Don't talk trash to him.

Chapter 233 The most exciting finals

After defeating the Magic, the Pacers made it to the finals again after a year.

Shaquille O'Neal vented his anger in front of the media. Looking at the Orlando media fleeing in panic, he felt better than ever since he left Los Angeles in 04.

If you think about it again, you will be able to show your true colors to the Los Angeles media soon.

He is even more...

My 300-pound body felt much lighter.

On the return flight, he took the initiative to sit next to Su Wan.

Su Wan glanced at him, asking him what was the matter with his eyes.

Since the last time the two of them talked, they rarely sat together off the court.

Shaquille O'Neal is a man who cares about face.

But now, he felt that he could completely disregard his face.

"Thank you!" He looked at Su Wan gratefully.

Su Wan forced a smile.

Shaquille O'Neal anticipated Suwan's reaction.

He now knows what kind of person Su Wan is.

He has his own code of conduct.

As long as you meet this set of standards, you will think he is a very friendly and good person.

But if you don't do things according to this standard, then you will feel that he is targeting you.

This includes a...

He will never forgive his former enemies.

And the conflict between him and Suwan in the Heat team obviously reached the level of "enemies".

The reason why Su Wan can still communicate with him normally is:
He was wearing a Pacers jersey.

Su Wan is a leader with a strong sense of responsibility.

Even if the guy has a bad relationship with him, as long as he nods and agrees to let the other party join the team, he will not deliberately target him.

However, he will not give you any chance and will just "observe secretly". During his "probation period", if you touch the "red line" and do not change, he will kill you with one blow.

Shaquille O'Neal felt a chill down his spine every time he thought about how he would have to sit on the bench in the playoffs if he hadn't changed his on-court attitude. He was now very grateful to God for giving him the opportunity to have that conversation with Suwan.

Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't be so happy now!

Knowing Suwan well, Shaquille O'Neal didn't feel embarrassed at all by Suwan's coldness.

To be precise, he should be the one with the best relationship with Su Wan among that group of "enemies"!

"Su, you will probably leave Indiana in the future, right?" Shaq changed the subject.

Su Wan glanced at him sideways, as if he was looking at a mentally retarded person, which made Shaq sneer.

In fact, he also knew that the topic he had chosen was not a good one, because ever since New York planned to build "Suwan Street" to connect Madison Square Garden and Chinatown, Suwan could always hear media reporters next to him every day, asking the same question:
"Su, after this contract ends, you're going to New York, right?"

This question made Su Wan's scalp tingle.

Now on the plane, with no reporters around, he mentioned this again...

If Shaq were Suwan, he would probably have the same reaction.

However, Shaquille O'Neal really wanted to persuade Suwan: "You should really consider going to a big city to experience it after this contract ends. I can be sure that it will be a completely different feeling!"

This is his own experience.

Although he became a superstar during those years in Orlando, in terms of exposure and popularity, Nike's "Michael Jordan and Anfernee Hardaway" collaboration was extremely successful - it was a playoff game, and the only time Jordan wore someone else's sneakers in his career was when he wore Anfernee Hardaway's signature shoes.

Coupled with the sentence "I think Anfernee is most like me", Hardaway directly became the "successor to Michael Jordan".

But actually...

Like a hammer!

If Hardaway was a wing scorer like Jordan and Kobe, they would never have lost so badly in the 95 Finals!

Jordan either had a brain bubble when he said that, or he was cooperating with Nike and was preparing to promote Hardaway, Nike's newly signed spokesperson.

The real answer is self-evident.

But the Orlando media and management believed it, thinking that Hardaway was the next "Jordan". Coupled with Shaq's injury, they tried to take this opportunity to shorten Shaq O'Neal's contract extension.

Unable to bear the humiliation, Shaquille O'Neal received a maximum salary contract from the Lakers at this time, and he left immediately without any hesitation.

