Don't talk trash to him.

Chapter 196: Suwan and LeBron, a reflection on leadership qualities
When Shaquille O'Neal said this, the teasing look on his face reminded LeBron of the guy he hated the most.

These people...

Why is it always like this?

Why do you always want to make things difficult for me?
Can't you see my glory?
The alliance is full of sour people!
LeBron cursed fiercely in his heart.

At the beginning, Su Wan asked him to give up the ball and focus on defense; now this makes him stand up and admit that it was his own shortcoming after losing the game.

But why did he do these things?
He is the "chosen one", he is the "King", Nike spent 100 million to sign him and invested so many media resources, just to make him such a player?
Do not!
He knows very well that what Nike needs is his brilliance and his eternal "king" image!
Just like in his rookie season, although the team did not make the playoffs, he averaged 20+5+5 per game. No one blamed him for not being able to lead the team into the playoffs. Instead, they all thought that his performance at the age of 18 was incredible.

The league also gave him the "Rookie of the Year" award instead of Carmelo Anthony, whose stats were similar to his and whose team made the playoffs.

That explains everything...

He just needs to play well and doesn't need to take any responsibility. If he loses, isn't it his teammates' fault? ?

If you replace Shaquille O'Neal with Yao Ming now, and I partner with Kobe, tell me how we can lose this game?
He has so many problems, but instead of reflecting on himself, he comes to blame me and asks me to take responsibility for all future losses. It's a fucking joke!

LeBron really doesn't understand Shaquille O'Neal's thoughts.

His heart was filled with anger.

Even more angry than the time when I faced Su Wan!
because……

It was me who traded you to Cleveland!

If it weren't for me, you would be just "garbage" on the shelf that no one wants!
Even if I don't tell you, you should know this, right?

How do you have the guts to teach me how to do things?

LeBron James stood up, looked at Mike Brown coldly, and left.

Just like he did after hearing Su Wan’s two requests.

If Su Wan were here, he would definitely say:
Look, nothing has changed!

He is still him!

Unable to let go of the illusion of being the "chosen one".

Shaquille O'Neal watched LeBron leave, then turned to Mike Brown and said, "Mike, it looks like I can't reach an agreement with him. I'm sorry to disappoint you. No, LeBron should be disappointed in you too, right? You should think carefully about your future!"

After saying that, he immediately withdrew, not giving Brown any face at all.

The two men returned to the training ground one after another. The other members of the Cavaliers saw the distance between them getting farther and farther, and they knew that the talks between them had broken down again.

What LeBron can't stand is that, except for Varejao, no one else cares about his current emotions.

When Shaquille O'Neal greeted them, they responded as usual, not taking him seriously at all.

This damn Cavaliers team!

"Ask Danny Ferry if I am still the son of this city?" LeBron James roared at Bill Duffy on the phone.

Bill sighed in his heart. After half a year, he now knew why LeBron couldn't beat Suwan.

The two are the same age, and Su Wan is about 5 months younger than him.

But when Su Wan dealt with things, he always came up with solutions on his own and then handed them over to him to solve.

this……

It's just like when a kid lost a fight when they were little and went home to tell his parents.

But after learning about LeBron's past, he understood.

Since becoming the "Chosen One", whenever LeBron is dissatisfied with something, he only needs to say a word and someone will immediately solve it for him.

After joining the Cavaliers, Danny Ferry cleared obstacles for him in his rookie season by trading players, which made him feel different from other players.

To put it bluntly, spoiling your children is harming them!

LeBron has not experienced anything a rookie should experience in these years. He is like a dogtail grass grown in a greenhouse. Once encountering a storm, his first reaction is to hide in the greenhouse.

Bill said: "LeBron, I'm afraid Danny won't trade Shaq..."

"Then he should be prepared to lose me!"

Listen!
Is this something a mature professional player should say?

Bill patiently explained to LeBron: "This is for your own good. If Shaq is traded, your leadership in the locker room will be questioned again, which is very detrimental to your current situation. Trading is not the best option."

LeBron's expression became confused.

This……

What a good thing!

This trick didn't work, and he didn't know what to do.

Bill asked himself:
Is this fucking 22?

8 years old is the limit.

What a waste of this mature face!
He wanted to say:

LeBron, how about we try to change and try to integrate into the current Cavaliers system?

In fact, LeBron's talent is there. As long as he is willing to spend some time honing his skills, then no matter how rough he is, he can be an enhanced version of Artest. It is not a problem at all for him to rely on his explosive power to break through defenders and score goals.

But he knew very well that LeBron could never do that.

