So I am the god of basketball?

After resolving Wang Zhizhi's issue, the free market opened again. As the last summer of the 90s, everyone originally thought that it would be spent in peace. After all, too many things had happened in the past three seasons.

But the end of this season's playoffs, the excitement among Pistons fans, and the Heat's failure to win the championship mean that this summer will be very turbulent.

As expected, a big deal occurred as soon as the free market opened on July 7. The New York Knicks signed Alan Houston, whose contract had expired, for 1 million over five years, but the Pistons did not follow up on the contract.

This is the first Pistons player to leave the team.

Then, on the issue of Grant Hill's contract renewal, the Detroit media also had two different voices.

On the one hand, some people believe that Grant Hill has been Detroit's business card in the past few years. He has brought fame to Detroit and the team should continue to renew his contract.

And he is still in his prime, so there is really no reason to trade him.

Another group of media believes that Grant Hill has the ability, but he is not good enough to lead the team to win the championship.

He doesn't have the gangster spirit that Detroit should have.

Detroit should have their "new king".

The kind of "new king" that suits their temperament.

After Meng Lang saw the news, he asked Tai Lun to speak for him:

"If giving Grant Hill a maximum salary is something that needs to be considered, then there is nothing to say. Detroit should sink forever!"

In fact, Dumars had a good vision after taking office as the general manager of the Pistons. He quickly made the Pistons rise, and this rise lasted for a long time, from 03 to 08, which was almost most of the 00s.

However, it is not easy for the Pistons to get together the "Five Tigers" this time. The most important thing is that Ben Wallace should not leave as long as Meng Lang does not leave.

Big Ben can be said to be the defensive foundation of the entire Pistons team. Without him, the Pistons' defense is out of the question. This can be seen from the fact that Detroit has not made it to the finals since he left the Pistons.

So he is not afraid to say such things.

Soon, news came out that the Suns were trying to trade with the Pistons to get Grant Hill from them.

And the deal is getting closer and closer.

If nothing unexpected happens, Hill will go to the Suns early.

This is definitely good news. Not to mention that Hill was seriously injured in the Magic team, he was reborn in the Suns.

Just talking about the Suns' medical configuration, a glass man like Grant Hill is definitely the best choice to go there.

Then Mashburn was abandoned by the Heat and joined the Charlotte Hornets with an average annual salary of 5 million over five years.

PJ Brown was also snatched up by New York.

The Heat could only offer a contract of around 500 million, but Dolan directly doubled it.

No one can resist money, and the same goes for PJ Brown.

As a result, two of the three players whose contracts expired this summer for the Heat were poached.

Although the core player Tim Hardaway is still on the team, he, Eddie Jones and Shaquille O'Neal can only ensure that the team is competitive in the Eastern Conference, but they cannot guarantee winning the championship.

Of course, this is something that all media know. When they were eliminated in this year's Eastern Conference Finals, the media said that the Heat had missed their best window to win the championship.

There may or may never be another window.

Despite the bustle outside, there was still no movement from the Lakers. But then the phone rang, proving that Jerry West's patience was unmatched in the general manager industry. The Jazz general manager said in a tone of admitting defeat: "Okay, Jerry, tell me what you want..."

Kirilenko is an important part of the Jazz's future, and if the chips are right, the Jazz really don't want to give up.

Jerry West gave his answer succinctly: "Brian Russell!"

The Jazz's wing player, who was originally the super background board for Michael Jordan's "last shot", is 30 years old this year and is at the peak of his career.

But his ability is not enough to play a core role, he can only be a very useful "champion puzzle".

Therefore, from this perspective, he is a very high-quality bargaining chip with good quality and low price.

The original idea of ​​the Jazz general manager was to use him to exchange some chips for the future of the Jazz.

result……

The old guy Jerry West actually quietly set his sights on this bargaining chip.

But the problem is that this deal may actually be possible.

After all, the "Utah Twins" are getting older, which means that the Jazz have no hope of winning the championship in the new season, so Bryant's presence is not so necessary. At least he can be used to trade for Kirilenko.

