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Chapter 303 Epilogue - Seven Years - Part 1
"Number 77, from Wake Forest University, Big Qin!"

2013 11 Month 1 Day.

This is the day the Warriors will have their 13/14 regular season opener at the Great Qin Center in San Francisco.

The long wait of summer is over.

When the announcer called out Qin Yue's name during the introduction of the players, the arena, the first in the NBA to be named after an active player, erupted in deafening cheers.

In the stands, fans who had traveled from all over the Bay Area were all dressed in the same gold T-shirt that symbolized the Warriors dynasty.

From September 10th to December 13th.

Four titles in four years.

At the commentary booth, Warriors legend Rick Barry, moved by the scene, said, "I think at this moment, no amount of cheering is enough to express the Bay Area fans' love for 'Qin'."

On the field, he strode confidently toward the center of the field.

Although the past summer has allowed Qin Yue to gradually calm his excited heart.

But the moment he stepped onto the high-tech, fully-covered floor of the Daqin Center, Qin Yue couldn't help but clench his fists.

Fifteen minutes before Qin Yue's appearance, retired Warriors jerseys and championship banners were already being raised one by one on the dome of the Daqin Center.

Now, Qin Yue's task is to receive his sixth championship ring.

"As it turns out, no amount of championship rings could satisfy my thirst for victory," Qin Yue recalled afterward.

Compared to the 12/13 season.

The Warriors are the only team in the NBA that has made no changes to its roster for the new season.

At the draft, President Larry Riley selected two rookies for the team, Nemanja Nedovic and Giannis Tima, who both received "unemployment gifts" after the Summer League.

In response, team general manager Chris Mullin joked with Riley afterwards, "Looks like we'll have to consult Messiah more often during the draft process in the future."

Should we seek Qin Yue's opinion?
In fact, given that the Warriors are in a very small draft class and cannot acquire a high draft pick through trades, even Qin Yue does not have the ability to turn "waste" into treasure.

However, on the opening night, the defending champions, without any new talent joining the team, still demonstrated their strength as the top favorite to win the title.

In this regular season opener that ended with a score of 99-141, the home team Warriors had as many as seven players score in double figures.

In the game, Qin Yue, who was only allowed to participate in the team's joint training three days before the start of the regular season, only played for less than 20 minutes before losing his eligibility to continue participating in the game.

After all, as the world's recognized GOAT, Qin Yue can't possibly stay on the court during garbage time to pad his stats.

After the game, when asked by reporters what it was like to play in a stadium named after himself, Qin Yue said, "This feeling is hard to describe in words, especially since I only played for 20 minutes."

Only played for 20 minutes
That night, almost the entire basketball world felt the GOAT's resentment.

However, no one expected that...
Throughout November, after the team played a total of seven games at the Daqin Center, Qin Yue's resentment towards the Daqin Center only deepened.

Because of these seven matches, Qin Yue's longest playing time was only 27 minutes.

“We all know how much he wants to deliver a signature performance in the new arena,” Curry said. “But in November, our whole team was in such good form that we felt like any opponent would crumble before us just by stepping onto the court.”

It wasn't until December that the defending champions felt the pressure in two games against the Lakers and the Heat.

On December 10th, they will play the Lakers away.

On the night of the game, facing his old rival Kobe, Qin Yue got into the game right from the start.

Furthermore, with 25 seconds left in the game, the Warriors secured the victory thanks to Qin Yue's game-winning shot.

In addition, this game also marked Qin Yue's first time scoring over 50 points in the 13/14 season.

"He was unstoppable on the court, while Kobe looked old and frail in his presence."

"He does whatever he wants against the Gasol brothers," said Anthony Lester of the San Francisco Chronicle. "The home crowd was hoping he would miss one or two key shots, but almost every time, he would silence the entire Staples Center."

Then, on December 18, at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Qin Yue delivered another masterpiece of his December performance.

In the game, Wade and Anthony combined for 68 points for the Heat.

And what about Qin Yue?

答案是惊人的69分18篮板7助攻4封盖2抢断。

"This is insane. 'D-Wade' and 'Melo' have combined to dismantle the Warriors' wing line," said ESPN commentator A. Smith. "But on the other side, Messiah has single-handedly destroyed the entire Miami Heat team."

However.
Even as time goes by, Qin Yue, who has consistently used the start of each season as practice in recent years, has already announced the return of "Full-Power Qin" to the entire basketball world with his memorable performances in Los Angeles and Miami.
But by the end of that year, Qin Yue still hadn't broken the curse that he couldn't play more than 30 minutes at the Qin Shi Huang Stadium.

Fortunately, in 2014, Qin Yue finally got the opportunity to prove himself in front of the home crowd.

1月14日，在球队坐镇主场迎战湖人的比赛中，31投19中，其中三分球9投4中，罚球9罚9中的秦岳，总计砍下了51分17篮板7助攻3封盖2抢断。

However, Qin Yue still couldn't leave the center of Daqin with a smile that night.

At the Qin'an Arena, the Lakers, with an outstanding performance from all players, emerged victorious with a score of 121-117.