He tried to be patient and said, "LeBron, tell me how the Cavaliers got Shaquille O'Neal?"

Since I can't persuade my employer, I can only find a solution from another person.

Soon Bill found out what he wanted to know: Shaquille O'Neal was snatched away by Danny Ferry at the insistence of LeBron James.

"I also told Danny that as long as Shaq could be traded for me, I would sign my name on my contract extension. I didn't expect Shaq to be such a person!" LeBron really felt that he had met an ungrateful person.

Bill Duffy immediately called Danny Ferry, and after confirming the matter, he released the news.

The purpose is to ease the relationship between LeBron and Shaquille O'Neal.

After this news was intercepted by Irene in ESPN's intelligence network, Su Wan knew about it in advance, and he also felt that this was information that could be used.

then……

The next morning, some media began to reveal that last summer LeBron hoped that the team could bring in Shaquille O'Neal to team up with him, and the wording was very sophisticated.

Although English is not as word-by-word as Chinese.

But they also have different words to express different degrees of emotion under the same meaning, such as good and nice...

The whole article gives people the feeling that LeBron is eager to join forces with O'Neal and believes that the two of them can accomplish great things by working together.

But soon there was another wave of reports coming out...

It's talking about the same thing, but the content is more about Shaquille O'Neal being unwilling to cooperate with LeBron after he came to the Cavaliers.

And this is not groundless.

Everyone knows that Shaquille O'Neal doesn't like to do pick-and-rolls.

The Cleveland media has also complained about Shaq a lot about this matter.

After losing to the Pacers by 58 points, some media even believed that the main reason for the loss was that Shaq did not cooperate with LeBron.

Then Shaq actively set screens for Gibson, which was seen by everyone.

These reports have a huge impact.

Shaquille O'Neal was furious at that time!

how?

You want to say I'm a "white-eyed wolf"?
It was LeBron who played the dirty trick first!

He said on Facebook in a somewhat frustrated tone: "I have the ability to turn any team into a strong team. No matter who I am traded to, it will not affect this matter. Anyone who wants a team to get me is going for winning, not to help me. I came to Cleveland, and this team became the second in the Eastern Conference. This is their best ranking in the 21st century. I didn't come to Cleveland to take the blame!"

Shaq's response meant that Suwan's disruption was successful.

Bill Duffy's original method of easing the tension between the two people completely failed.

LeBron therefore had some doubts about Bill Duffy's methods.

This made Bill shake his head helplessly; "Man, things are really bad, but there is actually a good solution to all of this. Just let your performance on the court speak for itself."

Even something as big as Kobe's could be whitewashed through his performance on the court.

Not to mention this little thing about LeBron.

The key is that LeBron still wants everyone to surround him, which is an unrealistic idea in itself.

It's time to wake up. It's 07, not 03...

You have to compromise, LeBron!
In the end, Bill Duffy couldn't bear to say this.

He is a "good guy" in the circle, which is reflected in all aspects, including facing his employer. He can't tell the truth that sounds a bit cruel. Considering LeBron's psychological endurance, he can't say it.

But the key words were not spoken. To LeBron, Bill Duffy's words "Let your performance on the court speak for itself" sounded perfunctory.

Don’t I know that I should let my performance on the court speak for itself?

The key is that my chances of getting the ball have been greatly reduced, and sometimes I am no different from an outsider. How can I speak with my performance?
You can't let me focus on the defensive end, right?

After the conflict was intensified again, the Cavaliers management announced that the locker room would no longer be open in the near future. Except for the pre-match interviews and post-match interviews which were officially required, the Cavaliers players would not accept interviews at other times.

But doesn't this mean telling the outside world that the Cavaliers have sounded the "red alert"?

But Danny Ferry couldn't care less!

The outside world is more concerned about the latest developments of the Cavaliers.

Although there are fewer opportunities for interviews, there are more rumors. All kinds of gossips, whether true or false, are flying around. One moment the news says "Shaquille O'Neal slapped LeBron in the locker room," and the next moment the media says "LeBron rushed to the general manager's office and said, 'You guys can decide for yourself whether you have the King or the Shark!'"

However, what is somewhat surprising is that in such a locker room atmosphere, the Cavaliers team continued to win. In the next half month, they had a record of 6 wins and 2 losses.

It really made everyone's jaw drop.

In fact, the Cavaliers' strength on paper is not weak.

What's more, after Shaq broke up with LeBron, he put a lot of effort into supporting Gibson, the "boss" on the outside. With his help, Gibson showed the ability to be a top-notch point guard in the league.

