Zhang Yu doesn't mind adding obstacles to Nike, and it is also a vote.

Nike certainly can't buy all the judges, the higher Curry's vote rate, the better.

After the NBA has completely entered the era of data explosion, triple-doubles are worthless, especially after Westbrook's average triple-double is worthless, and then mention this mvp battle, even if Curry did not get three consecutive mvp, but in the eyes of the fans , I am afraid it is no different from the three consecutive mvp.

Just as Curry took a rest, Westbrook also took a rest.

The Thunder have already confirmed that they will get the sixth place in the Western Conference, and Westbrook has also confirmed that they will average a triple-double per game. The remaining two games are meaningless.

Westbrook rested for the penultimate game, and played 18 minutes in the last game to maintain his form and face the playoffs.

But Harden still did not give up the fight for mvp.

On April 4, the Rockets challenged the Clippers in back-to-back away games. They fell behind early and lost to the Clippers 10:96.

Although the Rockets have confirmed that they will be ranked second in the Western Conference, Harden did not take a rest and still played 24 minutes, scoring 14 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.

On April 4, the Rockets' final game of the regular season played against the Timberwolves at home.

Harden played 35 minutes and scored a triple-double of 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. After a fierce battle, he led the team to beat the Timberwolves 123:118 and won this meaningless victory.

These two games have no meaning for the Rockets. They can't catch up with the Warriors, and it's impossible for the Clippers behind them to catch up with them.

The only reason Harden doesn't take a rest is to take advantage of Westbrook's non-playing time to win two more games, and at the same time to swipe the data to strive for mvp votes.

The Rockets and Harden didn't know that Nike had spent a lot of effort behind the scenes to publicize the mvp for Westbrook, and this mvp was already in Westbrook's pocket.

Originally, it was impossible for Zhang Yu to get wind of it, but Mark Tatum, who is in a high position in the league, heard the news and told Zhang Yu that he avoided doing useless work.

Harden didn't have such a well-informed news channel, so he could only waste his time. The game against the Timberwolves was extremely fierce, which affected his preparations for the playoffs.

In fact, Harden spared no expense in his physical fitness. He still fought hard against the Timberwolves in the last game of the regular season, and he did so because he was sure of winning the mvp.

In Zhang Yu's previous life, before the MVP results of this game were announced, the fans who favored Harden and the fans who favored Westbrook were split [-]-[-], and Harden's support rate was even higher.

Although Westbrook averaged a triple-double of 30+ per game, Harden's 29+11+8 data is not much inferior, and his efficiency is far better than Westbrook.

Westbrook's true shooting percentage this season is only 55.4%, which has just reached the league average, while Harden's true shooting percentage is as high as 61.3%, which is the top level of the league. There is a gap between the two.

The most important thing is that Harden's team leadership record is far better than Westbrook.

The Rockets scored 56 wins and 26 losses this season, ranking second in the league and second in the West, while the Thunder scored 48 wins and 34 losses this season, ranking tenth in the league and sixth in the West.

With such a huge record gap, most fans still prefer Harden to win mvp.

Westbrook's 31+10+10 data is really against the sky, but Harden's 29+11+8 is not much better, and his efficiency is even higher. In the case of almost the same data, the record should be the highest judging standard-this It is also the practice of mvp judging in the past.

This is still not that the Rockets are leading the record. If the Rockets lead by 10 wins, the mvp should belong to Harden without any suspense.

This is the situation Curry is in. After the Warriors' record is fixed at 70 wins and 12 losses, even though Curry's statistics are far inferior to those of Harden and Westbrook, and even chose to rest in the last two games, he is the leader of the Warriors and still has Many fans believe that Curry should get the mvp.

The most typical example is the 1961-1962 season.

Robertson averaged a triple-double of 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists per game, leading the Cincinnati Royals to second in the Western Conference, but only ranked third in the MVP vote.

Chamberlain scored a terrifying 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds.Leading the Philadelphia Warriors ranked second in the East, and only ranked second in the mvp selection.

The mvp was finally awarded to Bill Russell, who led the Celtics to 60 wins for the first time in history, and his statistics were only 18.9 points, 23.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists, far inferior to Chamberlain and Robertson.

However, three-fifths of the mvp judges filled in Bill Russell's name in the first column of the vote.

Over the past [-] years, the NBA has developed from an insignificant sports league to the present, and it has become the world's number one basketball league in modernization and globalization.

But people forget that the goal of the game is to win, and instead regard the additional product of the game-data, as the most important thing.

It is also from this season that an era of data explosion has begun.

The media and fans put data first. Basic data and high-level data have become the primary criteria for judging mvp. On the contrary, the most important record has been ignored and forgotten.

(End of this chapter)