"I know I'm getting old," Kobe joked at the press conference, "but don't forget, my teammates are all younger than me."

Neither Kobe's post-game response nor the final result of the game could make Qin Yue feel any joy whatsoever.

"During that period, he could hardly sleep every night," Ronnie Evans recalled years later. "He would often come and knock on my door in the middle of the night and ask me, 'Ronnie, why did we lose that game?'"

Although from Evans's few words, what later generations perceived was Qin Yue, who craved victory more than anyone else, and who, even after repeatedly emerging victorious, would still try to win the next match.

But for the Warriors, who have already won four consecutive championships...
Qin Yue's personal will is the key factor that distinguishes them from other dynasty teams.

"No team can win every game in the regular season."

Charles Barkley of TNT, who knows Qin Yue and the Warriors best, said, "So of course the Warriors will lose some games in the regular season, but what surprises me is that even after winning the championship for four consecutive years, this team still maintains a level of ambition that far exceeds that of other teams."

In competitive sports, there are countless examples of dynasties collapsing due to a decline in personal ambition.

But this group of warriors led by Qin Yue seemed to be the exception.

Externally, Qin Yue's competitive spirit will drive the entire team to give their all in game after game.

Internally, the Warriors' personnel overhaul from the "2.0" phase to the "3.0" phase has become one of the reasons why this champion team has been able to maintain its ambition throughout the season.

After two seasons of honing his skills, the young Jimmy Butler has officially launched a strong challenge to his predecessor, Gerald Wallace.

In addition, Draymond Green, unwilling to be second to Kwame Brown, has shown the world his ambition to "take his place" in many games.

“Throughout the 13/14 season, there was healthy competition within the team in many positions.”

Warriors head coach Mike Malone later recalled, "These competitions energized us and made us a team that, in the eyes of the world, can never be satisfied."

As April of that year arrived, the Warriors, who had already won four consecutive championships, finished their regular season campaign with a record of 70 wins and 12 losses.

This achievement not only made them the first team in NBA history to achieve 70 or more wins in three consecutive seasons.

Furthermore, the ever-satisfied Warriors secured the league's top regular season ranking for five consecutive years with their outstanding regular season record.

这一季，常规赛82场全勤的秦岳交出了场均35.4分15.8篮板10.1次助攻3.8封盖1.5抢断的赛季“30+”三双成绩单，并荣膺了常规赛得分王、篮板王以及盖帽王。

"The Warriors are launching their fifth consecutive championship run with unstoppable momentum." ESPN commented on this season's Warriors before the playoffs began, adding, "In the West, perhaps only the Lakers can give them a little trouble."

Entering the playoffs, the Warriors' first opponent will be the Clippers.

It's worth mentioning that before this series began, Clippers player Baron Davis visited the "Original Beard" exhibition hall next to the Daqin Center at the invitation of the Warriors' management.

However, once Davis stepped onto the court, his fond memories of the Warriors' first era were quickly swept into the "trash can" by Qin Yue and the Warriors players on the court.

After four games, the Warriors advanced to the next round with an overwhelming 25-point margin of victory over the Clippers. "We were completely stunned," Clippers' star player Blake Griffin said in an interview. "Many times, we didn't even know what we were supposed to do on the court. Against the Warriors, we were like a bunch of confused rookies."

In the next Western Conference semifinals, the Warriors faced the Mavericks.

In the past two years, with Kidd's retirement and Terry's departure, perhaps the only thing that still supports Nowitzki's pursuit of the championship is his loyalty to Dallas.

Although Dirk Nowitzki still has Tyson Chandler and Tony Parker as his two right-hand men, he is destined to be unable to change the objective gap in strength between the Mavericks and the Warriors, who are led by Qin Yue and whose peak performance is no longer possible.

Four matches.

Four defeats to the Warriors.

At the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, when all Mavericks fans realized that the tracks of that German machine had irreversibly begun to rust, even the most demanding Mavericks fans probably wouldn't have the heart to criticize the man who was still trying to fight for the Mavericks' survival until the very last moment.

That's just how cruel and ruthless competitive sports are.

Some heroes grow old.

Some people are at their peak.

Under Qin Yue's leadership, the Warriors reached the Western Conference Finals for five consecutive years.

In addition, the Warriors were the biggest winners in the regular season awards this season.

Qin Yue was named NBA regular season MVP for five consecutive years.

Curry, who faced a lot of criticism last season, was named to the All-NBA Second Team.

JR Smith was named the Sixth Man of the Year.

Jimmy Butler, who replaced Wallace as the team's starting small forward in the second half of the regular season, won the Most Improved Player award.

5 month 20 day.

With incredibly high morale, the first game of the Western Conference Finals between the Warriors and the Lakers officially kicked off at the Qinhuangdao Center.

On the night of the game, Qin Yue led his team to victory over the Lakers with a 55-point individual scoring show.

After the match, Qin Yue joked, "Now, I can finally get a good night's sleep."