Coupled with the extremely adaptable Channing Frye and "Ah Q", even if there are conflicts in the locker room, it will not affect the normal operation of the team's tactical system.

What's more, LeBron, the "master of bullying", wanted to prove his ability, so he played very hard, especially when he met those weak teams, he launched powerful attacks again and again.

More than half of the teams in the league have no way to fight back against the Cavaliers' two tactics.

A media person said: "This is more like the Los Angeles Lakers in 04!"

The New York Times once again blasted out a "big move": "After his personal ability to lead a team needs to be proven, now LeBron James' leadership ability as a leader also needs to be proven. Every season since he entered the league, there has always been turmoil in the Cavaliers' locker room!"

In the first year, it was Ricky Davis who said, "I thought he was there to assist me" without even knowing it. Boozer was unhappy with the privileges he was given;

The second year it was Suwan who questioned his playing style;

In the third year, Zhu Fangyu faced the media and angrily accused him of favoring his old teammates and bullying the rookies;

This year is even better. Shaquille O'Neal believes that he only wants to win the games where his statistics are dazzling and the whole team revolves around him. He would rather not win those games where he cannot get the "star treatment".

Putting together all of LeBron James' personalities over the past four years...

Even the New York Times couldn't help but complain: "If Isaiah Thomas is the most unqualified general manager in the league, then LeBron is the most unqualified team leader in the league!"

However, this also shows how strong of a "blood cow" LeBron is!

After going through so many upheavals, Cleveland still recognized him as the "Son of the City" of Cleveland, and the Cleveland media has been speaking for him during this period.

The title of "The Chosen One" is really intimidating!
However, no matter how thick the "blood cow" is, there will come a day when it will be worn down by people.

"If LeBron still can't give a strong enough response, then the outside world's doubts about him will only grow louder and louder, and eventually swallow him up!"

The impact of this article was huge, but even more influential was the poll ESPN initiated:
Do you think LeBron James is still the "Chosen One" now?

The final voting results showed that more than 6% of people believed that LeBron is no longer the "chosen one".

It can be seen what kind of impact LeBron has suffered after suffering a series of devastating blows in the past four years.

However, Barkley still had strong doubts about this result. He felt that the proportion of people who believed that LeBron was no longer the "chosen one" was too low: "ESPN's backend data must have been changed. I know their operation too well!"

Although Barkley has always been a "big mouth".

But this time, he was not wrong. ESPN did make changes to the final data. Originally, the proportion of people who believed that LeBron was no longer the "chosen one" was over 8%. It was only after Nike representatives negotiated with ESPN that the proportion was slightly lowered.

6% is already exaggerated!

But if the original data was released, it would be a devastating blow! When Su Wan saw that 3% of the fans still believed that LeBron was still the "chosen one", he couldn't help but sigh: "This guy's health bar is really fucking thick!"

But when he saw Barkley's complaints, he immediately realized that it was possible that ESPN had faked the report.

What honors does LeBron James have now?
He was just an All-Star substitute twice and was selected to the "Best Third Team" once. His most glorious moment was leading the team into the first round of the playoffs, and then Su Wan shaved his head.

Can he survive until now just by relying on the title of "the Chosen One"?
You know, the backlash from media opinion can be terrible.

He was so successful in the past few years. As his performance has become worse and worse in recent years, the backlash should not be just this little.

However, the number of supporters after the change was only 3%. Su Wan didn't even have the heart to guess how many supporters there were before the change.

but……

This is right!
This is where LeBron should be.

A guy who led his team to the finals once in the first seven years of his career and had his head shaved, then ran to another team to form a "peak big three", and has never been without peak All-Star teammates around him, but is always clamoring to snatch the title of GOAT from Michael Jordan.

After Suwan started to cheat, especially after working with LeBron on the Cavaliers, he had two goals:

The first thing is to grab the title of "goat" that everyone wants; the second is to expose LeBron James to his true colors, he is just an ordinary superstar who relies on media packaging, why is he pretending to be so big and powerful!

Now it seems that the first step has been completed, pulling him down from the throne of "The Chosen One".

What follows is a long tug-of-war...

Keeping LeBron suppressed will allow him to see a historical status that truly matches his character and ability after his career ends.

Considering his subsequent series of group behaviors, Su Wan can be sure that this is not an easy thing to do.

After all, a guy who led his team to the finals once in the first seven years of his career, but reached the finals eight times in the next ten years. No matter how Su Wan suppressed it, there was still some water in his record of leading the team.

Don't bring up Michael Jordan again.

Just to say one thing, Michael Jordan did not change teams, his core helpers were Pippen, "Cobra" and Rodman...

