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Chapter 274 When the story of LeBron James comes to an end
In the regular season opener against the defending champion Warriors, probably no one could have predicted that the "Royal Wolves," led by LeBron James, would end their breathtaking debut with a 10-45 quarter.

After the first quarter, the game entered a break.

Wolves' bench.

He kept biting his thumb.

His brow was always furrowed.

Helpless and confused.

Helpless, bewildered.

At that moment, no one knew whether James, who was already wearing a mask of pain, was lamenting the score difference between the two teams on the court, or grieving over his groin injury that seemed to never heal.

But one thing is certain.

This quarter completely dashed any hopes that James could make a comeback in his "Wolf King" career.

So, after gritting his teeth and disregarding his still-healing groin injury, James moved Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman to volunteer, saying, "Coach, I don't need to rest. I can play in the second quarter."

We must keep fighting, we absolutely have to keep fighting.

Since the Warriors made the opening game a foregone conclusion in just one quarter, James has no choice but to find a way to make his stats look better.

However, just as the ever-persevering James was about to lead the Timberwolves' reserves onto the court, Bogut, who is known for his indiscriminate attacks, disregarded James's feelings and retorted, "We're down by 35 points, what's the point of playing?"

After a pause, Bogut continued, "How could we have fallen so far behind if someone hadn't tried to play football in a basketball game?"

Indeed
Bogut's mouth has never produced anything worthwhile.

But in the first quarter, the Timberwolves were overwhelmed by the Warriors, which was also because the young sideline referee Chris Mobley called a total of six traveling violations against James.

He made 1 of 4 shots in the quarter.

He scored 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 8 turnovers.

The team's plus-minus value is -35, the lowest among the starting lineup.

James' disastrous performance that night made him largely responsible for the Timberwolves' crushing defeat on the court.

"The game isn't over yet." The next second, James turned his gaze to Bogut, and with his face flushed, he said, "We still have a chance to narrow the score gap."

However, Bogut responded, "Narrowing the score gap? I'm afraid some people just want to take advantage of the other team fielding substitutes to make their stats look better, right?"

Upon hearing this, James's expression immediately darkened.

Because he never expected that Bogut, that bastard, would have such low emotional intelligence.

What do you mean by just trying to take the opportunity to make the data look better?
Is it wrong to never give up on the court?
Moreover, in James's view, even if he had fallen from grace, Bogut had no right to criticize him.

After all, Bogut's performance in the first quarter was also disastrous.

It can be said that this unpleasant little episode caused James's already depressed mood to sink even deeper.

Because Bogut's attitude towards him at this moment is enough to prove that since becoming the forsaken one, he seems to have really become a roadside wretch that everyone can kick around.

Meanwhile, on TNT, O'Neal and Barkley made a bold hypothetical question: "Charles, if you swapped LeBron and Messiah, do you think the Timberwolves could make the playoffs this season?"

"Playoffs? Although the current Wolves roster certainly doesn't have the potential to contend for the championship, I think it's not difficult for Messiah to lead this Wolves team past the first round of the playoffs."

As we all know, there are no "what ifs" in the real world.

However, many fans watching on television agree with Barkley's hypothesis.

As for the reason?

Of course, it was Qin Yue who led the Warriors, a team that was also not favored by the world, to the top during his rookie season.

Online, Durant, still posting, commented on his alternate account: "If Michael Jordan taught us that in the NBA, even the most physically gifted players need to settle down and hone their skills to dominate an era."

Messiah taught us how to use superb basketball skills to fully unleash our physical talents.

LeBron James has undoubtedly taught us that as long as you're thick-skinned enough, as long as the referees tolerate you, and as long as the capital is willing to market you, even if you have absolutely no real talent, you can still become a top NBA star over the past decade.

Without the protection of capital, when people of this era begin to view James objectively and fairly, perhaps James is not as useless as Durant said.

But in the pantheon of the NBA, if you don't understand, what makes James so capable of challenging those ancient gods who have made huge contributions to the development and progress of basketball?
Is it just because he knows better than others how to curry favor with others, and because he can always score those inflated points by committing traveling violations under the protection of the referees?
In this era, James has simply returned to where he was meant to be.