It was only after he went to Los Angeles that he realized that he had become a "super star"!

Especially during his peak three years, he felt that he was truly the nation’s “superstar”. Any movement he made would make headlines, and the media directly called him “the most dominant player.”

Note that there is no “one of”!
It means that Jordan is not as good as he was at his peak.

Such is the hype of the big cities, of course.

This media ability to shape public opinion is something that is hard to come by in a small city like Indiana.

How could the media in big cities care about the "Basketball God" from Indiana?

In Shaquille O'Neal's opinion, Suwan's influence can obviously reach a higher level now. It is because he is now in Polis instead of big cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago that his influence has been accumulating there and can never break through that ceiling.

It's like pouring a steady stream of water into a cup. Even though water is still being added, the cup has already been filled up and cannot hold any more. The excess water will overflow. What you need to do at this time is to change to a larger container.

Suwan actually knew what Shaquille O'Neal meant.

Why did LeBron go to the Lakers?

It’s all for the Los Angeles market!
And when did he start to hype himself up as the GOAT?
Since he won the 2020 Lakers championship!

Leaning against the big tree is good for the coolness.

The same goes for public opinion!
Take, for example, Tom Brady!
As the undisputed No. 1 player in the American Football League, football is still the most popular sport in the United States, and the annual "Super Night" is the Spring Festival Gala of the United States, but his influence is not as great as that of Michael Jordan...

From this we can see the impact of public opinion on an athlete.

As an international player, Suwan especially needs the support of public opinion. He knows this and knows that he must take his talent to other places, but... he doesn't think his relationship with Shaquille O'Neal is suitable for discussing these things.

"You should think carefully about how to deal with Yao!"

Shaquille O'Neal, who wanted to talk about something else, stood up and ended the conversation after hearing Suwan's choking words.

When the plane landed at Polis Airport, it was already past 3 a.m., but there were still many Indiana people who came to pick up the plane.

Randolph looked at the darkness in front of him and suddenly remembered this time last year.

Also after the Eastern Conference Finals, they returned to Indiana overnight and were greeted by a large crowd of fans, which scared Zach Randolph.

However, the atmosphere now is completely different from that time.

At that time, the whole airport was filled with reluctance, and now...

Just excitement and fun!
Zach Randolph could still hear fans excitedly greeting him, and he quickly waved in the direction of the sound.

Then, a mobile speaker was pushed in from somewhere. Su Wan took the microphone plugged into it and said directly: "There is still one round of finals, and Indiana will have its fourth championship flag. Believe in us, we can do it!"

Just a simple sentence caused a unified shout to break out at the scene.

As the Pacers players got into their cars and drove away, the airport pick-up was successfully completed, but the American-style celebration had just begun.

The next morning, the news that Su Wan led the team back to the finals after a year made headlines in the media.

This cannot but make the media sigh.

It was clear that at the end of last season, the Pacers had already shown various problems of "dynasty sequelae". Even though they made trades in the summer and completed the reconstruction on paper, there are still various doubts about this team.

But Su Wan managed to bring such a team with many problems back to the stage of the finals.

Barkley said: "Even though we have used this word to describe him countless times, I still want to say, incredible! It's really incredible! Su Wan will definitely achieve incredible success!"

If the original Pacers team already had the ability to win the championship before the Palace of Auburn Hills, and Suwan's arrival was more about demonstrating his ability to glue the team together, then now, it is almost a completely new version of the Pacers team, which once again proves Suwan's ability to lead the locker room and also proves that he can win the championship with a different lineup.

Even if this team still has O'Neal Jr.

But we all know that O'Neal Jr. is not a core tactical member of the team this season.

This season, the Pacers' tactics were initiated by Billups, the core of the tactics was the pick-and-roll, and Suwan became a pure end point and perimeter defender. He assumed a new team role and completed it very well.

What else is there to say? He is already looking forward to the day when Su Wan officially surpasses Michael Jordan!