This season, Qin Yue has never forgotten the Lakers' loss to the Warriors at the Daqin Center during the regular season.

However, the Warriors, who won two games at home, encountered trouble after the game was moved to Staples Center.

The Warriors' offense was clearly affected by Curry's unexpected ankle sprain in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.

Moreover, at Staples Center, the Lakers also received off-court weighting similar to that of the Knicks last season.

Curry, who was extremely anxious about this, once considered returning to the court with pain-relieving injections.

However, Qin Yue and Ma Long refused Curry's request to play despite his injury before the start of Game 5.

"Stephen's ankle sprain is not serious, and we cannot risk aggravating his injury with one risk."

Back at the Daqin Center in San Francisco.

Despite Curry's absence, Qin Yue, revered as a basketball god by many, did not disappoint the 20,000 Warriors fans in attendance.

The inner line was hardened.

Strong pull from the outside.

In the fourth quarter, when Qin Yue scored his 60th point of the game, Shaquille O'Neal on TNT couldn't help but hold his head and exclaim, "Although the Lakers had pushed the Warriors to the brink, God still pulled his team back."

After winning the fifth game, Qin Yue and the Warriors withstood the test again in the sixth game.

That night, with the free throw count tied at 18 to 44, the Warriors' outside shooters erased their disadvantage by making an astonishing 21 of 38 free throws.

After the game, facing the Warriors' impressive 55% three-point shooting percentage, Lakers head coach Mike Brown said in a near-desperate tone, "Their three-pointers were as accurate as intercontinental ballistic missiles. We can only take our hats off to them for this game."

Ultimately, the Warriors secured their ticket to the NBA Finals for the fifth consecutive year with a 4-2 victory.

On the other hand, the Knicks, who were initially favored by the world, were unexpectedly stopped by the Heat with a score of 3-4, failing to reach the Finals.

However, after reviewing the Knicks-Heat series from an outsider's perspective, Qin Yue believes that the Knicks' elimination was entirely their own fault.

James Harden, who has been virtually absent since Game 4.

It's Dwight Howard, whose mentality completely collapsed after last year's Finals.

In Qin Yue's view, this Knicks team, if they can make it to the NBA Finals...
That would violate the objective laws of basketball.

6 month 8 day.

The first game of the 13/14 NBA Finals officially kicked off at the Daqin Center in San Francisco.

Curry, returning from injury, unleashed all the pent-up frustration he had accumulated during his absence on the court.

全场比赛，19投12中，其中三分球12投8中，罚球4罚4中的库里，总计拿到了36分4篮板6助攻。

In addition, Curry has made many contributions that cannot be quantified by data.

During the game, with Curry drawing attention away from him, Qin Yue not only repeatedly tore apart the zone defense meticulously set up by Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, but also easily created numerous scoring opportunities for his teammates with his unpredictable passing.

The final score was 100 to 128.

That night, the 28-point difference between the two teams made the Heat seem like an easy target.

Although the Heat players maintained the suspense in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the Finals through more aggressive defense and hustle.

But the offensive surge that Qin Yue and Curry unleashed together in the final moments of the game was like a bucket of ice water poured over the heads of every Heat player.

"We can't perform like we did in Game 1 of the Finals in every game."

After the game, Danny Green said in an interview, "But that's the magic of Stephen and 'Da Qin' (referring to the two players), especially when they both explode on the court, we can beat any opponent."

After a pause, Green added, "In every offensive possession, they always read the opponent's defense accurately and lead us to launch precise and lethal attacks on the court. In my opinion, Stephen and 'Da Qin' are definitely the most basketball IQ duo in the history of basketball."

However, even with Qin Yue and Curry leading the charge, the Warriors are not immune to times when the entire team underperforms.

For example, the third game will be held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami.

On this night when both Wade and Anthony received minor fouls, the Warriors, who seemed to have lost all their composure, couldn't even find anyone to blame after the game.

because
In terms of the game itself, every member of the Warriors team bears undeniable responsibility for this loss.

Fortunately, the power outage proved to be just an accident in the remainder of the game.

In Games 4 and 5 of the Finals, the Warriors, having quickly recovered, won two consecutive games to tie the Heat and went on to win the championship for the fifth consecutive year with a score of 4-1.

After being named NBA Finals MVP for the seventh time in his career, Qin Yue rightfully surpassed Jordan in terms of individual honors.

Barkley told TNT, "I bet even if the Messiah will later say he'll always respect Michael Jordan, in his heart he'll be thinking, 'Someone like Michael Jordan doesn't even deserve to be compared to me!'"

Daqin Center.

During the awards ceremony, the host relayed Barkley's words to Qin Yue.

In response, Qin Yue simply chuckled and said, "Charles is an idiot."

But at that moment.
Judging from Qin Yue's expression, Barkley undoubtedly read the GOAT's mind perfectly.
“He can never hide anything from me,” Barkley said. “Because in today’s NBA, nobody knows him better than me.”

……

P.S.: I'll mention it in the epilogue! I'll continue to express my deepest gratitude to all my readers!
(End of this chapter)