There is no way LeBron can challenge Jordan in this matter.

Therefore, it is not very good, and LeBron's record as a leader is still inflated.

But there is no way. All Su Wan can do is try his best to make LeBron feel the real world as much as possible.

He wants to take LeBron out of his fantasy "The Truman Show"...

You're welcome, this is what old teammates are supposed to do.

During this period of unrest in Cleveland, the Pacers also experienced a wave of shocks.

Three-point shots are like this, extremely unstable!
The ups and downs of the players' condition can easily affect the quality and intensity of the team's tactics.

As a "champion coach", Rick Carlisle's goal is to win this year's finals and defend his title. Naturally, it is impossible for him to selectively give up some three-point shooting tactics when the team's performance fluctuates.

This is not conducive to the Pacers' playoff campaign.

He would rather suffer two losses in exchange for the team's faster adjustments.

This will also give the Pacers more experience to adjust themselves the next time they encounter ups and downs in three-point shooting.

Then there were some minor injuries.

This is something that is bound to happen as the schedule progresses into January.

Teams with bad luck are more likely to encounter core players getting injured and being out for the season at this time.

In previous seasons, many teams have suffered similar heavy losses in January.

Houston is the unlucky one this season.

In mid-January, Suwan and the Pacers came to Space City. There was no trace of Yao Ming on the streets, and the "Yao Restaurant" near the arena has now closed down. Like any other star who left his parent team, Yao Ming seemed to have never been to Houston.

The only thing that can evoke that memory is Bynum wearing Rockets red.

As the biggest bargaining chip in the trade for Yao Ming, the Rockets also had high hopes for Bynum. He himself was also very competitive. In November of the new season, he averaged 11 points and 15 rebounds per game. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. In mid-December, he suffered a season-ending knee injury and became a spectator on the sidelines.

All the burdens of the Rockets fell on McGrady's shoulders alone.

It was as if he was back with the Magic.

If you ask him what is the difference between him then and him now...

Maybe he was more durable back then, but now he...

Obviously it can't stand the torture!
McGrady, who is leading the team alone, has no choice but to shoot crazily like he did in the Magic. One or two games is okay, but he has been doing this in every game for the past month and he is a little overwhelmed.

In the game before the Rockets' match against the Pacers, his old back injury flared up, and he left the court in pain and never returned.

After the game, the Rockets management updated the latest progress on his injury:
Tracy McGrady will miss the next two weeks and his return date is yet to be determined.

This means that the Rockets will be without a flag bearer for the next half month.

It was at this time that they met the Pacers...

What a brutal one-sided massacre.

Suwan scored 42 points and led the Pacers to a 30-point win over the Rockets.

They started their "5 consecutive away games" journey with such a big victory.

Before leaving, Su Wan stabbed the Houston media again: "This is very consistent with the current Houston. This city that does not respect Chinese players deserves to be so rotten. It would be best if it stays this way forever!"

The Houston media naturally responded with various counterattacks.

But Su Wan had been waiting for their counterattack: "Obviously, reporters from Houston don't need to buy tickets to enter the scene, otherwise they would never have such an attitude!"

In the game between the Rockets and the Pacers, 7% of the seats were filled by Houstonians who came to watch the game, about 1 people. However, when the game was over, these 7% seats were empty, and a large number of fans began to leave before the end of the third quarter.

Even though they missed the "McGrady moment" because of this before, they still did it this time.

It shows how disappointed we are with this team!

Two days later, an even bigger blow struck Houston:

The Lakers are here!
This is the first time Yao Ming has returned to Houston since being traded.

What he didn't expect was that the fans at the scene booed him.

The angry Yao Ming finally scored 30 points in three quarters and also had 9 rebounds.

If he hadn't been running out of energy and the game had been messed up, he would definitely have continued to play in the fourth quarter and broken his career single-game scoring record tonight.

108:80.

This is the final score.

Although he didn't score the highest number of points in a single game, a 28-point victory was enough to make the Houston media and Houstonians feel uncomfortable. - Is there anything more uncomfortable than having your ex live a better life than you?
What's more, the gap between the Rockets and the Lakers this season is not just a little bit, but a huge gap.

After McGrady suffered an injury, it was inevitable that the Rockets would go into a slump.

And what about the Lakers?
Even the Mavericks, who many media have called the "strongest team in history," are now only three games ahead of them.

The Lakers are undoubtedly the first tier of favorites to win the NBA championship this season.

This kind of critical hit is no less than when his ex-girlfriend, who earns 2 yuan a month, got out of her Ferrari and dropped her limited edition bag on the ground. He picked it up and returned it to her, but she waved her hand in disdain: "No more!"

