So I am the god of basketball?

After finding the right pattern, the Lakers continued their strong momentum into February. Even the "back-to-back" games did not stop their winning streak. It was not until the last game before the All-Star Weekend that the Lakers lost their first game in February.

It is worth mentioning that in February, Meng Lang still averaged 2 points per game, and his offensive firepower was fierce.

But it's not surprising if you think about it carefully.

In the future, Allen Iverson will average 76 points per game in the same mode for the Philadelphia 31.1ers. Meng Lang is also proficient in various offensive skills, and it is not a problem for him to average 9 points more than him. You know, Allen Iverson averaged 35 points per game in his peak period.

Many fans are saying that if someone lets him shoot as much as he wants, he can score X points. But Meng Lang now has "unlimited shooting rights", averaging 25+ shots per game, so scoring 40 points is really not a big deal.

Reporters asked Meng Lang: "Do you think you can average more than 40 points per game this season?"

Meng Lang's answer was: "If I average 40 points per game and the team can always win, then I will do this. If I only average 30 points per game and the team can win, then I will do the same. Everything is based on winning!"

He took so many shots on offense in every game, and even though he had the support of Karl Malone, the "evergreen tree of basketball", Meng Lang still chose to play a minor role during the All-Star Weekend. That was not where he needed to work hard.

Moreover, the league is undergoing a renewal and there are too many people eager to shine on that stage.

Let’s not talk about others, let’s just talk about his two good brothers, Hardaway and Grant. It’s time for them to leave some wonderful shots during the All-Star Weekend.

How could he steal the stage from his brothers?
This was the All-Star Weekend in which Meng Lang had the least presence.

He was not present on the first day of the rookie challenge, nor did he appear in the audience seats for the two major "challenges" on the second day. Until the last day of the main competition, he only played for about 10 minutes before resting on the sidelines.

However, I don’t know which media took the photo of him and Monica dating outside, which made him a “hot search” during the All-Star Weekend.

Obviously, Meng Lang has become a face.

Whether he appears at the All-Star Weekend or not, the news will revolve around him.

But Meng Lang did not say that he was the sun.

In the end, this All-Star MVP went to Hardaway.

It is worth mentioning that Michael Jordan also missed this All-Star Weekend due to injury.

When this news came out, there was a feeling that the "84 Generation" had reached its end.

Meng Lang understood this feeling very well. After all, before traveling through time, he had also experienced the retirement of the "Pan-96 Generation".

Each generation has its own youth and each generation has its own idols.

When they are about to leave the alliance, the alliance will naturally usher in a renewal.

Not only are the players changing, but the fans are also changing.

For the older generation of fans, there must be many people who are shouting that they will no longer watch this league if Jordan retires.

When Meng Lang defeated Jordan, what they couldn't accept was that their era was over.

Unfortunately, no one can stop the passage of time.

After this All-Star Weekend, the NBA also played highlights of the "84 Generation", as if it could feel the atmosphere of nostalgia.

After the All-Stars Weekend, the Lakers' first game was against the Chicago Bulls, who played at home this time.

Before the game started, the media reported that Michael Jordan's injury had not fully recovered, and Meng Lang thought Jordan would not play in this game. But unexpectedly, the Bulls released the roster before the game, and he was still in the starting lineup.

About 5 hours before the game, Meng Lang arrived at the scene to warm up and happened to run into Michael Jordan.

"I didn't expect that you would attach so much importance to such a game!" Meng Lang said.

Jordan continued shooting to warm up, without even looking at Meng Lang, and replied: "Then why do I see you here!" Doesn't he attach equal importance to this game?
This time, Meng Lang was choked up. He had to admit that he didn't want to lose any game against Jordan, even in the regular season. But now it seems that Jordan is the same. He also doesn't want to lose, even if it's just a regular season game.

Barkley still did not return in this game.

However, given the Lakers' form before the All-Star Weekend, the Los Angeles media is not worried that the team will lose.