In the second quarter, under the tight defense of sideline referee Mobley, Kwame Brown successfully helped defend James twice in a row.

This is why James cannot profit from traveling violations.

It's true that he has a strong impact.

However, his inability to use the "American step" exposes his long-standing weakness of lacking hard-solving ability.

Ideally, a LeBron James who can both drive and shoot is the one with the ability to break through defenses.

Because in some of the games where James has an off night, that kind of James can easily break through most of the opponent's defense.

Unfortunately, James's ability to drive to the basket was severely hampered by the referees' strict calls that night, and his long-range shots seemed to be missing their targets, frequently going astray.

The shot missed.

It's impossible to break through.

On the court, through a series of coincidences, James happened to expose all his flaws to the world in this nationally televised game.
In this season where the Wolves only have six nationally televised games...
James has already left an incredibly deep stereotype on television viewers.

Moreover, James cannot shake off this stereotype that "he's just a nobody" in the short term.

Halftime is over.

James, who was trying to lead the Timberwolves to narrow the score gap in the second quarter, received both good news and bad news.

The good news is that the Warriors, who led the Timberwolves by 51 points in the first half, will definitely pull their starters early in the second half.

The bad news is...
That night, the Warriors' bench players even outperformed the starters.

Especially JR Smith, who came off the bench for the Warriors in the second quarter.

Unlike his teammates on the field who became complacent because of a large lead.

In Qin Yue's memory, the culprit who caused the "May 58th Massacre" was...

JR, who has absolutely no understanding of human relationships, has only one thought since he came on as a substitute.

That is, he must prove himself in front of his good older brother Qin Yue.

The intermission is over.

In the third quarter, the Warriors, who substituted their entire bench lineup after only two minutes of play, led by JR Smith, officially pushed the game to a conclusion that devastated James and all the Timberwolves players.

A turnaround fadeaway jump shot. A sudden stop and jump shot while dribbling.

A spectacular crossover followed by a gliding dunk.

The amazing feel of his three-point shooting from beyond the arc is uncanny.

On the sidelines, JR Smith watched as he relentlessly attacked the court, bringing the score to 54-124 for the Warriors by the end of the first three quarters.
Before the game, Qin Yue had hoped the whole team would help Curry prove himself, but little did he expect...
Despite the Warriors' quick victory and the Timberwolves' crushing defeat, Curry still hasn't been able to prove himself.

But the fans at Oracle Arena witnessed Jordan's glory days in this game.

On TNT, Barkley quipped, "How exactly did the Warriors manage to acquire J.R. Smith for only around three million a year?"

On the court, JR went on a rampage.

Led by this modern-day Jordan, the Warriors once led the Timberwolves by nearly 90 points in the final quarter.

Wolves' bench.

In the final quarter, when James, who had scored a total of 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 14 turnovers for the team, was substituted, James couldn't understand why the Warriors would keep JR on the court when they had already won by so much.

James clearly forgot that JR Smith was originally a substitute for the Warriors.

On the contrary, he, the Wolves' star player, managed to rack up double-digit points in a game that had already become garbage time.

The final score was 78 to 155.

The Warriors, playing at home, broke the NBA record for the largest single-game point differential with a 77-point victory.

Timberwolves fans could never have imagined that, at the very beginning of the 12/13 season, they would be forever nailed to the pillar of shame in the NBA, led by the undisputed greatness of LeBron James.

Post-game interview session.

As expected, James defended himself with his groin injury, saying, "All summer, I've been working hard to overcome this injury, and you know, playing with an injury isn't a good feeling."

However, James' former teammate Varejao said, "LeBron means that those traveling violations he committed on the court were also caused by a groin strain?"

Upon hearing Varejao's response, James blushed and said, "I think the referees were too harsh on me tonight. My skills are indeed not as flashy as Michael's and Messiah's, but for the past ten years, I have been working hard every day to hone my fundamentals."

