Champion Rules

Chapter 144, Section 140: Deep-seated Contempt (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)
The authenticity and fairness of the NBA lottery have always been a topic of discussion among fans and the media, and have always been shrouded in many doubts.

The high degree of alignment between numerous historical moments and the alliance's development strategy has long surpassed the realm of mere coincidence in a statistical sense.

It is almost certain that in some years, the NBA lottery is manipulated by the league.

The first lottery draw in 1985 happened to take Patrick Ewing to the big market of New York.

In 1993, when the Sharks were dominating the market and the Magic desperately needed help, they won the number one draft pick for the second consecutive year with a 1.52% probability.

The number one draft pick in 1997 just missed out on the Boston Celtics, ending Auerbach's Celtics revival plan.

In 2003, the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA drafted their "Cleveland Son".

And in 2004, when the young Caesar was sweeping across Europe and all of North America was waiting for him to arrive, the New York Knicks, who had the largest market, happened to draw the number one pick and selected this super international player, which made the NBA's globalization strategy a huge success.

People can clearly see how this mechanism serves the league's narrative needs. The lottery is like a Rubik's Cube in David Stern's hands, allowing them to piece together a basketball landscape that best fits commercial logic from seemingly random combinations.

And those super rookies with halos above their heads will receive their own unique script as soon as they enter the league.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Lynch and LBJ have been two super rookies who debuted with their own scripts.

The chosen one, number 23, is tasked with the mission of revitalizing his hometown.

The young Caesar, standing tall in Madison Square Garden, awaits to continue his legendary story in New York.

But David Stern never imagined that these two storylines, which could have developed in parallel, would converge prematurely in the biting cold of January 2007, turning into a fateful showdown of irreconcilable conflict.

One fact that is almost certain is that only one of LeBron James' and Lynch's stories will reach a final conclusion.

Because they are irreconcilable enemies.

Lynch's legend will be built on the tragedy of Cleveland.

Cleveland must overcome the New York Knicks if it wants to revive.

They are engaged in fierce competition, and only one can succeed.

Currently, it seems that the cursed Cleveland is still struggling to break free of the curse.

Amid cheers from New York fans, Lynch received the ball on his right side, jumped back and released the ball under James's interference, the arc of his arm resembling the Grim Reaper wielding his scythe.

"God's weapon!" Mark Jackson shouted as the basketball went in.

Lynch still didn't speak to LBJ, he just retreated to defense.

He didn't want to let his guard down for even a second today; that's how Lynch dealt with his mortal enemies.

TNT打出了林奇的数据：43分11个篮板5次助攻1次抢断3次封盖，本赛季第7次单场40+。

当然，他们还非常贴心的打出了詹姆斯的数据进行对比：16分5个篮板4次助攻2次抢断1次封盖。

The Cavaliers are already down by 13 points. In their last matchup, Jermaine O'Neal was able to hold his own against Lynch in the first half.

But tonight, Jermaine O'Neal didn't have that kind of offensive performance. In fact, the Cavaliers' lead hasn't widened to over 20 points because they had an exceptional three-point shooting performance tonight.

Anthony Parker, Tayshaun Prince, and substitute Daniel Gibson all hit multiple three-pointers tonight.

But this only makes the Cavaliers' deficit look less exaggerated.

Lynch's playing style left Larry Brown speechless. In NBA history, no player who is 208 cm tall and has a wingspan of 220 cm or more has played like Lynch.

Larry Brown knows how to defend a powerful power forward, and he also knows how to defend a standard-sized wing scorer.

But he didn't know how to defend Lynch.

In fact, Lynch is not suited to copying Kevin Durant's playing style because he is too heavy.

As a power forward in the Dark Ages of defense, Lynch's bulky physique affected his off-ball movement speed and jump shot touch, and prevented him from playing the same way as Durant every game.

But if we consider the timeframe of early 2007, Lynch's actions were already quite unconventional.