Although he has not yet won the fourth championship of his career.

The New York media often mocks Cleveland, saying that they lost a lot of watermelons for a small thing, not just one, not two, but three, and they are about to lose the fourth one!

A day later, the media's attention gradually shifted to the Western Conference Finals.

The two teams tied 1-1 in the first two games.

After the Pacers finished their two away games in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Lakers and Nuggets also finished the third and fourth games of the series.

The Nuggets ultimately failed to make the ideal 3-1 in their home court.
They won the first game when they returned to their home court, but then Kobe broke out and scored 42 points, helping the team to win a game away from home with a score of 103 to 102, tying the score again.

Carmelo Anthony also scored 41 points in this game.

The fans exclaimed that the scoring battle between him and Kobe was "exciting".

In the end, he was one point behind, and the Nuggets lost by one point...

Next, they will move to the Lakers' home court to fight the "Decisive Battle".

This is bound to be a tense game.

The result was as expected. From the beginning of the game, the two teams were closely tied and chasing each other. Neither side could widen the gap. By the end of the first half, the two teams had taken turns leading as many as 18 times!
This is simply...

Su Wan was also watching the game.

To be honest, he is not exaggerating, he thinks the Nuggets really should thank Larry Bird for sending them Foster.

He brought Indiana's toughness to the plateau, and in this game he was as tough as a piece of iron.

Even though he really couldn't defend Yao Ming, Yao Ming made him very tired.

During the halftime break, he tweeted: Proud of my brother, this is Jeff Foster, you can never knock him down until the game is over!

Soon, curious fans came running over, as if they had discovered a new world:
Shouldn't you be rooting for your fellow man, Sue?

Su Wan said: "What I should really do now is to block you, you idiot!"

After this episode, the second half of the game officially began. I don’t know if Suwan’s tweet was seen by Foster, but Foster was even tougher in the second half. Even Suwan, who was watching in front of the TV, could see that Yao Ming’s physical fitness was declining very quickly.

Phil Jackson had no choice but to replace Yao Ming.

This was originally a good opportunity for the Nuggets to widen the gap.

But the result...

Baron Davis suddenly lost power. Not only was his personal offense a mess, but he also made outrageous passing errors.

George Karl's offensive tactics are highly dependent on point guards. Once Baron Davis lost power, the whole scene became chaotic. The anxious Carmelo Anthony started his personal offensive mode at this time.

That’s “lone wolf” mode.

But who is more familiar with this mode than Kobe?
The two of them started competing again, and the score difference remained deadlocked. With Yao Ming's return and working together with Kobe, the Lakers finally won this crucial "Battle of the Mountain King" with a score of 98 to 88, a difference of 10 points.

Baron Davis held his head in frustration, a rare sight after the game.

I guess he never expected that his 10th season in the league would usher in the highlight of his career, a series that could even change his historical status.

He, who had always been favored by the "God of Destiny", also paid the price for his inattention to the court in the past, his obsession with becoming the most successful film director among NBA players, and his lack of interest in training and improving his abilities!

With the match point, they are just one step away from advancing to the finals.

Kobe Bryant didn't show any joy on his face. As for the match point, in fact, when he heard that Shaquille O'Neal had entered the finals, he only had one thought:
He needs to quickly deal with the Nuggets and enter the finals!
just now……

Just one more game left!

He wants to lead this Lakers team to defeat Shaq head-on and prove his ability to lead a team!

Of course, avenging being eliminated by Su Wan two years ago is also one of the purposes of this time.

But what he cares about most is Shaq!
Just like Shaq was willing to bow down to Suwan in order to defeat Kobe!
The opponent Kobe most wanted to defeat in the finals was Shaquille O'Neal.

Now they have two days of rest. If this round of the Western Conference Finals goes to Game 4, they can rest for four games. For Kobe, this is unacceptable.

and so……

It's time to end!