This is also what Jerry Sloan thought...

Moreover, they can also get Derek Fisher, whose contract is about to expire in the new season.

This is also a pretty good bargaining chip.

So after much consideration, the Jazz agreed.

The deal was made, with the Lakers sending Andrei Kirilenko's signing rights and Derek Fisher to the Jazz for Bryant.

When Meng Lang heard this result, he also said in his heart:
Sure enough!

Bryant averaged 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Jazz last season.

Average three-point shooting percentage of 36.5%!

He can both defend and shoot, in other words, he is a "3D player".

However, there was no so-called "3D" concept at that time, so the term "3D" player was not popular.

But in any era, players with "3D" attributes can do well.

Another advantage Bryan has is his age.

When women reach the age of 30, they have everything they need. The same goes for men. At 30, they are full of experience and have "3D" attributes, so basically any lineup can be seamlessly compatible.

There is another benefit to his arrival.

Many people don’t know that one of Kobe’s early “stoppers” in his career was Bryant.

Bryant would definitely be depressed if he was assigned to torture Kobe every day.

Apart from this deal, the Lakers have no other deals this summer.

The new season's lineup has not changed much:

“Point guard: Meng Lang, Tyronn Lue;
No. 2: Kobe Bryant, Jon Barry;

Position 3: Bryan, Fox;

Power forward: Ben Wallace, Horry, Corey Blount;
Five position: Divac, Sean Lux"

It wasn't until September that Jerry West signed his twelfth player:

Rafer Alston!
Yes, that’s Brooklyn’s legendary “Beatle’s Soul.”

In 1998, Alston was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round with the 39th pick. In the same year, Alston was also selected by the Idaho Stampede of the American CBA in the second round with the 11th pick. However, due to the labor dispute in the NBA that year, the league had no choice but to suspend the league. During the NBA suspension, Alston, who wanted to maintain his form, chose the CBA league.

However, the previous violent incident of beating his girlfriend landed Alston in jail at the beginning of the year. In addition, Chris Ford, the coach who originally selected Alston, was fired during the offseason. The Bucks' new coach took over and Alston was put on the "banned list" by the Bucks. Jerry West invited Rafer Alston to the summer league at this time.

In the end, he became a member of the Lakers' twelve-man roster for the new season thanks to his outstanding performance in the summer league.

Of course, at this moment, his fame is definitely greater than his ability in Meng Lang's eyes. He probably can't help the Lakers on their road to revenge. But Meng Lang didn't expect a rookie to help him return to the championship throne.

He will take it all back himself!

In September, Meng Lang released another signature shoe, which is his 9th generation signature shoe. This time the name is:
If it is a dream!

This is the shortened version. The full name is:

How can a defeated general talk about courage? If it is a dream!

This is naturally to celebrate that Meng Lang became another player after Jerry West to win the Finals MVP award as the runner-up.

Only two in history!

Moreover, Jerry West won this award in the first year when the award was officially launched.

That year, the consideration was the best player from each team in the finals.

So it was given to West.

But after giving it out, the official discovered that if it was given to the losing side, then what would become of the person with the best performance on the winning side?
Isn't this embarrassing?
Therefore, after that, the media always considered the winner when voting.

This has led to many MVPs in NBA history whose average statistics are not necessarily the best of the two teams. However, over the years, everyone has become accustomed to this unspoken rule.

But now, Meng Lang broke this unspoken rule, his performance was really too exaggerated.

A game with 60 points, a game with 70 points, and an average of 50 points per game, it is simply like "a god descending to earth."

A guy like this deserves the championship MVP trophy even if he loses the game.

However, Meng Lang himself was not enthusiastic about this Finals MVP, nor did he take it seriously. Especially when he went back to participate in the China Tour, when the reporter said that he had 5 Finals MVP trophies, he directly took the microphone and reminded: "4, 4, and I'm too lazy to mention the other one!"

He doesn't take it as an honor.

Instead, it became a motivation for him to win the championship trophy again.