With four minutes remaining in the game, Larry Brown had no choice but to continue changing his strategy.

He paused the game and decided to remove the zone defense, replacing it with Tayshaun Prince to guard Lynch, treating him like a small forward.

"Forget about zonal divisions, Tayshaun, I want you to stick to him like a shadow! Don't let him catch the ball easily! Confront him! Confront him! Don't let him stop for a second! Make him feel like he's struggling in a quagmire!"

On the other side, Flip Saunders stared at Ariza's sweat-soaked jersey. The young man, who had exhausted his last bit of energy, was holding his knees and panting heavily, like a sailor who had just returned from a storm.

Despite Tyson Chandler protecting the rim, Ariza still put in a tremendous effort to defend James – you can't just rely on a rim-protecting center and let him easily gain speed.

It must be said that limiting LBJ's drives to the basket is not easy, and Ariza has to go all out.

But now, his physical strength has reached a critical point.

“DeShawn!” Philip Sanders whirled around. “You know what to do.”

DeShawn Stevenson couldn't wait to take off his training clothes and glance at the stats comparison between Lynch and James: "Lynch, your one arm is practically burning through the rim! I know we'll definitely win, but I'd love to make that bastard look even more pathetic! Making the Cavaliers lose by 20 points will really show the difference between you and that soft-assed King!"

Lynch ripped open the Gatorade packaging and chugged it down, strongly agreeing with the idea that LBJ should lose by at least 20 points. When facing a sworn enemy, there should be no room for compromise.

"Prince will probably switch to guard me later, and you'll be facing Jermaine O'Neal. He can't guard off-ball shooters; guarding off-ball is like a sloth chasing a butterfly. Just run around the horns, catch the ball and shoot, and get the rebound. Don't say I, this selfish guy, didn't give you a chance to shine. You'd better get some points, stop leeching off my wins, and stop being a zero-point man."

Everyone laughed; Lynch and Stevenson's communication style had become a talk show in the Knicks' locker room.

If DeShawn Stevenson encountered a one-armed player like Lynch online, he would definitely be furiously typing on his keyboard: "You need to pass the ball, bro. You can't play alone. You need to look at your teammates."

But when faced with a one-armed player like Lynch who could easily carry the entire team in real life, DeShawn Stevenson just smiled and said, "Heh heh, don't worry about me, I just love being Mr. Zero. Go ahead and hit me."

The timeout ended, and Lynch's prediction was correct. The Cavaliers indeed assigned Little Prince to guard him, as he was the only player on the Cavaliers who could match him in both size and defensive skills.

So far tonight, the Little Prince has been the best defender against Lynch.

His agility is not a disadvantage, and his height and wingspan can disrupt Lynch's shots. Furthermore, when Lynch plays off-ball shooting, Prince's slender build will not be exposed.

But Lynch wasn't stupid; he knew what it meant to treat the symptoms and what it meant to change the rhythm.

When TySean Prince guarded Lynch, Lynch completely changed his playing style.

He drove straight into the paint, backing down to call for the ball.

"Bang!" The sound of muscles colliding rang out in the paint area. Prince staggered back half a step, and Lynch transformed back into that powerful power forward.

Prince looked like a poor child, completely unable to control the large vehicle in front of him.

The moment he received the ball, Lynch pushed past Prince and pulled up for a turnaround jumper before the double team could close in.

"Shh!"

Before the sound of the webpage scrolling had even subsided, DeShawn Stevenson's mouth was already pressed against James's face.

"Yeah! Well done, Lynch! You crushed the fake emperor's plastic crown!"

James glared at Stevenson and yelled, "Ref! Ref! Look at him! Damn it, shut this bastard up!"

Stevenson: ? ? ?
When he appeared on screen, DeShawn Stevenson felt like a gangster thug tasked with assassinating the leader of the opposing gang.

When the other gang leader saw him pull out a gun, he actually chose to call the police?