Two days later, Kobe came to Denver again and got into the state from the beginning. Carmelo Anthony on the opposite side didn't know whether he was competing with Baron Davis who suddenly lost power in the previous game. His personal offensive desire in this game was very strong.

This was noticed by Kobe, who wanted to win the game tonight and quickly enter the finals. He and Ariza worked together to successfully limit Carmelo Anthony who was fighting alone.

The Lakers established a lead from the start.

Yao Ming no longer worried about his physical strength and made frequent efforts in the second quarter.

As the undisputed "number one player at the five position" in the NBA at this stage, Yao Ming, who was in good form, softened even the tough-as-iron Foster. After being injured continuously, his mentality became unbalanced and he soon got into foul trouble.

In the end, Yao Ming scored 10 points in a single quarter, helping the team lead by 12 points entering the second half. In the third quarter, Kobe started to perform "invincible". At this time, Carmelo Anthony finally found his touch, but it was too late.

The Lakers finally defeated Carmelo Anthony and Baron Davis 104-89, 15 points away, at home in Denver, and reached the finals for the third consecutive year.

Barkley finally commented on Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets team, and felt that they had a promising future.

Then everyone's eyes are on the advancing Lakers and the upcoming finals.

There is no way!

There are so many gimmicks in this finals:

"China Derby"!
"OK Civil War"!
Kobe and Suwan compete for the strongest No. 2 position in active service!

and also……

Yao vs. Shark!

Can you believe that so many gimmicks would be concentrated in one round of the finals?

But now, by some strange coincidence, it really happened!
The Pacers and the Lakers met again in the finals after two years.

This time, the Lakers are the defending champions, while the Pacers are "reborn from the ashes":
A group of guys waiting to prove themselves gathered together.

Not to mention the news broke, even David Stern in the office jumped up when he saw the Lakers advance to the finals.

This is the last finals of the 00s.

In David Stern's view, ending the 00s with these two teams was a perfect choice.

The "ok" group is the most successful "duo" in the 00s.

Yao Ming and Su Wan represent the great success of David Stern's "NBA internationalization" strategy.

For outside fans, this round of finals is the most gorgeous curtain call of the 00s, and for David Stern, it is a perfect performance report to the owners of the 30 NBA teams!

Everything I have ever envisioned and the big plans I have painted for you will be reflected in this series!

He is very confident. The outside media are all very busy. The pillars of major media have taken the initiative collectively. But to be honest, with so many gimmicks, even if they work overtime, many questions can never be answered.

And even if all these questions were asked, there wouldn't be enough media to report on them.

Except ESPN...

They have always attached great importance to website development. The next second after the Lakers officially entered the finals and met the Pacers, they quickly opened a new program on their website called "Real-time Finals"!
Various news related to the two teams were released continuously, attracting a large number of fans to log on to the website.

Su Wan didn’t know when ESPN became an industry giant, but now he was absolutely sure that it started from this finals.

For a time, all major media outlets accelerated the construction of their websites.

But this hot bite should have nothing to do with them.

With such great exposure, the "war of words" between the two sides has also escalated.

It mainly focuses on Suwan, Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal, and the content is very explosive:
"After this series, no one dares to say that!" - Shaquille O'Neal took the initiative to talk about the statement that "Shaquille O'Neal is nothing without Kobe";
"Of course it's Suwan. He is the most incredible guy. Even at my peak, I would be willing to assist him. To be honest, if it was Suwan at the time, there would be no conflict between us and we would have won 8 consecutive championships!" - Shaquille O'Neal talked about who is better, Suwan or Kobe.

"My duels with him will always be classics. He is the opponent that I regret the most because I didn't meet him in his prime." - Shaquille O'Neal talking about his opponent Yao Ming.

