So I am the god of basketball?

When the final whistle sounded, Shaquille O'Neal left the court at a speed that even he could not have imagined.

It seems that the losing player tunnel is not entirely a characteristic of one person.

If the loss is bad enough, everyone will subconsciously make this move.

It’s not that I don’t want to wish you well, it’s just that you lost so badly!

As a team with a better record, they were swept 4-0. How can we face the public if we say this?

Not to mention, when competing for the regular season MVP, Shaquille O'Neal said everything.

Now he has won the regular season MVP competition. But he lost the finals and lost everything, which is another kind of defeat.

Anyway, he couldn't stay at this scene for even a second.

In fact, he was just overthinking it.

As the ribbons fell from the sky, Barkley threw the ball into the air and said silently in his heart:
Complete!
Everyone's eyes were on the Lakers, and no one cared about his expression.

Everyone on the field rushed towards Meng Lang at the first moment.

A unified cheer rang out at the scene:

"Dream!"

"Dream!"

"Dream!"

Tonight, with the witness of "Magic", Meng Lang achieved what Johnson once achieved, that is, winning two consecutive championships with this city. This is undoubtedly a record written into the history of the Lakers.

And after this championship, Meng Lang's number of championships officially caught up with Michael Jordan, becoming the player with the most championships among active players.

No matter from which perspective, this is a very meaningful championship for Meng Lang.

When David Stern came to the center of the venue with the championship trophy, all the Lakers players put on championship T-shirts.

When Meng Lang held up the championship trophy on behalf of everyone, the cheers from the audience almost drowned him out. The cheers from the audience did not stop until Chuck Daly gave his speech. Seeing this, Chuck Daly did not wait any longer, but instead picked up the microphone and said to the audience: "Now, everyone's cheers are what I want to say!"

Just one sentence made the audience cheer even louder.

As they continued to shout, Chuck Daly passed the microphone to Jerry West behind him.

As the prototype of the league's "logo", the "old man" waited for everyone to be quiet. This was a very long process, but Jerry West showed his patience, and then he spoke in the slightly quieter noise: "When Magic retires and the Slam Dunk King leaves, we all know that we will start a long and difficult new season. We don't know whether we can defend the title, and we don't know how far we can go. All we can do is take it one step at a time. This is a difficult season. We encountered a lot of troubles, but fortunately we all got through it. Thank you Dream, thank you Chuck, thank you Charles, thank you all the Lakers players, and the Lakers fans on the scene, thank you for your continued support, allowing the Lakers to win the 12th championship trophy. The Purple and Gold Dynasty of the City of Angels has ushered in another new championship trophy, and I believe..."

He looked at Meng Lang, and all the cameras turned to Meng Lang. He said, "I believe we have another one coming soon!"

As he said this, he handed the microphone to Meng Lang.

After that, it will be time for David Stern to announce the Finals MVP.

Even though he has not announced the answer yet, everyone knows that there is only one answer, and that is Meng Lang, who averaged 4 points, 38.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 8.5 steals and 1.5 block in 1 finals games.

Whether it is statistics or performance on the court, his presence is the main and only reason why the Lakers won the championship.

Sure enough, there was no problem with the final result, and Meng Lang became the final championship MVP winner.

With his fourth championship MVP trophy in hand, Meng Lang walked to the front of the home crowd amid the unanimous shouts of "MVP" from the audience.

"Congratulations on winning your second championship trophy for the Lakers, and congratulations on winning your fourth Finals MVP in your career. What do you think is the difference between this championship trophy and the previous one?"

“The difference is, this is the second one!”

Meng Lang's joke caused laughter from the whole audience.

Then Meng Lang said seriously: "After winning this championship, our goal will be to win three consecutive championships. This is the biggest difference. After winning this championship, we have a higher goal. I also hope that I can bring three consecutive championships to this city."

When he said this, Barkley's expression inexplicably became more solemn. Some of his inner thoughts began to waver.

Because of the tone of voice when Meng Lang said this, and because of the cheers of the fans after hearing Meng Lang say this.

This is his second championship. In the last two seasons of his career, he tasted the taste of the championship and what it means to win two consecutive championships. He has achieved perfection.

only……

Meng Lang still has higher goals to pursue.

Should he stay and continue to fight for another year...it's just one season.

"Charles, don't think too much, I'm not saying this to you!"

So Barkley went back to the locker room and had another conversation with Meng Lang. Meng Lang listened to him and shook his head: "Don't have any psychological burden. Listen to me, think about your body, because my goal has never been just a three-peat. If I achieve it next year, my ambition will become another three-peat. My age is here, and I need to keep looking for new goals. This is my motivation to move forward. So Charles, you should think about yourself seriously. I will not resent you for losing in the new season, and I will not doubt myself or deny myself for not winning three consecutive championships..."

"I am already one of the best players in history. The motivation for the rest of my career comes from higher challenges!"

Meng Lang made it clear what he wanted to say, and Barkley understood what he meant, so when he was interviewed after the game, he followed his heart and said what he had planned in the middle of the season:
"Listen, this is not a joke, nor is it an idea I am considering. This is a decision I have already made. I am ready to retire. There will be no next season. This season will be the last season of my career. Thank you, everyone. It's time for the 'Jazz' to say goodbye."

The news quickly caused confusion.

The people who were being interviewed by the Lakers soon learned the news.