"Shut up, DeShawn, if you don't want a technical foul," the referee warned him as expected.

The referees can protect LeBron James, but they can't help him erase a 15-point deficit.

James received the ball at the top of the key and continued to attack the basket after a screen.

Although he knew it would be difficult to score, it was his only effective offensive tactic.

However, the energetic DeShawn Stevenson immediately bypassed the screen and clashed violently with James.

Compared to Ariza, DeShawn Stevenson's size isn't as impressive, but he's stronger and more aggressive in physical confrontations.

James couldn't drive in face-up, so he had to turn and back to receive the ball.

When he backed down DeShawn Stevenson, the Knicks didn't even double-team him, a sign of respect for his skill. "Come on, baby, let me see your low-post footwork learned in seven days for $50,000! Oh, I forgot, you didn't pay, because Hakim couldn't teach you anything and opted for a full refund."

"Hold!"

Enraged, James pushed back twice, creating space before flipping and leaping into the air, his legs spreading and bending like a frog's.

It doesn't matter if the move is ugly, as long as it goes in, it's a good shot.

But the ball didn't go in.

Hakeem Olajuwon used to promote his training camp whenever he appeared on TV last season, but this season no one is even inviting him to TV shows anymore. That's the power of LeBron James' post-up game.

James's ugly offensive play bounced off the rim again, severely impacting the Cavaliers' morale.

The Cavaliers' biggest problem tonight wasn't their defense.

They just couldn't stop Lynch, but they contained the rest of the Knicks.

Besides Lynch, the Knicks' current highest scorer is Marbury with only 14 points.

The Cavaliers' biggest problem is that LeBron James, as the team's offensive core, is completely unable to match Lynch's performance.

The Knicks are a typical superstar team. Everyone else on offense is shut down, but the superstars can step up and solve the problems.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were like a team without superstars. Daniel Gibson had 13 points, Prince had 13 points, Anthony Parker had 12 points, LeBron James had 16 points, and Jermaine O'Neal had 15 points. If you covered up the names on the stat sheet, you couldn't tell who the offensive spearhead was.

Despite having a large number of possessions, an extremely high usage rate, and the most shot attempts on the team, LBJ achieved such equal statistics.

This may be enough to show that LBJ is a better team player than Lynch.

As James missed his shot, DeShawn Stevenson clapped his hands so loudly that his spittle almost splashed onto James's burning cheeks: "That was beautiful, LeBron. Why don't you start a back-to-the-basket training camp and charge only $5000 for 7 days? I mean, if you give them $5000, I'll be the first to sign up."

As he spoke, he mimicked the other person's contorted rolling motion, his exaggerated body language trampling on James's already shattered dignity.

James' repeated inability to respond to Lynch in crucial moments shattered the Cavaliers' morale like a hammer blow.

Jermaine O'Neal looked at Lynch wearily, the championship fantasy he had been fueled by the spotlight during the seven-game winning streak vanished without a trace.

The Cavaliers are indeed a strong team and can beat most teams.

However, in a true championship-level matchup, the Cavaliers were completely outmatched.

The reason is simple, and also disheartening—neither Jermaine O'Neal nor LeBron James, as the team's star players, have the ability to raise the team's ceiling any further.

This cannot be solved by a transaction.

The level of the star player determines the potential of this Cavaliers team.

Jermaine O'Neal, an old-school fighter, believed until today that they could compete with Lynch for the championship.

But tonight, seeing his own ineffectiveness on the defensive end and LBJ's ineffectiveness on the offensive end, he felt despair for the first time.

This is completely different from the painful feeling of almost winning against the Pistons in previous years.

Lynch brought more of a pain that was out of reach.

He stood there wearing a crown.

But you can never defeat him.

The offense and defense switched, and this time Jermaine O'Neal double-teamed Lynch early, while Marbury cleverly passed the ball to DeShawn Stevenson.