"All discussions between him and me will end after this series!" - When the media asked Kobe again who is the most important person in the "OK" combination;
"Yao Ming is the best center I have ever worked with. He is extremely dedicated, which is something some people will never have. If it were Yao Ming, he would have had toe surgery in the summer of 02 without hesitation. I have no doubt about it. This is where he is better than Shaq!" - When the reporter asked Kobe who was better between Yao Ming and Shaq.

"I lost to him once, so this time, I will win back!" - Kobe talked about playing against Suwan again.

"Do I feel that the opponent I defeated is better than me?" - Suwan answered the reporter's question: Who is better, him or Kobe?

"The championship will tell everything!" - Suwan answered who is the most important person in the "OK" combination between Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal!

……

Following these "friendly" interactions, the day of the finals arrived. Staples Center was star-studded, with big names sitting on the sidelines. If you didn't know, you would have thought that some superstar was holding a concert here.

And that’s how hot this round of finals is!
The game hasn't even started yet, but the number of viewers for the American solid broadcast has reached 3 million.

Whether it was last year's "Lakers-Celtics Battle" or the Pacers-Lakers first match the year before, the first game was not so popular.

And this is just within the United States.

The broadcast was also broadcast on other platforms including Amazon in Asia with over 1 million views.

If it were in China...

That’s more than 1 million!

From this perspective, the popularity of the NBA even exceeds that of the "Super Bowl"!
When David Stern saw these data, he immediately smiled proudly.

In fact, since Yao Ming entered the NBA and successfully opened up the Chinese market, his "NBA internationalization" strategy has been proven to be a sure success.

but……

It was not until now, when he compiled the total number of viewers around the world who watched the NBA, that David Stern realized how successful he was.

Getting a close-up shot in such a game is equivalent to becoming a familiar face in front of one or two hundred million fans around the world. Do you think these stars will not come to the scene to support?
By the way, the courtside tickets tonight are extremely expensive, with some seats near the NBA bench costing as much as US$20 per ticket.

Of course, this is only in Los Angeles. In Indiana, you can't sell it for such a price...

To be honest, not only do the players want to move to big cities for greater exposure and bigger contracts, but the bosses also want to buy the teams in those big cities. The ticket revenue alone would cost more than 10 million a year.

Not to mention other endorsements and the like.

Just look at the billboards that were temporarily added at the Lakers site, and you will know that BYD Buss has made a fortune again.

Suwan saw three familiar figures on the sidelines, one was Sharapova, another was Ivanka, and the other was... Eiza Gonzalez, with whom he had just had two days of in-depth exchanges at the All-Star Game this year.

The three women soon noticed the eye contact between each other and Su Wan, and looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

This was the first time Su Wan had experienced such a "Shura Field". He tried his best to look normal and muttered in his heart:
We are all friends, we are all friends!
It has nothing to do with you, it has nothing to do with you!
Playing the game well is the key, playing the game well is the key!
Then he got back into the game.

The big screen at the scene showed the starting lineups for both sides:

"Lakers: Fisher at No. 1, Kobe at No. 2, Ariza at No. 3, Pau Gasol at No. 4, Yao Ming at No. 5;"

"The Pacers: Billups at No. 1, Suwan at No. 2, Anthony Parker at No. 3, Zach Randolph at No. 4, and Shaquille O'Neal at No. 5!"

Seeing the lineups of the two teams, Bill Walton couldn't help but say: "I never thought that these ten people would get together to play in the finals!"

Considering their value last season, it should be impossible!
But this kind of thing just happened!
The two parties for the jump ball were Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming.

As Yao Ming jumped to the ball, there was a huge cheer from the audience.

The people of Los Angeles also knew what kind of expression Shaquille O'Neal would have if the Pacers won, so when they saw any footage of a victory over Shaquille O'Neal, they couldn't help but cheer.

Especially when Yao Ming defeated Shaquille O'Neal.

A fan on the sidelines excitedly waved a poster in his hand, which read:

We forgot about you, Shaq, when we had Yao!
Classic inversion sentence!
The poster is positioned right facing Shaquille O'Neal, making it very conspicuous.