Chuck Daly said: "I really don't know whether I should be happy or sad, but this is the NBA. At the end of each season, there will be legends announcing the end of their careers... New season? I won't worry at all. Jerry will solve the lineup problems for me, and Dream will solve all the problems on the court."

Kobe: "I don't know anything about this. He never told me. Are you sure this is true?"

After being stunned, he quickly realized something.

The second question from the reporter also came at this time: "Who do you think will be Dream's best helper after Charles retires?"

Without thinking, he said: "I..." Then he suddenly felt that the reporter's question was a bit wrong, so he corrected it: "Not Dream's best helper, but forming a new core partner of the Lakers with Dream. I will make greater progress this summer, I believe..."

At the end, Kobe had completely forgotten about Barkley's retirement, and his eyes were full of ambitions for the new season. Having just won the championship trophy, he couldn't wait for the new season to start so that he could run on the court as the "core".

This is the position he has always dreamed of.

Meng Lang generously admitted: "I know about this, and this is one of the reasons why I work so hard. I want to win a championship for myself and for the Lakers. At the same time, I hope to give Charles a happy ending. The good news is that I have done all of this... I will not keep him. If he has such an idea, it means that he has made a decision. And when my career is at his stage, when I have the idea of ​​retiring, I will choose to retire without hesitation."

This statement shocked the media, but fortunately Meng Lang added: "Of course, I am far from considering this matter now!"

On the other side, Pat Riley's slightly depressed expression brightened up immediately after hearing Barkley's retirement. He even praised Meng Lang's performance in the finals: "Incredible, I can only say this, except Michael, I have never seen anyone who has such dominance in his prime."

But in his mind, he was already imagining snatching Eddie Jones to the Heat in the free market, leaving the Lakers with only Meng Lang, Kobe, Big Ben and Divac as the core lineup.

amount……

Ok!

Still very strong!

Although this lineup can no longer play as a "five-small" formation, it is very solid both offensively and defensively.

Of course, such a lineup can definitely not be called "invincible"!

The Heat have a bright future next season!

No, he has to immediately give Shaquille O'Neal some intensity to keep him in good shape for this season.

After all, this round of finals should be a big blow to him.

They were full of ambition before the game and fell silent after the game, just 4 games in. Not to mention Shaquille O'Neal, even Pat Riley didn't expect that their 62-win team would be swept.

This is really...

Of course, the tricks Chuck Daly prepared are not something a normal person could think of.

On the second day of "Championship Night", the atmosphere of the Lakers winning the championship again had not completely dissipated, but some teams had already announced their next move.

The Warriors, whose head coach Nelson announced his resignation, held a press conference to announce their head coach for the new season.

There is a lot of discussion about this candidate.

But Meng Lang was no longer sleepy when he heard it. It was none other than...

Adelman!

Chris Webber and Princeton tactics are about to meet again?

If he really gets a "Gorgeous King", the Lakers will be under greater pressure in the new season.

And with the lineup of Chris Webber, Anfernee Hardaway and the "Madman", it seems like the final product will be an enhanced version of the "Gorgeous King".

The offseason hasn't even started yet, is the market so crazy?
It was also at this time that a shocking news came from Minnesota:

Kevin Garnett, whose rookie contract just expired, received a contract extension from the Timberwolves. This is a 6-year contract extension worth 1.02 million US dollars... It is worth mentioning that the owner Taylor only spent 8600 million to buy the Timberwolves.

In other words, the contract Kevin Garnett received was more than what the owner spent to buy the Timberwolves.

But even so, Kevin Garnett and his agent chose to refuse because they found that the contract they could get was 2 million higher than what the Timberwolves offered.

What they want is an absolute maximum salary of 1.2 million to completely block the Timberwolves' salary space.

All the media who knew the news, whether they were from Minnesota or not, were angry.

No matter how you look at it, it is extremely rare for a player to earn more than 2 million a year.

Even Michael Jordan only earned over 3 million in a single season, and that was when he led his team to a "dynasty".

But what does Kevin Garnett have?
He just took the team to the playoffs a few times.

This contract scares NBA owners.

They can't afford to pay such a salary to a player who has only played in the league for three years but has nothing easy. ——If this contract is really completed, it will definitely become a target that other players in the league want to get.

At least in the current league, there are at least thirty or forty people who are stronger than Kevin Garnett!

Kevin Garnett felt he was only getting the money he deserved.

In the end, the Timberwolves really offered such a contract.

While Kevin Garnett was excitedly showing off his new contract, rumors that the league would enter a lockout period after the end of this contract became more and more frequent.

In fact, in Meng Lang's view, this is a shutdown that cannot be avoided in the NBA process.

Because there is indeed a big bug in the current contract signing process, which means that the team's salary space will be completely locked after signing a "superstar".

A series of new rules such as salary cap, luxury tax and rookie contract are the prerequisites for the league to get back on track and for some small city teams to win the championship.

In a place like Orlando, if a "billion-dollar contract" is really offered, then you really don't have to do anything but sit back and watch, waiting for something good to happen.

Moreover, if we really use "billion-yuan contracts" to compete, big cities will have the advantage no matter how you look at it.

So the league shutdown is inevitable.

As for the Timberwolves, they are also having a hard time. After they gave Kevin Garnett a contract of 1 million, Ray Allen's contract extension immediately became delicate.

After all, everyone can see that Kevin Garnett is the cornerstone of this team, but Ray Allen is also indispensable! (End of this chapter)