What is more despairing than living a good life is not being able to afford it!

Moreover, the Lakers' momentum reached a new peak after January 1.

On this day, they defeated the defending champion Pacers by 108 points, 100 to 8!

科比在这场比赛拿到了35分，姚明拿到了24分13篮板，奥多姆的发挥也很出色，15分7篮板7助攻。

If the Lakers were previously just the first tier of favorites to win the championship, now they have reason to be ranked first.

After all, the Pacers, who currently have the best record, were defeated by them.

Anyway, the Los Angeles media said: "The era of Kobe in Los Angeles officially begins today!"

The Pacers' shooting tonight was much worse than their normal form this season.

After all, this game against the Lakers is the last game of the “5-game road trip”.

Consecutive away games are very difficult for players to adjust their condition.

If "back-to-back" games are a one-time torture, then consecutive "away games" are a continuous torture, and it is a torture that has an increasingly greater impact on the players as the schedule progresses.

For a team like the Pacers that relies on shooting, the impact is even greater.

But that's the reasoning from the Pacers' perspective.

But most media outlets are not so considerate and will look at it from the Pacers' perspective.

They are afraid that the world will not be in chaos!

Since the Lakers won, they are currently the team most likely to win the championship.

Only when the scene is heated up can the NBA be more interesting, right?
Suwan also scored 32 points that night, which was on par with Kobe's performance. But on such a night, such a performance alone was obviously not enough for the Pacers to escape and take the victory away from Los Angeles.

But he didn't blame his teammates, nor did he blame the schedule for the loss.

Of course he didn't say that this loss was unimportant, they are still the team with the best record in the league.

The Lakers are very strong this year. When they meet such a strong team in the playoffs, any influence may play a key role in the final result, including the record in the regular season.

If they win this game, they will be more confident facing the Lakers in the playoffs.

Now that they have lost, the Lakers have become the team with the psychological advantage.

When reporters asked Suwan why the Pacers lost, he simply said, "My problem!"

A reporter asked: "But you are the best player on the Pacers tonight, aren't you?"

Su Wan said: "I am also the one who won the Finals MVP for this team. It is my responsibility to perform my best. The Pacers lost tonight, which shows that there are still some areas where I am not doing well. I need to pay attention to this!"

What he didn't expect was that his words the next morning caused an uproar...

I don't know where the news came from, but it said that LeBron and Shaquille O'Neal had a communication with the help of Mike Brown, with the aim of eliminating the barriers between them and restoring the harmony and friendship at the beginning of the new season.

Shaq made his own request. He wanted LeBron to take on the responsibility as a leader and stand up and admit his shortcomings after the team lost.

But LeBron refused!

This news was bound to cause some discussion.

Now combined with Suwan’s remarks after the Pacers lost the game, it forms a strong counter-view.

Doubts once again shroud LeBron.

“king” was completely numb!
Recently, he has followed Bill Walton's advice and reduced his off-court comments, focusing all his energy on the game.

Even though he and Shaquille O'Neal still don't get along, his average stats have gradually improved recently, reaching 23.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists, thanks to his "super high basketball IQ".

The Cavaliers also have more wins than losses.

Everyone can see that, although the new season is just halfway through, the top two rankings in the Eastern Conference have basically stabilized. Apart from the Pacers and the Cavaliers, no other team can get close to these two positions.

He thought that the previous controversy would pass quietly, but unexpectedly, he was involved in controversy again for no reason.

"I know very well what a leader should be like. I don't need to be like anyone else. I have always used practical actions to prove my responsibilities as a leader. Anyone who sees me correctly can see this!"

LeBron had to speak up for himself.

But it would have been better if he didn't say anything. As soon as he said this, many reporters went to look up LeBron's past remarks when he lost a game, and suddenly discovered that whenever this guy loses a game, he either says that the opponent is too strong, or that our Cavaliers team did not do well in this or that way.

But if we win, it will be all about me...

And on those nights when he won the game but did not play well, he still emphasized the defensive targets he attracted, giving his teammates easy scoring opportunities.

Only on nights when everyone sees him putting up absolutely stunning numbers will he start praising his teammates.

But everyone knows that in that situation, his name will definitely be on the headlines the next day.

LeBron...

Is this the kind of person he is?

Bill Duffy could only ask LeBron to shut up again.

Nike’s representative also removed his entry at lightning speed.

Shaquille O'Neal was so happy that he said on Facebook:
"The truth will come to light sooner or later!"

First update today, 8 words, please vote for me! ! ! !

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(End of this chapter)