Was linesman Mobley really too harsh on James?

The following day, according to the referee's report and the results of the NBA Video Research Center's investigation, Mobley's call on James' traveling violation was not only flawless, but at the very least fair and impartial.

"The NBA has finally acknowledged that LeBron James has been receiving preferential treatment from referees for the past decade. Although justice came a little late, it proves that justice will never be absent." — The New York Times

The Timberwolves' humiliating defeat in their opening game almost instantly became the biggest topic of conversation in the entire basketball world.

In particular, James, who was called for traveling violations multiple times during the game, became the absolute protagonist in a way that was beyond his own expectations.

Online, several basketball experts, after carefully reviewing the video of James' past games, wrote: "In LeBron's career to date, nearly 50% of his points and assists have benefited from traveling violations."

His crab-like dribbling, which was previously allowed by referees to be used on the court, not only stole a victory that should have belonged to the Wizards that year, but also allowed him to put up extremely deceptive statistics on the court.

Finally, ESPN basketball expert Mark Beasley concluded: "LeBron James' success only proves one thing: that the incompetent league has promoted a football player over the past decade who has absolutely no real talent and is just all about physical attributes."

Nike had already waived its "LeBron protection clause" when collaborating with major media outlets this summer.

Such star player protection clauses are not uncommon in the NBA.

For example, Nike's Qin Yue and Durant both have corresponding protection clauses.

However, Nike chose James over Durant in the choice between the two.

Nike did not expect that James, who subsequently lost the corresponding protection clause, would have so many of his dark histories investigated.

All of this means that Nike is destined to make decisions in the present and future that are different from what Qin Yue remembers.

Because today, LeBron James has become the biggest stain on the thriving Nike empire.

Well, the problem is coming.

What will James face for the rest of his career if he goes from being a tool for making money for capital to a failure in the eyes of capitalists?

That's for sure; he'll inevitably become someone Nike has to "eliminate."

In late October, Maverick Carter was informed by Nike that Nike would be laying off Carter, who had worked for Nike for a long time due to his relationship with LeBron James, in the next round of layoffs.
A sense of panic immediately spread through James' team.

Why did Carter's departure cause such panic for James and his team?

This means that Nike is prepared to kick James out of the game in the future.

Rich Paul, who had followed James wholeheartedly because he believed James was a rare commodity, became the first member of James' team to leave.

"Brown, you know, I've always wanted to go back to Cleveland to run my retro jersey business." That day, Paul said this to James. "So, if it's possible, I'd like to."

"I understand."

Upon hearing this, James, who had already experienced the coldness and warmth of human relationships back in the summer, spoke calmly.

In the NBA, a humiliating defeat can be a stain that a star player can never erase.

But at this moment, James knew better than anyone that he was facing his darkest hour, having already shown signs of being completely abandoned by capital.

However, Rich Paul ultimately didn't tell James the truth.

The day after leaving James' team, this "rich Paul," whom Qin Yue remembered as famous, turned around and joined Jeff Schwarz's team.

November.

When James learned that Paul had joined Schwartz's team before the Timberwolves' second regular season game in the 12/13 season, this sudden shock almost instantly shattered James's mental defenses, who thought he couldn't be worse off than he was now.

The tide receded.

look around.

James, looking completely bewildered, found himself trapped in an endless darkness with no end in sight.

He remained silent throughout.

James, who was only trying to rack up stats on the night of the game, even saw the end of his career at some point.

On the other hand, Qin Yue, who led the Warriors to set a new NBA record for the largest single-game point difference in the opening game, was forced to start his full-power mode early in November of that year.

Because in the Warriors' second regular season game
The Warriors, who are aiming for a four-peat this season, have encountered a minor problem.

……

PS: Update delivered! (When I saw the news today that LeBron James will definitely be able to recover from his injury before the start of next season's regular season, I was genuinely happy for our old man. Hehe, just wait and see, next season, our fully recovered LeBron will definitely sweep the league, and the Lakers will win the championship!)

(End of this chapter)