But in the end, the Lakers lost by 90 points, 98-8, at the Bulls' home court.

The reason for the defeat was that their defensive counterattack was not effective against the Bulls.

Facing other teams, the Lakers' outside line has a height advantage, but facing the Bulls, this advantage is gone. Instead, they will be taught a lesson. Kobe and Jones received two fouls early on.

And without Barkley, Rodman came back to life, grabbing rebounds in various postures in the interior, as if he had returned to his peak, grabbing 18 rebounds by himself.

In the case of insufficient defense, Meng Lang's firepower alone cannot help the team win, which has been verified before.

This game was no exception. Meng Lang scored 41 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and the Lakers lost to Chicago.

Jordan played with an injury and scored 25 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. He passed the ball to McGrady continuously at the last minute to seal the victory.

这场比赛麦迪的表现也很不错，13分7篮板7助攻2抢断2盖帽，攻防两端都打出了极其出彩的表现。也是公牛队赢球的关键。

Judging from his various reactions on the court in this game, he has grown a lot compared to before.

His growth rate in the Raptors was faster than Meng Lang originally knew.

It turns out that newcomers can grow fast enough in suitable soil.

The Bulls are at the forefront of developing small forwards, and Pippen grew up here.

Now McGrady is also growing very fast.

Of course, what made Chicagoans even happier was that they defeated the Lakers.

Even now, the Lakers are still the Bulls' biggest imaginary enemy.

A game that was originally thought to be winnable was lost, but the Los Angeles media was not too impatient because after the game, Barkley said in an interview that he would return in the next game.

One and a half months is longer than expected by all Los Angeles media. No one expected that Barkley would be absent for such a long time due to injury.

Fortunately, this period of time was perfectly passed. And it can be regarded as a "blessing in disguise". Barkley's absence gave these young people an opportunity to exercise, allowing the Lakers to find a more suitable tactic.

Chuck Daly was very cautious about Barkley's return, even though Barkley had said after the game against the Bulls that he would return in the next game. But before the game against the Pistons, he still said: "I'm not sure how much playing time he will have in this game, and I'm not sure if he will start. Everything depends on his condition on the day!"

The reason is also very simple:
It is now the end of February. If Barkley gets injured again, the Lakers will definitely be a runner-up this season.

The match against the Chicago Bulls has proved that without Barkley, the Lakers would have a hard time playing against a team with a significant height advantage on the perimeter. And this disadvantage will be infinitely magnified in the playoffs.

Not to mention other teams, once they meet the SuperSonics, I'm afraid the result will be ugly.

Because the Sonics' outside height and blocking ability are much stronger than the Bulls.

The Lakers need Barkley to break the deadlock.

In the end, it was almost as he said. Barkley returned in the next game, but he came off the bench and played for only 15 minutes, scoring 7 points and 4 rebounds. The team lost again.

Barkley was a little frustrated and thought he didn't help the team: "I could play more minutes, I think the results would be different!"

Chuck Daly still insisted on his use of Barkley and said directly: "I can lose 10 or even more regular season games for Barkley, as long as he can recover %. This is the most important thing and cannot be compared with the wins and losses in the regular season!"

When a head coach like Chuck Daly said this, Barkley could only obey and do what he said.

In the next three games, he still only played 3 minutes, and until March, his playing time gradually increased to more than 15 minutes. This adaptation process played a significant role, and Barkley's knee did not have any problems during this period.

In mid-March, Barkley's playing time reached more than 3 minutes, but the upper limit was controlled at around 30 minutes. Obviously, this was the most playing time Chuck Daly gave him in a game.

During this period, the Lakers had 8 wins and 3 losses, and their overall performance was still very good.

Barkley is no longer as anxious as before.

He accepted that the team no longer needed him as much as it did last season, or as much as it did at the beginning of the season.

He is also ready to burn himself out in the playoffs.

Because Chuck Daly controls his playing time in this way, helping him gradually adapt and preventing him from having physical problems, all in order to allow him to help Meng Lang in the playoffs and go far enough.