The latter took a three-pointer, and the instant the ball was released, he yelled, "No! Rebound!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Qi went berserk and fought back fiercely, blocking the rebound.

Then the ball went in.

Lynch looked at Stevenson with disdain and yelled at the referee, "Why didn't you shut that damn number 92 up? He should be ejected!"

referee:? ? ?
DeShawn Stevenson chuckled and scratched his head; his touch wasn't yet refined enough to accurately sense whether he could score.

With an 18-point difference, LeBron James is less than three minutes away from his second humiliating defeat in front of Lynch this season.

Larry Brown sat back on the bench, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the crimson numbers on the scoreboard.

He didn't understand why LeBron James always disappointed in crucial moments, or why he always disappointed on nights like these star-studded matchups.

He had been hoping that LBJ would join him, so that the damn Carmelo Anthony and arrogant Lynch would see who the real boss was.

Having won two championships in the past three years, he had hoped to reclaim his dominance with LBJ.

But now, he's being forced into the circus to be a clown, just like LeBron James.

He realized that he had completely misjudged the person.

Lynch was still actively calling for the ball with his back to the basket, as if the lead was now only 2 points, not 18.

When facing a mortal enemy, Lynch is not one to back down easily.

For the Cavaliers and LeBron James, this tough night is far from over.

Lynch positioned himself very deep this time, and DeShawn Stevenson's three-pointer just now made Jermaine O'Neal afraid to leave him wide open.

Upon receiving the ball, Lin Qi turned and hooked the ball in one fluid motion, and the basketball went in again.

47 points, the point difference has reached 20.

Lynch still refused to utter a single trash word, but this indifference emanating from his very being was more lethal than any provocation, making the humiliation of the night all the more intense.

The stat comparison between Lynch and LBJ goes far beyond any trash talk.

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

Fans cheered loudly from the stands at Madison Square Garden.

In the audience, Spike Lee embraced Kevin Lucas, who was in a wheelchair, and everyone was immersed in immense happiness.

In this era, the owner of the number 23 jersey can no longer do whatever he wants here.

No one can do whatever they want here anymore.

Here stands the true King of New York.

After James' jump shot bounced off the rim again, Larry Brown waved for the substitutes to get ready to enter the game.

He'd seen enough.

Stephon Marbury dribbled the ball forward, looked at the listless Anthony Parker, and smiled:
"Dude, I bet you never imagined that after entering the NBA and having even stronger teammates, you'd get wrecked by Lynch even worse than you did in Europe. Welcome to the enhanced version of hell, bro!"

After speaking, Marbury passed the ball to Lynch, who had scooped out beyond the three-point line. Tayshaun Prince's defensive enthusiasm had been dampened, and he didn't immediately close in on the New York number 20.

The latter swiftly brought down the knife, and the basketball swished through the net.

"50 points! The second-highest score of the season! Lynch has defeated his arch-rival. LeBron may be regretting it, because he himself raised the competition to this level! The flame of destiny that LeBron ignited is now melting his own crown into molten iron!"

Amidst Mark Jackson's shouts, James walked off the court with his head down, brushing past Lynch without Lynch even glancing at him.

This deep-seated contempt was too much for LBJ to bear.

Enraged blood rushed to his temples, and Number 23 suddenly slumped his shoulder and rammed into that tall figure, the movement as stealthy as a cobra's attack.

Just like his seemingly nonchalant collision with Spoelstra many years later, he always concealed his true intentions.

Amid the commotion, DeShawn Stevenson swung his fist and punched LeBron James in the face.

James' mouthguard, spraying blood, flew towards the scorer's table. Amid the gasps of the crowd, the broadcast camera caught Lynch walking toward the bench—he casually ripped off his wristband and threw it at his seat, as if the farce unfolding behind him was nothing more than an insignificant afterglow after the final whistle.

A true king would not dirty his hands for a worthless prisoner.

(End of this chapter)