The ball was passed from Fisher to Kobe.

Kobe got the ball and faced Su Wan. He started with his usual words: "Come on, Su, open the damn zone!"

Last summer, Kobe tried to enter "The Zone" again, but failed.

This seriously stimulated his competitive spirit.

Now he doesn't even want to enter "The zone", now he wants to defeat this damn "The zone"!
Then come a sentence:
The zone?

Didn't I do it?

Su Wan chuckled: "As usual, if you are not strong enough, you can't see 'The Zone', little snake!"

At the beginning of this season, Kobe described himself as the "Black Mamba" and Suwan affectionately called him "Little Snake"!
Kobe stopped talking immediately and half turned around and leaned towards Su Wan.

Just like before, Kobe studied the "Dream Steps" seriously with Olajuwon last summer. After a summer of running-in and a regular season of actual combat, he has now mastered this set of steps.

When Su Wan was defending him, he clearly felt that Kobe's footsteps were real and fake, which made him dare not exert force easily, otherwise he would be taken advantage of by Kobe.

With more delicate footwork, Su Wan felt that he did not make any mistakes, but he gave Kobe the opportunity to turn around and jump shot while dodging.

"Shh!"

The ball goes in!

Kobe Bryant glanced at him while returning to defense without saying anything, but just this one glance made Su Wan feel very angry. He wanted the three women who were watching the game on the sidelines to come up and help him vent his anger so that he could suppress it.

No wonder Shaquille O'Neal slapped him!
Who wouldn't want to beat him up when he looks like this!

Following his comments on LeBron James, Suwan and Shaquille O'Neal once again united their stance:
Kobe Bryant deserves a beating!
And the older he gets, the more he deserves a beating!

Especially after winning the fourth championship trophy in his career, is there anyone else in his eyes?
The Pacers counterattacked, and Kobe provoked Suwan to catch the ball.

Su Wan rolled his eyes at him, then suddenly stood up and moved towards Billups' defense line.

Kobe didn't follow up at the first time. When he rushed over, Su Wan jumped up and shot, then fell down. The referee blew the whistle and the ball went in at the same time.

The first thing he did was to score four points!
There was a low roar at the scene.

Su Wan, lying on the ground, was waiting for his teammates to come and pull him up, and was looking at Kobe in a mean way.

Kobe nodded slightly, and the fighting spirit in his eyes became stronger.

"Come on daddy!"

A child's voice was heard from the sidelines. Suwan turned his head and saw that it was Kobe's eldest daughter, Natalia Bryant, who was already 6 years old.

Now Kobe is even more motivated.

After Suwang made the free throw, Fisher rushed out from the wing to receive the ball before he even dribbled across half court.

With the ball in hand, facing Su Wan, Kobe lowered his center of gravity and slowly pressed forward with the ball. Su Wan took two steps back and got angry:
Back off, damn!

He went straight up and put pressure on Kobe.

Kobe's footsteps are indeed amazing now, but it is also an indisputable fact that his explosiveness in all aspects is not as good as when he was young. Su Wan, who is gradually getting into his best physical condition, has no need to be afraid that Kobe will pass him in one step.

Kobe Bryant wasn't known for his first step when he was 25, and he's even less so when he's 31.

Sure enough, Su Wan’s judgment was correct.

Kobe couldn't just explode past him, but...

He just leaned back like that, and with the help of his "iron elbow", he forced his way into the three-point line, making Su Wan very uncomfortable.

When he reached his "sweet spot", Kobe turned around and made a jump shot, making 2 of 2 shots at the start!
The cheers from the scene reached Barkley's ears through the TV screen, and more expectations appeared in his eyes:
"Okay, in the first game of the 2008-2009 season finals, the game just started and Suwan and Kobe started competing against each other!"

Second update.

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(End of this chapter)