In the remaining games, as Barkley's playing time gradually increased and stabilized, the Lakers regained their strength, with a wave of 10 consecutive victories, making people feel as if they were seeing the "king's team" of last season.

This winning streak is definitely a huge morale booster.

At the same time, with this winning streak, the Lakers regained the second place in the Western Conference, pushing the Jazz to the third place in the Western Conference.

The people of Los Angeles were extremely excited, and the reason was very simple, because after reaching the second place in the Western Conference, the Lakers ranked fourth in the entire league. After going through so many problems, they were still able to maintain the fourth place in the league. Meng Lang's ability to lead the team was beyond doubt.

In addition, his average points per game has also exceeded 40 points during this period. More and more people, not just the Los Angeles media, regard Meng Lang as the number one seed for this season's "Regular Season MVP".

In addition to him, Shaquille O'Neal, Karl Malone and Michael Jordan are also on the list.

However, with the Jazz falling to third in the Western Conference and the Bulls falling to fourth in the Eastern Conference, in terms of competitiveness alone, only Shaquille O'Neal can compete with Meng Lang.

This season, Shaquille O'Neal averaged 28.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. The Heat's record ranked first in the league. He performed very well. He has reasons to be the regular season MVP. Therefore, who will win this award in the end is really full of suspense.

Anyway, most media outlets cannot give a sufficiently convincing reason.

Shaquille O'Neal campaigned for himself: "This is a new height reached by the Heat, and it is also a new height reached by myself. I believe that this season, I am absolutely qualified to win the regular season MVP!"

Orlando's "Twin Stars" officially kicked off the battle for the regular season MVP.

Shaquille O'Neal took the lead.

Meng Lang did not respond.

In the eyes of Michael Media, this was a sign of cowardice. So, the Miami media began to hype Shaquille O'Neal crazily.

On April 4, after playing the last game of the season, the Lakers' record was fixed at 15 wins and 60 losses, ranking second in the Western Conference.

The SuperSonics, who are first in the Western Conference, have a record of 62 wins and 20 losses.

This is their best performance in recent years.

At the same time, they also caught up with the Heat and tied with them for first place in the league. The Heat's record is also 62 wins and 20 losses.

In fact, the Sonics' record makes the core players fully qualified to compete for the regular season MVP. Unfortunately, neither Gary Payton nor Alonso's statistics are that exaggerated. More importantly, in the selection of the regular season MVP award, their status is slightly insufficient.

西部第三是爵士。他们的战绩为59胜23负。原本的他们本赛季的战绩为62胜20负，输掉的3场比赛也很好找，就是跟湖人队的3场比赛，他们全输了。

Fourth in the Western Conference is the Golden State Warriors.

Obviously, the ceiling of the "trio" of Webber, "Madman" and Hardaway is here.

Fifth in the Western Conference is the young Timberwolves.

Reaching the playoffs for two consecutive years is a rare ray of hope for Minnesota, which has an NBA team again. But the things they need to worry about have already appeared:
Kevin Garnett will become a free agent this summer, and it will be a difficult problem to renew his contract.

Sixth in the Western Conference is the Portland Trail Blazers, seventh in the Western Conference is the Phoenix Suns, and eighth in the Western Conference is the Sacramento Kings.

The competitiveness of these three teams is much lower than that of the previous five teams.

In the Eastern Conference, the first is the Heat and the second is the Pacers, with their records of 61 wins and 21 losses.

After the All-Stars Weekend, the Pacers made a trade to acquire "God's Left Hand" Chris Mullin from Golden State to increase the outside shooting threat. This made them more destructive in the East.

Third in the Eastern Conference is the rising Detroit Pistons.

Grant Hill had a big breakout this season, averaging 25.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 7 assists per game, officially becoming an all-around superman. Under his leadership, the Pistons also made it into the top three in the Eastern Conference.

Fourth in the Eastern Conference...

Chicago Bulls! (End of this chapter)