After returning to Los Angeles from the "China Trip", he started training and improved his three-point shooting to 92 points. At the same time, Olajuwon's "back-to-back" skill card was finally activated. Without any surprise, it was:

"Dream Dance"!
Now he, who was already invincible in single combat, became even more unpredictable.

The closed training camp for the new season also arrived.

Kobe did not contact Meng Lang this summer as he did in previous years.

However, when he saw him in the closed training camp for the new season, Meng Lang felt that this guy had become a lot stronger.

It seems that he will enter his "peak period" at the beginning of the new season.

This guy also became extremely confident, and on the first day of the new season, he wanted to challenge Meng Lang one-on-one.

Meng Lang had expected this and was not surprised at all. On the first day that Brian joined the team, he came to the training ground early. He happened to be seen by him and waved to him: "Hey, man, come on, let us see your strength!"

If it were anyone else, Brian would probably have scoffed.

Although he is new here, he is also a veteran. Would he be fooled like a greenhorn?
But who made it possible for Meng Lang to call him?
The Lakers boss.

Most importantly, he had beaten him repeatedly in the series.

Facing someone who had once beaten him up, Brian still had to give him face.

Kobe was extremely confident: "Ten minutes, ten minutes later, Meng Lang, it's your turn!"

Meng Lang didn't answer him, but just looked like he was enjoying the show. Thinking of something, he said to Brian, "Hey, man, even though you just got here, you may not know that Kobe is the weakest among us. If you get beaten by him, we will laugh at you!"

Brian chuckled, he knew Meng Lang was lying.

but……

He also knew why Meng Lang said that!

I just want him to show his real ability and teach Kobe a lesson.

He didn't know what the grudge between the two brothers was, but he also found Kobe's words harsh.

When the duel started, the confident Kobe soon felt something was wrong and missed two consecutive attacks.

Meng Lang said from the side: "Kobe, your blacksmith shop business should be very good this summer, right?"

Kobe has no fxxk to say.

Fortunately, Bryant's ability to attack with the ball was not strong, and Kobe successfully defended it.

The sound of iron hammering went on and on, and it made Meng Lang sleepy.

"How about you guys fight while I go get some sleep?"

Bryant didn't feel anything harsh, but Kobe looked a little frustrated. Finally, after half an hour, Kobe just beat Bryant 11 to 8 and sat on the ground gasping for breath.

"It seems like you haven't been putting much effort into your summer!" Meng Lang continued to tease.

Kobe really wanted to say: "If you have the guts, come play a game with me."

But he was too exhausted from dealing with Brian just now and hadn't even caught his breath yet. If he fought with Meng Lang like this, he would only be the one who "sent food".

he……

Choose to ignore!
When taking the final photos, Kobe and Meng Lang still stood together, and then Meng Lang took a photo alone and hung it on the largest advertising wall at Staples Center.

The league then announced the schedule for the new season.

David Stern is also very brave.

In the first game of the new season, the Lakers were scheduled to challenge the Philadelphia 76ers away!
Meng Lang will watch last season's opponent wear the championship ring.

become!
It’s perfect!
David Stern is forcing him to overturn the table!
Then just wait and see.

Let’s see what kind of show the Lakers will put on in the opening game of the new season!
When Kobe saw his opponent in the opening game, his eyes were different.

His most humiliating moment last season was Game 6 of the Finals.

For him to put in such a performance in his hometown of Philadelphia, he must give a response!
The first game of the new season gave him such an opportunity. He immediately said in front of the media: "I promise, the result this time will definitely be different!"

The “Christmas Game” is still the Lakers vs. the Bulls.

The drama of Meng Lang vs. Jordan will continue as long as these two people are still in the league.

After all, David Stern is reluctant to waste such a huge amount of traffic.

Moreover, Jordan's retirement is imminent. Even if he has not discussed this matter, everyone knows that if he does not achieve results, either this year or next year, he will definitely announce his retirement.

This is the "peak showdown" that you will see less and less every time! (End of this chapter)